DIY Kitchen Cart Boho Bohemian Makeover ; Simple and Cheap ft Wayfair Wallpaper

When I moved into my apartment there was this rustic looking cart in the kitchen, it's always been an eyesore to me so I decided to use some leftover contact/wallpaper to spice it up a bit.

This is a very easy DIY project and pretty cheap as well. 

I started off by cleaning the shelf off with water and cleaner.

Then I traced the top shelf on to the back of the contact paper, I cut out three sheets using the first sheet as a template. Then I put the contact paper on the shelves using a card to make sure it was flat with no air bubbles, and you're done. 

I'm pretty happy with the results and I think it really makes the kitchen come together, I actually used this contact paper for a couple other kitchen DIYs which I will share in another blog post soon. 

Selling Online ; Shipping Tips via USPS for Mercari Poshmark and Ebay

So you want to be an online seller? Well a huge part of that is shipping your sold items to their new owners and today I'm going to give you some tips on shipping. 

1. Research ; 

Always do your research on how you're going to ship your items, USPS has free packaging available for Priority and Express mail but make sure you're shipping the item via those mail options, if you ship items in a Priority package but you paid for ground shipping, the item may be returned or the customer may have to pay a fee to receive their order and most customers will not be happy about having to pay for their item again. You also want to be getting the best deal for yourself, so look into each shipping option to see which is best for you.

2. Make it pretty ; 

Who doesn't love presents? Receiving a package in the mail is like a gift for yourself and it's even better when you receive a pretty package. You don't have to go all out, you could keep it simple with  a nice thank you card or you can do a little extra and add some tissue paper. Depending on how serious you are for your business you could also get some business cards and add one in each package. 

3. Recycle ; 

I personally receive lots of packages myself as I am an online buyer myself, so I keep all my boxes to use to recycle for my orders. It's cost friendly and eco friendly, a win-win situation.

4. Weigh It ;

This actually goes with the research part a bit but I recommend getting a scale, I just got a small produce/food scale. This way you can weigh packages to choose the correct shipping label or estimate the shipping price via USPS.

Tips specifically for each selling platform.

Ebay ; 

Know your stuff, for ebay you can ship via USPS on Paypal or you can just ship it yourself at the post office. If you're selling on Ebay I highly recommend you get a scale to weigh items in their packaging to get an accurate shipping weight to charge buyers.

Mercari ;

You can ship via Mercari's prepaid labels or you can ship the items at the post office on your own, however I always preferred to just use the labels they provide, it just seems a lot simpler to me.

Poshmark ; 

This is actually one of my favorite platforms to sell on mostly because the shipping is so easy. They provide a priority prepaid shipping label which is great because you can use the free packages from the post office. You can also order some on USPS.com and have it delivered to your house, completely free.

I've included some short clips/photos that showcases how I personally package orders.

Do you have any shipping tips? Share them below in the comments.

Apartment Friendly Budget Bathroom Makeover ; Industrial Farmhouse Rustic Decor Hobby Lobby + Target

Here are some of my favorite bathroom finds for a bathroom makeover. Most of these items are from Hobby Lobby but a couple are from Target. Don't forget to keep an eye out for sales, hobby lobby has 50% off sales all the time, so you can find most of these items for a really good price. Target occasionally has 30% off home items.

Hobby Lobby 

Industrial Pipe Shelves  

Industrial Pipe Towel Holder 

Wipe the Seat Sign 

Take a Seat Sign 

Bathroom Rules Sign 

Target 

Shower Curtain 

Soap Dispenser  

Toothbrush Holder

Soap Dish 

 

I am not being sponsored by Hobby Lobby or Target (unfortunately) these are just some of my favorite bathroom finds to upgrade a rented apartment or to revamp any bathroom to a nice rustic feel.

5 Important Tips & Tricks to Make Sales on Poshmark Selling App for Resellers

 

Cover photo

Tip # 1 ; Descriptions are worth a thousand words ;

 Be descriptive as possible when creating a listing, you never know who is looking for a specific item. Let's say you're listing this 

Find this cardigan here!

for the title I used "Brand New NWTs Chunky Fair Isle Cardigan" letting the potential buyer know that this item is brand new with the tags still attached, also letting them know the print and that it's a chunky cardigan, other words I could use in the title to help a potential buyer would be large buttons, snowflakes, Christmas, holidays, etc. If you have a lot of words that could describe the item and not enough space in the title, use it in the description because it will still show up for searches, with this example I actually used other keywords in the description.

