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Thrifting for profit - Page 3

post #41 of 106
3/28/07 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
Yeah...so far my experiment isn't working all that well, and I'm not sure this is even going to be worth doing, since Ebay is so huge and has so many people trying to make money this way. But I'm going to give it a month or so and see if I can get a better idea on what my "stock" should be. And anything that isn't selling on Ebay, I can always give away or trade!
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post #42 of 106
3/28/07 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mama2babybeans View Post
I have given up going to Goodwill recently because all of the good things seem to be snatched up by people looking for things to re-sell. Some of the same women are there day after day, buying up anything namebrand. So families who actually need the store to clothe their children are left with stained, ripped items.
Our particular store is never 'flooded' with merchandise, so they would be just fine without people doing this.
The store has actually picked up on this and have raised their prices and put anything 'nice' on a special 'boutique' rack so they can jack the prices up.
I understand people going to yard sales, etc. to pick up items to re-sell, but I think with something like Goodwill, some of the intention there is to help low-income families get by.
If a thrift store really needed help to get rid of their items and there didn't seem to be much demand, I could understand this thrifting for profit.
Where I live, though, it really seems to be hurting people. Just offering another side of it.
yep. I agree. This is why even when I tempted by a inexpensive item I could sell for a profit, I just leave. I don't NEED the item, and someone else might.
post #43 of 106
3/28/07 at 2:05pm
In my town, if you are a needy family, then you can get coupons for things at the salvation army and other thrift stores for free! I don't see purchasing things there as taking away from the needy, but giving money for the charity to provide other services to needy families (like food and shelter).
post #44 of 106
3/28/07 at 3:35pm
Thread Starter 
That seems to be how the stores see it as well, since they encourage you to shop there not out of "need," but in order to support their other endeavors.
post #45 of 106
3/28/07 at 4:31pm
PP's who feel ebayers are depleting the thrift store inventory - Are you solely in the market for high end/boutique clothing? Because there's plenty to go around of the mart & mall brands. The ebayers aren't buying them up. I would only see this as a problem is someone will only dress their child in Hanna, Zutano, Oilily, etc and settle for nothing less. Then yes, it will be hard to find those at thrifts.
post #46 of 106
3/28/07 at 5:09pm
And before Ebad, I was able to dress my children in cute, quality clothing for pennies on the dollar, I was constantly being commented on how cute my daughter was dressed, asked where I bought her clothes, or how to get on the same cattle book list. Now, on monday morning when the "new" stuff is put out, there are no less than 10 women standing outside, waiting for the door to open. I live in a town that has quite a few wealthy people, and quite a few struggling. Now, it is either buy new, or resort to ebad.

I have had good luck with REI outlet, Land'send overstocks, and eddie bauer clearance. But my kiddos would look out of place anywear but in the PacNW.

REI recently had the NEW kiddo Chaco's on clearance for 22.00, so I bought a bunch in different sizes. The shoes are eco friendly, and for the kids start at 49 bucks.
post #47 of 106
3/28/07 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
Interestingly, so far it seems like adult clothes are going to turn more profit than kids' clothes. But I think maybe I wasn't smart enough to be as picky as I should have been with the kids' stuff this first time around. Oh well. Live and learn.
post #48 of 106
3/28/07 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mama2babybeans View Post
I have given up going to Goodwill recently because all of the good things seem to be snatched up by people looking for things to re-sell. Some of the same women are there day after day, buying up anything namebrand. So families who actually need the store to clothe their children are left with stained, ripped items.
Our particular store is never 'flooded' with merchandise, so they would be just fine without people doing this.
The store has actually picked up on this and have raised their prices and put anything 'nice' on a special 'boutique' rack so they can jack the prices up.
I understand people going to yard sales, etc. to pick up items to re-sell, but I think with something like Goodwill, some of the intention there is to help low-income families get by.
If a thrift store really needed help to get rid of their items and there didn't seem to be much demand, I could understand this thrifting for profit.
Where I live, though, it really seems to be hurting people. Just offering another side of it.
And I feel the opposite way about it. The only stores around here that have any decent used clothes are the consignment stores, and they're pricy! Our thrift stores have total garbage--grungy, old Walmart and Target clothes, or maybe Carter's if you're lucky. If it wasn't for people reselling on eBay, I'd never be able to get anything decent at a discount. I'll settle for helping the people who thrift for extra money (many of whom are mamas trying to make some extra money so they can stay home with their littles) and getting a break in prices over buying new clothes at Walmart any day.
post #49 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:08am
Thread Starter 
Woohoo! Did I give you the URL for my store?
post #50 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:11am
No, but please PM it to me! I may or may not need summer stuff for my DD1, depends on the hand-me-downs we're getting.

Thanks!
post #51 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:35am
AO, if you decide to continue reselling you should look into rummage sales. Around here (SE Michigan) we have awesome rummage sales and you can do even better than you can at the thrift store. This past Saturday I went to one in a wealthy area and did really well. I went at the end of the sale for the bag sale which was $4 for everything you could stuff in a tall kitchen bag. I scored a Hanna dress and pajamas, a pair of shoes for me and a pair for dd, jeans, a skirt, 2 sweaters, 2 shirts, a leotard, a pair of sweatpants, some tights and socks, a couple of glass canisters and a stuffed snake for dd. All for $4! I'm planning to resell the Hanna dress and use the rest!
post #52 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by root*children View Post
PP's who feel ebayers are depleting the thrift store inventory - Are you solely in the market for high end/boutique clothing? Because there's plenty to go around of the mart & mall brands. The ebayers aren't buying them up. I would only see this as a problem is someone will only dress their child in Hanna, Zutano, Oilily, etc and settle for nothing less. Then yes, it will be hard to find those at thrifts.
If you are shopping for a nice dress for your child for a special event say and you don't have enough money for new or eBay, and your thrift stores are completely out of pretty dresses because someone came through and bought all 7 nice dresses that your 10 year old girl would actually want to wear, then yeah those buying for resale do affect the ability of some families to buy something they could really use. Also, it is not the nice clothes that the thrift stores throw out, it is the household junk and totally undesirable in the area items so resellers are *not* saving the Hannas and Zutanos from the garbage.

