eBay

quadcitypickers · ‎10-30-2017

Like many of us, I go to yard sales, estate sales, estate auctions, flea markets, and occasionally second hand stores to source my inventory.

I am in my mid twenties and have been "flipping" since I was 13, taking after my father, who is "old school" and doesn't really do eBay, he sets up at flea markets.

When I first started going to auctions with my father, when I was about 8 or 9, he used to come home with an entire truckfull of stuff, not just junk, good quality stuff he could often double if not triple what he paid for it.

Fast forward a few years later and these TV shows like American Pickers, Pawnstars, Storage wars, etc put a huge wrench into the works.

You had people going out trying to earn a living and had little idea what they were doing. They followed TV, but let's be honest..TV is far from reality.

A lot of people who had been going to auctions beforehand could be narrowed into two groups: antique dealers and part-time eBay sellers. Part-time sellers had regular jobs, so they didn't buy as much stuff, they didn't have as much time to list things. Antique dealers bought well...antiques...so this left a huge list of things to make money on. Computers, electronics, trading cards, etc.

When the economy crashed in 2008, it become worse, because you had people literally trying to earn a living selling on eBay. Now granted, their were "full timers" beforehand, but not nearly as many.

Getting back to a "wrench in the works"...these people were desperate to earn a buck, and soon it became harder to make any money. To them, it was either buy a $100 item for 85 bucks and make $15, or go home broke, so profit margins soon started to evaporate.

That is when I received a huge upper-hand...a smartphone. I was one of the first people to have one that went to auctions and other events. It was 2010 and I became old enough to start selling on my own. The "low-hanging fruit" things like old toys, antiques, etc always went for more than it was worth messing with. I started looking at the odd and unusual. Stuff I had never seen before. Often, it was as easy as typing model numbers in. I remember buying some kind of computer for a John Deere combine. I got it for $5, I sold it in 3 days for $950. Then a week later, got a $500 widget for $20.

For the next 3 years, I quit working. I could turn more in a week than I could working a crummy dead-end minimum-wage job. I was hooked.

But that ended pretty soon. About 2 years ago. While the smartphone giveth, the smartphone although taketh away. I used to do quite well at estate sales with unusual stuff. If they couldn't find in in 5 minutes on eBay, they used to give up. But now they could just whip out their smartphone and can find it.

Estate sales became an utter joke. They idiotically never realized selling something in front of 100 people is a lot harder than when you have 100 million buyers. People aren't going to stand in line an hour, and give eBay prices or more. Of course...the next day when everything was half off, all the "good stuff" magically sold. Imagine that. The truth was.. the estate sale companies had their own eBay.

Auctions have become worse too. I live in the Midwest and you have retired farmers, ranch hands, etc with money coming out of their ears. Supposedly 63% of Americans can't come up with $500 in cash if their life depended on it, buy boy..you sure as heck would think otherwise at an auction.

As a matter of fact...of the past 12 auctions I've been too...I could buy stuff on eBay and sell it at an auction and make money, if they didn't charge 35-40% in fees.

The weird thing is....if you ask one of these people who didn't win the bid on something at a local auction if they would like to buy one you have, they won't. You would not believe how many times I've seen two old people run each other up to $100 on something, and I ask the non-winning bidder "Hey, I have one for $50, wanna buy it?" I have had this happen countless times, never had someone take me up on it.

Anyway..times are a changin'. Good quality estate auctions and estate sales that aren't insanely price are getting harder to find. People my age don't really collect stuff, and while I'm sure it's a generational thing, people my age range don't really have the money to collect things, and beyond that, so many people have collected stuff in the 70's and 80's, it will be a long time before that stuff becomes super-valueable. Try getting money out of a 1987 box of baseball cards. 30 years old and worth didly squat.

So in the next 20 years....a lot of people who collect will be dead. Just look at the market on a lot of stuff between the past 20 years. Stuff that was worth $500 in the 90's MIGHT sell for $50 today. Porcelain, glass and china took a huge hit along with other categories.

It will be interesting to see what the future of flipping holds.

emerald40 · ‎11-02-2017

here we are again...

well...

if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;

Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.

quadcitypickers · ‎11-02-2017

@lemarcheaupuces wrote:
@sodelight wrote:
@quadcitypickers wrote:
I quit shopping at the local salvation army when they pretty much turned themselves into a pawn shop with their pricing.

It got so bad..they were getting stuff for FREE from Target. The Target here would donate their unsold clearence to them.
They were taking the target clearence price tags off and marking the prices up, usually three times.
So just stop and think how greedy this is..stuff they could NOT sell, given for free, and the priced raised three fold.
A manager told one of my friends they have a guy who does nothing but look stuff up on eBay all day and prices for them. Their prices reflected it too.

