Thrift Shop Pickups

[phosgene]

i sold a few hundred shirts on ebay quite awhile ago. where i was (sunnyvale ca) had quite a few thrift stores and it was pretty easy to find really nice shirts. a lot of them were corporate logo shirts that sold really well--apple, cisco, google. had, shall we say, some extra time on my hands, so i could show up when they had 1/2 price sales and scoop up stuff. very nice rich folk up in silicon valley. plenty of rich folk in the oc, but either they are really bastards, or i haven't found where they drop off the good stuff. found some nice things for a short while but then ran into too many trips where i'd have to drop my standards to leave with even 2 shirts. felt like picking through a dumpster, whereas it used to be like maybe a ross with some stuff from nordstrom rack.

my best goodwill clothing flip was an 80's-90s apple logo tie i got for $1 and sold at auction for $100ish. the apple stuff was like finding gold sometimes. mugs, desk clocks, all kinds off stuff could show up. in socal finding stuff got way harder and there's so much fake stuff, plus the effort involved. flipping cards is about the only ebay activity i can deal with now.

some impressive sales. people pay a lot more than i would have expected for some of the items. congrats.

[jniere15]

I am not really sure what to look for, but for a little over $8 here is what I got. If anyone is interested in buying any of it let me know. And any advice of what to look for would be greatly appreciated!! Also a help with a value on the hat would be great. Thanks

The items are:
-Delmon Young Bobblehead-Twins
-Madison Mallards Bobblehead-Holiday
-Annco Snapback with Tags- Stars

[Birdmandig]

Originally Posted by jniere15

I am not really sure what to look for, but for a little over $8 here is what I got. If anyone is interested in buying any of it let me know. And any advice of what to look for would be greatly appreciated!! Also a help with a value on the hat would be great. Thanks

The items are:
-Delmon Young Bobblehead-Twins
-Madison Mallards Bobblehead-Holiday
-Annco Snapback with Tags- Stars

I think you could double your money with that hat maybe 16.99-19.99 free shipping? I think the tags help...

I dont have much knowledge on the bobble heads..

[TwinGnats]

Vintage North Star snaps do really well I'd start at $35 or 40. You should get at least $20 for it but with tags and doesn't appear to need a major reshape, I should shoot higher. Same here on the bobbles, but ebay research should point you in the right direction.

Originally Posted by jniere15

I am not really sure what to look for, but for a little over $8 here is what I got. If anyone is interested in buying any of it let me know. And any advice of what to look for would be greatly appreciated!! Also a help with a value on the hat would be great. Thanks

The items are:
-Delmon Young Bobblehead-Twins
-Madison Mallards Bobblehead-Holiday
-Annco Snapback with Tags- Stars

[gatordeve86]

Originally Posted by TwinGnats

I loved his show when I lived in DC. He told the best question and had people call in for the answer.

If anyone wants to give it a shot.

A woman attends a funeral for her mother. At the funeral she meets a man and falls in love with him immediately. The man leaves without the woman having any means to contact him. The next day the woman kills her sister. Why does she kill her sister?

I guessed and then looked it up.. i thought i would be wrong but i got it..

Quick question(s)
Does anyone sell jackets?
How do you ship larger heavy jackets?

[Rule]

Originally Posted by gatordeve86

I guessed and then looked it up.. i thought i would be wrong but i got it..

Quick question(s)
Does anyone sell jackets?
How do you ship larger heavy jackets?

Might want to go the box route.

I'm not sure what priority mail flate rate boxes are these days..



There's a warehouse a few blocks from my place, i've gotten to know a few of the workers casually, and they save me all their boxes each week, it's really handy. Saves you 4-7$ at the shipping center.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by gatordeve86

I guessed and then looked it up.. i thought i would be wrong but i got it..

Quick question(s)
Does anyone sell jackets?
How do you ship larger heavy jackets?

