Huge Thrift Store Trip Haul!! $390 Spent > $1,800 Profit Made After Fees So Far ($2,000 Projected)
Here's an example of a nice thrifting pull from just ONE store a few months ago. The right time to get to this particular place is when they roll over their staff mid-day that start their shift by putting newly priced items out on the shelves. I got there on target with this schedule and saw a TON of overflowing bins of newly priced items on the floor without anyone nearby...
I darted over and immediately saw TONS of sealed new Anthony Robbins motivational products mixed in everywhere. He's a famous self-help coach who has an extensive product line. Anyway, I was shocked at was how low the prices were. Everything was under $9.99 except one DVD series I had price corrected because duplicate sets were 3x cheaper. From experience, I knew that many of the sets would easily sell for $80-$200, so I filled up my basket like someone playing Hungry Hungry Hippos by themselves (insert childhood nostalgia). I then rushed to get more baskets to collect the free money.
Once I settled in, there was one reseller apparently there just before me who had grabbed some nice box sets. I couldn't complain, however, he came over to small talk with me about what we found. I told him I was a reseller too and tried not to seem competitive as I continued digging through the bins to make sure I didn't miss anything. He then inexplicably said he couldn't take much of what he'd grabbed because he didn't have enough cash on him, and gave almost all of it to me! Literally hundreds of dollars of profit handed over with NO strings. I graciously asked him name and shook his hand. He then walked away. Simple as that...
But, it wasn't over. For some reason, the same man started going around the store to pluck some of these products off the shelves that were just put out, and hand delivered them to me over and over. He even yelled across the store to show me where others were that he didn't bring yet. I couldn't get why he was doing this, except that maybe he was rebuilding his thrifting karma for the next time. He left again, but I went after him and gave him $10 for his kindness. That seemed to be plenty to get his smile and gratitude. It was a nice experience. I've only seen him once since, but he didn't recognize me. I didn't have any items on my the second time, but I'll give him something nice I've found the next time.
Now, the "work" part. I had to get this all organized and to the front of the store to pay. The customers behind me on the line were just thrilled as it took forever to ring me up, but the BEST part was...
...that my ARCH RIVAL thrifting nemesis had just come to the store after me and missed it all. This was incredibly satisfying because we're always competing without a word, and just regularly trailing each other on our overlapping local circuits. The icing on the cake was that we was stuck on line behind me with some small items watching me pay relatively nothing for what he knew was a monster haul.
Everything came out to $390, which was a steal for mostly new stuff. My overall revenue was much more than the $1,800 profit so far, but I take out the costs, fees, and shipping expenses as to not inflate anything.
I then took a free bus transfer home and walked several blocks with the bags in hand. I had to stop a few times to rest, but I wanted the exercise. Anyone else would've taken a taxi home, victorious, but I really like being able to do things myself. It was also baseball season for me, so I equated the burning forearms to faster bat speed.
Aside from the sealed brand new Anthony Robbins box sets, DVDs, CDs, workbooks, calendars, and a few mint open items, I also found 3 hair treatment serums. I've sold almost everything except a few stragglers I haven't listed yet. These will probably bring in about $200 more profit to take me to about a $2,000 total gain. Not bad for one stop, but the key is NOT stopping when you have a nice haul. I threw my stuff inside my apartment, shook out my arms, and went out thrifting to find some more sealed luxury beauty products.
The Find:
Organizing For Payment:
Transport:
The Final Display Once Again:
Bonus Scene!
I walked into another store earlier this year and boom, vintage STAR WARS! This is a store that you want to go to when they open their doors since they restock before opening. I immediately zipped over to this table full of late 1970's Star Wars toys. I said, "I'll take the whole table." They obliged with a grin and packed it up. The entire set cost $109.97, which I recovered after selling just FOUR items. I've been lazy to sell most of this because it wasn't as valuable as I'd thought, but I wanted to be aggressive and keep shopping in the area versus looking up each item at the time. As of now, the sealed figure/coin netted $53.74 profit alone as the most profitable piece of the set to date.
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About Me:
I quit my corporate job to find and sell anything I can. Two and a half years later, 2,568 items sold, debt free, a stockpile of cryptos, and free to live as I choose. You can too with some confidence and faith! I've developed many sources of inventory, many of which are completely FREE, if not at very low cost. I'm most proud of the recycling of consumer goods and tons of packaging to ship everything. This NEVER feels like work. I hope to inspire others to make some extra money and help the environment, one item at a time.
I truly want to promote recycling, repurposing, and being able to fully support yourself without a traditional job. I hope this information can be useful and motivation. Please feel free to follow and resteem.
More to come!
~steemmatt
Got a good laugh out of this!
How big is the city you do this in, how many stores do you have in your circuit? What platform do you usually sell on?
Pretty funny that you've got a thrift nemesis, always good to have a little competition!
I'm glad you extracted the most salient content in my opinion as well (seriously). Sometimes thrifting for hours is simply great exercise and fun for beating the competition vs the money.
There are about 30 thrift stores in or just outside my city I can attack, but I normally stick to a core 10-15 that are most convenient to get to with that often have the type of items and pricing I'd want. A simple circuit is usually 5-8 stores that are clustered close enough. If they aren't productive, I'll push for another leg in another group. If thrifting was a dud, I have the recycling to hit at night.
Sometimes I'll launch an all day/night assault and get so much stuff I don't know what to do with it. I have to keep a balance with what's practical to move quick enough, versus building up too much of an inventory. I have my island of misfit purchases I'm lazy with listing that I should tackle before getting more, but it's hard to not want to go on the hunt instead.
I sell heavily on eBay, a decent amount on Craigslist, and have dabbled on Etsy and Close5 so far as well.
That definitely sounds like a full time job. I don't think we'd have enough stock in our neck of the woods to support that, but I'm probably wrong and the thrifters in town are happy that I think that!
Thanks for sharing the info.
My average thrifting circuit is about 2-3 hours tops. My average picking trips are about an hour tops. That's doing most by foot, or with public transportation. There are full days, but it's a self-motivating activity because it's paying a return. Regarding thrifting, you could frequent 2-3 stores that have volume 2-3 times a week and find yourself accumulating some nice inventory before you know it, especially as you become more proficient. Thanks for responding.
What is important is loving what you are doing @steemmatt if it gives rewards and fulfillment.
Thanks for checking this out, and mostly for your wisdom.
Haha I love that you have a thrift nemesis! I imagine you would start to see a few of the same resellers as everyone learns the schedule for each thrift store.
Another quality post that is both informative and entertaining!
img credz: pixabay.com
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