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My biggest find last weekend was a Karastan (wool carpet) runner that is in mint condition and 12′ x 2.5′ for $25 at a garage sale. Past sales on eB price this at ~$400 to $450. The seller was a son clearing out his father’s house and the prices were all random and not at all related to the item for sale. At the same sale I picked up a Jim Shore Santa for $4 that I am listing for $55.
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Those are really nice scores, but I think ‘bragging rights’ accrue with completed sales, not finds… unless you’re planning on keeping the pieces! 🙂
That said, I’ve been home with sick kids all week and haven’t gotten out to do any buying at all, so those scores are looking pretty good from here.
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Sorry about the sick kids Habnab. Hope all have recovered. I guess I don’t see it the same way as you. My store is pretty small with only ~85 items and I spend a lot of my time and energy in an 8 – 5ish job. When I buy something I know will sell (example: Santa 4 weeks before Black Friday), I am going to do a happy dance. In fact, I celebrate when I find an item, when I get it listed, and when it gets sold. Every step is part of the sweet process that fattens my wallet. Best wishes, aperture.
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I went to a thrift store in a new town yesterday and found a thick wool bus conductor’s coat from the London Country Buses line, which operated from 1970 to 1986. There’s nothing like it online, and I have no idea if and how much it will sell for, but it’s just so cool! I paid $10 for it.
Which reminds me that I recently passed on a like new vintage Amtrak conductor’s lined trench coat – I regret that one.
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We bought a new Kohler urinal in the back of a thrift store for $15. They list for between $200-$300.
It’s not listed yet, but it’s a good example of when we’re willing to pay more for an item we know will sell.
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If a new one sells for $200-300, I wonder what a used one could get. We have a salvage place about 45 min away and I know they carry a ton of urinals. I joked that I was going to put one in our bathroom and one in our son’s bathroom. The added plumbing costs got that plan vetoed!
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I picked up a vintage hunting jacket on Saturday for $4. It is waterproof material with a soft fabric collar. Has a game pouch and loops for the hunting license holder. Even came with some stains that I assume are blood. I’ll be trying a little oxy-clean on a cloth to remove those, but I know I have a good item when my husband shows interest in it. Good thing it was a little too short on the sleeves for him or I wouldn’t be listing it. I still need to research the brand for pricing.
I also got a Vintage Colt 45 Beer Snapback hat for $1.50. We will see what that does. Have it listed for $35 since I didn’t find one like it listed.
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Had to mention this because it reinvigorated our scavenging efforts. A few weeks ago I bought a 1976 Pioneer SX-1250 stereo receiver at a garage sale for $10, yes $10. The 65 pound beast sold in less than a week for $1050, yes $1050! Sold to a guy in Hong Kong, but had it sent to his “technician” in Seattle, who services the items before “forwarding” on to China. Gotta love it!
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Not as high dollar as some of the above, but a nice quick flip. I’ve been making a habit of going to the Goodwill Outlet (weigh & pay) every Tuesday, and this week I found a Ralph Lauren Polo corduroy baseball cap. Sold last night to someone in Australia for $32 + ship. Cost me about 60 cents.
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I week ago I found 4 Polar Express Hallmark hot chocolate mugs new in the box paid $7.00 for them all sold Friday for $250.00!! Same week I found a Cory vacuum coffee pot super condition paid $10.00 up for sale for $100.00 so we’ll see!
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I had no idea about Polar Express hot chocolate mugs. I’ll have to look those up; thanks for the tip!
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This was 2 weeks ago, but I picked up a vintage Bucilla felt “jeweled” advent calendar kit for 50 cents, and sold it a few days ago for $100.
I went to an auction yesterday, and got a $5 box lot with some old pyrex, glasbake, etc bowls in it. Everything in the box was really dirty and sticky, so no one else dug into it. Two of the bowls are rare-ish promotional Fire King bowls from the 50s, and each sells for $60-80.
