Monday, May 19, 2014

Going New Places

Last Friday was a good day.  I walked up to my local shop to pick up a check (for a sold bear) and drop off a replacement.  On my way, I ran into someone who used to work at my local thrift store and who now has a shop.  She placed a wholesale order for a few stuffed animals, which made me do a happy dance all the way home.

Once I didn't like the idea of wholesale -- it's so much less than what I'd make if I sold a piece directly, but on the other hand, I don't have to stand around and wait to sell it, and if it doesn't sell, it's no longer my problem.  Also, consignment fees are 60/40 and that comes out to only a little bit more than wholesale.

Except that wholesale payment is immediate.

Immediate is good, since I just got the escrow statement noting my rather large shortfall this year (due to Philadelphia doubling my real estate taxes).  I did get a reduction from the city because I've lived in my house for over 10 years, so I spent some fun time on the phone with the mortgage company, convincing them that while I still owed them a boatload of money, it was a yacht-load and not the actual freaking Titanic.

Crisis somewhat averted.  Still not in the clear, because I would love to get new front steps this summer, before someone falls through the old ones.  And concrete costs a ridiculous amount of money, and despite the fact that I have patched the steps repeatedly and kept them from completely disintegrating, my skills are not such that I can actually build new steps.  Sometimes you just have to pay a pro.

I just wish he'd accept stuffed animals as a form of payment.

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