Home › Forums › Random Thoughts › Eat on your sources
- This topic has 7 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by GoodsbyGarcia.
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04/17/2019 at 6:48 am #60365
I’ve found myself going to thrift stores and leaving frustrated thinking that there was nothing to scavenge. I cursed the owners the other flippers and myself (mentally). Thinking “the well’s dried up!” Not so. Shame on me for thinking so. This is America the land of $100,000 cars with a $120,000 loan. There’s always something to scavenge, ALWAYS. So, here’s my new philosophy no matter where I go no matter what I see I will always leave the source with one interesting thing. If it’s not valuable cool I’ll just do some research and learn about a new niche. If it is valuable whoopy for me.
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04/17/2019 at 8:34 am #60368
I sometimes wish that I was a niche seller, but that’s not how I source. I see myself as an opportunistic sourcer…what I buy is dictated less by what I hunt for and more by what I find. (Hope that makes sense). The upshot is, I’m constantly learning new stuff to look for, and constantly doing exactly what you describe: I’ll buy something and take a chance. (If the price is low enough). I do use a smart phone to research while sourcing, but mostly I go with my gut.
You are right, this country is awash in the flotsam and jetsam of American life. I rarely depart any decent size thrift or antique mall empty handed. I’ve been doing this for years, flea marketing before there was an ebay. Have some things become much harder to find? Yes, absolutely. And some things once in demand are no longer in demand, so even if I find them, I might not buy them. But many things I would have ignored years ago, because I knew nothing about them or because there was simply no demand back then for them…..are now high on my “buy it whenever you see it” list.
For me, as a non-niche scavenger seller, the key is , to paraphrase Alex Baldwin , ABL.
A-Always
B-Be
L-Learning.
Always Be Learning.Fortunately for me, the learning part is fun for me—I love learning about new stuff to sell. It keeps the business interesting.
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04/17/2019 at 8:53 am #60371
I make myself an absolute sponge for “useless” knowledge. I listen to 4-6hrs of podcasts each day, over a wide array of topics, and when listing, usually watch documentaries.
If I’m out in the world, whether sourcing specifically or not, I look into things. The broader my knowledge base of people, places, things, history, the better equipped I am to know a deal when I see one. That’s honestly one of the most gratifying things about reselling for me. One place where my knowledge really expanded quickly was antique auctions. There are some incredibly odd items/tools/things that will go across the auction block. Trying to figure out what the items are, and then having either the auctioneer or the crowd confirm/correct my hypothesis is pretty entertaining. I always learn something new at an auction. Always.
One of the best feelings is to be in a thrift store, rummage sale, or garage sale, and be behind someone that I’m sure is another reseller, and pick up all of the things that they miss. It makes me sound terribly conceited (I’m not, I promise), but in those cases, in my head, I’m often saying “I know more than you do” to the other reseller.
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04/17/2019 at 9:09 am #60372
Winchester, I can relate! I’m not sure which is the bigger thrill, finding that really valuable item cheap, or finding a decent item that I know the guy ahead of me just passed over LOL I stay humble by reminding myself that the odds are very good that just yesterday, the same guy was standing behind me picking up an item I had ignored and thinking “I can’t believe that fool passed on this! 25 cents, and I’ll get $100 for it!”
So much of what I know about stuff is, as you say, “useless knowledge”….scavenging is often like playing a Real World version of Trivial Pursuit….the person with the most useless knowledge wins! LOL
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04/17/2019 at 9:46 am #60375
Same here Winchester I’m a stay at home dad so I just leave the podcasts on all day as I go about my day. Gives me some adult conversation and entertainment.
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04/17/2019 at 10:44 am #60378
One of my ways of learning is to use the location search on eBay to look at items that sell in my immediate area to find new and interesting things that sell.
I just type in some generic term like “Vintage” or “new” in the eBay search, select a search area, and check out what sold. It’s a good way to get a bunch of random stuff with prices you may never have thought about selling, and see items you can source locally that sell.
I can spend hours when I’m bored looking at what other random items others have sold to learn.
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04/17/2019 at 9:54 am #60376
Stuff I’ve learned in the last week:
Vertical strings on a tennis racket are called ‘mains’- twenty on a vintage racket, eighteen on a post-1950 racket.
The 5 piastre coin of King Farouk is a lot smaller, but otherwise identical to the 20 piastre coin (oops!)
How to use a Starret high-speed indicator.
Shortly after General Mihailovic was executed, the court published a 528-page stenographic record of his trial (which is on its way to Australia, soon as someone pays up).
Don’t put the value of the parcel on a CN22 label; attracts thieves, and customs officers aren’t bothered about old stuff (advice from Royal Mail).
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04/17/2019 at 11:03 am #60383
Great tip Inglewood. As I always say any mistake I make is still cheaper than tuition for business school. Likewise, anything new I learn is also cheaper than tuition. Ex. bad shipping choice *mutters angrily* “cheaper than tuition”
- This reply was modified 5 years ago by GoodsbyGarcia.
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