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The good stuff always sells Columbia, Spyder, etc. Coats are very spotty just because there are soo many. Bib overalls have always sold good for me in pretty much any brand. When you see it just do some quick searches on the brand in terapeak so you can see the seasonality and STR if you are picking it up off-season.
This summer I picked up a vintage NWT kids snowbobile suit and a vintage men snowmobile suit for FREE at a yard sale. I couldn’t believe they were in a free pile. I saw nothing but huge dollar signs…that blinded me to the GIANT rips in both I saw once I got home. At least they were free!
I went to a Goodwill last week but didn’t buy anything. But I do have a scavenge worth noting.
So I picked up this interesting Sony headphone set a while back at Goodwill. Couldn’t find anything on it at the time but it was Sony, it was vintage, and the price was right.
Last week I finally got around to researching it a bit. There isn’t much info out there and there is ZERO sales history. I found the manual and realized I was missing a piece – the wireless transmitter. I was able to find the transmitter on ebay for $20. Yay!
I got it in and tested the system out – it works perfectly. So for pricing all I know is that it sold for $750 in 1994/95. It was a neat advancement in A/V, but was immediately made irrelevant with other rapidly happening developments.
So how does it work? Well like with most high end audiophile equipment, the effect is subtle to a non-audiophile such as myself. But if you listen a while with the virtual setting on and then turn the setting off it is jarring how much more natural the virtual audio sounds. Moving around with standard headphones on watching the tv felt very unnatural. Here’s the thing though – when watching a movie how often do you look away/turn away? Not much. It’s…kind of pointless. I get the feeling it was just an exercise that needed to be done to push technology forward – innovate just for innovations sakes and to show something off a tech show.
I believe I have the only complete unit for sale in the world. My hope is that somewhere there is a rabid Sony collector who has a search set for this item. I suspect that the buyer will be international. Yes, I priced it to the moon. The market (if there is one) will let me know what the going rate will be.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266608801620
Sony VIP-1000 with VIP-1000H Headphones Virtual Phones COMPLETE TMR-IF310
Check out this awesome mileage and expense tracking app, Everlance. https://link.everlance.com/LoQnhDXGcGb
everlance. I’ve used it for years. 60 bucks and it auto tracks Every trip I take in a car. Swipe left or right for work or personal. At the end of the year it spits out a number for me to put in my taxes.
it’s running all the time in the background on my phone, works great. I just open the app once a week and categorize everything.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266588361856
Skannerz Commander Radica 2001 Handheld Monster Scanning Barcode Toy Lot of 2
Sold for full price. If these weren’t so valuable I would give them to my kids (who would lose/destroy them in 2 days or less). I enjoyed testing them on barcoded items in my office!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266589027819
West Bend Poppery II Automatic Hot Air Corn Popper Popcorn Vintage
I pulled this from a death pile. Old air poppers always sell quickly to diy coffee roasters. I always pick up old air poppers – BOLO!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266576265970
ATA Martial Arts Sparring Gear Taekwondo Equipment Duffel Bag Karate Adult Size
I put off listing this one for months. I picked it up at a yard sale this summer along with some Harley riding gear and other misc items. Shame on me for waiting, but I got $160 for it. Paid approx $15 since I paid $50 for a pile of stuff including all the harley gear. The Harley boots alone sold a long time ago and more than paid for the whole lot. Bonus – it all fit me so I got to have a good time testing it all out.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266329015895
Spyder Ski Bib Snow Board Pants Dermizax-EV Black Pants Size Men’s L
And here was a the second half of the ski set I got for $40 at a yard sale. Sold the coat for $200 so a nice $150 net profit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266460991031
Crouse Hinds Mp Style Breaker Lot of 19 20A 30A 40A 60A GFCI Single Double Mix
Now here’s an interesting one. In 2021 my electrical circuit panel took a dump. One of the mains lugs was bad so I lost one leg of the box. I had to replace the entire panel. Since this was an older panel the breakers couldn’t be reused. I was going to toss them, but thought surely someone could put these to use as backups or to do circuit additions to old panels. I thought right. Sold for full price. The best kind of scavenging!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266565917754
Tommy Bahama Melamine Hobnail Aqua 6″ x 3″ Square Bowls Cereal Pasta Set of 4
Not a big sale but I knew these would sell quickly, are small, and would be easy to ship/ aren’t breakable. Picked up in Columbus at a Goodwill. Sold for full price – paid $4. I’m a sucker for interesting looking items like this – love the color and style! Apparently so do other people.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266577584108
Speed Racer Mach 5 Helmet Costume Car Race Around Sound
I knew this item wouldn’t last long – took 2 weeks. Sold for full price. Paid $2 at an independent thrift store I go to a couple times a year.
