He's so busy being a Terrorist I only seem to be able to get a photo of him sleeping these days; here he is after a long day out in the yard with his BFF Duff and a reminder: Tired Dogs are GOOD Dogs.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Boogie Down
Or more often heard around our house lately: "Boogie... DOWN!" Yes, our new pup Augie already has a nickname. It came to be after the first week or two when he got comfortable enough to start testing the waters and it became clear that our former little gentleman has a Terrorist alter ego. One that likes to corner cats, eat potholders, and shred anything to do with fabric. I have read that it's important with a young pup not to scold them too harshly unless you actually catch them doing something wrong in the act. Pointing at a sock he chewed an hour ago and yelling "BAD DOG!" is just going to confuse him so at some point when I stumbled upon some Augie Aftermath I found myself muttering "You're such a little Boogie." Later I caught him right in the midst of something and accidentally blurted out "Boogie Bin Laden!! You are a Terrorist!!" Kenny overheard me and it totally stuck, the poor pup is forevermore known as Boogie. Now, before you go all Kardashian on me "Oh. Mah. Gahd! I can't believe you call your dog BOOGIE, you should be ashamed of yourself! There are plenty of people in third world countries who would love to own a dog and would never call him Boogie Bin Laden!" (Trust me, I do get these emails) Just take a chill pill and embrace him in all his Boogie-ness; we do.
He's so busy being a Terrorist I only seem to be able to get a photo of him sleeping these days; here he is after a long day out in the yard with his BFF Duff and a reminder: Tired Dogs are GOOD Dogs.
He's so busy being a Terrorist I only seem to be able to get a photo of him sleeping these days; here he is after a long day out in the yard with his BFF Duff and a reminder: Tired Dogs are GOOD Dogs.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Haggling 201
Well, the Haggling 101 post was such a big hit I thought I'd share some advanced pointers for those of you on the accelerated path. Or one more pointer, anyway:
HAGGLE DON'T: Try to De-Value the item in hopes of getting it ridiculously cheap. "I'd need to spray paint it to cover up all of this rust." Ummm, rust is actually a selling point for some people, particularly in the area of garden items; So No, I can't sell it to you for half price. "It needs an awful lot of work." I can appreciate that you might want to restore it to pristine original condition, but I can guarantee there are plenty of people that would snap up this Hoosier cabinet at this price and slap it into their kitchen as is, loving every single character flaw so again, I can't give you $100 off of this $199 item.
I don't mean to sound flippant in my responses to these people, but really, it's so frustrating. With almost 5 years under our belt here at Salvage Chic, we know our price points. We don't have a huge mark-up but we make our money on volume, high turnover keeps our customers coming back. Unfortunately the secondhand market is associated with haggling, but we're not at a yard sale here. Imagine if someone came into your workplace and said "Hey, how about you take a 20% cut in pay today?" And then handed you a credit card so it was actually closer to 25%. YAY.
Things I would never be cheeky enough to try: At my hairdresser's "Hey, I love this cut & color, but not at the $85 price point you're trying to charge me. I'll give you $60." Or the mechanic: "Awesome oil change, thanks, but it's not really worth $35 to me, I'll give you $20." And my ever favorite, at CVS: "I'll give you $1.50 CASH for this Chapstick, $2.99 is pretty insane since it's not even cherry flavor."
HAGGLE DON'T: Try to De-Value the item in hopes of getting it ridiculously cheap. "I'd need to spray paint it to cover up all of this rust." Ummm, rust is actually a selling point for some people, particularly in the area of garden items; So No, I can't sell it to you for half price. "It needs an awful lot of work." I can appreciate that you might want to restore it to pristine original condition, but I can guarantee there are plenty of people that would snap up this Hoosier cabinet at this price and slap it into their kitchen as is, loving every single character flaw so again, I can't give you $100 off of this $199 item.
I don't mean to sound flippant in my responses to these people, but really, it's so frustrating. With almost 5 years under our belt here at Salvage Chic, we know our price points. We don't have a huge mark-up but we make our money on volume, high turnover keeps our customers coming back. Unfortunately the secondhand market is associated with haggling, but we're not at a yard sale here. Imagine if someone came into your workplace and said "Hey, how about you take a 20% cut in pay today?" And then handed you a credit card so it was actually closer to 25%. YAY.
