Holla!
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| A 6 Euro find in Stiges, Spain |
November 24, 2013
November 16, 2013
More Vintage Coach
Found more vintage Coach while antiquing here in Florida. Really good shape for $40. This might become a thing...
Holla!
Holla!
October 29, 2013
Boho
Last week I decided to go boho with this silk skirt I found from Goodwill and the Target sandals I've been wearing everywhere lately.
Holla!
Holla!
October 25, 2013
Georgia
I'd just like to quickly say that I've lived in 6 different states, and Georgia is BY FAR the most mismanaged, ill run and incompetent of them all. Don't move there.
That's it.
Holla.
That's it.
Holla.
October 15, 2013
Statement necklace
After searching for this necklace for a year, I was about to give up. I found lots of options, but they were all $30+. It's a great necklace, but it's not that great...
While browsing Francesca's at the mall a few weeks ago, I found this gem on the clearance rack...for $10! It wasn't the color I was originally looking for, but I liked the challenge. And at $10, I couldn't leave it behind. It looked great with my gray tee and white skinnies.
Holla!
While browsing Francesca's at the mall a few weeks ago, I found this gem on the clearance rack...for $10! It wasn't the color I was originally looking for, but I liked the challenge. And at $10, I couldn't leave it behind. It looked great with my gray tee and white skinnies.
Holla!
May 18, 2013
Latest Steals
Here are the deals I grabbed last week. Not that many, but I love them all the same.
Holla
Holla
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| Cute dark denim skinny jeans, $9 Kohls |
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| Vintage Michigan postcard, $1 |
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| Bracelet, $12 Target |
May 10, 2013
Consigning 101: Selling
After a disastrous trip to a consignment store in Little Five with Husband, I decided it might be useful to write out my tips for how to buy and sell at a consignment store. I really feel that people are becoming more aware of how they spend and that is making them become more creative with how they shop. Pinterest and all the fashion blogs out there are helping people look at things in different ways which opens up a lot of possibilities. And what better way to help the environment then giving those once loved clothes a second home. It's no secret I love to shop. And it's no secret that I love fashion trends. But I love to get a great deal more. And I live for finding that one fabulous piece that is perfectly on trend and only a few bucks.
So for those of you just getting starting in the world of consignment shopping, here is my strategy for getting the most bang for your buck, staring with selling.
Holla!
Consigning Your Clothes:
1. Do your research.
Go into the store first and look around. See what kind of clothes they are selling and check out the type of customers that are shopping in the store. Check out the brands that are on the selves already. Try to figure out if the stuff you are trying to sell would work in that store. See what the prices are like. That will give you a good indication of how much you'll take home.
2. Know the customer
Consignment stores tend to cater to specific demographics. For example, Plato's Closet is focused on the teen to early 20's crowd. Don't try and sell your business stuff there. Instead find a consignment store that's a little more high end, maybe in a ritzy neighborhood. Business people/ 30-somethings aren't so much into club clothes anymore.
3. Check the store policy
Each consignment store has a different way of doing business. Some do cash on the spot, some are only consignment, some offer a store credit, and some do all of these things. Figure out how you'll get the most money from your items. Find out the percentage that you are going to get if the item sells. Most of the time it's around 40%. Cash on the spot is a little less but you get the money instantly instead of having to wait and see if the item sells. Some stores have a policy that if an item doesn't sell in a certain amount of time, you can either pick it up or forfeit it. As a seller, you need to know exactly what is going to be done with your stuff. Another rule I've run across is the number of items you need to start consigning. Some stores won't start selling your stuff until they have a certain number of things from you. They usually start out with 10 items. After you set up your account, you can add items in any number.
4. Location, location, location!
Try to find stores that are in good spots. Ones that are on a main street or intersection are good, ones in strip malls are better. You want to pick a store that gets a lot of foot traffic.
5. Go by the season
Consignment stores only make money if the clothes sell. So if it's the middle of summer, don't expect to unload your boots with the fur. Go through your stash and put aside the stuff that you would wear at that moment. Almost all consignment stores buy based on the current season. So save winter/ fall clothes for when it's winter and fall. Also, stores want current trends, so don't try selling fannie packs and Member's Only jackets there. Save those for vintage sales.
6. Attitude is everything
This is probably the most important. We all think that the stuff we chose to spend our hard earned money on is great. But when you're consigning you clothes, shoes, purses, you basically put your personal style up for criticism. The buyer at the store is not going to take everything you have to offer. They just won't. And there are many reasons why, the biggest being they have too much of that item already. Don't get offended if they don't take your stuff. It doesn't mean that your stuff is bad or ugly, it just means it's not a good fit for the store right now. I took me a few tries to get this one. :)
7. Quality
Check all your clothes before you head to the store. No stains, rips or holes. Clothes, shoes and purses with excessive wear and tear won't get you anything so save them for a yard sale.
