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I took the remainder of my lunch hour today after closing an account to walk through a Goodwill store. First impressions is I have no clue what I’m doing. I would rather get a box/bin full of stuff and be forced to go through it than to try to identify something of value.
I’m not a possessions kind of person, so brand names and such don’t resonate much with me. So for clothes, I did find a cool NASA/Space Shuttle shirt, but it was made in China and I wasn’t sure it held much. Quick check of Ebay and similar shirts were around $15. They wanted $5 for this one so I passed.
I tried looking at art… There was some nice things that I liked, and maybe that’s how you get started is looking for things that are unique, quirky, but not just stamped out/mass produced? I dunno…
Lastly I walked through the plates, cups, pottery… Well, first is Goodwill puts labels over any printing in the back so you can’t make out if it says Red Wing Pottery or Made in China. There were some things that I though were cool or maybe had value, but I couldn’t tell you if it was true porcelain or Target brand. In thinking about the future store and it’s makeup, I’d like to stay away from commodity items. I know it works for some, but I just can’t. Rather I like the unique, the eclectic. Those are fun.
My concern is that if I select things that are fun and eccentric, is that where the value is where I can make the sales? When did that street knowledge of finding not only the fun, but the value kick in? I guess I was just a little overwhelmed, and I still have Christmas shopping to do! 😉
Anyway, just curious what people’s thoughts were on this.
Take care,
Jim.
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One thing you might think about is what types of things do you personally like? It’s generally a good place to start. Lets say you like baseball, you can search baseball gear on ebay, click on completed listings, set the results from high to low and keep an eye on which items and brands are towards the top of the list. That way you either make a cheat sheet or memorize those particular items. Keep doing this on different categories and expand your knowledge base.
Generally if I am trying to learn a new category that’s how I learn about things, research… -
Consider watching Steve Shultz’s What Sold video that is posted at Scavenger Life each Wed/Thurs. He goes over what he has sold over the past week. He tells you about what he paid and what he sold it for. He specializes in upscale or vintage electronics, but he also has normal housewares and decor. You can go back a few years and see the videos from when Ryanne used to do them.
Then, you can just search on You Tube or Google for What Sold videos and check them out. Don’t bother with the Haul videos because they just show you what they bought. Who knows whether it gets sold and at what price.
This is kind of how I learned.
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I’ve been reselling for about 4.5 years now. There are areas I’m fairly knowledgeable about and others I have no idea about. Apart from hats, for example, I’m ignorant about clothes.
I try and make a point of noticing things that seem interesting that I have no knowledge about every time I go through a thrift store. As much as time permits, I’ll do the same thing at Garage/Estate sales. I look those items up on ebay to get an idea if they are worth anything. Although I’ll forget a lot, I still feel like I’m expanding my knowledge base but constantly looking up new things. That said, I find i learn the most when I’m forced to list things.
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I think it’s more than just having eccentric taste. No one would admit that they have “bad” taste, but peeking in a few eBay stores proves that it’s entirely possible to list straight trash. You need assurance that what you’re buying isn’t going to be sitting for a year at $15.99, otherwise you’ll be discouraged.
What Sold videos are fine, but they’re a microcosm. People only show their best stuff usually. Haul videos are hit and miss.
Do you have any hobbies? That’s where I started. Audio gear, computer stuff – already knew the values going in, that way I could focus on learning eBay’s ins and outs.
I’ve noticed a lot of resellers are just really interesting people. Usually you can tell that they have super niche knowledge and genuine interest in what they’re talking about. It seems they are selling stuff out of pure passion. J&R are good examples of this IMO. You rarely meet ones that are boring or don’t have anything interesting to say, and if you do, they’re never around long.
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Knowledge is your gateway to success in this business. It has taken me years to learn all the different places to look in a thrift store or a garage sale. I’ve watched countless bolo videos and have spent many hours in high end department stores familiarizing myself with brands. Devote time to learning what to look for. It will pay off in spades.
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You just received a goldmine of experienced advice above. Agree with everyone.
We started listing items we knew would do well because we knew those items. Then we expanded our interests and scavenged different items that caught our eye. Each time we’d bring home a load of items, we’d do research on each one. Every trip we learned a little more. Even if we scavenge “junk”, it usually still sold and /or we didn’t lose any money.
I think the danger of beginning an eBay store is thinking you can only find home runs. This path lies madness. The only danger is only scavenging in a couple places. I often walk through Goodwill and see very little of value. Try hitting up different places.
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Ditto!
If you are on this forum you will learn a lot.
Start with what you dig, and learn. Everything you list or sell you will learn something. Not everything will work, but more will than won’t.
And I am a fan of Steve’s what sold and Jay ‘n’ Ryanne ‘s stories because they have all opened up new categories for me – train your eyes and keep them open!