The Goodwill here, told me anything that "looks valueable" gets put in bins that go to their online auction website. I think Goodwill has an ebay store too, can't remember.

So that is largely what has ruined things for a lot of people. Thrift stores were never meant to be high-priced, but the greed-factor made them realize they should maximize their own profits at the cost of ours.

They were also never meant to be wholesale outlets for ebay sellers. Many ebayers are upset the thrift is smart enough to sell items themself to maximize profits and support their cause, the ebayer thinks they should be the one making all the profit! It would be different if those shopping these stores were legit needy persons, but they know it's mainly resellers. Many coming in multiple times a day or week!

It's actually no more greedy than the ebay sellers who won't buy anything unless they can make 10 fold on it. They're not happy buying and doubling down. They expect the person selling it to make peanuts, while they collect all the gravy!

here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

I can assure you that 50% of the good stuff donated at thrifts shops is being stolen by employees.
last city i lived full time in Florida?
on 3 occasions the whole staff was fired for stealing (5/6 years time period).
the best yardsales i have been to were run by thrift shops managers.
what a coincidence.

you know this is not just about antiques and collectibles and stuff to re-sell.

the dollar tree store has jewelry boxes with cotton, 3 sizes in a pack for $1 per pack.
Savers was trying to sell them for $2.99 each pack.
on several occasions the GW was selling Priority mail boxes (so much for getting smarter as you say).
why would i want to buy "used" jeans at thrift shops for $10 and higher?
when i can buy a brand new pair of Faded Glory at walmart for under $10.
the only jeans cheaper than $5 at a thrift have holes and are filthy.
why would i want to buy used cds at a thrift when Target has some on sale again brand new for $3.99?
it is sad.
but you won't see me buy much clothing and needed items at thrift shops.
the reason retail shops are cheaper or just a few more $ for brand new products.

this is not about resellers being greedy. well some are.
but the fact Thrift shops are overpriced, most managers are Antiques dealer wannabes.
they have no clue about the value of things.
they have not gotten smarter.
they feel something would be worth that much and that is what they price it out.
heard a manager bragging about Avon milk glass and milk glass in general yesterday.
i guess i must be missing something...

1 of my thrift has a tiny sterling basket... really cute...$35... it's been there for 3 weeks...
i sold a similar one on ebay about a year ago, even cuter...
i could barely get $24.95 including shipping and fees.
for sure thrift shops are getting so much smarter.

the only way to make it these days is to buy whole estates.

When I used to donate to salvation army. While unloading, I would peak at the bins of stuff being donated. (Not touch anything, just see what was sitting on top).

Pretty much anything that looked expensive never made it onto the floor. Imagine that.

18704d · ‎11-02-2017

"Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor"

-----------

You've never understood this in the last 4 comparable threads here.

The POOR frequently buy at thrifts and sell online to Pay Their Bills

and Keep Food On Their Table.

When there are No Jobs around.. this is the best way

for the Poor to Create their own badly needed income.

All my best,

as always,

Lynn

Lynn

You love me for everything you hate me for

.

quadcitypickers · ‎11-02-2017

@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.

If something is priced out of the reach of the poor person, then does it really matter who buys it?

The true poor don't need gold jewlery, or antique cameras. They need clothes, shoes, household goods, etc.

As mentioned by the previous poster, why would a poor person spend $8 on a pair of ripped up jeans when they could get a brand new pair for $9.99 at wally world?

I see most of the poor at yardsales now. Jeans for $2 a pair.

siayan · ‎11-02-2017

@tellmemama wrote:
@rixstuff wrote:
Also consider the other side of the equation. It is hard to predict the market. How many animated kids movies do they produce a whole world of toys for then the movie is a dud or just nobody wants the toys? And then you are STUCK with a warehouse of plastic that will not only NEVER become collectibles but will never even sell to make back enough to pay for the plastic it took to make them!!

Back in the 60s, Ideal made an action figure called (oddly enough) Captain Action. Similar to GI Joe but the hook was the dozen or so licensed superhero costumes available for him (Superman, Batman, etc). The rare ones like Spiderman and Green Hornet bring in quite a bit of cash.

That's funny, I just bought 2 packs of Captain Action Card Games today. Never heard of him before.