8. NWT
If you're an eBay shopper, you know that NWT means "new with tags". Translation: never worn. So, if you have something in your closet with the tags still on it and you've decided to get rid of it, keep those tags on! Consignment stores like never worn stuff. It sells really well. It helps the customer see the deal they are getting. If you have clearance tags on an item, try to remove that part and show the original price for two reasons: shows the customer how much they are saving and doesn't let the store know that the item is not that current. I've managed to sell things that were a few years old by doing this.
9. Know the buyers
I like to see to one girl in particular at my consignment store. She knows me and knows what to expect when I come in. She likes my style so she tends to buy a lot of what I bring in. Get to know the staff. If you build a relationship with them, it will help you in the long run.
To help you even more, here is the strategy I use for consigning my clothes:
I sell at multiple stores based on what I have. If I'm getting rid of high-end brands, I consign them at the store in the rich area that focuses on name brand clothes. Business clothes are consigned at different store and almost everything else goes to a 'juniors' store. Unless it's the high-end brand, I always do cash on the spot. This way, I don't have to worry about losing my money if an item doesn't sell in time. The one store I do the most business with has a policy that if an item doesn't sell in 90 days, it's forfeit to the store. They say it's donated, but I know they sell it and get 100% of the money and I get nothing. Because of this, I only consign my business clothes with them, since they sell well there (they also own the juniors store which offers cash on the spot).
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that whether you consign your clothes or do cash on the spot, you are getting more than you would at a yard sale. So whatever they don't end up taking, save it for a yard sale or donate it to Goodwill.
Happy consigning!
So for those of you just getting starting in the world of consignment shopping, here is my strategy for getting the most bang for your buck, staring with selling.
Holla!
Consigning Your Clothes:
1. Do your research.
Go into the store first and look around. See what kind of clothes they are selling and check out the type of customers that are shopping in the store. Check out the brands that are on the selves already. Try to figure out if the stuff you are trying to sell would work in that store. See what the prices are like. That will give you a good indication of how much you'll take home.
2. Know the customer
Consignment stores tend to cater to specific demographics. For example, Plato's Closet is focused on the teen to early 20's crowd. Don't try and sell your business stuff there. Instead find a consignment store that's a little more high end, maybe in a ritzy neighborhood. Business people/ 30-somethings aren't so much into club clothes anymore.
3. Check the store policy
Each consignment store has a different way of doing business. Some do cash on the spot, some are only consignment, some offer a store credit, and some do all of these things. Figure out how you'll get the most money from your items. Find out the percentage that you are going to get if the item sells. Most of the time it's around 40%. Cash on the spot is a little less but you get the money instantly instead of having to wait and see if the item sells. Some stores have a policy that if an item doesn't sell in a certain amount of time, you can either pick it up or forfeit it. As a seller, you need to know exactly what is going to be done with your stuff. Another rule I've run across is the number of items you need to start consigning. Some stores won't start selling your stuff until they have a certain number of things from you. They usually start out with 10 items. After you set up your account, you can add items in any number.
4. Location, location, location!
Try to find stores that are in good spots. Ones that are on a main street or intersection are good, ones in strip malls are better. You want to pick a store that gets a lot of foot traffic.
5. Go by the season
Consignment stores only make money if the clothes sell. So if it's the middle of summer, don't expect to unload your boots with the fur. Go through your stash and put aside the stuff that you would wear at that moment. Almost all consignment stores buy based on the current season. So save winter/ fall clothes for when it's winter and fall. Also, stores want current trends, so don't try selling fannie packs and Member's Only jackets there. Save those for vintage sales.
6. Attitude is everything
This is probably the most important. We all think that the stuff we chose to spend our hard earned money on is great. But when you're consigning you clothes, shoes, purses, you basically put your personal style up for criticism. The buyer at the store is not going to take everything you have to offer. They just won't. And there are many reasons why, the biggest being they have too much of that item already. Don't get offended if they don't take your stuff. It doesn't mean that your stuff is bad or ugly, it just means it's not a good fit for the store right now. I took me a few tries to get this one. :)
7. Quality
Check all your clothes before you head to the store. No stains, rips or holes. Clothes, shoes and purses with excessive wear and tear won't get you anything so save them for a yard sale.
8. NWT
If you're an eBay shopper, you know that NWT means "new with tags". Translation: never worn. So, if you have something in your closet with the tags still on it and you've decided to get rid of it, keep those tags on! Consignment stores like never worn stuff. It sells really well. It helps the customer see the deal they are getting. If you have clearance tags on an item, try to remove that part and show the original price for two reasons: shows the customer how much they are saving and doesn't let the store know that the item is not that current. I've managed to sell things that were a few years old by doing this.
