I PURGED MY DOONEY COLLECTION

[G.Allyn]

I finished this morning and am fine with having less. After collecting for twenty years, downsizing homes and having my taste change, now was the time to do the final give-away, donate and sell purge.

I ended up keeping 12 Alto's, 2 travel weekenders, 5 wallets and 3 florentine.

I ordered tags for the remaining bags to keep everything marked in their blue D&B bags. If anyone has found I good organizing system, I would love to have you share your ideas and I could implement them before I finish organizing my smaller collection.

Hope all of you are well!

 

[lavenderjunkie]

Some people have printed small pictures of their Dooneys and along with
identifying info and have made them into small laminated tags to attach to the
strings of the dust bags, for easy identification.

Congratulations on your organization, sorting, and deciding which treasures
to keep. Enjoy your collection.

 

[G.Allyn]

Some people have printed small pictures of their Dooneys and along with
identifying info and have made them into small laminated tags to attach to the
strings of the dust bags, for easy identification.

Congratulations on your organization, sorting, and deciding which treasures
to keep. Enjoy your collection.

Good idea! I think having a picture will make it easier when I am looking for a bag. I purchased some "key" tags and fine point markers, but the photo is a better idea. I want to be able to grab a different bag and swap out the contents. Lately, I noticed I wasn't using different bags and most of the bags I kept have never been used.

After looking at everything, I still want a dark grey Alto. I have a serious gap in my D&B handbag collection and am waiting for a good sale.

I hope all is well with you, lavenderjunkie. You are a wealth of information and always quick to help us in this group. Thanks!

 

[lavenderjunkie]

G.Allyn: it's always nice to chat with you. Don't be a stranger, now that you
are almost at 'handbag peace'.

I hope you find your dark grey Alto. They did have that
color a few years ago and then I remember seeing it a season or two ago also.
I haven't found any of the more recent Alto styles make me want to spend $$$,
but everyone has different needs/preferences in handbag styles and function.

I've still bought a few Altos, when the price was good, but they don't seem to have
the elegance and 'finishing details' of Altos of years ago. I'm not referring to quality,
just to styling. I'm not a fan of the running stitch and extra leather trim pieces.
Although I don't think that kind of design leads to a handbag that stays pristine with lots of use. All the bags look alike and very casual to me. Maybe they are targeting a younger audience.

 

[G.Allyn]

I finished labeling all my bags today and put them in order. Satchel's and cross-body's seem to be my main style, but I have a few shoulder bags. I found an old woven shopper (multi-colored). I think it's called the Tessuta or something like that. I forgot I had it. Anyway, I used color "key" tags that have a little area where you can write the style and color. I'm going to use lavenderjunkie's idea of photo's.

Actually, the process made me fall in love with the bags I collected. I have done a big clothing, shoe, boot and handbag clear out. I gave away or donated about six large totes of Aquatalia, L.K. Bennett, Reiss, Dooney & Bourke and other main street type brands. Almost all new, never worn, and with the attached tags. It means I buy too much and need to stop. It's better to have someone use something or have a chance to sell it. I've had several spine surgeries and would struggle to sell and ship to online buyers. Oh, well!

lavenderjunkie, you had me thinking about my Alto's. I saw the names: Phillipa, Viola, Camilla, Valentina, Giovanna ect and it made me wonder what this says about me and my taste. I think I tend to like what I consider a "good basic". It sounds pretty vanilla of me, but every time I go out of my comfort zone with fashion---it does not seem to work.

That's why I like it here at purseforum. We all like so many different Dooney collections that meet our style needs. It's fun to hear about what people buy and why. Cheers to all!

 

[Purpleflower123]

Kudos to you for doing a big clean and realizing what works for you!

 

[all2joy]

I finished this morning and am fine with having less. After collecting for twenty years, downsizing homes and having my taste change, now was the time to do the final give-away, donate and sell purge.

I ended up keeping 12 Alto's, 2 travel weekenders, 5 wallets and 3 florentine.

I ordered tags for the remaining bags to keep everything marked in their blue D&B bags. If anyone has found I good organizing system, I would love to have you share your ideas and I could implement them before I finish organizing my smaller collection.

Hope all of you are well!

Do you have pictures?

 

[G.Allyn]

Do you have pictures?

Hello!

Do you mean pictures of the bags or pictures of the finished closet? I put all the bags (I collect only leather) in the blue D&B dust bags. I put tags on the bags (as suggested by one of the friendly, helpful women on PF). It may have been lavenderjunkie.

Anyway, no photos since it is shelf after shelf and all are in bags. It is more practical than beautiful.

Just an aside, but it is bugging me today. I gave away 75% of my closet clear-out and decided to sell about 25%. Just to explain myself, I am a very picky and fastidious person. It is not something I like about myself.

Anyway, I was very careful about choosing things to sell online. I buy many classic items. Kind of typical for a Dooney lover. I listed about fifty items for sale and sold about 20 this past week. Examples: A Fay Italian coat NWT's $1200.00 (sold for $139.00) and lululemon set of five energy sports bras (4 NWT's and 1 NWOT) set of 5 sold for $65.00.

Today we get our first complaint. My husband has been helping me. I sold a Michael Simon Christmas sweater (never worn) NWOT's. It was $176.00 and I sold it for $25.00. I got a NAD complaint. She said the white snow part had some "stains". I looked over everything, took the photos, went over garments with a lint brush in case there was a single stray piece of lint, wrapped every item in bright white tissue paper, put a floral "thank you" sticker on each item, placed the clothing in a new clear plastic self-seal bag and boxed the item and took it to USPS the same day. I feel a bit sick. I try so hard to be a fair and honest person. I would never overestimate the quality of something. Ironically, I had only one item that was not new. Everything NIB, NWOB, NWT's or NWOT's. She bought the one item that had been worn one time and she wants to keep that one. She paid $25.00 for that one as well.

I give up! I don't think I will ever try this online selling ever again. I am glad I gave my Dooney bags to my neighbor. She appreciated it and no complaints. Thanks for listening to my rant.

I hope everyone is well. I will try to be in a better mood the next time I come here.

 

[lavenderjunkie]

Hello!

Do you mean pictures of the bags or pictures of the finished closet? I put all the bags (I collect only leather) in the blue D&B dust bags. I put tags on the bags (as suggested by one of the friendly, helpful women on PF). It may have been lavenderjunkie.

Anyway, no photos since it is shelf after shelf and all are in bags. It is more practical than beautiful.

Just an aside, but it is bugging me today. I gave away 75% of my closet clear-out and decided to sell about 25%. Just to explain myself, I am a very picky and fastidious person. It is not something I like about myself.

Anyway, I was very careful about choosing things to sell online. I buy many classic items. Kind of typical for a Dooney lover. I listed about fifty items for sale and sold about 20 this past week. Examples: A Fay Italian coat NWT's $1200.00 (sold for $139.00) and lululemon set of five energy sports bras (4 NWT's and 1 NWOT) set of 5 sold for $65.00.

Today we get our first complaint. My husband has been helping me. I sold a Michael Simon Christmas sweater (never worn) NWOT's. It was $176.00 and I sold it for $25.00. I got a NAD complaint. She said the white snow part had some "stains". I looked over everything, took the photos, went over garments with a lint brush in case there was a single stray piece of lint, wrapped every item in bright white tissue paper, put a floral "thank you" sticker on each item, placed the clothing in a new clear plastic self-seal bag and boxed the item and took it to USPS the same day. I feel a bit sick. I try so hard to be a fair and honest person. I would never overestimate the quality of something. Ironically, I had only one item that was not new. Everything NIB, NWOB, NWT's or NWOT's. She bought the one item that had been worn one time and she wants to keep that one. She paid $25.00 for that one as well.

I give up! I don't think I will ever try this online selling ever again. I am glad I gave my Dooney bags to my neighbor. She appreciated it and no complaints. Thanks for listening to my rant.

I hope everyone is well. I will try to be in a better mood the next time I come here.

G: just remember... it's not you.... it's the other person. There are lots of stories of people saying they didn't get an item or it wasn't as described, etc. And sometimes they
return a high end luxury item with a fake and want a refund of the price they paid.
I give my handbags away too. I don't want to deal with resale and the hassles and work.
I'm sorry you had to go thru this. It takes the joy out of the entire project.

 

[swags]

Selling is stressful. I did some selling over the summer and between the eBay fees and shipping, it was barely worth it. Plus, now once you hit $600 in sales, ebay has to 1099 sellers.

 

[G.Allyn]

My thanks to lavenderjunkie and swags for your kind words. I needed them.

My fingers are crossed for the last seven items to meet buyers satisfaction. Hopefully, in the next week I will know if everyone is happy with their purchases.

Guess what I spotted this morning? I WAS (closed our closet after the complaint) on "P" selling sight and looked on "E" this morning to see how much Michael Simon Christmas sweaters were selling for on another site.

Low and behold, but the first sweater I sold this woman, a Michael Simon XL (not my size but purchased on sale for gift giving) cat with stockings is being sold there for $220.00. I sold it to her for $25.00. Profit is not a dirty word, but come on...buy cheap from us, complain and try to turn around and make some cash.

I sent her a note saying I was glad the cat sweater worked out and I am looking forward to receiving my other two sweaters. She purchased three altogether and wants to keep two. "P" says she needs to return the two she bundled.

I am sorry, but this is kind of stinky. Cheers to all!

 

[lavenderjunkie]

My thanks to lavenderjunkie and swags for your kind words. I needed them.

My fingers are crossed for the last seven items to meet buyers satisfaction. Hopefully, in the next week I will know if everyone is happy with their purchases.

Guess what I spotted this morning? I WAS (closed our closet after the complaint) on "P" selling sight and looked on "E" this morning to see how much Michael Simon Christmas sweaters were selling for on another site.

Low and behold, but the first sweater I sold this woman, a Michael Simon XL (not my size but purchased on sale for gift giving) cat with stockings is being sold there for $220.00. I sold it to her for $25.00. Profit is not a dirty word, but come on...buy cheap from us, complain and try to turn around and make some cash.

I sent her a note saying I was glad the cat sweater worked out and I am looking forward to receiving my other two sweaters. She purchased three altogether and wants to keep two. "P" says she needs to return the two she bundled.

I am sorry, but this is kind of stinky. Cheers to all!

G: yes, it's stinky. People are scouring resale sites and thrift stores, buying cheap and
then reselling at inflated prices. It bothers me on so many levels. True, everyone in the
process makes a little and puts in some effort in return. But, often the person at the end
is overpaying. They don't realize the item may have come from a bin somewhere. They think they got it from a caring first owner. And when you add in the scams and return the
resellers are sometimes involved in.... whether directed at the original owner or the
final buyer.... it's really terrible.
Hope all your transactions work out ok.

 

[veronicasfoley]

My priority when shopping second-hand is typically to keep items out of landfills and minimize the number of new items I cause to be produced. I don't mind if I'm paying consignment shop prices for an item a reseller bought with pocket change. I only want what I want, and I'm not combing goodwill stores across the country to find it.

 

[G.Allyn]

My priority when shopping second-hand is typically to keep items out of landfills and minimize the number of new items I cause to be produced. I don't mind if I'm paying consignment shop prices for an item a reseller bought with pocket change. I only want what I want, and I'm not combing goodwill stores across the country to find it.

I agree. I gave many things away hoping they would be useful. I am trying to purchase with greater care. I left only the Dooney bags I really love. The landfill issue bothers me. I am trying to buy less and better quality within my budget.

In full disclose, I have already made a purchase. In twenty years of Dooney collecting--- I didn't have a grey bag. After being on a steady Alto kick for years, this is my first florentine in a long time and I am pleased with it.

 

[lavenderjunkie]

I agree. I gave many things away hoping they would be useful. I am trying to purchase with greater care. I left only the Dooney bags I really love. The landfill issue bothers me. I am trying to buy less and better quality within my budget.

In full disclose, I have already made a purchase. In twenty years of Dooney collecting--- I didn't have a grey bag. After being on a steady Alto kick for years, this is my first florentine in a long time and I am pleased with it.

G: Enjoy your new Florentine handbag. Which style did you get?