Ever purged your collection in pursuit of one bag? How did it go?

[BomberGal]

I'm currently purging most of my wardrobe and bags so that I can get a particular bag... As well as maybe refresh my wardrobe.

But its mostly no-name or low-end stuff I'm purging. The bag I want is on clearence and there is only one left... So my chances of getting it before it sells are slim. But if it sells, I'll still have cleared out some space and gotten some funds to go toward... Something. lol

 

[doreenjoy]

:welcome2: to the new folks!

You might want to come over to Money Talks and peek in the Curbing Consumerism Club. The ladies in that thread are all working on resisting the "buy, buy, buy" messages. You'll find encouragement to make good financial decisions in there, not to mindlessly buy more stuff.

Currently, I have 40+ bags, so going down to 10-15 seems so daunting. I don't even know where to begin, but have been taking baby steps. So far, I'm selling those that don't get used much for one reason or another. Beyond that, I don't know what to do.

There was a tip earlier in this thread about forcing yourself to take out ONE bag and use it for an entire week. If you're tempted to switch to a different bag before the week is up, SELL that bag!

"Ick-bay" is the code word I use for *bay in contexts when I am not allowed to openly curse.

I call it FeeBay because the selling fees are outrageous. Gonna try Bonanzle with some scarves I have for sale.

 

[jc0812]

Thanks for the warm welcome doreenjoy! Great tip too...I actually just started doing something similar last week. I decided to wear each bag for about a week and if I wasn't totally in love with it, it would go on the chopping block. But it's still hard because I end up agonizing over it all week!

 

[Loquita]

alatrop, I think I definitely had an "oops" moment the second half of 2009. With all the great sales, I just went crazy and didn't think through my purchases carefully. You have a really positive attitude about it all and I think I should adopt that philosophy. I have to remind myself that another great bag is always just around the corner.

Lo, thanks for the warm welcome! I also really appreciate the encouragement. It's so nice to hear such positive words from ladies who have definitely been there before, some who have been there multiple times already! It was incredibly difficult talking to DH about it. He actually brought it up first and I was mortified but had to agree with him in the end. I mean, I was so delusional that I thought I could hide oh, 30-40 bags from him? I have to admit that he was extremely patient with me and I'm very thankful for that.

Oh, and ladies, your bags WILL sell. I've had stuff sit on Bonz for months and then sell. It seems like it will never sell but someday it will!

No worries, jc - you made the first step, which is incredibly hard but it's behind you now, and you can move forward with confidence.

We're all here to help!!!

I know it sounds so wacky coming from someone like me who is more of a spender than a saver, but owning one bag and not buying any others for more than a month now has taken me to the point where I am actually not wanting to buy anything unless it is ABSOLUTELY what I am searching for - and since that's incredibly difficult to find, I am not buying very much at all (my lack of bag buying has extended to other areas of my life, in fact).

However, like mayajuliana, I must confess to a healthy lip gloss addiction.

But I have come up with a trick to control even that: once I fill up the little acrylic holder that I just bought for my lip glosses, then I can't have any more, period. Coming up with a "finite" physical space for your bags might be helpful in the same way. It has worked for me, at least.

 

[doreenjoy]

Thanks for the warm welcome doreenjoy! Great tip too...I actually just started doing something similar last week. I decided to wear each bag for about a week and if I wasn't totally in love with it, it would go on the chopping block. But it's still hard because I end up agonizing over it all week!

^^ Well, keep in mind that if you sell a bag and then regret it, there is always another great bag out there.

I honestly feel so much better with only 3 to 5 everyday bags. I like some variety, but more bags than that and it's just too hard to decide which one to wear.

 

[redskater]

i had another really low offer, but no sales yet. i'm not feeling desperate, so i'm being patient. it is hard though!

try not to get too discouraged with the low offers, it happens to all of us at one point or another. If you aren't in a hurry wait until you get what you feel you need. I've sold things quick and sold things very slow on the bonz. but eventually I've sold everything I've put on there. I hate to pay the high fees on ebay so I try and be patient with bonanzle.