My eyes are sharp tuned for WW2 US uniforms, I can spot those colors on a rack across a room. Don’t find them much anymore, but I’ll never lose the skill! -
I agree that starting with what you know and what you are interested in. Learning is always easier when you are invested and excited in the experience.
I got started originally by dealing in vintage 80’s toys and electronics (hence my business name). I was the poor kid who dreamed of having all the amazing toys and gadgets but really never had any of them. So I started by fulfilling childhood toy dreams. Finally getting to handle and own the things I saw in commercials or movies. It made me feel like a kid again!
Eventually the thrifting for old toys and electronics dried up so I branched out into…well, everything
My thrifting strategy evolved from me basically just looking for things that grabbed my eye.
That would send me on a research adventure that would open my eyes to even more things.My best advice to you is to develop a sense of quality. To do that, you have to get your hands on things. Lots of things! Take shoes for instance. Once you’ve handled a few hundred pairs of shoes, you will get a general feel for a quality pair of shoes that can sell for good money. You’ll also be able to quickly identify the junk that isn’t even worth looking at. This is true for pretty much any category you could sell in.
Another way to develop a sense of quality is to go to retail stores of high end goods. See and touch high quality, high dollar items. Learn the brands. -
I knew some brands I liked and have a good eye for quality, plus I personally love 50s and 60s vintage decor. But, I added a lot of knowledge watching certain Youtubers – especially with sales reports videos – who specialize in the types of things I like to sell and are located in or near affluent areas similar to mine. For example, I like to watch ThePaperCastle because we have a lot of East Coast transplants and I learn about brands from the other side of the country. I watched a bunch of Youtubers and weeded out the ones who I didn’t learn from. On the lower end, I watch Cincinnati picker. Also, go ahead and partially peel those stickers back – everyone does it. 🙂 Happy picking!
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So, I am a newbie. I am based in Michigan. We are famous for the motor industry.
What I have found really useful is sourcing car memorabilia, old car parts and manuals. I mainly source from local Estate sales and auctions.
As an example, I recently purchased 200 GM car manuals from the 60s through 80’s for $25. Am selling on Ebay for anywhere between $10 to $40 profit per manual.
I started off not knowing much about car memorabilia, but have a sincere interest and am learning very quickly.
Each State will have unique industry, where items are not as easy to come by in other States.
If you have a passion, use that as a guide. If not, find something that you can source easilly or become an expert in a smaller niche. Once you have begun to master that niche, expand to other niches.
When doing online auctions, and even online estate sales, I resesrch the items I am interested in. Find out what they sold for on eBay. That way i’m not selling something for pennies profit.
I am still a beginner. We all start somewhere!
Good luck, good hunting and enjoy the thrill when something sells!
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It might help to start with a niche, due to less reseller competition. I do okay with craft items which most resellers don’t bother with at the thrifts. Usually crafts don’t have big $ returns (which is why other resellers pass on them) but for me they sell well, are easy to find, inexpensive to source and are very easy to store and ship.
In my early reselling days I’d look for new in the package items after getting burned on buying items with missing parts a few times. I also made some mistakes on buying items that were too large or heavy to ship for a reasonable cost. So those are some things to keep in mind when sourcing.
Once you go to the thrift stores often enough you’ll see the same items over and over and know not to source those as there are already lots of those items on eBay. Now I often buy things I’ve never seen before just because I know if I’ve never seen it it’s rare, and potentially worth more because of scarcity.
Good luck to you, and have fun with it!
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Hi Gopher Jim, because you said this “I would rather get a box/bin full of stuff and be forced to go through it than to try to identify something of value.” I wonder if going to an auction and picking up a cheap box lot or two might be a fun way for you to start learning and researching items. What many of us do is we find a lot that we know has one item in a box lot that can give us a profit and then anything else of value in there is gravy. Looking up and researching things you might never buy on their own is a great way to build knowledge.
Quick example: a month back I bought a big box of old restaurant ware dinner plates (assorted patterns) for $8 at an online auction nearby. I bought it because there were some U.S. Navy plates that I knew would sell for $30-40. I knew this after doing some quick research on ebay/terrapeak. I didn’t even look at the rest of the items. Well, when I won it and picked it up there were a bunch of other cool plates. We kept three for our house, I listed 3 sets of plates including the one mentioned above (which sold for $40: https://ebay.us/G8ev5l) and I took the rest to my local consignment store. They took almost all of the remaining plates, and I’ll make $2-3 a plate on those. So all-in I spent $8, have already made $40 and will probably make $120 total when it is all said and done. And most of those plates were patterns I had never seen before and I did the research once they were home. But know I have some new knowledge for when I am out at garage sales or at thrift stores.
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