Things I would never be cheeky enough to try: At my hairdresser's "Hey, I love this cut & color, but not at the $85 price point you're trying to charge me. I'll give you $60." Or the mechanic: "Awesome oil change, thanks, but it's not really worth $35 to me, I'll give you $20." And my ever favorite, at CVS: "I'll give you $1.50 CASH for this Chapstick, $2.99 is pretty insane since it's not even cherry flavor."
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Little Orphan Augie
Is an orphan no more! Kenny and I trekked up to NH last Friday to pick up the newest member of our family, a coonhound/rat terrier mix rescued from Tennessee. Here we are meeting him in the pouring rain:
I should've had my head examined ordering a puppy sight unseen off of Petfinder, but we really lucked out. What a little love; we settled him into the car for the long ride home from NH and after a few confused looks at us, he promptly passed out.
Augie had been hosted in a Foster Home for a month or so before he was transported up here at the age of 5-1/2 months. I was really worried I was missing out on his formative training days but am delighted to report he showed up a true little Southern gentleman with house manners and a basic knowledge of potty training. Our resident coonhound Duff, who's only 3 but acts like he's about 80, was pretty nervous about the prospect of his 'Mini-Me' at first.
Day 1 Duff wanted nothing to do with sitting near him; Day 3 he allowed Augie to share a piece of furniture with him; Day 4 he voluntarily jumped on a piece of furniture Augie was already enjoying and Day 5 after a busy playdate with my friend and her daughter, these 2 BFFs passed out together.
Sorry for the tiny photos, I shot some of them with my phone. But, you get the idea. Looking forward to sharing many fun Augie stories with you all in the future. And - just to clear the record for those of you who read the 'Tick-Tock' blog and thought my husband REALLY wanted a baby... I was talking about a pup the whole time. We are both delighted with the addition to the family!!
I should've had my head examined ordering a puppy sight unseen off of Petfinder, but we really lucked out. What a little love; we settled him into the car for the long ride home from NH and after a few confused looks at us, he promptly passed out.
Augie had been hosted in a Foster Home for a month or so before he was transported up here at the age of 5-1/2 months. I was really worried I was missing out on his formative training days but am delighted to report he showed up a true little Southern gentleman with house manners and a basic knowledge of potty training. Our resident coonhound Duff, who's only 3 but acts like he's about 80, was pretty nervous about the prospect of his 'Mini-Me' at first.
Day 1 Duff wanted nothing to do with sitting near him; Day 3 he allowed Augie to share a piece of furniture with him; Day 4 he voluntarily jumped on a piece of furniture Augie was already enjoying and Day 5 after a busy playdate with my friend and her daughter, these 2 BFFs passed out together.
Sorry for the tiny photos, I shot some of them with my phone. But, you get the idea. Looking forward to sharing many fun Augie stories with you all in the future. And - just to clear the record for those of you who read the 'Tick-Tock' blog and thought my husband REALLY wanted a baby... I was talking about a pup the whole time. We are both delighted with the addition to the family!!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Haggling 101
Trust me, the LAST thing I want to do is encourage people to haggle. With Salvage Chic being more of a boutique atmosphere than a yard sale, we have a lot of overhead and we're not one of those places that marks UP to mark DOWN. Nevertheless, people automatically associate the Junktique Business with Haggling, so it might be time for a few friendly pointers.
Haggle DON'T: Bring up every single small item that possibly piques your interest and ask "What's your Best Price on THIS?" and then mull it over with a disgusted look on your face before putting the item back and bringing up another one. That's just annoying.
Haggle DON'T: Insult me with a ridiculously low offer followed by the word CASH. Sure, I wanted to get $200 for it, but I'll take 75 CASH so I can stick it in my mattress with all my other unreported income... NOT.
Haggle DON'T: Assume your CASH payment means you're not going to be charged Sales Tax. I try this now and then at CVS and they always look at me like I'm an idiot so I feel pretty confident in looking at you that way too.
Haggle DO: "I'm kind of interested in this (insert significant item like a large piece of furniture). Has it been here a while?" If the response is that IT JUST ARRIVED, that means THE PRICE IS FIRM. If it's more along the lines of I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW LONG THAT'S BEEN HERE, I'M SO SICK OF LOOKING AT IT! there might be a little wiggle room... a LITTLE.
Haggle DON'T: Bring up every single small item that possibly piques your interest and ask "What's your Best Price on THIS?" and then mull it over with a disgusted look on your face before putting the item back and bringing up another one. That's just annoying.