Tip #2 ; Cover Shot 

The first thing your potential buyer sees is the cover shot of your item so make sure the photo is good quality and shows your item well, here are a few examples.

The first photo doesn't show the full item but it's aesthetically pleasing and will appeal to plenty of potential buyers, the second photo is a collage of a stock photo and an ootd type photo this shows potential buyers how the item might look on them plus gives them an outfit idea, the last one is of the item on a mannequin while showing the full item. You can also do flatlays with a plain background or with a few aesthetic items. For example let's say you're selling some workout leggings, you can lay them on a solid background and add some sneakers and headphones on the side to have a nice cover shot. I use multiple cover themes and sometimes I change all my cover shots to change up my shop and I have noticed sales increase with different covers. When I first started I used photos like the one below then started changing it up and I started making more sales. You want a photo that will catch the buyers eye.

Tip #3 ; Make Offers

Always list your items for a little more than you're wanting to make because people love deals, give yourself some wiggle room for sales or for offers. While people can send offers don't forget to take advantage of the offer to buyers feature. I've made many sales by making offers to likers. Most of the time when I'm wanting to lower the price of an item I will make offers to likers and if doesn't sell by the next day I will lower the price to new potential buyers, this will also share your item to the "price drop" page for that brand. 

Tip #4 ; SHARE! 

Everyone always recommends to share other shops listings because other shops tend to return the favor and your items will be shared with their followers. While I recommend you share items from other peoples shops, I also recommend you share your own listings. Sharing your listings will make them pop up on the brand page and will bring in new followers and potential customers plus it also keeps your shop organized, as all your active listings will be at the top of your closet. Personally I share my listings every single day, multiple times a day. If you have a little free time instead of scrolling through facebook, go share your listings and potentially make some money. 

Tips #5 ; Join the Party

 Poshmark holds 3 Parties a day and if you have items that you can share to those parties, I recommend sharing those items. When Posh holds certain parties like "Trending: Zara, Converse, Levi’s & More Party" share your Zara, Converse, & Levi's items because people in that party are looking for those specific brands. 

New to the poshmark selling app / site? Use the code BASICALLYBELLA for a $5 credit!

Want to see my page for inspiration or maybe to find some deals? Here's the link ; https://poshmark.com/closet/basicallybella

Thrifting Online | Where to Shop Preowned Clothing with Short Reviews ( ebay, Mercari, Poshmark, Swap, ThredUp & more!)

Who doesn't love thrift shopping? I personally love it and while I love going out and looking for a good deal, I can't always go out, whether its because of work, the weather, etc it's always nice to have a back up thrift shop, that's where the internet comes in. (Thank you modern technology.) 

So today I'm going to list some of my favorite online thrift stores with a little review on each site. You can find full reviews on most of these sites on my blog site. 

1. Mercari ; This is a selling app similar to ebay, it's mostly people selling stuff they don't want anymore. I love that you can make offers on everything with that being said it doesn't mean everyone negotiates but most people are selling items they want to get rid of so a lot of things are reasonably priced. 

2. Ebay ; eBay has always been a hit or miss with me, sometimes I find really great deals and other times I can't find anything that I like for a good deal. A lot of resellers use ebay so they tend to price things a bit higher than you'll find on other selling sites. 

3. Poshmark ; I love Poshmark, its another selling site where people are selling items they don't want anymore. The only downfall for Poshmark is the shipping is $6.49, it's priority shipping which is nice but when I find something for under $6 I don't always want to pay more for shipping. 

4. Swap ; I've actually been loving this site lately. I've been ordering from them for the past few weeks, religiously. They have really nice sales and the prices aren't too bad, depending on the brand. I'm not a fan on how they size things, especially pants so I mostly buy my tops from there. (Keep an eye out for a haul plus a review on my blog, I'm just waiting for my package to arrive. 