____________________________________________________________________
Prov 20:14 It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

lemarcheaupuces · ‎11-02-2017

@quadcitypickers wrote:
@prescott4 wrote:
I dont mind thrifts maximizing profits but when a pair of jeans are cheaper new than at the thrift, there's an issue. Our thrifts are overloaded with stuff, but it doesnt sell. Eventually the either run a huge sale or throw it out. More often than not, they just chuck it.
Agreed. When thrift stores charge nearly new prices for used items, they are no longer a thrift store.
Most thrift stores have turned away from selling cheap things to those in need, to expensive things for the middle class. I've been to some with a bunch of high-priced brand named stuff like MK, Louis Vutiton, etc.

So the argument of people making money off thrift stores ceases to exist when they priced things out of the budget of the poor.

and i agree with you 10 trillions times...

let's also say that most designer bags sold at thrifts are fakes.

but the employees swear they are genuine.

matters not what you say some users will never agree with the facts.

they keep saying re-sellers are just greedy and taking advantage of thrift shops,

on every such thread.

i wouldn't say that re-sellers are angels.

in my area, i find them to be too aggressive, mean, some even scary, many are just sharks...

but they spend money, more are spending hundreds, and they are there every day.

i don't shop at thrifts for regular stuff.

i don't have the patience to sort through tons of **bleep** dirty items.

and also for the reason i can find most regular stuff cheaper of for just a few more $ at retail shops.

letoulousain

emerald40 · ‎11-02-2017

@18704d wrote:

"Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor"
-----------

You've never understood this in the last 4 comparable threads here.

The POOR frequently buy at thrifts and sell online to Pay Their Bills
and Keep Food On Their Table.

When there are No Jobs around.. this is the best way
for the Poor to Create their own badly needed income.

All my best,
as always,
Lynn

Never understood or simply do not agree with that assessment based on threads here of sellers who frequent the thrifts here and based on their postings do not seem in dire needs.

Some here do not want to work. Their business, but not who I want my donations to go to.

bubbleman2010 · ‎11-02-2017

I don't know about any of the other folks,but I'm as pure as the driven snow you can ask anyone of my last 3 ex wives....

rolenboy01 · ‎11-02-2017

@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.

Here we are again assuming that's the goal of all thrift stores, would you rather they go out of business and the poor get nothing? Most of these places wouldn't stay afloat without the large infusion of reseller cash why do you always try to skip around this fact?

emerald40 · ‎11-02-2017

@quadcitypickers wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.
If something is priced out of the reach of the poor person, then does it really matter who buys it?

The true poor don't need gold jewlery, or antique cameras. They need clothes, shoes, household goods, etc.

As mentioned by the previous poster, why would a poor person spend $8 on a pair of ripped up jeans when they could get a brand new pair for $9.99 at wally world?

I see most of the poor at yardsales now. Jeans for $2 a pair.

Again that 14K gold jewelry should be marked competitively so that money can be put back into the thrift.

It should not be priced pennies on the dollar to put money in the pocket of a reseller to fund his ebay business so he can come here and gloat about his find.

emerald40 · ‎11-02-2017

@rolenboy01 wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.
Here we are again assuming that's the goal of all thrift stores, would you rather they go out of business and the poor get nothing? Most of these places wouldn't stay afloat without the large infusion of reseller cash why do you always try to skip around this fact?

I am not skipping anything. I do not know how much plainer I can make it to you.

These places would be fine if they followed their intended mission because people like me would donate even more.

And I told this to the last person who called for donations and he told me he is hearing a lot of that lately. pPeople no longer donating high quality items. Much of what they are getting now is junk that people do not want to have to pay to dump.

rolenboy01 · ‎11-02-2017

@emerald40 wrote:
@rolenboy01 wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.
Here we are again assuming that's the goal of all thrift stores, would you rather they go out of business and the poor get nothing? Most of these places wouldn't stay afloat without the large infusion of reseller cash why do you always try to skip around this fact?
I am not skipping anything. I do not know how much plainer I can make it to you.

These places would be fine if they followed their intended mission because people like me would donate even more.

And I told this to the last person who called for donations and he told me he is hearing a lot of that lately. pPeople no longer donating high quality items. Much of what they are getting now is junk that people do not want to have to pay to dump.

I'm sorry but NO there would be far less thrift stores without resellers there are more than ever helping more people than ever because resellers are buying tons of stuff, donating higher quality items isn't going to keep them afloat if they don't sell.

emerald40 · ‎11-02-2017

@rolenboy01 wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
@rolenboy01 wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.
Here we are again assuming that's the goal of all thrift stores, would you rather they go out of business and the poor get nothing? Most of these places wouldn't stay afloat without the large infusion of reseller cash why do you always try to skip around this fact?
I am not skipping anything. I do not know how much plainer I can make it to you.