Haggle DON'T: Insult me with a ridiculously low offer followed by the word CASH. Sure, I wanted to get $200 for it, but I'll take 75 CASH so I can stick it in my mattress with all my other unreported income... NOT.
Haggle DON'T: Assume your CASH payment means you're not going to be charged Sales Tax. I try this now and then at CVS and they always look at me like I'm an idiot so I feel pretty confident in looking at you that way too.
Haggle DO: "I'm kind of interested in this (insert significant item like a large piece of furniture). Has it been here a while?" If the response is that IT JUST ARRIVED, that means THE PRICE IS FIRM. If it's more along the lines of I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW LONG THAT'S BEEN HERE, I'M SO SICK OF LOOKING AT IT! there might be a little wiggle room... a LITTLE.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
To the TICK-TOCK, Ya Don't STOP
What WAS that ominous ticking? My Husband's Biological Clock. Apparently at 32, he is not getting any younger. He's been after me for months to add another member to our family. I told him when I was ready, Adoption would be the way to go, thinking that was a good stall tactic. (Do you know how much PAPERWORK is involved?) I even told him I had gotten the ball rolling on that front; that seemed to satisfy him for a while.
Weeks would go by and just when I'd think the coast was clear, there it was again: TICK-TOCK like a suspicious package left on the subway. Just when he appeared he was happy enough surfing online looking at potential candidates for his Adoption Pipe Dream, he'd suddenly be all "WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE ADOPTION PROCESS?" Oh...I'd mutter a few words like 'Home Inspection' or 'I had to give them 3 more Personal References' and he would go away.
Meanwhile my Inbox was jammed with links he'd send me to photos of these really pitiful looking orphans. It was so depressing I made a rule to have my email view them as Spam and automatically delete them as they came in.
Finally this week, there it was again, TICK-TOCK TICK-TOCK and just when I was about to hit the Big Ol' Kenny Snooze Button, I realized... that was MY OWN CLOCK!
I finally caved. And managed to complete that 'Paperwork' pretty damn quick.
This little guy will be added to our family in just a few short weeks!! We're going to call him Auggie. I can't wait to meet him!!
Weeks would go by and just when I'd think the coast was clear, there it was again: TICK-TOCK like a suspicious package left on the subway. Just when he appeared he was happy enough surfing online looking at potential candidates for his Adoption Pipe Dream, he'd suddenly be all "WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE ADOPTION PROCESS?" Oh...I'd mutter a few words like 'Home Inspection' or 'I had to give them 3 more Personal References' and he would go away.
Meanwhile my Inbox was jammed with links he'd send me to photos of these really pitiful looking orphans. It was so depressing I made a rule to have my email view them as Spam and automatically delete them as they came in.
Finally this week, there it was again, TICK-TOCK TICK-TOCK and just when I was about to hit the Big Ol' Kenny Snooze Button, I realized... that was MY OWN CLOCK!
I finally caved. And managed to complete that 'Paperwork' pretty damn quick.
This little guy will be added to our family in just a few short weeks!! We're going to call him Auggie. I can't wait to meet him!!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Baby, It's Cold Outside!
Or, "F.F." as my Mom would say. For those of you playing at home, one of those F's is FREEZING... I'll let you fill in the blank.
So now, for a little Warmth from Within. I was lucky enough to be off from the shop today and spent the day as I most LOVE to do on days like this, puttering around the house in my PJs. I swore I was going to do nothing at all except watch a Law & Order Marathon; Kenny bet me 5 bucks I would be off the couch by the end of the 2nd episode but I held strong through 2 and a half before the urge to putter got the best of me. Then I went on a tear in the kitchen, taking everything off the counters and cleaning it within an inch of its life before I put it back. I know on those HGTV House Selling shows they advise you should clear a kitchen of everything but the essentials so Buyers don't think your kitchen lacks storage. But I think done right, clutter can be a selling point. Not that I'm selling my house... but wouldn't YOU want to live in a kitchen with a windowsill as 'cluttered' as this? It just puts a smile on my face; hope it warms you up too!
