I spent a couple hours at the bins today, it wasn't amazing but I did score on a ton of Athletic gear
I'm lucky enough to live in the same city as Nike World Headquarters so my goodwills are swimming in Nike gear. Along with tons of Adidas, Columbia & lots more activewear.
I bought some 50DD size bras, they'll need an oxyclean bath but should do well
I haven't sold scrubs before but I hear good things, so when I saw a pile of mint conditon ones in fun prints (I've heard brand doesn't matter, it's the print that's key) I snagged them.
I'm really excited about this vintage coloring books! I'm still trying to branch out some and I think these are a good direction.
I bought 85 items total and paid $52. Not my best haul, but certainly not bad! I've already photographed about half of my haul and I'm going to work on getting it listed tomorrow. There are some big changes at my house, my 5 year old is in Kindergarten but I also have a 2 year old. We used to have a nanny 2-3 days a week (my husband works 3-4 13 hour days a week) so I would use her while my son was in school to thrift & work. We sadly had to let her go. Once my daughter is fully potty trained we'll enroll her in monisorri school, my guess is after the holidays, but until then I'll be full time mom. I refuse to take her to the bins with me but I have no problem thrifting other places with her, which means I might be branching out some these next few months. Any tips? Thanks for listening to my rant, I really just want to record this stuff so when I get through the hurdles I can look back and see how far I've come.
I'll leave you with this cool mummy I saw today, nothing shocks me anymore at the bins!
Hi Nicole! Your blog is the first thing I read every single morning and it gives me motivation to take pics and list. I'm even changing some things using free shipping to increase sales. I listed 10 yesterday and sold $200 overnight which is big for me. I am also going to go to my first goodwill outlet about 45 minutes away this week so I'm excited. I have a year old so I definitely understand balancing motherhood especially on the weekends. Love your blog- you are a huge inspiration! Keep up the awesome job! Heather
ReplyDelete$200 overnight!!! That's amazing! I want to wake up to that!
DeleteGreat job on the sales! You price your stuff low enough that it sells quick. I price mine higher but I don't have a GW outlet so I pay more for stuff than you can get it at the bins. I also rarely offer free shipping. I think your stuff is low enough that you might be able to charge shipping and still get the same amount of sales. Just a thought, might increase your profits! I love finding Lululemon but it's rare to find. Only found it twice. I can't believe you get so much done with two little ones. Your an inspiration for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input! I always love to hear others advice. I do want to explain why I don't charge shipping, it's because of the way shoppers minds work. Free shipping is a great incentive to get people to buy something, think about all those "free shipping today only" emails we get. Also, eBay loves free shipping, I believe it helps my search rankings and since shoppers have the option to search 3 ways (normal, free ship, best offer) I want to make sure I'm included in every search.
DeleteHey Nicole! Your blog is amazing! Thanks for sharing the highs & lows, the visuals, and the details to help others - it really helps!! I have a few questions and did not know where to ask so I'll ask them here:
ReplyDeleteCan you do a post on how you prepare your clothing before pics/listing? Do you wash, dry clean, steam, iron, etc - If so, how? & what products/tools do you use? I noticed you mentioned OxyClean baths for the bras - can you explain this process? Do you feel the need to get rid of that old thrift store smell on ALL the clothing or do you sell as-is if the items are not necessarily dirty?
Also I know the staging of the pics makes a huge impression on buyers so I'm trying to figure out what I need to invest in. I noticed you use dress forms - do you have multiple sizes to correspond with the sizes of the clothing or use 1 dress form for everything? If so, how do you accommodate for clothing that runs smaller/larger than the dress form? I noticed some pics are on hangers or on the floor - is it because they would not fit the dress form?
And as for lighting, what does your set up look like/types of bulbs, etc?
Sorry for all the questions! I'm just starting out (1.5 months in) and want to make the most cost effective decisions I can while still presenting my items in the most professional manner possible. Your success is such a big inspiration for me and I really appreciate you sharing the lessons learned from mistakes - it helps tremendously!
Thanks in Advance :)
CocoGlow
Hi! Thanks for all the support!! I have a whole post on lighting, it's a couple pages back but I strongly suggest checking it out. I clean what needs to be cleaned: washing machine, lint roller, spot cleaning ECT. As for pictures, I have one dress form and the rest get laid on the floor. I like to keep it simple :)
DeleteThanks for responding...I totally forgot that I read your post on lighting LOL! By the way what size dress form do you use? Everything seems to fit nicely regardless of size...awesome!
DeleteGreat post! I would love to know how you manage to prep and list so much with a little one at home. I have a 3 and 4 year old at home and I feel like that is my biggest struggle, having the time and focus to get stuff listed. My daughter will be entering junior kindergarten soon so that should help a little. :) Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I have a very supportive husband and I work a lot at night. I can manage on 5-6 hours of sleep. I also never stop listing, we had a dinner party to go to tonight that was an hour away, I spent that hour listing while my husband drove.
DeleteThanks for the reply. That's wonderful you have such a supportive husband. That makes a big difference when your spouse is supportive of your endeavors in life. It sounds like we work similarly. I'm usually up until 1 or 2 am and luckily can manage on less sleep. Thankfully my husband recently built a lighting set up for me so I can photograph at night. Before I was relying on natural light during the day and just wasn't finding a ton of time to photograph. I think this will really help increase productivity. Wishing you much continued success.
DeleteLove reading your blog!! It always gives me new brands and items to look out for! I'll be curious how the scrubs sell for you. I've always wanted to give them a try, but I know nothing about them!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I'll keep you posted :)
DeleteLove reading your blog!! It always gives me new brands and items to look out for! I'll be curious how the scrubs sell for you. I've always wanted to give them a try, but I know nothing about them!
ReplyDeleteHi! Love your blog, I always like reading about what other eBay sellers do! I've been selling on eBay myself off and on for about 5 years. Currently "off" but trying to get back "on" again! It's tough because I do also have a full-time job as well. My question is, and I'm honestly not trying to be critical but am wondering if maybe I start doing this too- lol- do you really find it worth your time and effort to list items at say $10.00 with free shipping? Those type of items, I don't usually bother, because even if they were free or say $1, after shipping, even if it's light enough to go first class, that is still about $2-3 in shipping, plus eBay/Paypal fees, it's only a few dollars in profit. And my thinking also is that every sale is a chance to get a negative feedback or low stars and it doesn't always seem "worth that risk" for an item to only profit a couple bucks. Now obviously you don't see it that way, and I'd love to maybe get some of your reasoning behind it? Is it perhaps that you try to have a busy store since you figure eBay likes that, and even the small sales add up? Or since you can source items so cheap it is worth it to you? I'd love to get your opinion and I really honestly am curious, not trying to be harsh or anything at all!! I love your blog and I think you're doing fabulous :)
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks so much for the support. Here's my logic behind the $10 sales... My average cost for an item is about .50 & anything I sell for $10 is going first class. So at most shipping is $3, plus 10% eBay & PayPal fees makes it $4.50-$5. So my return on an item I paid .50 is $5. I think that's awesome! Most stores are lucky to get that kind of markup. Sure I have to work harder but it all evens out for me. eBay does like an active store and I also like to get a lot of sales, it just makes me feel good. I know a lot of people see things differently, but that's how I work :)
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