What I do for work outside of Etsy: A lot!!!

A requirement of being part of the wonderful Etsy Bloggers Street Team is to participate in a blog carnival. I still don't fully understand the concept of a blog carnival however,I have participated in a few to date and I know how to post them (what website to go to). I think it's a way for other members to get to know each others blogs, etc...That's what I think.

The topics for this month are:

Please choose 1 of the following subjects to write about:

1). Work: Blog about anything to do with your work (past, present or future) which is outside of Etsy.

OR

2). Relax: Blog about what you do to relax.

I'm going to write about #1.

I am a stay at home mom of a 20 month old little boy named Dominic. Taking care of Dominic is first and foremost my most important job. My chosen job is selling vintage clothing. I sell at my own site, Lone Star Vintage Clothing, on eBay at Lone Star Vintage Clothing at eBay and I also sell on Etsy Lone Star Vintage Clothing at Etsy.

When Dominic was born last year, I was still working a corporate type job as an employment recruiter (yuck!). This job was stressful and the hours totally sucked, not to mention that there was an older woman (no names will be mentioned) who drove me absolutely crazy. She would not let me work the way I wanted to work. She had to coach me on everything, so she thought. She was totally old school and I honestly wanted to smack her right in the face a few times. When I had Dominic, I knew I only had 7 weeks to stay at home with him (I had no short term disability and this was the longest they would allow me to be gone from work). I dreaded going back to that company. To make a long story short, I did not go back. I started selling vintage clothing as a hobby and it's become my job. I have my BFA in Fashion Design after all and I may as well put the fashion history part of my degree to good use. The rest is history. I've been selling online since April 2007. My most favorite part is the hunt for my inventory. I frequent estate sales here in Houston on a weekly basis. Currently, I am trying to sell things from my old inventory. With the way the economy is, I don't need to be going out and buying more stuff to sell, when I could honestly list things for the next few months and not have to worry about running out of items to sell.

Selling vintage clothing is very time consuming, let me tell you. You have to find items to sell. If any of your items have issues, you either have to fix the issues or note the issues when you list the item. You have to prep the item before you take the photo's (ironing, etc.). You have to take the pics. You have to download the pics and then edit the pics. You have to list the items, which means coming up with a good description that will make your customer just have to have your item. You have to print your shipping labels and package your items. You have to take the items to the post office and you have to email your customer to let them know their item has shipped. You also have to market your business and your items. Each time I list a new item, I also add it to my Style Feeder. I get a lot of traffic from Stylefeeder.com.

There's a lot that goes into selling vintage clothing, especially when you are a one person business.

If anyone reading this post wants to purchase anything from any of my stores listed above, I will offer you a 10% discount at any of my stores. Just mention this post and I will revise your invoice! :)