That said, I don't have a real objection to resale because it does promote reuse which is nice. But everything has a cost, intended or not. There are two reasonable sides on this issue.
post #53 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by avengingophelia View Post
This actually brings me to one of the moral, rather than financial, reasons I thrift personally and would love to get more other people to do the same. I absolutely hate seeing this. There IS a difference. There are a couple, actually. The first is that when you buy something new, at almost any mainstream store, and certainly one with $5 shirts, you're supporting questionable labor practices and non-union labor. When you buy something thrift, you aren't. Clothes aren't made with resale value in mind, so whether or not they do well in thrift stores doesn't much enter into the equation. The second thing is environmental--it is better for the world if we use things until they are used up, not until we are sick of them, and to me, that means dressing from thrift stores to the greatest extent possible, rather than always purchasing new clothes. New clothes take energy and resources to make, and it's really wasteful that so many of them are made, given the plethora of perfectly good ones going to waste.

So for me, it's worth it to try and buy clothes (and other things, but clothes especially) used, even if there is no financial incentive to do so (and I think there is, because a used shirt from a nice manufacturer is nicer than a new shirt from a crappy manufacturer). I think it's the right thing to do, from a social justice and environmental perspective. And that's another reason I don't really feel bad about the resale angle, either--it keeps both of those things going, and it may well be that someone will buy something resale, after someone else has gone through the work of finding it, when they otherwise would have bought new.
word!
post #54 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:46am
and i dont think its worth the time to thrift resell but i have 2 kids...
and im busy enough with other things i sell online.. but hey i think supporting your local thrift stores is great even if you intend to resell.. supporting a great cause and keeping stuff out of landfills..
oh and every once in awhile leave something really nice so a mom who really needs clothes for her kids still has a chance share
post #55 of 106
3/29/07 at 12:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kijip View Post
If you are shopping for a nice dress for your child for a special event say and you don't have enough money for new or eBay, and your thrift stores are completely out of pretty dresses because someone came through and bought all 7 nice dresses that your 10 year old girl would actually want to wear, then yeah those buying for resale do affect the ability of some families to buy something they could really use. Also, it is not the nice clothes that the thrift stores throw out, it is the household junk and totally undesirable in the area items so resellers are *not* saving the Hannas and Zutanos from the garbage.

That said, I don't have a real objection to resale because it does promote reuse which is nice. But everything has a cost, intended or not. There are two reasonable sides on this issue.
Thank you for your validation....
post #56 of 106
3/29/07 at 9:43am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the garage sale tip. That is definitely part of the plan down the road, if this works out.

I've already given my defense of doing this, and searched my soul on it, and I feel that it's fine. So those who are naysaying can go ahead and do so, but my mind is made up. I'm truly sorry if some of y'all think it's immoral, but I don't.
post #57 of 106
3/29/07 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kijip View Post
Also, it is not the nice clothes that the thrift stores throw out, it is the household junk and totally undesirable in the area items so resellers are *not* saving the Hannas and Zutanos from the garbage.
Also, in my case, this is just incorrect. The stores I am frequenting are "bins" stores, where stuff that hasn't sold at the regular Goodwill stores in town goes pre-landfill. Anything that doesn't get sold there gets thrown away (or maybe bundled, as someone previously mentioned, but that's not a great thing either).
post #58 of 106
3/29/07 at 4:11pm
kijip - I only wish it were true that every nice formal dress was resellable. But plenty of mall stores sell beautiful (BEAUTIFUL) dresses perfect for formal occasions that just aren't worth anything on ebay. So, there again, if your thrift doesn't have them, they probably aren't getting them in first place. I see beautiful clothes all the time that I pass up because they aren't high-end brands, and therefore would not generate enough profit on ebay

Most thrift stores have color coding on their tags or the plastic barbs. These let store workers know how long items have been there. They are thrown away in rotation. Not just household junk... actually that sells MUCH faster then clothes (think quantity related). There are so many clothes, they throw out ANYTHING that has reached it's "store expiration date". Depends where you live, if they are tossing Hannas and Zutanos. In Boulder, CO - yes, they are throwing those away; in rural Iowa - probably not so much, just because it would be SO rare to get anythign like that, it would be snatched up fast.

AO - how's the ebaying going? Is AO your user name over there also? I wanna check out your stuff!!
post #59 of 106
3/29/07 at 4:17pm
Well, that wasn't hard to find you on ebay ! Cute stuff - GREAT finds for a Goodwill Outlet... you have much more patience than I do in those bin stores!

Anyhow, wondering if you wanted any tips/constructive critism? I won't give it if you don't want it
post #60 of 106
3/29/07 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
I want it! Badly! Lay it on me!

I am already aware of some of the mistakes I've made, I think--no more Carters, Osh Kosh, etc.--I'll save that stuff for swaps. What else do I need to know?