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Got this box at an online auction on Monday, picked it up last night. In it is at least 11 vintage English Brass rubbings, but there are likely more than that. The box is marked with the year 1963. Paid $55 for the lot, but I know one is a full size man and woman so I’m pretty sure I’ll cover my costs.
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At the same estate sale where I bought the blow mold nativity scene, I bought two metal wall hangings for $60. That’s more than I usually pay but I knew they would sell. I put them up for $225 with BO. Sold in less than a week for $175. Found a Bogen Manfrotto tripod at a garage sale for $40, I offered $20 and they took it. Sold the next day for $115. Keep an eye out for Manfrotto tripods. I’ve sold several, they go quickly and for a decent profit.
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I did a quick trip to the local Gucci Goodwill during lunch. Told myself I was only looking for higher dollar items. I’ve mentioned this before, but “quick trips” to a goodwill are always when I find my best item. So right off the bat I see this item hanging as a set right at the front of the store. They didn’t even specialty price it!! Got it for $6 for the set. They totally miss this item and then put a $20 tag on a generic Talbot’s sweater. This is the perfect example of why I stress that we should get smarter at thrift stores instead of feeling helpless when prices rise.
I’m listing for at least $150, but I was thinking about going for broke and maybe doing $200-250 with best offer. Can’t get more if you don’t ask for more!
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I found my second Coogi sweater today. My first one was over a year ago at a school band fundraiser sale. It was new with tags, but was only a medium, and the colors were muted. Still, that one sold for $195. Today, I was in a local thrift store, and I went straight to the women’s sweater aisle. About halfway down the aisle, I see this guy carefully looking at the neck tags on every sweater. From time to time, he’d also pull out his phone and do a search. I’m sure he was a scavenger. I almost went to another aisle, because I thought he’d probably picked that one clean. However, I love finding good stuff that other shoppers have overlooked, so I persisted in coming along behind him. Then the Coogi sweater jumped out at me, in the women’s section, no less. It’s an XL, and it’s in very bright colors. Only a very few snags, but I’m using my Dritz Snag Nab It for repair, and it’s working perfectly. Excellent condition. I’ll get it listed today or tomorrow. I’m sure I can get at least $200, but I’m seeing similar ones in XL sell for up to $350 used. So excited!
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I love that Coogi story!
Last weekend I happened upon a pair of very high quality ralph lauren men’s dress shoes that said Made in England, in a thrift shop. They were in very good shape, so I was happy to pay $15 for them, even though I couldn’t figure out the size. I figured maybe I’ll get $70 or so for them. After coming home and researching Made in England RL shoes, I figured out that they are Edward Green for Ralph Lauren **Purple Label**!!!!! Original retail price likely over $1000. Also figured out that the size was in the handwritten numbers inside the shoe. So excited about this find!!
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Made a stop at my favorite thrift store on the way back to work after a dentist appointment this week and found this vintage Woolrich pullover sweater. After researching the label, I narrowed it to 1947-1959 with it likely being early 1950’s. Shooting for the moon on price as there is only 1 other one even similar.
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I was cleaning a few pairs of shoes on my afternoon break and came across a pair of Allen Edmunds dress shoes that I bought last week. They looked funny, and I initially thought they were just dirty and possibly had shoe trees installed for a long time.
After closer inspection these are shell cordovan!! Yay!! -
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Best find last week: vintage pocket camp stove by Optiums Made in Sweden. Complete in box. Paid about $1.50 at Goodwill. Honestly, i just grabbed it. Didn’t even look it up. Just sold for $85. Took less than 24 hours to sell.
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A couple weeks behind with starting a new job and having to order a lighting set up. I have quite the backlog from thrifts and a couple of estate sales. I do have 4 vintage men’s 40’s/50’s fedora style hats. All are in the box. One is a Dobbs. Each should bring more than $100.
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I don’t normally mess with food items, but my local grocery store put some Cincinnati Bengals M&Ms on clearance for 80 cents a bag. I bought four bags on a whim and figured if they didn’t sell, I would have M&Ms to eat! So far I’ve sold 3 bags, 2 for $20 and one for a best offer of $15. Yeehaw!