 

[jxwilliams]

jc welcome! There is no shame in being here, I think we are all just trying to find that happy medium. It is different for everybody but this thread personally helps me think about making more thoughtful purchases. As you can see from the posts, everybody has their demons, albeit bags, lipgloss, etc. Not long ago, I would buy RM's and Treesjes like candy, snapping up 3-4 on a binge (sample sale, Endless sale, after Thanksgiving sale, etc..). That is 3-4 bags at $300-$500 a piece!! That coming from a girl who is too cheap to buy new socks! WTF!! But slowly I have sold off a bunch of RM's that I loved but as I think about it, I don't even miss them. Crazy! Now I have a bunch for sale and I'm really okay with it. I realized I had an issue when I started hiding my bags from my DH because I knew deep down it was not cool to spend so much on bags. I am not there yet but am on the road to recovery! Anyhoo, I feel like this is a bit of a support group for me. Baby steps.

Oh and I listed my neverfull today...the lack of a top zipper didn't work out for me. Oh well.

Good luck wishes to everybody on their sales!!

 

[Kylacove]

I have to agree abut the RM situation. I am astounded at how poor the resale value on the bags is at this point - when I first got into RM about three years ago, you could post a coveted RM in EUC on ick-bay and it would be gone in mere minutes, at or often above retail. Now you are extremely lucky to break even on a bag, even if it is NWT. The people in the sf are great, though, so I keep visiting.

I have to wonder exactly what combination of factors is causing this. I think in part it has to do with the endless sales on RMs that you see online in the last year or so. I can remember when finding an RM at 10% off was a true rarity!

Being new to the forum I have a different idea about why RM's could be moving slowly. Unless you frequent places like the purse forum or follow designer handbags, no one I know has a clue who Rebecca Minkoff is. I don't know many ladies that buy handbags based on resale value except here but on if she likes the style and if she can afford it. In this economy the majority of the ladies I know would be horrified to spend over $200 for a purse.(Not making a judgement here. I don't tell my family how much I spend on a purse either because of the above). With all the quality issues listed on that subforum, I wouldn't touch a full price RM bag as there are too many better priced alternatives, but I might be tempted by a good discount price. It also seems the RM fans most likely to pay more in the past are now turned off on the brand and selling off their collections.

I applaud everyone paring down to what works for you. If you are realistic about resale values, I think your items will sell. I was tempted by an ebay listing, but the seller was too caught up in what she paid so she still has the purse.

 

[BrownPaperBag]

jc,

approximately how many months did it take for your bags to sell on bonanzle?

 

[jxwilliams]

I have to agree abut the RM situation. I am astounded at how poor the resale value on the bags is at this point - when I first got into RM about three years ago, you could post a coveted RM in EUC on ick-bay and it would be gone in mere minutes, at or often above retail. Now you are extremely lucky to break even on a bag, even if it is NWT. The people in the sf are great, though, so I keep visiting.

I have to wonder exactly what combination of factors is causing this. I think in part it has to do with the endless sales on RMs that you see online in the last year or so. I can remember when finding an RM at 10% off was a true rarity!

Being new to the forum I have a different idea about why RM's could be moving slowly. Unless you frequent places like the purse forum or follow designer handbags, no one I know has a clue who Rebecca Minkoff is. I don't know many ladies that buy handbags based on resale value except here but on if she likes the style and if she can afford it. In this economy the majority of the ladies I know would be horrified to spend over $200 for a purse.(Not making a judgement here. I don't tell my family how much I spend on a purse either because of the above). With all the quality issues listed on that subforum, I wouldn't touch a full price RM bag as there are too many better priced alternatives, but I might be tempted by a good discount price. It also seems the RM fans most likely to pay more in the past are now turned off on the brand and selling off their collections.

I applaud everyone paring down to what works for you. If you are realistic about resale values, I think your items will sell. I was tempted by an ebay listing, but the seller was too caught up in what she paid so she still has the purse.

Good point, it is so easy to get wrapped up in not wanting to take a big loss on RM's or any bag for that matter. It's tough finding the right price that I can live with and that the buyer can live with. I notice on Bonanzle, if I have it open to offers, I typically receive offers about 1/3 of my asking price. That stinks. My method is to slowly lower the price so I can mentally adjust.

