a We usually shop Tuesday through Saturday, although on occasion a Sunday or Monday trip happens. We find that the best days for shopping are Wed-Fri. Much less competition in the stores, and new things have made it out to the shelves by then. Saturday shopping involves more auto and human traffic and less things being put out on the shelves, so it can be more hit or miss than usual. Today was a pretty good day.
STORE#1 (local charity store benefitting women's shelter). This store was recently remodeled and has mostly clothing. I have gotten a few really nice items out of this store at a very good price, including a Temperley dress for $6 and a blumarine shirt for $4. They have a boutique section, which I avoid because everything is priced beyond what would be a reasonable resale profit margin, and they focus on the better known brands that don't actually sell as well on eBay (Talbots, Laundry, etc.). I didn't get anything there today. STORE #2 - Goodwill This store pays off big once in a while. Today's purchases:
STORE #4 - another Goodwill
STORE #7 - yet another Goodwill - I usually don't visit this one as the prices are higher than others and the selection is slim. But today I got a brand new in box Villaware Pizzelle maker for $11. Should sell around $70 more or less. STORE #8&9 These are in the same shopping strip, one is a new resale store I've never been in. Very nice stuff, but prices more than I like to pay for resale. But I may have found a place to consign some of my vintage couture. The other is a YWCA resale I rarely go in because the prices are higher than the other resale shop. I did happen to find a three-pieces Misook outfit I took a chance on for $12. Could be $100+
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I always make a quick stop by the jewelry counter area at the stores, but I almost never buy jewelry (too hard to investigate quickly). Along with jewelry, this area is usually a hodgepodge of watches, perfumes, lotions, makeup, and miscellaneous small electronics or packaged items.
Discontinued perfumes (including old formulas of perfumes still being manufactured) and other scented products can easily bring $50 and up, even if only partially full. I find that perfume is often marked up beyond my target profit margin, but occasionally I have paid up to $20 after looking it up. Make sure to include size when reviewing listings. Bath & Body Works is extremely popular, and certain discontinued scents are very desirable. Also, L'Occitane products are a good bet. A couple sales listed on this page that might surprise you include a half full bottle of bath perfume purchased for $2-3 and sold for $43, and Lush Silky underwear powder. I purchased all eight cans of powder that were in the case at $2 each and sold in sets of four for $30/31. In this case, I happened to find this product in a discontinued packaging that people preferred (the newer packaging of the product is not nearly as desirable). At the top of the linked page above, there is a link to used, sold fragrances $39 and up (check those out here; note that many of the pages have preformatted research links included to help you up your game.) This is also a great place to find expensive anti-aging products. One of the most popular brands I find fairly regularly is Arbonne. They have multiple skin care products such as cleansers, which can be profitable if obtained for a couple dollars. However, the big money is in the anti-wrinkle stuff. Other brands can bring even more money, but I don't find them as often. There are also facial toning products worth quite a bit of money. Members can view more specifics/photos regarding these products here. Other miscellaneous finds in this area include a digital stopwatch worth about $100, a new in box Cadillac owner's medallion, and oils for a reed diffuser or other aromatherapy products. As always, look up by brand and model/style/scent/size.
Help with dating vintage lingerie.
Many sellers prefer the clean look of a white background on their items but don't necessarily have a studio set up in order to achieve that when listing. We typically just use our wood table and cream colored walls as a backdrop, but when lotting up clothes to clearance, it can get too busy to just splice the pictures together. Since I rarely use a background remover site, I have not thoroughly investigated, but I came across this site that automatically removes the background from an uploaded picture: Bonanza Burner (background eraser). No coloring required, although touchups are easy if there are areas that didn't come out right. Since I was using this feature in order to create a clothing lot, I used the Zippy Photo Stitcher to combine them. I found it easy to use, with layouts based on number of photos and whether a side-by-side or collage format is preferred. I didn't spend alot of time searching for "the best" free site out there for these tasks, as these did the job.
Below are the original pics, and the combined lot after just a few short minutes of adjustments in the above sites:
We just sold a vintage (1980s) building toy set for $446. Paid $17, sold first go around in a five-day auction. This is a profitable category of toys. For a little while, I've opened up for public viewing the "Building Toys" page of The Thrifter's Field Guide. The toy that just sold is not listed on this page yet, however, you might find a few things on this page you would normally overlook. Enjoy! Been a little while since I've had a chance to sit down and write. Lots going on...
We decided to make a last minute residence change for Christmas. Literally we viewed the place on Christmas Eve, met the owner on Christmas and got the keys the next day. Then I was given a gift of a miracle trip to Los Angeles for the Dead & Company New Year's Eve concert, which cut into the move and the shopping, but not too much, and it was completely worth it :-) Thus, we have been working hard to complete our move and catch up with getting a room full of inventory to catch up from the holiday lull. The stuff is out there... go get it! We shipped ALL DAY yesterday. A few more things to add to the pile this morning and off to thrift. Once we are over this moving hump, I will be adding hundreds more sales to the Guide. Not much helpful info today, just letting you know we are still here and available to answer questions. Happy Shopping! I came across this picture last night.
A favorite topic of conversation among eBay buyers looking for inspiration is about the item(s) that brought the most money. When we were first starting out, I bought a motorcycle helmet for a quarter at a garage sale. It sold for $125. That is in the top of our high profit sales. Some years ago, we also purchased some furniture from Goodwill for $50, used it heavily for a year, and sold it for $1500 or more (we can't remember and would need to look up records) So what's up with the beat up binoculars? We bought these for $100 and sold them less than 48 hours later for $2000 AS-IS. These are WWII U-Boat Commander's binoculars with Carl Zeiss optics. While most of these binoculars ended up at the bottom of the ocean (and these appear to have come from there) and you may not find a pair yourself, two things to note: (1) there ARE great treasures to be found sometimes, and (2) just about anything with Carl Zeiss lenses is good money (cameras, etc.). Our most recent sale over $1000 was a mobility device for a disabled adult (paid $250 sold within two days for $1400 cash on Craigslist). Happy hunting! Feel free to share your most impressive finds. Here are some of the main things I look for in the sweaters sections. Happy shopping. In the Christmas sweaters section: Michael Simon label (typically black; red don't necessarily sell as well) Other good buys this time of year: - fisherman sweaters - particularly made in Ireland, Aran wool - sweater coats - maxi sweater coats are in general good buys at decent prices, as they are very popular. obviously brand and content will drive the price. - cocoon sweaters (right brand) - Fair Isle / Nordic sweaters, especially cardigans - 50s pinup / cropped cardigans - right brand cardigans - my most frequent finds worth buying are Anthropologie brands or Ralph Lauren (or one of the above). - cashmere (many cashmere sweaters will bring at least $20), mohair, wool, angora - other favorite features on sweaters in general (other than cardigan style): shawl collar, mock turtleneck (the thin wool/cashmere/silk ones for men in neutral colors are good to look for in the right brand), cable knit Rare but valuable finds: Ralph Lauren bear sweaters, usually blue |