Women need a place to put on their makeup.. don't they?

DAY 2.5

This one is my absolute favorite so far... I kind of made an agreement with myself that I wouldn't buy/sell something that I wouldn't consider having in my own home.  I think that might have been a mistake though because I have ended up KEEPING some of the things I should be selling (that will be another post though)  Anyway, I found this vanity hidden deeply within a multiple item listing.

What's a multi-item listing?

It's where someone is clearing out an apartment/house/whatever and wants to basically get rid of a bunch of stuff.  Typically these people are in a time crunch and just want the stuff GONE - this is where YOU can swoop in and find great bargains.  I believe the heading of the listing was "cheap furniture" - so already I'm salivating.. okay - so usually it's junk - but sometimes it's not.  Case in point, under "cheap furniture" I found a metal vanity and matching bench for sale - really cute lines - very marketable.

So - I offer $15 (down from the original and very reasonable $20 they were asking)  I know - it's mean - do they need the money more than me?

Maybe.

Then again, would they make nothing if they had to leave it behind or throw it in a dumpster?

Who Knows.

I digress.  I sent my wonderful husband (who volunteered to do all pickups - bless him) to pick this up for me and even when the seller forgot to give him the matching bench, he went BACK a second time across the city to pick it up.  I still owe him for that one.

 It arrived here and was in fabulous condition except that the glass on the lower shelf was broken.  I had figured it would be a simple task to cut a piece of wood and replace it.  After trying out a couple of options - nothing really gave it the look I was going for - more of a chic (chique?) style.  I ended up taking an old 12 x 24 inch floor tile (a gray/black tile) and putting it on top for fun... it looked awesome so I went out and bought another tile for $8 (since I wanted to keep my own spares for my bathroom)

The bench seat was actually in pretty good shape but the fabric was a little dingy.  I painstakingly took out all the staples on the seat - washed the fabric and .. still hated it.  I was trying to think of other fabrics I had around the house that would be durable enough to be a seat cover but attractive enough to suit the style of my vanity.  Then I thought of my husband's old dress shirts!  We had a bag of dress shirts he's outgrown so I rifled through that until I found the PERFECT one.. it was a gray/black pinstripe shirt..  I recovered the seat by stapling the shirt fabric all around it.  It looked darn sharp.

Anyway - in the end - there you have it - I think it took a day to find the right buyer.  She loved the vanity - although her husband did negotiate us down to $70 for it :P

Summary

Purchased: $15
Modifications: $8
Sold: $70
Profit: $47