Cheapster Dan offers his expert knowledge for pickers just starting out.
By Dan Dao
I starting getting into swap meets and garage sales when I was a kid. Growing up Asian, being frugal was a way of life. For a while I was embarrassed of getting caught looking for deals in people’s homes and lawns but now I enjoy and look forward searching through others possessions.
I moved to Topeka, Kansas a few years ago for a job. And being a SoCal boy for most of my life, I found the Midwest to be a great, untapped resource for fine pickings. The amount of one-of-a-kind stuff I’ve found at estate sales and thrift shops was more than I ever dreamed of. The best part was that people there deemed most of this stuff as mere junk.
Etsy and eBay are great places to figure out what does and does not sell. My online men’s clothing and accessories store, Shawnee Union, is still pretty new but I’ve sold on eBay for almost 3 years now and along the way you gain a lot of experience. Etsy is different then eBay in that more of the focus is on the presentation of the item compared to the quality and brand name. What makes the front page and people’s favorite list aren’t always the best items but the items that have been displayed the best.
Value is the most important aspect of picking. You want to get the best items at the best price. At the beginning this will be tough because its tough to determine what makes something valuable or not but it will become second nature the longer you keep at it. Most thrift stores and swap meets are driven to move lots of product and not obtain the best values for their items. This is where educated buyers make their money. Here are some quick tips:
- Ask the right questions. Who made it? When did they make it? What is it made of? Where is it made? How is it used? If you can answer these questions about an item you have a very good guess of it’s value.
- Leverage. I try to leverage my purchases. Buying two 6 items and asking them for $8 is fair game. If they say no you can always throw out 10.
- Snap away. If you plan on selling on Etsy I would sign up for a photo class or two.
- Do your homework. Study your competitors, what makes their descriptions good? How did they display their items?
- Walk away. Walking away is the biggest advantage you have. When you walk away is very important though, going later in the day means you miss the best deals but they are more likely to give you a quick sale and better deal.
- To resell or not to resell. If you’re planning on reselling a very good rule to have
is knowing if you can sell the item for double the purchase price. If not the price is too high to resell but could be right for personal purchase.
- Don’t shy away from high prices. A $20 used leather jacket may seem high at a swap meet until you realize a nice leather jacket can sell for $100-$200.
- Don’t cheat. The karma gods have a way of making things even.
- Would you wear it? I try not to buy anything I wouldn’t buy for myself or buy for someone else. If it’s the right item at the right price get it, I’ve had a bunch of ‘should of bought that’ that I wish I could redo.
- Trust your gut. If everything feels right but something tells you you’re getting a bad deal, walk away. You’ll live to fight another day.
Really neat article! Wondering what the advantages are of selling secondhand items on Etsy vs. eBay. Do they charge you less of a commission fee and/or have other benefits?
That’s a great question. I was wondering that myself! It seems as if Etsy gives you a chance to kind of create a brand of sorts for yourself, while Ebay can be random stuff. I think they both charge a small percentage, but not sure what the difference is.
Etsy’s pricing strategy is really straightforward, 5% I believe while Ebays is more tiered. I think ebay is good but there are just so many fees and options it bogs the whole process down. Etsy really needs to get their navigation to the level ebay has to compete because as as seller its the main reason it lags. It’s hard to look for stuff on etsy and easy on ebay. But as a seller its easier to sell on etsy than ebay.
And for the love of Pete, don’t overlook how much gas/travel expenses eat up any potential profit, like the American Pickers guys do: http://practicalfrugalliving.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/program-review-american-pickers-hardly-a-model-of-frugality/