Welcome back!
I’ve missed seeing your numbers. As a men’s fashion seller, boy do I have a story for you!
I closed out the year with some great sales.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266439738583
Robin’s Jean Men’s Size 40 x 36 Green Long Flap
I had never heard of this Jean’s brand before I bought multiple pair of them in the premium hoarder collection. STR isn’t great, but when they sell it is good money!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266560751500
Canon ZR830 MiniDV Camcorder W/ Battery & Charger – TESTED WORKS
Paid $5 at a yard sale. Small form Camcorders are always worth checking out. Sometimes people leave tapes in them which blows my mind. I get a a kick out of seeing what silly stuff is on the tapes. Some highlights I’ve seen: LOTS of Dog Videos- people used these to record their dogs before cameras you could access on your phone, kids basketball games, Hot air balloon fesitval, and my personal favorite – an angsty teen boy recording his philosophical musings while presumably high.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266520074108
Polo Ralph Lauren Cashmere Sweater Men’s Size XL Purple V Neck NWT
Premium hoarder sweater. Sold for full price. My buy cost averages out to $10.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266407130952
Sony DCR-TRV350 Handycam Camcorder TESTED Complete in box with leather Bag
Did I mention Camcorders are BOLO? That goes double for Sony. Sold for best offer of $323. I paid $20 at a yard sale. 8mm is the most desirable format.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266420775304
Vintage American Optical Microscope Illuminator Light Lamp No. 1087
This is one of the random vintage medical accessories I picked up this summer in a huge collection of mid-century medical equipment. Sold for best offer $20.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266505262119
Clarks Originals Desert Trek Leather Chukka Boots 36449 Mens US Size 11.5 Crepe
Sold these on best offer $40 after about 6 weeks. I paid $8 at Goodwill. Mainly highlighting these to point out the soles. These are “crepe sole” shoes. It is a very gummy rubber that is highly desirable. I hear it increases hipster street cred at least 40%! 😀
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266294966483
Singer Tiny Serger Overedging Sewing TS380 with BOX – Pedal Power Cord
Sold on offer for $53. I was hungry for sales to close out the year so I took the money and ran. Paid $10 at Goodwill. Sewing machines bought used are a crap shoot as many times there is a reason they were donated. The good thing is you can hedge your bets by parting a broken machine out and making even more money than selling whole. You can’t lose in most cases. In this case it tested great so I sold it complete.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266280348259
Holly Hobbie 25th Anniversary Collectors Edition 14″ Rag Doll Meritus 1993
Took an offer of $40. Paid $4 at Goodwill. Vintage toys with barcodes are so easy to research before buying. In this case there was enough evidence that I could get $40-50 that the purchase was a no-brainer. Took 6 months to sell.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266292252426
Greats Brooklyn Made in Italy Men Blue Suede Chukka Boots Mens Shoes US 14.5
Another example of why shoes rule. I paid $6 for these shoes. I had never heard of this brand before but they were well made, a popular style, a great color, and like new. With the larger size I knew they would take longer to sell but I also knew I could get a higher price to the right buyer. Sold for full price – $80.
Most buyers are honest and are thankful for the opportunity to return even at a loss. The scumbags are very rare thankfully.
Haggars are NWT only for me.
A couple Instant bolos:
Anything denim & supply Ralph Lauren
Polo Ralph lauren (jeans specifically)
bonus: check for selvedge seam inside cuff. If you haven’t heard of that you need to research it.
mountain hardware pants
vintage levi’s
NWT Lee extreme comfort
Bib overalls
vintage paco, JNCO, really anything vintage 90’s or earlier.
Once you’ve handled a ton of jeans, the good ones just kind of pop out when browsing. true vintage sticks out like a sore thumb.
NWT pants are a great pickup almost always. Even Walmart brands like wrangler and Lee NWT can be a quick $25 profit.