Heavy jackets likely in a Medium or large FRB that can run from about 11 for the mediums and 15 for the large. With them I would definitely look into 5regional variances though a 5 pound heavy jacket shipped within your zone will be a lot cheaper than shipping it across country so I would look at that before settling on the FRB route.

[lsufanatic]

Any advice of selling basic Hawaiian shirts? I found several at the thrift last night for $0.50 each that I couldn't pass up. They are all quality fabrics (Silk, Rayon, or blend) but most are not notable brands. It looks like there are a lot of shirts on eBay, so I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to have to do to move these.

[nateyad]

Originally Posted by lsufanatic

Any advice of selling basic Hawaiian shirts? I found several at the thrift last night for $0.50 each that I couldn't pass up. They are all quality fabrics (Silk, Rayon, or blend) but most are not notable brands. It looks like there are a lot of shirts on eBay, so I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to have to do to move these.

Take your dollar or 2 profit if any and move on. When I started doing this I did the same thing and I couldn't barely get rid of them for 3 or 4 bucks. They were brands like Route 66, Pineapple Connection, etc. I was a major newbie back then and learned the hard way.

[Addison]

Originally Posted by lsufanatic

Any advice of selling basic Hawaiian shirts? I found several at the thrift last night for $0.50 each that I couldn't pass up. They are all quality fabrics (Silk, Rayon, or blend) but most are not notable brands. It looks like there are a lot of shirts on eBay, so I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to have to do to move these.

If they are all the same size, try lotting them together.

[Addison]

A couple of sales, have a couple of nice ones waiting to be paid for as well:

Men's Eddie Bauer Long Sleeve Dress Shirt Button Front 100 Cotton XL EUC | eBay

Vintage Men's Newton Trading Co Denim Style Cotton Button Front Shirt Blue XL | eBay

Vintage Men's Ralph Lauren V Neck Sweater Vest 100 Lambs Wool Gray Warm L EUC | eBay

Men's Orvis Polartec Half Button Up Long Sleeve Jacket Coat XL Warm Outdoors | eBay

Cute Women's Studio Works Half Button Polo Top Shirt Navy Blue Dots Cotton L New | eBay

Total Bought: 14.48
Total Sold: 84.45
Total profit: 39.13

[gatordeve86]

the jacket i was referring to earlier was gone by the time my wife got ready to head out today =(

on the bright side I hid that hockey jersey and it was still here today so I grabbed it for $4

this thing is quality in and out

[nvious23]

Nice little find

[Astroburn]

Decided to try and drum up some business, so I gave most of my inventory a 25% sale. Its worked a little, sold a couple of sale items, but also sold stuff at regular price. Gotta like that!

How often do you guys do sales, if at all?

[nvious23]

Sorry these didn't post last time.

[Addison]

Pair of sales:

Mens Designer Polo Ralph Lauren Half Zip Long Sleeve Sweater Shirt Cotton Blue M | eBay

Bought: 4.26
Sold: 25.00
Profit: 12.96


Men's Designer Brooks Brothers Dress Shirt 2XL Slim Fit Non Iron Cotton | eBay

Bought: 4.74
Sold: 30.00
Profit: 18.82

[gatordeve86]

i picked up a couple coffee cups when i was out (all 99 cents ea) couldnt really find them on ebay so I signed up for worthpoint..
last sold
Eat 'n Park small smiley mug - $15 Pepsi Santa Glass - $10 Catzilla Mug - $20 i'd be happy with half of that on each lol

[corndog]

Originally Posted by gatordeve86

i picked up a couple coffee cups when i was out (all 99 cents ea) couldnt really find them on ebay so I signed up for worthpoint..
last sold
Eat 'n Park small smiley mug - $15 Pepsi Santa Glass - $10 Catzilla Mug - $20 i'd be happy with half of that on each lol

Last Sunday I went to my nearby Goodwill instead of watching the snoozefest Texans game and saw that their coffee mug area had grown since two days earlier. It looked like someones collection was donated. I bought 12 for .99 cents or less each and it looks like I can sell them all for $90 or so. I am gravitating more towards the hard stuff - mugs, plates, figurines, VHS and DVDs and toys and also mens ties rather than shirts, etc. I can be in and out of GW in about 15 or 20 minutes now that I stopped looking for clothing. The shirts were simply too time consuming and my time is better spent searching for flips on Ebay with sports items. I have nearly 7,000 sports items (mostly cards) on Ebay and they take up very little space. I have about 40 shirts and they take up about the same amount of space as the cards.

