eBay Question for Those Who Buy Stuff There

I have a quick question for all you eBay shoppers out there.
Have you ever used the MAKE AN OFFER feature on an item to try to purchase it?
And if you have, do you have any guidelines for how much you offer for items?

I am just trying to figure out if I am Waaaay off base as a Seller with my thinking on these MAKE AN OFFER situations.....or if I just attract all the weirdos?!? ;-)

Leave us a comment if you will.....much appreciated!

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Trips 5/21/10 & 5/22/10....& a Pitiful Picture

Would you like to see something pitiful?
Here is my Single Check Rebate for April.....you remember, the month I hardly set foot in Rite-Aid?

If you can't make it out(thankyouverymuch crappy camera!), it says.....$8.00.
Yep, 8 whole big ones!
For some folks, an $8 check at Rite-Aid rocks but for me?.....I hang my head in shame.lol

On to other things......

Have you noticed that I am so lazy this month and I keep holding off on my Rite-Aid runs until the week/sale is almost over?
This is NOT good since the good items go fast!  But I have been darn lucky with this, as I have been able to find what I want to buy....excuse me, get free most, if not all of the time anyway.  ;-)

Here is what I bought on Friday......

Transaction #1
3 x Benadryl w/Wellness discount $4.39=$13.17
2 x Oreo Cookies on sale $2.99=$5.98
1 x Gallon of Milk=$3.20  **Not Pictured** since it's GONE ALREADY!lol
SubTotal.....$22.35

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x $5/2 Benadryl ManuQ=$5.00
1 x $1/1 Benadryl ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1 off $10 Cough, Cold, Allergy Purchase Wellness CRT Q=$1.00
1 x BOGO Buy 1 Nabisco Cookies and Gal. Milk/Get 1 FREE Nabisco Cookie Facebook Q=$2.99
1 x FREE Nabisco Cookie/Cracker Item Home Mailer Q=$2.99
Coupon Total....$17.98

$22.35-$17.98=$4.37 OOP * Put on free Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO OOP

Benadryl purchase qualified BIL for $25 Gift Card level of SCR #500.
This Benadryl purchase also qualified BIL for a $20 Allergy Gift Certificate.  This is the Allergy Rewards Program....purchase $75 in qualified Allergy meds and you get a $20 Certificate good at Rite-Aid.  BIL had some Benadryl purchases on his account from March that was within the time frame for this program so this $50 purchase for SCR #500 also got him over $75 in purchase for the Allergy Program.
So....$25 Gift Card & $20 Gift Cert. qualifed for now!

Value of Items purchased....$29.25

Why I bought what I did?
*I needed $12 and change more to get BIL to $50 in Allergy purchases to qualify for SCR #500 & get him the $25 Rite-Aid Gift Card level.

*That Nabisco Facebook Q was expiring that Day so I HAD to use it or lose it.  Combined with the FREE Cookies Home Mailer Q, I got 2 free cookies and just had to pay for the milk, which we needed anyway, so might as well buy it at Rite-Aid since it's the exact same milk/company/price as at the grocery store, and the grocery stores in town won't take the Facebook IPQ.....so there you go.lol

While leafing through the May SCR Directory Friday night,  I noticed the $2 Nabisco rebate #94-- Buy $10 of Nabisco items, get a $2 SCR.  Since I already was over halfway to $10 & Oreos are always welcomed here, I put another scenario together for Saturday evening.


Transaction #2....

1 x Welch's Grape Juice w/Wellness discount=$4.15
2 x Oreos on sale @$2.99=$5.98
1 x Colgate Pro-Clinical TPaste on sale=$2.99
6 x M&Ms on sale BOGO($3.99)=$11.97
SubTotal....$25.09

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks VV IPQ=$5.00
1 x FREE ITEM Welch's Item HomeMailer Q=$4.15
1 x $1/1 Colgate Pro-Clinical TPaste ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate Pro-Clinical Rite-Aid In-AD Q=$1.00
2 x B2G1Free M&Ms ManuQ=$7.98
Coupon Total....$19.13

$25.09-$19.13=$5.96 OOP  *$6.31 put on Rite-Aid Gift Card, so $.35 OOP....I had taken all but 1 Gift Card out of my wallet and it only had $6.31 left on it so I HAD TO ACTUALLY SPENT MONEY at RITE-AID!!
The HORRORS!....lol
Value of Items purchased....$43.40

Why I bought this stuff?.....Well, the cookies were to get the $2 SCR. I figure if I apply the $5 off $20 purchase Q to the cookies since I had no more Qs for them, they 'cost' me $.98.  The Toothpaste was $.99 after Qs and I wanted to try this new kind so for .99¢ it's a go.  The juice was free after Q and I love grape juice...I just hope the eating machine aka #1 son keeps his grimy paws off it and I actually get a glass!lol
6 bags of M&Ms?  Well....getting 6 bags for a total of $3.99 is awesome and almost free anyway, right?  It breaks down to $.66 & a half cents per 12 oz bag.  And we love Peanut and the Peanute Butter M&Ms here....and it's one of the few candies I can send to camp with the kids that won't melt.lol

This transacation qualified BIL's account for a $2 SCR, so we ended up with $1.65 in overage this time. 8-)


Here are the Rite-Aid MAY SCR Period Grand Totals so far......

Number of Transactions.....10
Out of Pocket.....$13.33--all but $.35 put on free Rite-Aid Gift Card=$.35 OOP
SCRebates due....$33.00 & $50 in Rite-Aid Gift Cards--making cash overage this month of $32.65!
Value of Items....$318.35

Not a bad haul so far for 35¢, huh?

