Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Making Money Without $1.00 Days is for the Dogs.

While in Newport Beach, I noticed something about Reef.

He loves dogs.

If he sees a dog, I know what he’ll do.

If I saw a dog, I quickly ran ahead and asked the owner if the dog was friendly.

Reef was close behind me, ready to make a new friend.

I’m just as predictable if I find a thrift store.

I love thrift stores and have to spend time with them; browsing and getting to know the merchandise.

Reef searches out dogs. I search out trash.

Many of you who follow My Dear Trash do not have $1.00 days at your local thrift store.

Yuck!

I feel for you.

When we were in Newport Beach, I wanted to try an experiment.

I shopped at Goodwill in Huntington Beach and the American Cancer Society Discovery Thrift store, neither of which has $1.00 days. I purchased the best merchandise I could find. Either way my experiment is a success because I was able to donate to some local charities through my purchases. But, let's see what happened.

I’ve posted my finds on EBay.

Did I made any money?

I found a pair of Current Elliot Elephant Bell Waist 30 Jeans. I'd never seen this brand before. What's funny is EBay currently has a home page pushing a pair of Current Elliot jeans.

I looked up the brand and find they sale new for around $250.00. I listed mine at $49.99 and they didn't sell. This week they're listed at $24.99. I'll let you know next week if they sell. I paid $9.00 for them.

I really like these Firetrap Black Seal Waist 30 Cropped Cargo Jeans and wish so bad they fit over my post-pregnancy belly. The jeans are a label from England and sale for around $150.00. Once again, I paid $9.00. I posted them on EBay for $24.99 and they didn't sell. Strike two.

I really like these Genetic Denim Riley Fit Waist 26 Lowrise Jeansand remember Gwyneth Paltrow wearing them in some trashy gossip magazine. I paid $9.00 for them and they sold for $24.99. Finally, a successful sale.

I found some great dresses, but had to pay $9.99 for each of them.

J. Crew Size 12 NWOT Pink Baby Doll Ruffle Dress

Because I started out paying so much for them, I was tempted to list them at $24.99. None of them sold, so I dropped my price and currently have them listed at $9.99. I'll let you know the final selling price next week.

Not to be too depressing, I did make some sales this week.

Ann Taylor Loft Size 14 Long Gray Cargo Drawstring Pant

All these pants were purchased for $5.99 at Goodwill. They each sold for around $9.99, nothing to jump up and down about, but I did make a small profit.

The moral of the story? It's difficult to make serious money without a dollar day. My advice? Get out there and shop yard sales too. Try to pay no more then $1.00 for yard sale clothing and you're sure to make a decent profit reselling them on EBay.

Now, I've got to go find Reef. I'm sure he's out playing with somebody's dogs.

6 comments:

  1. I have become very cheap now that I know I can find anything for $1. I love thrift stores. I love finding the diamonds in the rough. I will pay maybe $5-$7 if I know it will sell well. Those would usually only be Coldwater creek plus size or Eddie Bauer plus size. :) When I saw your Eddie Bauer 4x shirt do so well I had to find one. It took a couple weeks but I did and it sold yesterday for $34 and I paid $3 at Indian School thrift in PHX. Thank you for all of your insperation.
    Jaime

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  2. I shop at Savers and find their colored 50% tag. Its not $1 but I try to keep things under $3.99. I have done somewhat okay. I think I need to start listing things at a higher starting price.

    I also need to figure out shipping!
    Thanks for your help

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  3. Thank you so much for this post! I have been inspired by your blog but we do not have $1 days in my area. We do have half off the colored tag... I could find a blouse for $3 or $2.50 but not $1. eBay has seemned so intimidating to me.... photos, posts, shipping... I'm gonna give it a try! Thank you. ~ C

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  4. Thanks to you, I began ebaying at the start of June. So far, I have grossed $300! I don't put too much time into it, hence, the low amount, but all the $ will go into a CD for my 4yo to use for when we need to buy him a car. So, really, whatever I get is awesome! I have had some hit/miss and learned (alot!!!) along the way about what sells, doesn't, shipping, etc. I buy ONLY items 1/2 off colored tag at GW and I am PICKY for items, but I have had great luck at my local GW on quality stuff (Chico's sells like crazy! and Banana Republic stuff!!!). I found a pair of Diane Von Furstenburg perfect black pants for $7 and had to get them, no waiting to go 50%, they wouldn't have been there!!!
    THANK YOU for your inspiration!!! I wouldn't have started all of this without your blog.

    From: Sunny in So Cal, but not getting GW Dollar Days!! : (

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  5. Totally discouraged! Bought a brand spanking new pair of american eagle jeans at a garage sale for $5. They sold for $5.75 on Ebay :( A lousy .75 profit! Every little bit helps, but seriously, I should have returned these to AE for some store credit or something!!

    Oh well, such is the Ebay roller coaster!

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  6. Our local Goodwill's (there are 15 that are grouped together) recently did away with tag sales. Before, they would tag items with a different color tag each week for 4 weeks. The color from week 1 would go on sale on week 4, the week before the color was re-used to tag new objects. Objects tagged with the weekly color were 50% off all week.

    No dollar day, but still not bad. They did away with it, though.

    However, I am blessed with a Goodwill As-Is center in my town (from what I understand, these are very rare centers). It takes items that aren't selling in those 15 local Goodwills, and tosses them into a store as a last chance sale. Items are marked down according to the original price.

    All adult clothing is $.99, all the time- whether it's jeans, a t-shirt, or a prom gown. All kids clothing is $.49, again, regardless of what it is.

    I have some great luck there. I found some brand new 7 for all Mankind jeans there, which fit my 14 year old daughter. She was impressed with the $200 name brand I found, but that didn't stop her from writing on them, tearing out the knee, and eventually ruining them. -sigh-

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