eBay

stonevintage · ‎09-08-2017

Seems like the thrift stores are getting a little greedy. Price increases averaging 15% per year for the last 3 years, especially on general clothing and speciality or NWT items.

A used pullover sweatshirt or pair of used sweatpants here was 3.95 three years ago. Now, they're all asking 5.95-6.95. Run of the mill, no name brands.

Decor items.. with the Ross "compare at 9.99 stickers", yours for a great bargin of 4.99. I guess here, half price of what item was new - is their best deal to offer. Apparently, items fallen out of trend have no impact on their pricing considerations. Lots of owl and elephant figurines of all shapes and sizes getting donated now cause they're over - but still marked at on trend prices.

Don't they know, before these new items were donated - they were likely offered at half price or better in the retail store before they did their shelf pull and donated them???

Anyone else notice yet another price jump in the last month or so? The winter clothes just coming out now have about a 30% jump in last years pricing:(

imakesugar · ‎09-11-2017

For about 8 Years I had to stay home to get medical insurance for My Son who had a seizure disorder. There were several roll off dumpsters, that were filled often by a charity thrift store in My area. My children would go there and pick. I found many things to sell in there. That was before eBay. I did have dealers who would buy things from me. They never gave me much but everything helped in those days.

Then I never had enough food stamps to keep the kids healthy. I'd go to grocery dumpsters and pick vegetables and fresh fruits. Grocery stores would just throw things away that were outdated. Fruits and vegetables I bought were actually ready to eat. I knew the schedule of when the stores checked the shelves for eggs, lunch meats, cheese, bacon, and refrigerated stuff. I also picked that too.

I had a freezer so I would freeze the extras such as strawberries, excess fruits. etc. some times I'd can some things like when they had too many cucumbers to make pickles, fruits for jams, ripes bananas for banana bread.

lived in a rather raw trailer court then filled with Big migrant Hispanic families. I gave many things to other tenants for their large families. I never was hurt and they really protected me as a single mom. After school, the kids would come and I'd give them fruit snacks. (Sometimes I still see those children as adults now, they recognize me but I don't recognize them 🙂 )

I lived a few blocks from a dairy supply depot. I'd get Milk, cheese, ice cream in the winter. They cleaned their trucks out in the evening after their routes.

I survived from My pickings on Dumpsters.

I would work for whatever someone would give me when the kids were at school. If someone would offer me $10. for the day...I'd do that work. It might have come out to $1.50 per hour but I always thought It was something.

Getting back on topic, Most of the thrift stores are way out of line in their prices here. before I retired I wanted to get some work clothes for the winter. I looked at sweat-shirts, t shirts, jeans etc. they could have spots, stains, etc The prices were so far out of line that I finally went to the retail stores and just paid a little bit over their prices!

I visited the goodwill in Portland Or.I went there. They were stuffed and the prices so outrageous. The place was so bad with so much high priced junk! :smileyindifferent:

I find good stuff at church rummage sales. They are reasonably priced and Have "NICE" named brand clothing. They also have many misc. items that would retail well on eBay.

tunicaslot · ‎09-11-2017

Wonderful post - glad picking got you thru the bad times - and I find that people who actually have pulled themselves up from nothing have more integrity and value things more than those who were given everything.

Stone - thanks for making the point I was going to - most people do not give to charity because they are compassionate - most don't want to deal with garage sales of unwanted junk - which may very well still be there after their sale and need to be hauled away anyway but the number 1 reason people donate is charitable tax deductions.

Thrifts may have been thought to be for poor people years ago but today you'll find a variety of shoppers - you'll find resellers along side that college kid who needs to make a few "new" things until semester break, the teenage girl who's looking for that look where she can express herself, the bank president's wife ( yes I know her ) who is just frugal, the grandmother of 6 - trying to help her daughter get the kids ready for school - none of these people would really qualify as being poor - but each shop the thrifts fo their own reasons.

em - I love you alot but things have changed. That coat a reseller bought for $19.99 that was name brand - will not be missed by that poor person who would probably prefer one of the remaining 50 coats that are only $7.99 - $10.99 and are probably warmer leaving them $7-$12 to purchase boots, gloves, a nice sweater to go with it. As I said previously - most who shop the thrifts for clothes - are not looking at the brand name - they are looking for size, like new condition and style.

imakesugar · ‎09-11-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
Back in 2008 I

__________________________

Exactly. Do you think someone in your shoes should try this on the ebay of today.