I don't see anything I have to have this week at Rite-Aid but something may pop-up later this week.  I need $12+ in more Allergy meds purchases to qualify for the $20 Allergy Program Gift Certificate on my account so I may buy that this week to finish it off.

Do you have any good deals you are doing at Rite-Aid this week?  Let us know!

Sluggy

Double Dip Time!....at Redner's Markets

 If you have access to a Redner's Supermarkets, you might want to head over this week as there is a possible double dip with Kraft Products.

If you were lucky enough to send away for one of those Kraft Taste of Summer Sample and Coupon packs a couple of weeks ago, you'll see that there is a rebate form in the box.
The rebate requires a Purchase $30 of any Kraft Foods Products between 5-23-10 and 6-13-10 and you received a $10 Rebate by mail.  Check out Kraft's website for qualifying products. 

There is a Catalina Deal this week at Redner's for a whole slew of Kraft products.
Purchase $25 of qualifying products and receive a $5 OYNO Catalina.  The Cat deal runs from 5-20-10 to 6-3-10 and has to be $25 or more total of Kraft products AFTER using any manufacturer's coupons.

What I plan to do is purchase $30 or more in products and use ManuQs & some of the FREE ITEM Qs I have here for Kraft products in a combination that leaves me with a min. $25 bill at Redner's.  I'll pay my $25 bill, get a $5 OYNO Cat for $5 of free food and then take my receipt and submit it to Kraft for the $10 Cash Rebate(since I 'bought' $30 in products).

A lot of the Kraft stuff that qualifies is what I consider "junk" food but shredded Cheese is included in the Cat deal on sale for $2 a bag.  The reg. retail around here on this item is $3.29 a bag. We are always needing cheese in this house and I think I have some $1/2 blinkies laying around here to make the deal better.

So for $25 OOP,  I'll have $54.35 of products(counting the $5 in more free food from the Cat deal) and a $10 cash check.  In the end my OOP is $15 for $54.35 worth of Cheese at reg. retail of $3.29, so better than 72.40% saved.  Actually, I would NEVER pay reg. retail of $3.29 for Kraft shredded cheese so my percentage saved on sale price of $35 of food is 57.15%.

Here's the scenario....
15 x Kraft shredded Cheese on sale @$2=$30
5 x $1/2 Kraft Cheese Blinkie Qs=$5
Total OOP....$25--qualifies for $5 OYNO Cat.
Submit for & Get $10 rebate.

 Not free but not too shabby for a deal in these parts.....

Sluggy

Mommy MeltDown

What do I have in common with this place?

Besides both of us being located in PA, we both have/had experienced a meltdown.

While my current meltdown is not radioactive, I'm having a really bad week.  Not "loved ones dying kind of week" but the "nothing is working out right kind of weeks" that's left me an emotional puddle of goo.

I have like a zillion projects and things I need to attend to here.  And nothing is getting done.  Making lists won't help since there is no one to delegate jobs to, so the lists just remind me what a failure the situation is right now.  There is no cooperation from the family, just more pressure.


Plus my health is not the best and no matter what I do, it's not getting any better.  Maybe I just need to face the fact that my body is older than my mind thinks it is and it just can't do what I want it to do anymore.

Ok, so this is turning into a 'poor poor pitiful me' post and I don't want that because well, nobody wants to sit and read that, right?lol

I am at a point where I have no motivation for literally ANYTHING!  I don't want to cook or clean or tackle any projects(except the gardening and I can't do much of that myself).  "If breathing weren't automatic I'd probably die" kind of lack of motivation.

I don't even want to hunt the deals.....shocking, I know!lol

I am burnt out of eBay already(again!lol), and my decluttering has come to a standstill.  Decluttering because of the hoarding gene I possess is an emotional ordeal at best for me anyway, but add in the lack of support from my family and I ask myself, " why the hell am I  trying to accomplish this since it feels like a punch to the gut every time I try?".

Add in a situation with one of the dogs that keeps deteriorating and I am made out to be the bad guy because I don't want him here.  My house is a mess and we can't do anything about it because of this dog....a dog that was forced upon me to begin with.

Then pile on a weeklong stay by a relative that is putting more pressure on me that I don't want/need because I have a hubby who won't stand up to his family.

I just want to get in the car and drive.  I haven't felt like this since I had extremely bad post partum depression after #2 son was born, were I sat and cried for 6 months and then did actually leave home.

So keep some good thoughts for me.....


Sluggy

Taking a Teeny Break to Go Dig

My blog brain has dried up.
I blame the sunburn I got on Sunday for frying my brain as well.
I just got nothing to say lately....imagine that.....me with nothing to say! LOLOLOLOL
Crazy ain't it?

Well, it's true.
I am still feeling overwhelmed with what needs to get done here.
And today is the first nice day since Sunday so I am turning off the machine here and heading outside to work in the yard and the garage until my back gives out.
We are suppose to have another wet weekend so I have stuff to get done NOW.

I'll probably be back here by Saturday with my usual nonsense so stay tuned!
And don't forget to enter the BORING BOX GIVEAWAY every day.  See the latest post to enter(it's a couple posts down from this one)or check out the link on the top of the Right Side Bar.  Don't let Marilyn walk away with this one folks!lol
  I've got some more goodies for the box to post this weekend and then it's filled!!

Sluggy