5. Schoola ; I used to shop on Schoola all the time, you can check my blog for reviews. They also have plenty of nice sales, sometimes even 50% off your total purchase which is amazing. Their items are also priced reasonable. I personally don't purchase from Schoola anymore because of a problem I encountered with their customer service and credit program but I'd still recommend checking them out.

6. ThredUp ; Another old favorite of mine, I haven't purchased from them in awhile because their prices are a bit more expensive than the other sites I've mentioned but you can find really good quality clothes on Thredup plus the customer service is nice. 

7. Vinted ; I decided to include this site as well but honestly I haven't tried it out. I made an account awhile back but I never really got on it or made any purchases but it is another site where you can thrift for clothes.

Links and Codes for FREE Credits ;
Mercari ; https://merc.li/kGGBQpb $10 credit
Poshmark ; Download the app and use code BASICALLYBELLA for a $5 credit
Swap ; https://refer.swap.com/s/qox5d 20% off your first order
Schoola ; https://www.schoola.com/stitch?ref=cp-3X1oqnW1F $10 credit
Thredup ; http://www.thredup.com/r/IZWOCF $10 credit

Mercari Review + New Features and Promo Offer Free $10 Credit

Some of you may know I've bought and sold on Mercari for quite some time, years. I've had great experiences and some awful experiences.

You can read about one of my awful experiences here ; http://basicallyybella.blogspot.com/2015/06/mercari-review-hit-miss-but-i-wouldnt.html

Now with that being said, I still use Mercari for both selling and buying but I do not make large purchases. If you've read my old reviews or posts on Mercari you'll be happy to learn Mercari has made plenty of updates that help buyers and sellers, let's talk about them. 

Offers ; You can now use a "offer" button to make offers on items you're interested in. This feature has been on Ebay and Poshmark for quite some times and it's something I've always wanted Mercari to add it. This helps buyers make quick offers and it helps sellers because if an offer is made and accepted the payment is processed immediately. 

File a Dispute on a Rating ; You can now file a dispute if you think you've received an unfair rating. If someone leaves a bad rating because they didn't read the description, because the post office had delays on shipping, or some other unfair reason you can now file a dispute the rating to have it removed.

Opening Multiple Cases at Once ; I've had plenty of problems in the past where you could only contact customer service one time and then contact them again only after the first case is solved. This proved to be a nuisance if you purchase and sell a lot of items on Mercari but you don't have to deal with that anymore, you can now contact Mercari about multiple orders. 

Review ; Mercari is a great site to sell and to buy on. I do not recommend purchasing high priced items or electronics because of my past experiences. Mercari does have customer service so if you receive an item that is not as described you can return it for a refund. In order to file a claim you must contact Mercari and you can not leave a rating because that will close the order. You must also be able to prove you received an item that was not as described by sending Mercari photos.

Pros ;    
cheap selling fees
sell almost any items
offer button
customer service available for returns
rating system so buyers can see how reliable seller is
you can find great items for low prices

Cons ;
You can't purchase electronics without a risk

Now on to the Promo ; For a limited time only you can get a $10 credit for downloading the Mercari app (free) and using invite code YYSGQZ (new members only)

I'm thinking of posting a FAQ/tutorial on Mercari things, like how to request a return, etc. Would anybody be interested in these posts? If so ask some questions below that you think should be answered. 

Influenster | Ralph Lauren Red Extreme Polo Cologne Review

I received the Ralph Lauren Red Extreme Polo Cologne a few weeks ago from Influenster for FREE in return for my honest review. So here's what I think of the Ralph  Lauren Red Extreme Polo Cologne.

Smells ; Amazing, it's strong but not overwhelming which I love. It's a very masculine woodsy smell in my opinion.

Lasts ; all day, the smell is long lasting.

Boyfriends thoughts ; He liked it and uses it daily.

Rating ;

Would I buy it again ; If I saw it on sale, I would definitely purchase it again but I'm not a huge fan of the price, is it worth it? Yes but it's out of my budget.

* Disclaimer ; I received this item for free from Influenster but my opinion is 100% my own.