I am not going to get in a ___P__ contest with you. You have your opinion and I have mine.

Nope.
They should immediately throw up their hands, give up trying to better their situation and schlep on down to the food stamp office/welfare office/whatever 'cuz someone else can take care of them better than they can take care of themselves. After they're poor, they surely can't take care of themselves. That what you wanted to hear?

Yes, I say at least TRY it, and if it doesn't work, then seek assistance. It doesn't have to be Ebay. There are mulitudes of selling sites out there that are more seller friendly (but more buyer unfriendly) Don't even have to go to a thrift store, find something lying around the house. Heck, nowadays people list stuff on Facebook, cash and carry. If the demand was around here in my area, I'd be selling on Facebook!

There's no harm in trying and no shame in failing. It's when you don't even try that it's shameful.

Yeah, I'm done here. Not trying to get in a wizzing contest, either.

retrose1 · ‎09-11-2017

Yes, the charity thrifts are there to benefit the poor. But what difference will a name brand sweater compared to an off brand made out of the same materials going to make to a person who is cold?

The thrifts will allow anyone with a voucher to come in and take what they need, if those with vouchers are smart plan ahead peple, they will take the best value for what they need. Then what merchandise is left they sell to anyone so they can generate money to buy things for the needy that do not get donated, like food, toiletries and so on.

I saw that first hand as a church clothing bank allowed me to come in and pick vintage shirts (that she said had been there for a year and no one was interested in) to take to my vintage store to sell on consignement so the clothing bank could buy new underwear and socks for the needy. I took what was going to get dumped and turned it into something useful and everybody benefited. And no one went without anything.

In theory, that is how thrifts should work. But many nationwide thrifts have managers and upper level management making 6 figure incomes from their store and will only have/help a small handful of people. Goodwill is one of them. Those are the ones taking advantage so much more than a reseller picking through the stuff to find things to sell for themselves.

Then there are the poor that are spending stupidly. I had a regular in my vintage store that had a hoarder mentality and would spend her rent money on 'cute' things to bring back to a home she was being evicted out of. Or some of the poor that feel so entitled because they aren't paying for anything, that they will ONLY accept designer clothes and the trendiest toys for their kids. When I was in the mall, the Toys For Tots had their giveaway there and some of the Marines were horrified that a lot of the parents would leave the toys they got in the garbage can outside because it wasn't a game system and many would make scenes demanding that they get they trendy toy that year. Do we really need to be giving hand outs to them?

While I won't give a chain thrift the benefit of my knowledge and experience, I often help out with pricing suggestions and tips at several of the church rummage fundraisers. And they occasionally reward me with an occasional deal, even though they know who I am and what I am going to do with the items I buy from them.

But for the most part, I am going into thrifts and sales after they have been picked over and they are doing markdowns and bag sales. When the SA in the area has a half off a color tag, that has been in the store for 4 weeks already, all week and then make it 49 cents on Saturday, I dn't think that I am taking anything out of the poor's mouth when I buy it and then stash it 3 months to break it out in season to sell for $20. And I choose to do it that way because I am more into recycling and keeping the item out of the landfill, than making the big score (which I find in other places).

And I said this on a thread months ago and took heat from it......some buyers are stupid, and I will add lazy, too. Many have fallen for the hype that you find bargains at thrifts and so will spend $8.99 on something that they could add an extra buck and get the same thing new. And some are just too lazy to pay attention to prices when they go to the store, or don't bother to go to another store. I got no pity for them, but am happy that something will spend more time getting used, and not going in to a landfill and a new item goes through the same process.

(*Bleep*)

imakesugar · ‎09-11-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
Back in 2008 I

__________________________

Exactly. Do you think someone in your shoes should try this on the ebay of today.

I am not going to get in a ___P__ contest with you. You have your opinion and I have mine.