Mens jeans are generally more profitable than women’s. For instance, American Eagle WOMENS jeans are a dime a dozen and will sell for $10-15 – if they ever sell. I never get them now, especially since local goodwills ditched 99 cent tags.
Men’s American Eagle can be $30-40 and sell quick so they are worth researching when you find them.I generally avoid the more common levis jeans models. They’re too common and STR is bad Due to saturated market.
look for unique details – interesting distressing, special pockets, gussetted crotch, unique colors/patterns, special materials/ treatments (mercerized cotton for example), reinforced knees, linings. Unique means more item specifics, rarer items, higher STR with buyers wanting those item specifics. Typically means higher price too.
Clothing and shoes is my biggest sales category by alot.
Clothing and shoes makes up 60-70% of my sales.
I try to balance out my listing – do a bin of clothes, then a bin of shoes, then a bin of misc small trinkets/toys/electronics/games. I want sales coming in from every category to try and balance out my sales. It also keeps things interesting.
If they returned it for fit, then offer a refund and DO NOT refund original shipping then relist. No big deal. This happens and you aren’t out any money this way.
Also, always charge for shipping so you don’t get stuck on the shipping cost.
It’s really no big deal once you do clothes for a while. Having detailed photos and measurements is about all you can do. Even with all that, things can be unflattering or just not quite fit right. It’s important to encourage buyer confidence to allow returns in this case. I’ve never had a single person complain for having to pay return shipping and not be refunded the original shipping. Many of them have left me positive feedback anyways. It’s kinda crazy that this is the case as these buyers eat $10-30+ in shipping costs!
The crappy return is when the buyer creates a false INAD in order to get free return shipping. In that case you still don’t refund original shipping and report buyer. Next time this happens I’m gonna adjust the refund to account for the return label and see what happens.
Don’t be discouraged. Expect a return rate of 2-3%. You’re only judged on INAD returns for performance. List those clothes and count that sweet cash.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266573057023
UNDERTALE Gold Locket Limited Collector’s Edition Nintendo Switch
First off, if you haven’t played this game you should! It’s unlike anything you’ve ever played. Anyways, my daughter wanted one of these collectors editions for the gold locket and soundtrack. I bought a few extra to resell since they are hard to come by. This was the last one I finally sold. Basically doubled my money after fees.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266505455987
Saunders Q&A Review Cards NCLEX-PN® Exam Silvestri Flash Cards 2d Ed LVN LPN
Medical/law flash cards are always a BOLO. These sold for full price in a month. I paid $2.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266407632699
Vintage Panasonic Omnivision 13” Color TV VCR VHS Player Combo TESTED PV-C1332W
Sold for full price. Paid a couple bucks at a yard sale. A pain to ship, but packing peanuts makes it a bit easier. It arrived in perfect condition and buyer left glowing positive feedback.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266577081193
Hot Wheels Workshop Car Maker Makes 10 Cars Create Your Own Age 8+ Mattel New
I picked this up at Goodwill sealed for $7. Sold for full price within a day. Nice!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266329017222
Spyder X-Static Dermizax-EV Men Full Zip Snowboarding Ski Jacket Hood Size Large
I picked this jacket up along with a pair of Spyder bib overalls (listed separately for $130) at a yard sale for $40. Sold for best offer $200 and already have positive feedback.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266407631003
Vintage Gold’s Gym Men’s Black Crew Neck Sweatshirt Size M Made USA
Sold for $100 best offer. I paid $1 at a yard sale. I was shocked when I listed it. When I picked it up I figured it was good for $40-50.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266534252446
The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Berge 1st Ed HC DJ Book
I picked this book up at the Premium Hoarder sale for $1. Sold on offer for $60 since I was hungry for sales. I flipped through this book and I could see that this was the main influence on the interior decorating/hard goods that were in the apartment.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266568448818
Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak N64 Red and Black Memory Pack Original Authentic OEM
Sold for full price. Pro tip – if you ever pick up a Nintendo 64 to resell, pop open that little door in front of the cart slot and check for this bad boy. N64’s originally came with a jumper pack in this spot and the expansion memory was added later for newer games. I bought a few jumper packs for like $4 each pre-emptively a while back so I was able to swap this out and sell separately.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266294541846
Mr. Christmas Grand Music In Motion 15 Song Music Box Tested Punch Paper 1999
Sold on Christmas Eve for $90 best offer. I paid a couple bucks at a yard sale back this summer.
