investment thrifting

[adapt]

i've done this a lot of times. my returns have been great thus far. i have a pretty good value gauge. some of my recent flips:

shirt for $6 -> $43
record for $2.99 -> $48
walkman for $0.99 -> $13 (less than expected)
AC line enhancer for $3.50 -> $114
toy keyboard for $4.98 -> $154
shirt for $0.99 -> $45
shirt for $0.25 -> $18
shirt for $1.50 -> $36

(these are all with shipping added)

so, i'm doing alright.

edit: about to list a NWT lacoste polo i got for $4.

[Jay2TheRescue]

i've done this a lot of times. my returns have been great thus far. i have a pretty good value gauge. some of my recent flips:

shirt for $6 -> $43
record for $2.99 -> $48
walkman for $0.99 -> $13 (less than expected)
AC line enhancer for $3.50 -> $114
toy keyboard for $4.98 -> $154
shirt for $0.99 -> $45
shirt for $0.25 -> $18
shirt for $1.50 -> $36

(these are all with shipping added)

so, i'm doing alright.

edit: about to list a NWT lacoste polo i got for $4.

My sister told me she once bought a whole bunch of nice clothes at a thrift store bag sale.  All the clothes you could stuff in a paper grocery sack was $5.  She hit the kids section and bought a whole bunch of expensive kids clothes, and then listed them on ebay for a tidy profit.

-Jay

[adapt]

its a good move, but i cant help but feel that i'm contributing to some of the gross thrift overpricing i see in some places (i.e. every goodwill ever)

[valleythriftshopper]

I would not worry about the small amount of items you may buy & sell from thrifts.  Most of the big chain thrifts sell off the majority of the donations to unscrupulous rag dealers for overseas sales.  These dealers pray on poor countries with high unemployment. 

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tshirttravels/track.html

While there is nothing illegal about these practices, the thrift stores could try to find better solutions.  If you dontate a small percentage of your Ebay sales to charity I would say it is better off having donations bought & sold by individuals here than profiteers to exploit people around the world.

Also Sal. Army, Goodwill & many ohters have their own Ebay stores which would contribute to higher store prices anyway.

[genuineimitation]

i'm shocked at the $4.98 keyboard selling for $154...
was it some sort of collectable that you recognized or did you just get lucky with the pricing?

(this is why i could probably never do this - i know what i like, but i don't know what would sell to someone else.)

[adapt]

it was something i recognized as valuable. there arent too many toy keyboards worth the $$$ (i can think of six) but when you find them (especially a certain couple)... hoooo boy.