When thrift store shopping, shop for “keywords.”
Posted on 04. May, 2010 by Brigitte in Uncategorized
Hi friends! How are all of you today? I just got back from a major thrift store trip. Well, they’re ALL major but when I spend a pretty penny then they’re MAJOR!
I spent just about $150 today. (gulp) That’s about $1000 retail! But I found some winners. This time I intentionally set out to find some designer labels to have my trading assistant sell for me. While I was “doing my thing” as I call it, I realized I had a great tip to share with all you.
I already tell you in my book to be careful when buying plain black or plain white items because if you don’t have a keyword to utilize, well it’s just a “plain black insert your item here.” Rarely do people search for just a “black shirt” or “white purse.” If they do it’s probably a bit more specific like, “Vintage Beaded Black Shirt” or “Louis Vuitton White Purse.” See what I mean?
So I wanted to point out to you that unless you have a SEARCHED FOR keyword in your title the chances of finding a bidder are not as high. As a matter of fact if you don’t have a popular keyword in your title and YOU DO have a hot item, I’m gonna go looking for it so that I can buy it and re-sell! Gasp! Say it isn’t so! Yep, people do that all the time. Why? Because chances are you won’t get many bids if any at all thus the low price is ours to grab. We then resell it the right way for a profit.
So how does this master plan of mine work? Well, I have brand names in my mind that I know sell (thanks to Hammertap. Why don’t you have it yet by the way?) and I look for those brand names. I also know what “keywords” people use so I look for those too. For example, say a highly searched brand is Ralph Lauren. I disregard the style or color or shape of the item and just look at the tags. When I find a Ralph Lauren whatever, I THEN look at the condition, shape, etc. Say a highly searched for keyword was “butterfly sweaters” you bet I’m gonna look for butterflies on sweaters and not so much the brand name. See what I mean? You MUST have a searched for keyword in your title to get some eyes onto your item.
So when you go thrift store shopping next time, keep this in mind. No one can feel the item you’ve got up for sale. They are solely going off of the photo and your description and if all you’ve got to say is “nice black top” then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, how boring!
Linda G
05. May, 2010
I keep an address book in my purse (the kind with the alphabet tabs) that I have entered key words and brands to look for in.
I sell in a verity of categories so I list like items at the same time. This week I might work on toys, next week might be men’s shoes.
Before thrift shopping I’ll check eBay Pulse to see if anything new has been added.
http://pulse.ebay.com
Brigitte
05. May, 2010
Good tip Linda!
Serena
05. May, 2010
Great tip, Brigitte! I haven’t sold a lot of used clothing from thrift stores, but when I get a chance, I’ll look through some of the clothing racks for brand names or designers, and that has worked out better than some vintage, no-name items, regardless of how well-made the item is. I guess I haven’t spent as much time looking for clothing because I don’t like taking all the measurements!
BTW. I find that for other items, sometimes generic keywords will still lead to a great sale. For instance, recently, I sold a ceramic cat figurine for over $50. There were no maker’s marks or anything on this kitty. The only thing that stood out about it was that it was really rustic looking, as if it had been handcrafted. I didn’t even use the word, “handcrafted” in my title, yet there was a bidding war on it! You just never know :0)
Brigitte
05. May, 2010
Fantastic!
I also hate to measure and did not sell clothing for many years for that reason. I have it down to a science now however and it’s not so bad.