Let the madness begin!

Operation Clothes into Countertops in FULL swing!

I happily finished getting everything ready for the big sale, sent Hubs to Lowes for some GIANT tubs, filled the back of my car with the past 5 years and headed to work. There, I just happened to be working with a buddy of mine who has also done the sale. We were chatting about it, and I told her to go peek at the insanity on the back of my car. She was asking about how many items I was selling, what I hoped to make, etc, then asked what shift I was volunteering to work the sale.

Today! My drop off appointment is this afternoon, and I work three hours tonight!

Her response was, "Oh, so you're just getting the lower commission?"

Say what?!

Apparently, I can't read, and you get a base commission (still pretty good) for consigning, then you get a higher percentage depending on how many hours you work.

Oh.My.Bathtubs.

Saying a special I-love-you to Hubs for getting me an Iphone, during my break, I quickly started searching for shifts. Friend was totally right. You had to volunteer xhours and different times during the sale (some presale, some during) in order to get the full commission. I jotted down shifts I thought I could physically go to (that whole work and 2 kids thing totally gets in the way), and called Hubs to explain the situation and get his travel schedule this week.

Awesome! Hubs was cool to hang with the kids ALL DAY and would be able to get home early this week so I could do another shift during the sale! I happily clicked on, "Sign up for a shift," only to see,

"We're sorry! This option is not available as the sale is already in progress!"

Crapper!!

Let's take a minute to assess (did I get it right, P?) the situation. The commission difference we are talking about here is about 10%. I'm not a numbers gal, but 10% of $100? Silly me! I'll know better next time! 10% of $3000? Whoa buddy.

I race home to deliver lunch to the kids and Hubs then hop back in the car (after making my 3rd cup of coffee), and head on over to beg and plead for more shifts. And if that didn't work, I fully intended to stomp my foot and say, "Fine! But you can't have any of my stuff!" Luckily, they were desperate for help when I showed up and I was able to add shifts and get my full commission. Woo hoo! Kitchen is still on!

One of the "perks" of putting in extra hours is you get to shop before everyone else. I had a couple of captain random things I'd spied during check in that I wanted to snag, so I decided to hit the sale a few hours before my shift. I had kind of planned on finding my stuff and loudly exclaiming, "WOW! THIS IS IN GREAT SHAPE! AND OH MY! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS RETAILS FOR?! WHAT A DEAL! TOO BAD IT'S NOT IN MY KID'S SIZE!" but figured that might be cheating (but don't think that I didn't move some of my stuff around to get it in better spots for grabbing).

The three things on my captain random list were gone, but I had a credit, so HAD to get something. As I walked around looking for something for the kids, I saw a fisher-price portable record player and audibly squealed. It was just like the one I use every Christmas to listen to records while we decorate the tree! Mine was in the basement during the flood, so I don't know that it's going to work this year. I grabbed it and proceeded to walk around with it for an hour. I was SO excited! Hubs called and I squealed about my deal. Voice of reason asks, "Well does it work?" Of course it works! You plug it in and it works.... "YEah, but what about the needle? You can't really replace that."

Crud.

I went to the check out line and noticed an outlet, so figured, what the heck. I'll prove Hubs wrong. As I flipped it over to unroll the cord, I noticed another sticker, not the consignment sticker. Upon closer examination, I realize it says, "Goodwill $3.50." The sticker on the front? "Big Sale $10." Wow. Gutsy! I plug it in, and what do you know! It works! HA! They had even left a 45 in there, so double deal! I picked up the blue needle arm and moved it over the record. Nothing. I pushed it down on to the record and nothing. Damaged arm, damaged needle. Damaged heart. And I totally turned it in. How can someone buy something at Goodwill for $3.50, try to sell it for $10 knowing it doesn't work!? I'd like to think the best of people, but I was sad. Now how am I going to listen to Cabbage Patch Christmas?

I spent the rest of the night people watching and listening. I found one duo who I followed around because they were so entertaining. They spent 45 minutes YELLING AT clothing. Don't get me wrong, I picked up a few things, like say a Jumping Beans shirt, then looked at the tag where it was priced $6 and thought (to myself), "Hmm, this is really faded, and you can walk into Kohls on any given day and buy these brand new for $6!" Then just put it back an moved on. These ladies, "OH MY GAWD! $3 for THAT shirt?! That's Wal-Mart brand, lady! And no discount?! You've got to be kidding me!" Who knew people could get so angry at a poly-cotton blend. I did almost have a throw down because one chick yanked something out of the boy's section and screamed, "UM HELLO?! IF YOUR CHILD EVER SHOWED UP AT MY HOUSE IN SOMETHING LIKE THIS, I WOULD MAKE HIM CHANGE IMMEDIATELY!" and I soooo figured she was going to be holding one of Nugget's reindeer sweaters. She was holding a vest and again, why the anger at clothing? Don't like it? Put it back. I did peek in their bags to see what they were going nuts (in a good way) over, and it looked like everything that I'd bagged for Goodwill, which just goes to show you, everyone has different tastes, and that's ok.

I'm refreshing my sales page as I type (not posted yet), but as of the pre-sale, I have 54 items sold! Boo yow! Hubs and I took an optimistic trip to Lowe's yesterday and it's taking all that I have not to measure the counters (again) and place my order!