[timfsu2k]

Originally Posted by corndog

Last Sunday I went to my nearby Goodwill instead of watching the snoozefest Texans game and saw that their coffee mug area had grown since two days earlier. It looked like someones collection was donated. I bought 12 for .99 cents or less each and it looks like I can sell them all for $90 or so. I am gravitating more towards the hard stuff - mugs, plates, figurines, VHS and DVDs and toys and also mens ties rather than shirts, etc. I can be in and out of GW in about 15 or 20 minutes now that I stopped looking for clothing. The shirts were simply too time consuming and my time is better spent searching for flips on Ebay with sports items. I have nearly 7,000 sports items (mostly cards) on Ebay and they take up very little space. I have about 40 shirts and they take up about the same amount of space as the cards.

I can't make anything on DVDs. My GW sells them for $3-$5 each.

[TwinGnats]

Most people don't like apparel sales. They don't like the listing, the measuring, the photos, the space, etc. That's why I've made it my focus.

Originally Posted by corndog

Last Sunday I went to my nearby Goodwill instead of watching the snoozefest Texans game and saw that their coffee mug area had grown since two days earlier. It looked like someones collection was donated. I bought 12 for .99 cents or less each and it looks like I can sell them all for $90 or so. I am gravitating more towards the hard stuff - mugs, plates, figurines, VHS and DVDs and toys and also mens ties rather than shirts, etc. I can be in and out of GW in about 15 or 20 minutes now that I stopped looking for clothing. The shirts were simply too time consuming and my time is better spent searching for flips on Ebay with sports items. I have nearly 7,000 sports items (mostly cards) on Ebay and they take up very little space. I have about 40 shirts and they take up about the same amount of space as the cards.

[LoveItCards]

My buddy found this in the trash....then handed it over to me for $5......sold on eBay for $175 delivered....cleared around $140 after all fees & original cost.


Wise Company Emergency Food Supply G G 120 Servings Ready Made Entrees | eBay

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by TwinGnats

Most people don't like apparel sales. They don't like the listing, the measuring, the photos, the space, etc. That's why I've made it my focus.

Clothing is one of the most active categories on Ebay and one of the lowest turnover categories, but it can be very profitable, but it goes back to my earlier comments about flipping the money faster at a lower profit. There are items that can fill that void better than clothing those are the things I am going to start to focus on more.

Also listing time plays a big role in this. I am trying to get my inventory into the 5000 item range. I feel if I can get to that level I can scale back my hunting from 7 days a week to 3 or 4 and enjoy owning my own business, instead of it owning me.

GW first things I look at are the hard items like coffee mugs. Many stores here have them in the 25 to 50 cent range, then the board games and toys, followed by ties and T-shirts. Then I may scan the other shirts I have just about gotten to where I can identify things like Pendletons just by looking at them hanging up.

[adub03]

sold a hat last night

Vintage Polo Ralph Lauren Jeans American Flag Yellow Hat Sport Spell Out 90s | eBay

[TwinGnats]

Just sold my sealed ps2 copy of Godzilla for $60. I wish I could locate more video games. But its either slim picking, too expensive or I'm looking in the wrong places.

[Packer4Rob]

question for the veterans out there. I've noticed that lately there seems to be fewer quality things at the goodwills in my area, and seems I see the same things on the rack each week, especially clothing. I'm finding myself walking out empty handed or maybe with 1 item. Do they get less in and less quality items in now that fall/winter is here? Seems like in summer they got much more in and rotated their inventory faster. Just wondering what to expect over the winter, as I just started doing this in May.