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Fashionista flips her finds

The 31-year-old scours thrift stores and flea markets for vintage clothes and accessories, which she sells on eBay.

By MARY JANE PARK
Published September 11, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Headquarters for Marjorie Wilson's fledgling business is a 500-square-foot condominium. She bought the old office in the Tulane, on First Street N, last year.

It is also her home, a big room with a separate bath and a minuscule kitchen.

The place is Spartan by some standards, containing bed, bookcase, desk and computer. A wall lined with mirrors makes the area look more spacious.

The mirrors and the retro art on the walls are thrift store finds, as are many of the vintage clothes and handbags neatly arranged in one part of the room. The apparel and accessories comprise the inventory for Wilson's eBay sales and for the Internet company she hopes to launch next spring.

The 31-year-old businesswoman has been selling on eBay for about four years and completed more than 1,500 transactions, including jewelry, shoes and purses that can reap more than 10 times what she paid for them.

In one recent two-month period, she took in $4,700, about twice what she earns as a senior server at the original Bonefish Grill on Fourth Street N. The additional money has enabled her to cut back her restaurant schedule from five nights a week to three and begin paying off accumulated debt.

She combs places such as the Oldsmar Flea Market and thrift shops owned by charitable organizations such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army and Tampa's the Spring. She looks for "ladylike and classy" styles that are in good condition. Sometimes she has the clothing altered to make it more appealing.

Wilson uses a digital camera she bought on eBay and pays friends to model the merchandise she offers at auction. Each bid opens at $3.

Outgoing items are wrapped in colorful tissue paper, tied with ribbon, spritzed with fragrance and accompanied by personal notes.

Of all the people who have left feedback for her, she has a 100 percent positive rating, according to eBay.

She hails from Seattle and studied business administration at Denver's Regis University, a Jesuit college that awarded her a soccer scholarship. A romantic relationship, now ended, brought her to St. Petersburg.

Wilson said she inherited her stylistic eye from her mother, Margarita DeVera, another veteran thrift store and bargain hunter.

"My mom is an extreme fashionista. She won't step out of the house without St. John," an expensive retail label that features classic styles.

Her Filipino "lola," or grandmother, 93-year-old Meceala DeVera, wears red lipstick even when she gardens.

For a recent interview, Wilson dressed in black: a pullover shirt from Target; slacks from T.J. Maxx; a vintage St. John Santana knit bolero, a gift from her mother; and Carlos by Carlos Santana brand heels, also from T.J. Maxx.

"Carlos Santana," Wilson said. "The man who sang, Oye Como Va. These are his shoes."

In 2006, Wilson's goal is to introduce the online Urban Collection. She has secured the domain name: www.theURBANcollection.com.It will feature more vintage items and a T-shirt line.

The burgeoning entrepreneur, who describes herself as a person of deep religious faith, wants to use positive, jovial messages on the knit tops rather than the suggestive, vulgar slogans popular in some youth clothing stores.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZtheurbancollectionQQhtZ-1

More about Marjorie Wilson:

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=theurbancollection

[Last modified September 11, 2005, 01:12:04]