Nope.
They should immediately throw up their hands, give up trying to better their situation and schlep on down to the food stamp office/welfare office/whatever 'cuz someone else can take care of them better than they can take care of themselves. After they're poor, they surely can't take care of themselves. That what you wanted to hear?

Yes, I say at least TRY it, and if it doesn't work, then seek assistance. It doesn't have to be Ebay. There are mulitudes of selling sites out there that are more seller friendly (but more buyer unfriendly) Don't even have to go to a thrift store, find something lying around the house. Heck, nowadays people list stuff on Facebook, cash and carry. If the demand was around here in my area, I'd be selling on Facebook!

There's no harm in trying and no shame in failing. It's when you don't even try that it's shameful.

Yeah, I'm done here. Not trying to get in a wizzing contest, either.

like I said before... there is money to be had. There are SOME poor that are just too lazy to work! I HAD to be on welfare for many years due to My Son's medical problems. ( before the Obama care.)

I would do any job that was not immoral Or illegal. I'd work for whatever someone would pay. something was better than nothing. I have tried to hire young people on assistance for small easy jobs...they all seem to think that they would only work for $10.+ per hour. They are working for CASH and aren't paying taxes on it. I think $5.00 for easy jobs is fair. I am on SSDI I can't afford to pay MORE than that. So, they'd rather sit on their butts and wait for a check.

I'd also find stuff to Sell. I probably sold many things to Antique Sellers for far less than they were worth. I'd pick junk Off of the curb and find stuff to resale. (no internet then) I'd generally take what they offered me. $20. for a $60. resale value was more than I had in My pocket before. I loved books and would pick them up and take them to a local book Seller.

It would help me with Gas for the car, things through out the month for the children and whatever needs I had. A welfare check then only covered rent, lights, car insurance and the normal monthly incidentals like soap, toilet paper, etc. I'd be broke after I paid for all that. I did get heat assistance. It did not cover All the heat then so I'd cover up the kids good and turn the heat down to 50 degrees F during the night so the kids would be warm during the day.

I see it as a lack of raising. I was raised to NOT want or Buy anything I didn't need. I was raised to do things like use foil over again, to can and harvest things that I needed. Kids now are so used to have parents provide everything that they don't know how to work. I actually had a job at 7 staying overnight with an old lady that I am sure I did not get much more than nickles. I also Ironed at a young age to make money. I did not get much for that either...

My son had his first job at age 6. He worked for a fussy Old man who paid him less than it cost me for gas. He made $2.00 per hour at the time. That Fussy Old man taught My son how to work hard, follow instructions, and work with a dominating personality. Important things in real life.

I taught My kids How to clean and she'd clean for the elderly in the neighborhood for pennies. Even at a young age, she'd babysit with me next door to keep an eye out if she had problems.

My daughter now works 2 jobs to support her kids. My Son is going to college now but he worked with me in the factory and he cleaned. He only got in trouble a few times because sometimes they'd have to go so far to take break and he did not see the sense in walking 15 minutes for a 10-minute break when the job could be finished first.

My daughter also worked in the factory as a Sugar BIN cleaner. The is a job that is very hard and very fussy. Her BIN was the cleanest and most organized. Unfortunately, the company locked everyone out for 20 months and they both moved on.

So, the welfare problem is a problem with How a child is raised. I sometimes help out My children with short term loans when they get in a pinch, but always with the understanding that they pay me back on a certain schedule.

Children these days are so spoiled that they are used to getting things on a silver platter...Even when My daughter IS eligible for Social assistance, she never applies, she makes do with what she has. Right now I am fighting for her to put in the paperwork to just get child support from One of the fathers who makes $100,000 + per year. She doesn't even want that money she deserves.

My son does get assistance because he was a Vet in Iraq...He is working to move off of Veteran benefits by going to college to become a legal hacker. The Veterans services will find him a government job that will pay him more than his current veteran benefits. At any rate, neither of My kids even though I had to stay on welfare for Many years to get the medical help I did Not raise my kids to be welfare junkies.

I know this is a little off topic but still is the same thing.

imakesugar · ‎09-11-2017