Don’t feel like you need to be an expert.
Posted on 09. Jun, 2010 by Brigitte in Uncategorized
Hi friends, I hope all of you are doing well and are pursuing making money from thrift store items.
I’ve received some emails from some of you expressing frustration about not knowing much on some of the items to buy at thrift stores. Remember, you don’t have to do it all! If you can’t quite “get” the vintage clothing part of it then focus on something else! No need to be frustrated my friends.
If you have a knack for a certain type of item say dishware, or books or artwork or whatever it may be, then pursue that. You will not only be more familiar with them but you will enjoy it and when you enjoy something it comes easy.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you need to be an expert either. Do you think all those people on eBay selling items like Iphone cases are experts on Iphone cases? No! Do you think that Walmart is an expert on everything in their store? Of course not. Who said we are out to be experts? We’re sales people, marketers, entrepreneurs or whatever you want to call it. Does it help to know about your item? Well of course it does.
Unless you are going to write a book or teach a class or do a report of something to that nature, why on earth would you need to be an expert? That train of thought will only block you from moving forward.
Are there experts out there selling vintage? Well yeah! But we’re not claiming to be experts so just remember that.
Now, on the contrary, if like myself, you feel that knowing more about what you sell will help then by all means learn! With the internet the world is at your fingertips. You can research just about anything you want. Hey, I don’t know it all! I do a lot of research and after awhile I start to feel more and more comfortable with what I sell.
My point of this post is to help move out of the way any roadblocks you may have to succeed in this business. If you don’t feel comfortable selling a 1940’s platform peep toe shoe then for goodness sake don’t sell them!
Let’s chat more about this on the forum. See you over there friends.
Sue
10. Jun, 2010
This was a major roadblock for me when I started selling online. I agree with you. If you want to become an expert, there’s plenty of information online. If you want to sell your items in the meantime, keep doing what you know how to do. List it and sell it.
Will you eventually sell something for a lot less than it was worth? Yes. I’m sure that I’ve let some good stuff go. But the key is to get (a lot) more than you paid for it.
Study up in the meantime so you can tell a First Edition book from a Book Club Edition!
strayfinds
10. Jun, 2010
Brigitte, you are so right! My theory is if you like it more than likely someone else will too! I have very eclectic taste that is why I love thrifting. So many things catch my eye and even though I may not be able to use it in my home decor or give as a gift I am able to pass that item on to give it another life through e-bay and other outlets.
My best advice is to set yourself a limit to spend for an item so that your mark-up will still make you money and will sell the item the majority of the time. I do give myself a little margin for higher end items, vintage, and antique type of items. Same with new items, “designer” etc. Don’t forget to use all the tools that e-bay gives us for searching current and clsoed items. This is a real eye opener.
I try to get at lest 3 times what I paid for the item but sometimes I just make some profit, which I am not complaining about! I am certainly no expert I just love the hunt. I usually list everything at $9.99 and then move it to my store if it does not sell. I just used the “mark down” manager option with my store and have not run the figures yet so I am interested to see how that goes. I marked down 20% items I have carried for over 6 months because I have limited space now.
Baby steps and I say have some fun with it and do not be so hard on yourself. You will buy something on a hunch, list it and it will top the chart and you will be surprised and that is what is so deliciously fun about e-bay!
Keep up the great work. I so enjoy reading what everyone is doing as learning is part of the process.
strayfinds
Brigitte
10. Jun, 2010
Thanks Strayfinds, I could have written myself!
Serena
10. Jun, 2010
I concur with StrayFinds. My general rule of thumb is to not pay over $2.00 for 90% of my items. Every once in awhile, I will pay more if I have a hunch about something. Unless you really know how popular the item is on eBay, $2.00 is a good flinch point. If the item never sells, you’re only out a few dollars. I list everything first at auction, usually at $9.99. If an item doesn’t sell, I raise the price, and move it into my eBay store, with a Best Offer option. One important thing to keep in mind is that the higher you price something – within reason – the higher the perceived value to the buyer, which is why I almost always relist my unsold items in my store for higher than what I started out at auction. Some buyers will not even bother to make a best offer and buy the item outright at my listed price. Others will even offer a higher price! Of course, you will get buyers who will make a low offer, so I always have a dollar figure in my head as to what I will accept for an item, so I will either accept or decline or counteroffer accordingly. If the buyer totally lowballs on the price, I will just decline their offer. I don’t bother submitting a counteroffer in this instance, as the likelihood that the buyer will accept my counteroffer is very slim.
I usually keep items in my store for up to 2 years. But how long you decide to keep an item in your store will depend on your storage space availability. I will admit, this will require you to stay really organized and have a system in place for keeping track of everything, but if you’re running a serious business, you will need to have some kind of inventory control in place anyway. With eBay’s recent change to their best match search, a lot of my older items have been selling. If at the end of 2 years an item hasn’t sold, I donate it back to a thrift store.
Serena
10. Jun, 2010
Oh, and another thing – when deciding whether or not to purchase something, the question I always ask is, “Will I be able to get $10 for this item?” If the answer is yes, I will go ahead and purchase it. I don’t bother with anything that I don’t think will sell for $10 or more.
Eunice
18. Jul, 2010
It was a dream come true when I got my I-phone. I can immediately sign in to Ebay from the thrift store or estate sale and see if an item is there and what it’s popularity is. This has saved me from buying things that will probably never sell on Ebay.