Search This Blog

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

    ReplyDelete
  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

    ReplyDelete
  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

    ReplyDelete
  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!! : (

    ReplyDelete
  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!

    ReplyDelete
  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-

    ReplyDelete