My First Etsy Sale

Last night my wife pointed out to me that I'd sold my first item on Etsy.  I'm still surprised.  My shop had been open a little over a month, and though it's had a steady amount of visitors and people hearting my items, it felt like that first sale would never come.

I have to take a moment and thank Heather (see her etsy shop here) for taking a chance on a seller that hadn't a single sale yet.  She bought one of the records I had up on my site (Kubrick's 2001 soundtrack), and it should be going in the mail today before I head off to work.

 

Since there is no way for me to frame and hang up that first dollar my business earned, I figured I would do it digitally.

Thanks to Heather, I now have the warm feeling of having a legitimate business started.

Check out my Etsy store here: This Charming Man Cave

Thrift Store Pickings

It's been a busy holiday season and I haven't finished any reviews.

Since my last post about my new etsy store This Charming Man Cave, I've been making the rounds of the local thrift shops looking for things to put in my store.  Here's a picture of some of my most recent finds:

The first thing I found was a Budweiser vest jacket from the 80's and the two Vogue Picture Records that were released sometime between May of 1946 and April of 1947.  I had no idea what the records were worth, but they were 49 cents a piece, which turned out to be a hell of a deal.  They look amazing, and both play fantastically well.

My favorite of the two records is labeled Vogue Picture Record R731 and features Marion Mann singing Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea on one side and You Took Advantage of Me on the other.  Here's a closer look at the fantastic artwork:

The other prize of the day, was a Minnesota Northstars Starter jacket.  I haven't seen one in this style before, but I found the same jacket selling on ebay for over $200!

Not a bad outing.  I even got myself a little gift that left my wife's eyes rolling - The Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit edition.  Only $3.99.

Now I just need to get some of these items listed.

This Charming Man Cave

I've been inspired by my wife and her success on etsy to start my own store.  Partly from a gentle nudge by her, partly because I thought it would make a good companion to my half.com site.  I'd talked about starting an etsy site, and with her encouragement I did.  I've already gone to garage sales and thrift stores with her, and have an eye for things that are a little different than what she sells at her store.  When we were talking last week, she came up with the catchy name of my store, This Charming Man Cave.

The motto of my store is, Strong enough for a woman, but made for a man.  I'll be focusing on vintage things guys would like, but that doesn't mean women wouldn't like them either.  Right now I just have a couple of things listed for sale, but soon I will be adding a bunch of records, shoes, clothes, and several curios.

Here is the first thing I listed.  A 1940's Rita Hayworth film studio head shot:

Come on over and check out my site This Charming Man Cave

While you're at it check out Regan's site Regan's Brain

Why Was I Watching Gossip Girl?

What's wrong with me?  Why would I watch a soap opera aimed at teenage girls?  Is it because I'm secretly a teenage girl at heart?

No, it's because my wife sold some Audrey Hepburn pillows to the set designer of Gossip Girl and they were in the episode that aired on Nov. 21st.

My wife and I watched the entire show, scouring each shot to see where her pillows were used.

It was a blink and you'd miss it moment, which was excruciating, since the pillows were always just obstructed enough to not be clearly seen.  I was able to pull two screenshots of them from the show:

You can see one of them on the couch.

And here it is again, just under Blake Lively's arm.

I think we both hoped that they'd be displayed more prominently, but I'm super proud of my wife.

She sells her handmade pillows on etsy and can be found here: Regan's Brain

Maybe someday they'll show up in a show that we're big fans of ... I'm looking at you Mad Men.