Taxes make me crazy.

I think that these vintage Italian gold pumps (totally '80s) are hot :)

I have been having so much anxiety about my taxes this year. I have claimed my earnings since opening my eBay store, but this is the first year that I have collected sales tax, and I registered as a business. Suddenly, I'm paying business/retail tax, which I still haven't figured out, and I can't figure out how the fuck to pay my sales tax, and it's starting to drive me crazy.

So this morning, I finally sat down to do my taxes, and get through my pile of personal and business paperwork, medical bills, etc. So much money going away, but I haven't bounced a check in a long time, so I'm feeling really good about myself. I'm paying way less for inventory, and my February sales were awesome (and February tends to be a slow month). Wow, second paragraph has helped me feel better already.

Peace out :)

Saving $ @ thrift stores - Part 2

A textbook on etiquette - PhD reading material :)

A couple thrift stores in my city have used Groupon as an avenue towards bringing in customers. At least, I imagine it brings in new customers. I think this is more profitable in advertising than it probably is in actuality, numbers-wise, but I'm beginning to think (based on my own behavior) that a lot of those Groupons don't ever get used, and then the store pockets the profit. I'm all for it. If you paid for something you then never used, that's on you. Sorry folks. I've done it myself, then hang my head in shame. I usually don't buy these things, because it just doesn't make sense to me. There's a time limit, and thrift is not a predictable activity. I'm not much of a gambler, although reselling is always a gamble.

One of these same avant-garde stores has a bag sale every couple months or so, where you purchase a bag of clothing for $10. When I first started doing this, I filled the bag full to the top. But now, I just get the things I want. I don't need to be bringing home things I don't need, or will never sell. I think a whole lot of people use these weeks to stock up on merchandise, but they don't look like online sellers. They look like full-time yard salers (yes, we have those in my neighborhood). No matter what, the cashier gives me a weird look when my bag isn't bulging, but it's still financially positive for me. I just have learned to buy less over my past year of reselling.

Having a super-small space has really helped me to learn to take in less merchandise. It saves me time when I'm not trying to sell things that will never sell, and it helps me not go crazy stepping over inventory in my living room. Also, I have a couch now, and I lie on it and read, so I think this strategy is really serving me well in the long run.

Thrift Share Monday :)

Signed "A. Mountanos 1980"

I found this mug last week, and haven't been able to find anything like it. There is a Mountanos Coffee Company, and I have been able to find some strand of a connection between the Mountanos surname, and Turkey. It might just be a fluke, but I thought it was really neat, and maybe collectible.

This morning, I woke up to a hilarious passive aggressive email in my inbox telling me, in essence, how selfish and greedy I was being for not accepting offers of 25-35% of my asking price, and how the buyer would send me "[my] profit" as soon as I accepted the offer. Dude, if you only knew how I get by. It's really laughable. Sometimes I ask myself if it's ethical for me to buy low and sell high, even if the item is worth what I'm asking. Sometimes I wonder if I need to cap my profit on any one particular item. I don't know. I'm not making a lot of money. I'm paying my bills.

Last night, my car started acting up, definitely structural and not the engine itself (it was still running well), and now I'm sitting in my apartment debating whether I should drive it at all before my appointment tomorrow at my mechanic. I still have paperwork to wrap up for my work year, and I have to drive to my supervisor's office to get final signatures. I'm kinda trusting that the car thing will be fixable in one day, and I'll be able to finish the paperwork traveling tomorrow afternoon. Ah the life of a VW owner! It's blissful, really :)

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl.