~TO SELL, OR NOT TO SELL, THAT IS THE QUESTION~

"To be, or not to be, that is the question" yes I do know the way the quote is suppose to read but Shakespeare's famous line is more useful in my world when "tweaked" a bit!! I remember before CozyVintageCottage was born treasure hunting with my friend Jennifer who had been selling on Ebay for a few years. I would help her sort through junk and walk the loop with her searching for treasures at our yearly get together at the Longbranch Antique Show helping her find just the right things to offer her clients through her Ebay business, LadyJaneVintage. I would hold things up and say "this is cute" or "how about this" but every once and awhile I would grab something and say "this would be adorable in my (insert one of the following here....kitchen, living room, bathroom....you get the picture) and that treasure would come home with me FOR ME! There was one year that Jennifer invited another friend to go hunting with us. This friend had discovered a leaded glass window leaning up against a tree. The seller wanted $100 for it. I thought it was AMAZING but she did see it first so I politely stood there thinking that "oh well, maybe next time" bwahahahahahahahahahahaha! I'm laughing because for those of you that know me that was FAR from what I was thinking!! I was actually thinking "@#$% it! Son of a #$%^& if only I had not looked through that trunk of old linens for as long as I did I would have been walking slightly ahead of her and seen that first!! I might have even been thinking to myself "I wonder if Jen would be upset with me if I ACCIDENTLY pushed this girl over the bank and made an offer while she was still rolling" :) But in all honestly there wasn't much I could do except stand there and watch. She made an offer of $50 for the window, the guy counteroffered $80, she held tight at $50, he dropped to $60 and then SHE WALKED AWAY!!! Can you believe it??? She walked away for a difference of $10. The window was easily worth more than the original asking price of $100. The shape was like that of a window that had a twin on the other side and opened out, rectangular not square with one knob to pull it closed. I quickly asked her if she was sure and if it would bother her if I bought it. She said "nope it's all yours" and mine it was!!! I paid my $60 brought it home and it has been hanging horizontially on the wall in my bathroom ever since. That was about 5 or 6 years ago. I love that window and to this day it might still be my all time favorite treasure. It might have been that very weekend that I decided to take Jennifer's advice and open my own Ebay store. That is when everything changed!! Now I have to ask myself the question "To sell, or not to sell." Obviously sometimes it is easy. Things that people collect or wear that I find I am quick to offer them up to my customers. But every now and then.....there is that one item that you just LOVE but you know that you can make a big profit on so then it becomes a question of whether you keep it because you love it or you sell it because you love your family and want to make sure you have the cash the next time Abercrombie or Hollister has their end of the season sale. Right now I have a quilt that I purchased for $20. I know I could sell it for $100 at the very least and it is probably worth $300. But I love it and it would look adorable in my family's cottage at the lake. So what do I do??? How do I not keep it?? But then again how do I justify keeping something I could make a huge profit it on? We've all done it...we've all sold that item that we loved and then kicked ourselves a few months later when we think of how perfect it would have looked in our own home. How does one decide what goes and what stays? To sell, or not to sell, that is the question..............