How I work it

I was asked a question in comments about ebaying. I have several things I try to do in order to not pay too much for anything.

One thing is a set maximum on the items I look at. It is usually 20 dollars. After setting the max price, I am only shown items for 20 dollars or less. However, this doesn't cover shipping. If I look at an item I really like and am willing to pay a lot I might bid on something with a high shipping cost. However. Most of the time I look at the item and the shipping cost together and ask myself if I am willing to pay that. If the item is won for 6 dollars and the shipping is 14 dollars I am unlikely to even bid on it. I try before I bid to keep to low shipping cost and fairly low item cost. But I always look at both before bidding.

Since I have finally discovered thrifting I am ebaying less. I wanted a plaid shirt and didn't care much what color as long as it was springy. I lucked into a plaid lavender shirt at Goodwill for 3 dollars. Obviously there was no way I would get anything from ebay for that price. Conversely I was able to buy 2 shirts with 2 matching camisoles for 12 dollars plus 6 for shipping. I consider that a bargain because I received 4 shirts in beautiful colors that fit well and feel good for 18 dollars. So it is all in what you are willing to spend.

While I am at it I would like to comment on knock-offs. I was, for a while, buying some knock off handbags from Craigslist. There has been a lot said about how the knock off takes money away from the designer and I thought, I wouldn't buy it at all because I couldn't afford anything but a knock-off. However, I now know the harm hits the designer in another way. There are certain styles of Coach, for instance, that I wouldn't buy because there are so many similar knock-offs. The same for Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Since the knock-offs are so prevalent, I wouldn't buy the real thing because there might be a knock-off of it out there somewhere. I have seen how these imitation bags can really be a problem. But I don't need any more bags anyway unless they ate thrifted.

I thought this would be hard

Today I'm orange, tomorrow I'm yellow. I purchased the shirt I'm wearing from ebay. I thought when I got it that it was too short. But you never know about proportions till you try things on. It turns out that it works and is terrifically comfortable. I hadn't worn it yet and the challenge is a great way to get it on me. Anyway, I have decided if it were not for the internet I'd be severely underdressed. The pants are HSN and the shoes were a recent bargain on ebay. The bracelets- orange-off price store. Tan-I made them. The earrings are Avon.

A word about ebay. When I first started on ebay, I was buying a lot of purses. I got some shoes and liked them a lot. I bought jewelry and jewelry makings. I got a bunch of stuff I didn't need and I paid way too much. I didn't look at ebay as a thrifty way to do stuff. Anyway, now I limit the amount I am willing to pay and that way I don't look at stuff that would cost too much. I won't buy anything that the shipping is too high. And I try to be much more careful to get only the things I can use with what I have. And very soon ebay will be where I sell things I made mistakes on or no longer need or want.

The color challenge has already helped me look at my wardrobe differently. I know you can pair almost any color with black. I want to put the things into different settings and see what happens. This is fun.

I love pink this year

My outfit is another ebay shirt. One piece. I was going to separate them but it is big on me and I may sell it if I lose some weight(please). Anyway, the color, as you can see is really bright. And I love it.

The jewelry is an Avon pearl ring, Bangles from Lane Bryant, and a green quartz ring from HSN. The bag you see is from Liz Claibourne and I got it for 25 with shipping from ebay. All leather. I am carrying it right now not because of matching anything but because I love it. And the ebay keds were only about 11. I feel lucky to have gotten both items.