What do you personally look for in thrift stores/garage sales?

gods country girl

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vibes

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I do a lot of repurposeing....so I look for items that are in good condition, like furniture to re-paint, etc...

Plus, I always check for AMERICAN made vintage coats, art, mid-century modern lamps & furniture, vintage jewelry in great condition, Hull, Shawnee, McCoy pottery...stuff like that.
 

dejapooh

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Nov 14, 2012
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Thrift stores in my area are a dead end. They are all part of a regional chain. The stuff comes in and goes to a sorting facility. Everything then gets priced and sent back out to the shops. If they don't sell in 2 or 3 months, they are shipped back to the Sorting Facility and sent to a new store. There are no discounts. Anything remotely collectable is sent to their own auction site (starting price is high) or is put in a glass case at about 2x to 4x ebay BIN prices. There are a few nice thrift stores a bit further out, but I do not have time to go 25 miles each way to wade through the dirty baby clothes.

My wife is starting to like the thrift stores. One near us has a Borkholder like entertainment center for sale for $90. I am thinking of getting it and converting it into a Photo Light box for my auctions...
 

buckandkelly

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Jan 12, 2013
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There is a great thrift store close to my house. Last week I picked up 3 designer dresses for 5.00 each, they retail between 200.00-600.00 each.

I decided to keep them since they are so cute and fit!
 

diggummup

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Thrift stores in my area are a dead end. They are all part of a regional chain. The stuff comes in and goes to a sorting facility. Everything then gets priced and sent back out to the shops. If they don't sell in 2 or 3 months, they are shipped back to the Sorting Facility and sent to a new store. There are no discounts. Anything remotely collectable is sent to their own auction site (starting price is high) or is put in a glass case at about 2x to 4x ebay BIN prices. There are a few nice thrift stores a bit further out, but I do not have time to go 25 miles each way to wade through the dirty baby clothes.

Goodwill stores only? There are the worst ones around here for prices. No consignment shops or second hand stores?

Sounds like a perfect place to open a thrift store then, doesn't it?

Dejapooh's Second Hand Treasures, now accepting donations and consignments (we also buy and sell estates)... lol

Way too much competition down here. Those places open and close like bad restaurants around this area. I know of 12 or more in a 4 mile radius from my house.
 

cyberdan

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There is a great thrift store close to my house. Last week I picked up 3 designer dresses for 5.00 each, they retail between 200.00-600.00 each. I decided to keep them since they are so cute and fit!

Kelly I hope you wrote that reply and not Buck.
 

biggmike

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Dumbells.... I buy dumbells (hand weights) and sell them on Craigslist. I got: 2 - 75 pound dumbells, 2 - 30 pound dumbells and 2 - kettlebells one 15 pound and one 20 pound all for $10.

Sold the 2 Kettlebells on eBay for $45 cost me about $10 to ship, 3.50 for the product and about $4.50 in fees = $27 profit

Sold the 2 30 pounders on Craigslist for $30, -$3.50 product = 26.50 profit

Have the two 75 pounders on Craigslist for $80 -$3.50 for a potential profit of $76.50

51.50 so far in profit with another $76.50 soon = potential $128 profit for $10

View attachment 722017 View attachment 722018 View attachment 722019

Sold the last set yesterday for $60 cash on CL so that brings the total to $111.50 profit on a $10 buy. Pick up those weights and you can usually sell them on CL and make a heavy profit. People love the metal ones and the kettlebells (the plastic ones that you fill with cement I don't mess with). If they have one or 10 buy them if the price is right. Look to get about half your total weight in dollars. 100 pounds = $50 give or take. This is just one of many, many things I look for.
 

clovis97

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Dec 9, 2010
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i look for items i have sold previously and items i think may sell good.auctions are my fav place to buy items, i buy mostly box lots , as you can usually make the maximum profit from box lots.i once spent 55 dollars on several truck loads of box lot items( my husband had a fit......lol)from one sale and made $3000 plus off the items in the boxes.

WTG!!!!

I've done very well with auction box lots. Yes, your spouse wants to kill you from time to time, and they are a ton of work, but often, those boxes pay off handsomely!
 

northwoods

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I'll tell you what to do look for...

I go to goodwill a lot. Theres a local one that has bins and they charge per pound. I usually load up on stuffed animals like disney etc and sell them from $5 to $10 on ebay. They have all types of things, just wondering what I should keep an eye out for thanks

We specialize in this stuff at our :censored: There's tons of great stuff that you can make good money on at thrifts. Look for the smaller thrifts, not chains like Goodwill. You will get better prices.

We have really good luck with media items like vinyl records, video games, and books, but you have to have a smartphone and AZ app to price items. We have found prob. 10-15 board games worth over $50 in the last yr, look for the 3M bookshelf games, and sell them on AZ, not eBay (eBay sucks root). Vintage speakers sell great on Craigs, also old vintage audio tuners can be parted out and sold for components and gold and silver in contacts. Do some research on our site. We have info on how to find gold and silver at thrifts and items that make good money. You could also research completed listings on eBay.
 

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If you know what youre looking at you can do well.I have bought items for 25 35 bucks that are worth 500.Knowing is the key.Any idiot can walk into a store and buy something that isnt worth spit.Knowing before you buy is a completely different story.Snooze you lose.Read a book or two gain some knowledge before hand.Those who hesitate lose.
 

Golden Nugget

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Toy China. Doll House China. Nick Nack China. Most of it was made in Japan. Its hand painted and some of it has real gold leaf and gold paint on it. This stuff was sold in the five and ten cent stores back in the fifties and sixties. Nothing like buying a toy sized tea cup for .50 cents at Good Will then reselling it for $50 dollars on Ebay. If you are real lucky you may find some salesmans full set of miniture display China. These pieces are every bit as fine as the full sized China that they represent. There is very little of this stuff still around but if you find some its worth big bucks.
 

jerseyben

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We specialize in this stuff at our :censored: There's tons of great stuff that you can make good money on at thrifts. Look for the smaller thrifts, not chains like Goodwill. You will get better prices.

We have really good luck with media items like vinyl records, video games, and books, but you have to have a smartphone and AZ app to price items. We have found prob. 10-15 board games worth over $50 in the last yr, look for the 3M bookshelf games, and sell them on AZ, not eBay (eBay sucks root). Vintage speakers sell great on Craigs, also old vintage audio tuners can be parted out and sold for components and gold and silver in contacts. Do some research on our site. We have info on how to find gold and silver at thrifts and items that make good money. You could also research completed listings on eBay.

Did you come here just to drive traffic to your own site?
 

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diggummup

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I know of several members that have links to their business's, blog's, websites, and web stores on here. Since when is it against forum rules? I can't find it. Although some of the rules ​are open for interpretation.
 

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