Items in Store: 2975
Items Sold: 32
Total Sales: $2,025.00
COGS: $163.00
Total Profit: $1,862.00
Average profit: $58.19
Average sales price: $63.28
New Listings: 122
Items scavenged: 24
2023 weekly new listings Avg: 48Ah well back to the grind today! I had a great holiday at home with the family. I didn’t really do ebay much. I completely renovated a bathroom – that was a job! I played video games with the kids. I took ALOT of naps. I chilled in the hot tub regularly.
I was content with not meeting my lofty listing goal. Then this weekend I got the wild hair to list 100 items in one sitting. My daughter did the photos and I did all the listings. All clothes. She kept up with me the whole time. Normally she taps out after 10 items, but there was a sweet Kung Fu costume/uniform that was her size she saw in the items she wanted real bad. I told her she could have it if she finished all 100 items. Needless to say, she spent the rest of the day rocking her kung fu outfit. I believe we started around 1:30 and finished up around 5:15. I was IN THE ZONE!
Premium Hoarder update:
I sold 4 items for $900. One of the items was a pair of shoes I sold for $600. It is an interesting sale as the buyer is local in Huntington. They buy alot of high end stuff and do leave the occasional negative so I countered his offer of $500 with $600. He accepted and paid. I was expecting an offer to do local pickup but didn’t get anything. Naturally curious, I checked out the address/name to see who it is and where they are. It’s pretty much the nicest house in the best location in Huntington. The house and the owner’s interior decorating has been featured several times in local papers and magazines.
I have decided to include a thank you card with the shoes along with my personal email if they would like any more items from this collection. I will also point them in the direction of all the hard goods/interior design stuff. It is highly likely this buyer knew the person the collection came from.
Speaking of goals, I hit both of them!
I finished up the winter listing goal with 1123 – 10 over my goal. That puts me at 2510 new listings for the year. I’ve never broken 2000 listings in a year so that is a major upgrade.
I also blew the $70k in gross sales out of the water with $71531.
I had almost $56k in gross sales in the last half of the year. Never in my wildest dreams did I think when I set those summer listing goals in June that things would take off to this level.
$100k in gross sales in 2024 is definitely a possibility. I don’t think I can set that as a goal since I can’t control what sells, but I can set some goals to pave the way for that success. Mainly keep doing what I’m doing – 40+ avg listings per week, keep sourcing $50+ ASP items with good STR.
Items in Store: 2885
Items Sold: 38
Total Sales: $1,769.00
COGS: $191.00
Total Profit: $1,578.00
Average profit: $41.53
Average sales price: $46.55
New Listings: 38
Items scavenged: 14
2023 weekly new listings Avg: 46Felt slow the last half of the week but still an AMAZING week! Very little sold from the premium collection – just 4 items for $240.
Ebay was on the backburner the last 2 weeks of the year for the most part.
Thought to ponder – have you considered building a brand and doing Whatnot?
You have all the skills and knowledge in a niche that is tailor made for whatnot.If you can get a channel going over there you can really churn through some product and get ebay prices most of the time.
Did I buy stuff this week? Yes! Do I remember what it was? No!
I had a bunch of other stuff to do, but I did get in one Goodwill run to a Goodwill I don’t go to often. Nothing of special note – there were two $100 jackets in the Women’s section that caught my eye. Then in the men’s dept I bought 7 pair of jeans. Jeans are only $6.99 at this store and these were all high STR, $35-50 jeans. I got a couple of shoes that met my scavenging parameters too.
At the beginning of the year I almost felt like thrift store shoes was going to go away in my store. At one point this summer I had listed my entire death pile collection of shoes. That’s how few I was buying! Prices were going way up and supply was going way down. This fall the prices have went back down and supply of High STR or $50+ shoes is way up.
Oh wow, I have had some BAD customers this month. Rude, unreasonable, outright dishonest, and just plain dumb as dirt.
it only takes a couple bad apples to really make you start to dislike all apples. After dealing with a straight up MORON who left me a negative feedback this evening, I took time to read through a page of positive feedbacks. While I have had a few crap customers, I’ve had a TON of straight up awesome customers.
so if you ever get frustrated dealing with a bad Apple like I did tonight – don’t dwell on it. Block them – and go read some positive reviews. I feel so much better.
dwell on the positives, deal with and move on from the negatives.