These places would be fine if they followed their intended mission because people like me would donate even more.

And I told this to the last person who called for donations and he told me he is hearing a lot of that lately. pPeople no longer donating high quality items. Much of what they are getting now is junk that people do not want to have to pay to dump.
I'm sorry but NO there would be far less thrift stores without resellers there are more than ever helping more people than ever because resellers are buying tons of stuff, donating higher quality items isn't going to keep them afloat if they don't sell.

Man resellers are about putting money in their own pocket. And if they donate back it is to get rid of stuff they cannot sell to make room for more merchandise.

But based on what I am reading thrifts have already woken up and have raised their prices. So if resellers are not able to make money off them as much anymore, I will not lose sleep over it.

prescott4 · ‎11-02-2017

@emerald40 wrote:
here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

________________________________________________

Big differene between resellers getting their merchandise from yard sales and flea markets then from the donated merchandise to a thrfit that is supposed to be used to support the poor.

And when the poor cant afford to shop there, they are doing no one any good

lemarcheaupuces · ‎11-02-2017

@quadcitypickers wrote:
@lemarcheaupuces wrote:
@sodelight wrote:
@quadcitypickers wrote:
I quit shopping at the local salvation army when they pretty much turned themselves into a pawn shop with their pricing.

It got so bad..they were getting stuff for FREE from Target. The Target here would donate their unsold clearence to them.
They were taking the target clearence price tags off and marking the prices up, usually three times.
So just stop and think how greedy this is..stuff they could NOT sell, given for free, and the priced raised three fold.
A manager told one of my friends they have a guy who does nothing but look stuff up on eBay all day and prices for them. Their prices reflected it too.

The Goodwill here, told me anything that "looks valueable" gets put in bins that go to their online auction website. I think Goodwill has an ebay store too, can't remember.

So that is largely what has ruined things for a lot of people. Thrift stores were never meant to be high-priced, but the greed-factor made them realize they should maximize their own profits at the cost of ours.

They were also never meant to be wholesale outlets for ebay sellers. Many ebayers are upset the thrift is smart enough to sell items themself to maximize profits and support their cause, the ebayer thinks they should be the one making all the profit! It would be different if those shopping these stores were legit needy persons, but they know it's mainly resellers. Many coming in multiple times a day or week!

It's actually no more greedy than the ebay sellers who won't buy anything unless they can make 10 fold on it. They're not happy buying and doubling down. They expect the person selling it to make peanuts, while they collect all the gravy!

here we are again...
well...
if re-sellers wouldn't be able to find merchandise cheap enough to re-sell where would sites like;
Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Ruby Lane... BE...???

I can assure you that 50% of the good stuff donated at thrifts shops is being stolen by employees.
last city i lived full time in Florida?
on 3 occasions the whole staff was fired for stealing (5/6 years time period).
the best yardsales i have been to were run by thrift shops managers.
what a coincidence.

you know this is not just about antiques and collectibles and stuff to re-sell.

the dollar tree store has jewelry boxes with cotton, 3 sizes in a pack for $1 per pack.
Savers was trying to sell them for $2.99 each pack.
on several occasions the GW was selling Priority mail boxes (so much for getting smarter as you say).
why would i want to buy "used" jeans at thrift shops for $10 and higher?
when i can buy a brand new pair of Faded Glory at walmart for under $10.
the only jeans cheaper than $5 at a thrift have holes and are filthy.
why would i want to buy used cds at a thrift when Target has some on sale again brand new for $3.99?
it is sad.
but you won't see me buy much clothing and needed items at thrift shops.
the reason retail shops are cheaper or just a few more $ for brand new products.

this is not about resellers being greedy. well some are.
but the fact Thrift shops are overpriced, most managers are Antiques dealer wannabes.
they have no clue about the value of things.
they have not gotten smarter.
they feel something would be worth that much and that is what they price it out.
heard a manager bragging about Avon milk glass and milk glass in general yesterday.
i guess i must be missing something...

1 of my thrift has a tiny sterling basket... really cute...$35... it's been there for 3 weeks...
i sold a similar one on ebay about a year ago, even cuter...
i could barely get $24.95 including shipping and fees.
for sure thrift shops are getting so much smarter.

the only way to make it these days is to buy whole estates.

When I used to donate to salvation army. While unloading, I would peak at the bins of stuff being donated. (Not touch anything, just see what was sitting on top).
Pretty much anything that looked expensive never made it onto the floor. Imagine that.