So now, for a little Warmth from Within. I was lucky enough to be off from the shop today and spent the day as I most LOVE to do on days like this, puttering around the house in my PJs. I swore I was going to do nothing at all except watch a Law & Order Marathon; Kenny bet me 5 bucks I would be off the couch by the end of the 2nd episode but I held strong through 2 and a half before the urge to putter got the best of me. Then I went on a tear in the kitchen, taking everything off the counters and cleaning it within an inch of its life before I put it back. I know on those HGTV House Selling shows they advise you should clear a kitchen of everything but the essentials so Buyers don't think your kitchen lacks storage. But I think done right, clutter can be a selling point. Not that I'm selling my house... but wouldn't YOU want to live in a kitchen with a windowsill as 'cluttered' as this? It just puts a smile on my face; hope it warms you up too!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Right Frame of Mind
I just haven't been in it lately, for Blogging, anyway. I know, I know, a lot of people have been disappointed to check in for the last 5 weeks only to be greeted yet again by the "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" post. A couple of nights I have sat down thinking "Let me just dash out a paragraph or two to calm the hungry masses," only to be stymied by what I can best describe as Blogger's Block. It really hit home when the calendar year turned and I saw that I had only blogged on average twice a month in 2010; what the #!&*! was going on?
To compound matters, people have started walking into the shop and before I can even get out a "Hi, How are you?" they're all "No New Blogs Lately, Huh." SIGH. So much for all the great changes in the shop; did you see how we made Christmas Happen, and then Un-Happen, once again in Epic Salvage Chic Proportions? Can I get a WOOT, WOOT for scrounging up the freshest, fiercest array of inventory possible and laying it all out on the website on a daily basis, so you can peruse it at leisure without leaving the comfort of your home or PJs? No, I get it... what you really want to know is what my dog has been up to.
As the Pressure to Blog continued to build with no good Subject Matter at hand, I said to Kenny: "Now I know how J.K. Rowling feels when people ask her when the next Harry Potter segment is coming out. Do you think she ever wants to reply 'when I Bloody Hogwort feel like it'? He laughed and said he understood how I must feel, but the look he gave me said "GET OVER YOURSELF!" I know, he's right... right?
So today at the shop rather than deal with the Blog Block I was in full Stop Procrastinating Mode, dragging all kinds of stuff out that's been languishing in the back room; when I came upon THIS lovely specimen brought in by one of my Prize Pickers.
Superbly Shabby Chic indeed, but it's an empty frame with no back, no glass, no hook to hang it. How the *!%#!? am I supposed to merchandise THIS? And how much would someone possibly want to pay for it?? Wait a minute... it kind of looks like it belongs in my sunroom. Another thing I've been meaning to Blog about, but it's just not QUITE done... I thought to myself, 'Too bad there's nowhere in there to hang it.' Or IS there?? Something started tickling the back of my brain so I brought it home tonight and, VOILA! Problem Solved. Now Kenny can't complain the TV looks dinky on the wall, and I have something to BLOG ABOUT!! I think I finally got my Mojo back. Now, if I could just figure out how to hide that stupid cord...
To compound matters, people have started walking into the shop and before I can even get out a "Hi, How are you?" they're all "No New Blogs Lately, Huh." SIGH. So much for all the great changes in the shop; did you see how we made Christmas Happen, and then Un-Happen, once again in Epic Salvage Chic Proportions? Can I get a WOOT, WOOT for scrounging up the freshest, fiercest array of inventory possible and laying it all out on the website on a daily basis, so you can peruse it at leisure without leaving the comfort of your home or PJs? No, I get it... what you really want to know is what my dog has been up to.
As the Pressure to Blog continued to build with no good Subject Matter at hand, I said to Kenny: "Now I know how J.K. Rowling feels when people ask her when the next Harry Potter segment is coming out. Do you think she ever wants to reply 'when I Bloody Hogwort feel like it'? He laughed and said he understood how I must feel, but the look he gave me said "GET OVER YOURSELF!" I know, he's right... right?
So today at the shop rather than deal with the Blog Block I was in full Stop Procrastinating Mode, dragging all kinds of stuff out that's been languishing in the back room; when I came upon THIS lovely specimen brought in by one of my Prize Pickers.
Superbly Shabby Chic indeed, but it's an empty frame with no back, no glass, no hook to hang it. How the *!%#!? am I supposed to merchandise THIS? And how much would someone possibly want to pay for it?? Wait a minute... it kind of looks like it belongs in my sunroom. Another thing I've been meaning to Blog about, but it's just not QUITE done... I thought to myself, 'Too bad there's nowhere in there to hang it.' Or IS there?? Something started tickling the back of my brain so I brought it home tonight and, VOILA! Problem Solved. Now Kenny can't complain the TV looks dinky on the wall, and I have something to BLOG ABOUT!! I think I finally got my Mojo back. Now, if I could just figure out how to hide that stupid cord...
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