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Today I found a vintage Gucci wallet very similar to the one below – only $4.50 (!!!) at my regular hospital auxiliary thrift shop, which usually prices about 2x Salvation Army prices. I bought a vtg ferragamo belt there last week for $10, so they clearly missed the Gucci-ness of this item.
I hope I don’t run into VERO trouble on this. I usually stay away from Coach, etc. But this was too awesome to pass up!
When I spotted this item, I didn’t immediately recognize the Gucci-ness either, but my family member “helper” did immediately. Which I found hilarious b/c this person is mostly clueless about modern day clothing brands, constantly calling out to me things like “How about this nice Alfred Dunner blouse?” LOL
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Going through a few random box lots I picked up at the auction this weekend. I bought this lot for $4 because it had two solid brass belt buckles and a pocket knife in it. I sell a lot of these and they are not huge money makers but you can usually get them cheap and they are easy to list and ship. As I was sifting through all the other crap, I saw this toy gun that I assumed would just be trash. Then I saw the words “Superman” on it. On the other side it said “Space Satellite”. This was a little toy gun that Kellogg’s gave away in the 50s. The kicker was you had to send in to get it so of course most people didn’t bother and those that did probably destroyed theirs within days of receiving it. I don’t have all of the parts to this thing(I just have the gun, none of the accessories) so I plan to list it at auction for $60. A nice little bonus to what I call a “grinder lot”.
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Last two weeks I snagged…
Baby Alive Look Mommy, I can swim doll sold for $100. Paid $5 for it.
Disney Store Tinkerbell doll sold for $30. Paid $2 for it
Mizuno Adult first base glove sold for $50. Paid $2 for it
Adidas Stan Smith Las Vegas shoes sold for $70. Paid $10 for the pair
Wacom Intuos3 drawing tablet with no stylus or mouse sold for $55. Paid $5 for it
Cole Haan Nike Air Patent Leather Pumps sold for $60. Paid $5 for the pair.Although I haven’t listed them, I scored two NWT 7 For all Mankind “The Straight” mens jeans for $10 each after a mystery discount because it was National Thrift Store day (they had them priced at $25 each). The MSRP tag says $189. There is a small thrift store down the block from my work and we are in the process of moving to a new location on the next block from the thrift store. I was headed to the new place when I decided to poke my head in the thrift store for a quick minute since I was passing it and it was about to open.
I walked in and went to the jeans. They caught my attention right away and I snagged them, got my mystery discount, paid and called it a day. The cashier told me they had just received the jeans the day before and put them out about 5 minutes before I walked in.
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I don’t sell a lot of stuff over $50, but here are some good recent finds.
Gamecube with 2 wavebird wireless controllers and gameboy player adapter with boot disc. Found at estate sale for $20.
Gameboy player adapter with boot disc sold for $80 within a day.
One wavebird wireless controller sold for $40 within a day.
Gamecube system with one wired controller and memory card sold within 2 days for $65.
Turned $20 into $185 dollars within a couple days (excluding shipping)Micheal Kors Hawaii perfume (no longer produced) at good will store for $13 (was half off) Sold within a week for $100.
Four Sony Playstation 2’s with 6 controllers and 4 memory cards at garage sale for $45.
Sold three within a week for $60 each (excluding shipping) $45 into $180
(I still have one PS2 left, but I always hold one back in case there are issues with the ones I have sold and need to do a return/replace)Found approx 100 complete boxed nintendo (nes) video games + one nes system for $100. Gives me an average cost of $1 each. I have sold a few already to recoup initial cost, but a conservative estimate of the total profit on this lot is at least $1500.
The woman who sold them to me told me she has more and will hold them for me at her next garage sale.
Found (3) fairly new Dell desktops i3-6100’s at estate sale for $10 each. I will be keeping one and will try to sell the other two locally for $150 each.