9. Know the buyers
I like to see to one girl in particular at my consignment store. She knows me and knows what to expect when I come in. She likes my style so she tends to buy a lot of what I bring in. Get to know the staff. If you build a relationship with them, it will help you in the long run.
To help you even more, here is the strategy I use for consigning my clothes:
I sell at multiple stores based on what I have. If I'm getting rid of high-end brands, I consign them at the store in the rich area that focuses on name brand clothes. Business clothes are consigned at different store and almost everything else goes to a 'juniors' store. Unless it's the high-end brand, I always do cash on the spot. This way, I don't have to worry about losing my money if an item doesn't sell in time. The one store I do the most business with has a policy that if an item doesn't sell in 90 days, it's forfeit to the store. They say it's donated, but I know they sell it and get 100% of the money and I get nothing. Because of this, I only consign my business clothes with them, since they sell well there (they also own the juniors store which offers cash on the spot).
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that whether you consign your clothes or do cash on the spot, you are getting more than you would at a yard sale. So whatever they don't end up taking, save it for a yard sale or donate it to Goodwill.
Happy consigning!
May 4, 2013
Latest Steals
Got a little backed up. Here are my latest finds at great prices. Why pay retail if you don't have to?
Holla!
Holla!
 |
| Booties, $17 - Target |
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| Sunglasses, $10 - Target |
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| Pants, $14 - JCP |
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| Dress, $13 - Target |
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| Silver pumps, $14 and Green pumps, $10 - Target |
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| Headband, $3 - Target |
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| Sequin clutch, $5 - Ebay |
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| Green blazer, $22 - Loehman's |
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| Blazer, $22 - Kohls |
May 3, 2013
Copy Krab: Report Ellenton sandal
Spotted these on the Nordstrom website. They looked really familiar. Then I remembered, Target. Not sure how Target is able to get away with this year after year... :) Link to buy.
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| Report Ellenton sandal $50 |
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| Target Lavada Slide $17 |
Holla!
April 14, 2013
Book Ladies
Lately, I've been on a historical women reading frenzy. It started with Michelle Moran's Egypt trilogy (highly recommended) and moved on to the French Revolution and the USA in the 50's, 60's and 70's.
If you're looking for a new read, here's what I've finished recently and really liked.
This one took me a while to read but it was worth it. I found myself sympathizing with the queen in multiple ways and overall, it did nothing to help with my opinion of the French.
If you're looking for a new read, here's what I've finished recently and really liked.
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| Found this at the dollar store. Elizabeth Taylor fascinates me and I found some parts of her life helpful to me. Finished this in a week. |
This one took me a while to read but it was worth it. I found myself sympathizing with the queen in multiple ways and overall, it did nothing to help with my opinion of the French.
Holla!
Hippie Chic
Found this gorgeous, vintage leather tooled bag sitting on a shelf all alone last weekend. I knew if I took it home, it would be fast friends with my other purses. It clearly wanted to go home with me with a price of $15. :)
Holla!
Holla!
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| The caftan I'm wearing is from Ross and was $10. I get all my caftans/ coverups from Ross. :) |
April 10, 2013
Eat Pray Love. Whatever.
I had heard good things about this book for years. I had high hopes that it might give me some wisdom or insight into handling life problems or getting a better outlook on life in general. I had my doubts around page 35 when the author loses all her money then gets it all back the next day so she can go and pursue her dreams, but I powered through. Made it to page 48 and threw the book away. She just HAD to slip in a one liner about her political beliefs. A nasty, false one liner that can easily be applied to her party of choice (glass houses...). I'm so sick of this. There was no reason to add the sentence. She just did it to make a dig and to try and influence people. It doesn't help the story at all. It's completely irrelevant to what she's trying to say. It left a bad taste in my mouth and now I will never know if the book contains some wisdom for me. Probably not. I figured out the kind of person she was from page nine and I don't really buy stories where everything just seems to fall in place right when it needs to. That just isn't reality.
Holla.
Holla.
April 1, 2013
You Being Beautiful
I've got a great Dollar Tree 10 minutes away from my house. It's big, bright and makes me feel like I'm shopping in a real store (not all dollar stores are created equally...). On Friday, I managed to get the rest of the Easter candy I needed for Husband's Easter basket, two circle mirrors for sunburst projects I have planned, and this:
A hard cover book originally priced $27? Um, yeah. I'm not just gonna let that pass me by...
Holla!
A hard cover book originally priced $27? Um, yeah. I'm not just gonna let that pass me by...
Holla!
March 31, 2013
Vintage Coach
Snagged this vintage Coach purse for $30 at one of my favorite consignment stores. I thought about it for a couple weeks then finally pulled the trigger. I'm so glad it was still there!