 

[alatrop]

I have to remind myself that another great bag is always just around the corner.

EXACTLY! There may be a "must have" bag right now, but that could change within months...or even days! I know I have been very fickle with my tastes over the past few years. If I bought every single bag I thought was ~THE ONE~, I would have spent 4 times as much!

It takes time, it's definitely not a mindset that happens over night. The past year, especially, has really been a learning experience for me and I have changed my attitude towards bags (and overall spending) quite a bit.

 

[Kylacove]

Thanks JX for taking my post the right way. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I had an economics professor that stressed the point the value of used items wasn't what a person paid but what it cost you to keep them. It stuck with me. As far as ebay or bonanzle, unless I'm getting a good price (I've never offered as little as 1/3), I might as well buy retail for the piece of mind and return privileges.

This thread is also helpful to someone just building a handbag collection. There are too many styles and colors I don't have it is tempting to buy something "good enough" instead of waiting for the perfect bag. It is true that another bag will come along later.

 

[pigby]

Thanks for the great thread, Loquita, and thanks to everyone for some really insightful thoughts

Last spring, I decided to unload my relatively small RM collection (after having gone through a good fifteen bags to get to the four I had-- seriously, what is it with that brand?!) in exchange for one Mulberry. I felt virtuous until the end of summer, when life got a little stressful and I figured that a "couple" of pick-me-ups wouldn't hurt.

...and when the fog lifted, I found myself back where I started, but with much more expensive bags and a couple of RMs that had snuck their way back in to boot. ush:

I agree that everyone's magic number is different, and I feel like I've learned the hard way that mine is small. I need one black bag, one indestructible monster I can sling around for work or school, one black clutch, and, although it pains me to say it, probably only one Mulberry oak bag.

I have one or two adjustments left to make, and I'm here to remind myself that it's easier to refine my bags if I don't let my buying get out of control again. I'm also here to cheerlead for anyone who needs it-- good luck with the sales, they'll happen eventually!

 

[jc0812]

Thanks, Lo! I can see how you can get to the point where you are at. I am already a lot more discriminating about my purchases because of my one in/one out rule. I have to really love something to be willing to give up one of my current loves.

doreen, yes, you are so right. I have to keep reminding myself of that. There are tons of gorgeous bags out there!

jxwilliams, I know EXACTLY how you feel! You could have taken the words right out of my mouth. My DH is a pretty reasonable guy and if I have to hide stuff from him, then it's not a good sign. We keep each other on track!

Kylacove, I agree with a lot of what you said about RM. I think a lot of it also has to do with the huge variety that she has out there. When you have that many styles and colors, some are going to be more coveted than others.

BrownPaperBag, I didn't have specific bags in mind when I posted that. I've just had some bags sit around for a while, maybe a month or two. Eventually, everything sells though.

 

[thithi]

Popping back in here, are you ladies selling on bonanzle or ebay?

My bonanzle item still hasn't sold yet, is it normal for it to be this slow? I've decided to do a sort of to do a "clean up" each year... without fail. I need to be ruthless and purge bags which I do not use.... in order to buy a couple of classics which I'll use all the time.

My items on bonanzle haven't brought a lot of interest, so I put them on ebay this week to see if they'll move... if not, i'll continue to leave them on the bonz to see if they sell. I'm not in a rush but i'd like to get rid of them to make some space.

redskater, the resale value of MJ makes me sad as well, which is why i can't bring myself to buy full price for any of the bags unless i absolutely absolutely love love love it. the last time he had a bag that made me feel that way was the sweet punk line, and i'm berating myself for not picking up more of those pieces rather than waiting for a sale. however, none of the recent releases make my heart pitter patter that way so no more MJ for now. and thanks for the advice on the day... you're probably right that i should wait until one pops up, but the nikki would be such a nice quick fix. gah, i need to stop thinking that way!!

i definitely think everyone's magic number is different... i must have had 30+ bags, maybe 20 now, but i'll be happy if i can get it down to 10-15... happier still if i can get it down to 7-8.