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Forgot to mention, bought an xbox 360 S at garage sale for $5 with 250gb hard drive, but no power brick/cord. Found power brick/cord at good will for $3. Sold the whole system for $100 a couple weeks later. $8 into $100
Also, I mentioned this before, FVF on video game consoles are only 4%.
If you know what you’re doing with consoles and can get them cheap enough they are very lucrative IMO.
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An important scavenger milestone for me today: purchased my first completed Paint By Numbers painting! $5, including nice wooden frame.
It’s the same scene as this one:
But hopefully I’ll be able to sell it for more than this one went for at auction (19.99).
Though I’m starting to get somewhat attached to it, which is dangerous. Scared of becoming a hoarder.
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I sourced a 12 cup Mr coffee maker, just a recent model in black, and an early 90s white cuisinart 2 slice toaster still in the box with the sales receipt attached. Nothing special about either one, except they were in fine shape. Both were purchased at the bins for 29 cents a piece. I listed them both on Craigslist, Offer Up, let go, and ebay. They were listed for 20 plus shipping each on ebay, and 25 each on all the local marketplaces. They sold with 2 weeks through let go for a total of $40. At about the same time, i sold a 4 cup mr coffee for 10, also bought for 29 cents, also through offer up. I’ll start picking up these staples going forward for sure. Nice bread and butter.
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As your store gets bigger, you have to start considering the “profit per square foot” of items. Coffee makers take up a lot of room in storage and are harder to pack. Earlier in my store I too would buy coffee and tea makers that would sell for $25-30. Now I shoot for $75-100 for larger items, with the option to take $50 on a slow sales week. Anything less than that I don’t bother with larger items. Food for thought.
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My big issue with larger items in the past was packing them – you never have a box on hand when they sell. I pre-pack all large items now to save the hassle of trying to find a large box when the cha-ching goes off on my phone…
Finding a box for an item like a guitar isn’t fun on a time constraint!
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I like the idea of packing items ahead of time, especially if you know you are going to move it quick. I used to go with any size items as long as I got a good deal. But now I focus mainly two things: size and packing time. Postcards are not big money, but they are easy to ship and I can drop off anywhere. 700 of the fit in a shoebox. Clothes are great too since I throw in a poly bag and slap on a label. I try to stay away from breakables, like coffee mugs, now.
But this is scavenge of the week spot. I traveled last week and decided to try Antique shops and a postcard show. I have not done before simply because I was not expecting any fines. But did find some foreign cards, air View cards, and sports field cards to try. Slowly selling off my cashe of 100+ vintage glasses.
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Am trying to cut back and list my “death piles”, but…
Women’s Coach leather belt, $1. One each of SAS and Merrell women’s leather sandals, $5 each. Vintage 90’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles baseball hat (bright green with pizza logo on the front), $1. Combined, about $90-$120 in sales. $12 invested. Not bad.
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Yesterday I found a Pendleton wool blanket that has a tag that it was made exclusively for a specific tribe for Christmas 2002. I have no idea what it will end up selling for, but there isn’t another one like it listed so I’m thinking auction is the way to go? It looks like other “Indian” Pendleton wool blankets go high, but this one is pretty unique even for that market. I found it at the By the Pound Goodwill!
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Auction
Upside: There’s a bidding war and it sells for more than you could have imagined.
Downside: there is no bidding war and you sell for less. Or you start at a high price and it doesnt sell, wasting a week.Buy it Now
Upside: You research and put a strong price with “make offer”. If its a popular item, it’ll be bought at full price. Or you’ll get a bunch of offers so you can see where the market is. You can choose t sell at any time.
Downside: You dont research well enough and it sells too low. Or it just doesnt sell quickly.
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KatieScott, Congrats on your St John trifecta! Sounds like you have the best thrift store down there in FL. I don’t know what Rag & Bone is – will have to look that up.
On the non-clothing front, I got FOUR of these Marimekko elephant airplane plates today for $5 total! Mine were Delta airlines though. Love me some Marimekko.
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