Holla!
Holla!
February 27, 2013
Review: Prabal Gurung for Target
I am a slave for designer capsule collections at retail stores
designed for everyone. I think I have a piece from all of them except
H&M. They never make enough at H&M...
Anyway, the latest designer to do a collab is Prabal Gurung for Target. The look book was very promising. The colors and patterns were bright and unique. My complaint is with the quality. Some pieces are made with really nice material and other pieces could have been made better. I was really impressed with the Missoni Collection because they used really nice materials. Unfortunately for me, all the pieces in the Prabal collection that I liked weren't worth purchasing full price to me. Guess I'll be haunting the clearance racks in the coming months...
I loved the pattern on these pieces. I have been hunting for a dress with a mirrored flower pattern for a while and I thought this was it. The colors are bright and the design is good, but the first two are made out of t-shirt material. I guess I was hoping for a more sophisticated material. The third one is more grown up. It's the only piece I ended up getting. At $27, time will tell if I keep it...
These pieces were all made of nice material, they just had a weird fit on me, which was really disappointing for #1 and #4.
All the shoes in the collection were a beautiful design. I was dying to get my hands on the red ones and the yellow ones. But when I saw them in the store, I didn't even try them on. Target gets some shoes so right and some shoes so wrong. I wish they would have found a better material for the price tag.
These were the things that I actually put my hands on in the store. The other pieces in the collection weren't available in the stores I went to in Atlanta.
Derek Lam, Duro Olowu and Marchesa all have collections coming out soon for Kohls and JCP. They look promising as well. I hope I'm not disappointed...
Cheers!
all images from Target.com
Anyway, the latest designer to do a collab is Prabal Gurung for Target. The look book was very promising. The colors and patterns were bright and unique. My complaint is with the quality. Some pieces are made with really nice material and other pieces could have been made better. I was really impressed with the Missoni Collection because they used really nice materials. Unfortunately for me, all the pieces in the Prabal collection that I liked weren't worth purchasing full price to me. Guess I'll be haunting the clearance racks in the coming months...
I loved the pattern on these pieces. I have been hunting for a dress with a mirrored flower pattern for a while and I thought this was it. The colors are bright and the design is good, but the first two are made out of t-shirt material. I guess I was hoping for a more sophisticated material. The third one is more grown up. It's the only piece I ended up getting. At $27, time will tell if I keep it...
These pieces were all made of nice material, they just had a weird fit on me, which was really disappointing for #1 and #4.
All the shoes in the collection were a beautiful design. I was dying to get my hands on the red ones and the yellow ones. But when I saw them in the store, I didn't even try them on. Target gets some shoes so right and some shoes so wrong. I wish they would have found a better material for the price tag.
These were the things that I actually put my hands on in the store. The other pieces in the collection weren't available in the stores I went to in Atlanta.
Derek Lam, Duro Olowu and Marchesa all have collections coming out soon for Kohls and JCP. They look promising as well. I hope I'm not disappointed...
Cheers!
all images from Target.com
February 26, 2013
Flea Market Find #3
I've been hunting for a pair of burgundy leather boots with a heel for three years. Last month, I finally found a pair. They are totally straight from the '70's and I am in love with them. They are everything I was looking for, all for $20. Patience pays off ladies. Oh, and being blessed with a small foot doesn't hurt either. :)
Holla!
Holla!
Beach Hair
Before I went on vacation, I made sure to upload some hair tutorials from pinterest onto my phone. You know, to look cute while I was on the beach. :) I only ended up trying one, but I think it came out pretty good and it was pretty easy to do. Next time, I'm going to make the braid thicker...
Here's the original pin:
Here's my version:
Holla!
Here's the original pin:
 |
| from pinterest |
Here's my version:
January 7, 2013
Back on the Wagon...
It's been way too long, Crabby patties! 2012 was not a very good year for the Crab House. Husband and I went through a lot to get to 2013. Life started getting rough around May, which explains why I haven't posted since April. But I'm back! I intend to make 2013 the Year of the Crab! So, expect more flea market finds and Goodwill deals. I'm also going to try my hand at style blogging, which for me means putting up pics of outfits I think are cute (or may have received a few compliments on the street...). I'm also way into re-fashioning clothes, so expect some updates on that (as soon as I get my sewing machine fixed). And, as always, there will be lists of products I have tried and liked and anything on my mind.
In 2013, Karmacrab will focus on me. No more updates on the going ons of the Crab House. This blog is going to be 100% things I like and feel.
Holla!
In 2013, Karmacrab will focus on me. No more updates on the going ons of the Crab House. This blog is going to be 100% things I like and feel.
Holla!
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