Month: March 2015

First Goodwill Outlet Experience

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This weekend Steven and I went to a couple different thrift stores in VA and Baltimore.  I think the highlight was our first ever trip to a Goodwill outlet store.  We only had an hour before they closed, so we were a little overwhelmed and didn’t get too many things.  For those of you unfamiliar with the outlets, the clothes and purses are sold per pound.  The clothes/handbags were $1.69/pound, but we happened to go on Monday, and at that store Mondays are half off days, score!
Next time we go, we are going to allow ourselves a whole day.  And just a tip, if you plan on going, you should bring some gloves or at the very least a lot of hand sanitizer.  The place is pretty dirty, but definitely worth the digging.
I found two Louis Vuitton bags and a Longchamp bag while we were there,  they were under $2 for all of them!  The checkered pattern one is almost new and the bigger signature bag is in good shape but the handles need to be re-coated or replaced.  I also found my first ever Longchamp bag!

Those beaded Skechers starfish I picked up at another thrift store for $4!
We had a good little road trip and I found a lot of cute tops for myself and over 20 pairs of jeans to resell.  We even received a 40% discount at a Goodwill in Virginia for spending over $100.  The thrift stores in Virginia and the Goodwill outlet have been my favorite places to source and shop. The Goodwill around me is pretty mediocre and very overpriced.  Hopefully, it won’t be long until we go back to the ones we visited this past weekend!
First Goodwill Outlet Experience

Amazon Buyout – $1000 On Shoes!

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My boyfriend and I spend $1000 on shoes a couple days ago!   It sounds like a lot, but we got 44 pairs!  And not just any shoes, they were all name brand!  We bought multiple pairs of Hunter rain boots, Red Wing work boots, and Timberlands.  Each pair was just $15.30 + 7.99 shipping.  The online retailer cleared out in one night and I am so thankful that we were able to purchase so many before they were all sold out.  The lowest we will resell any of these shoes is $100, but some sell for over $200!

Here are a few that we got:

The top two are Hunter rain boots and the bottom is a pair of Red Wings (these go for over $200!)
I’m a little upset that none of the Hunter boots were my size, but maybe its better that way!  
Amazon Buyout – $1000 On Shoes!

Thrift Haul

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Unfortunately, I’ve fallen behind my goal on the first week of March.  I blame it on being sick and all this snow!  Is it spring yet?

Here are a couple things I sold today:
These jeans are a brand from Anthropologie
Profit: $21.19

Miss Me Jeans
Profit: $39.58
Steven and I went thrifting all day yesterday, since school was cancelled, and I found some amazing things!  First, I found a pair of Tory Burch sandals for under $18.  These sandals are basically brand new!
Tory Burch for under $18!
My next find literally had me jumping up and down with excitement.  I found a pair of Christian Louboutins!  And these were never worn!  They are the Barcelona wedge and I scored them for only $35.  Here is a picture of the same color I got:
Christian Louboutins for $35
Oh and here is a picture of Sofia Vergara wearing the same ones in gold!  (I’m a little obsessed-with the shoes and her!)
Thrift Haul

New Sources + Snow Day

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Okay, the snow is beautiful but it’s putting a serious damper on my eBaying! (Being sick doesn’t help either.)  Goodwill was closed today so I had to find somewhere else to source.  I decided to head to Uptown Cheapskate, almost like a Plato’s Closet, but nicer, for those not familiar with it.  I never have really tried to source from here before because I figure they do the same thing I do, buy low and sell high.  My boyfriend and I were both AMAZED at the deals we were able to score there today.  I’m still giggling like a little girl about all of my finds.
I got this BRAND NEW Vineyard Vines Dress on sale for $5 and change, it still has the $165 tag on it!


I also got this brand new KATE SPADE dress (Tay Swift wore this same dress!)  It has a $428 price tag and I paid just $49.99

I also got a couple second hand shorts.  I got two super cute boho patterned denim shorts for myself (under $3 each) and an American Eagle denim pair ($3) and True Religion Denim pair ($7 and change) to re-sell.  My boyfriend scored some awesome deals to flip on eBay, as well.  I think his best find was a pair of brand new 7 for All Mankind colored jeans.  These jeans retail for $228 and he paid just $14.36!  He might be getting too good at this…looks like I have a little competition now!  😉

New Sources + Snow Day

Sick Days

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The best part of being a business owner is that I can have as many sick days as I want.  I’ve been sick the past couple days and haven’t been able to list at all.  I really want to reach my goal of listing 60 items this week, so I’ll just have to work harder when I get better!
The first two days of March were right on point!  I made a profit of $128.95, this puts me on track for my weekly goal of about $508.   Two of the high profit sales were actually picked out by my boyfriend.  Here they are:
Abercrombie Jeans:
$30.86 Profit

REI Snowboard Pants
$21.31 Profit
My boyfriend does have a pretty good eye!  Especially when it comes to active wear.  I would’ve never thought to pick up these REI snowboard pants, but he convinced me to and I’m very glad he did!  I was also extremely surprised to see the Abercrombie and Fitch jeans go for $39.99 plus shipping!  My boyfriend is getting so good at selecting inventory that he recently set up his own eBay seller account and is selling a few things.  I’m very flattered that I could inspire someone else!
Hopefully, I’ll be healthy by Saturday so the boy and I can go on our thrifting roadtrip (we try to take one at least once a week).  We normally hit a big Salvation Army on these trips and find cart loads of stuff!  I’ll update you tomorrow on some more sales!
Sick Days

Branching Out

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Hey ya’ll!  So, normally I am a solely a fashion seller on eBay.  Most of my clothes come from secondhand stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army.  Recently, I’ve tried a selling in a couple of other categories with great success.  I have the advantage of my dad working for a bank, so sometimes he gets “dibs” on cool things in properties that have been foreclosed.  My boyfriend and I cleaned out a pawn shop a couple months ago and found lots of high quality, brand new electronics.  Some of these aren’t worth too much and we will most likely sell at a flea market, but I did make a pretty penny off of one item, in particular.
I’m not really too sure what this is, but I made almost $85 off of it!
I’ve recently tried to find other sources for inventory because sometimes second hand stores aren’t that reliable.  I went to one of our warehouse stores- a type of store that advertises “buy outs” and “closeouts” and used a book scanning app to find values of some of the books there (they have thousands!).  I purchased about 5 different books, just to “dip my toes in the water”.  I currently have two of them listed and plan on listing the rest later this week.  I have already found luck!  Last night a book that I had purchased for $3.99 sold for $16.99.  Although this isn’t as big as a profit margin as I would like to see, it is one that can have large quantities and be rather consistent.  Here’s the book that sold last night:
I think I will definitely continue branching out to new sources and categories to sell on eBay.  
Happy Selling!
Branching Out

February Profit

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February was the first month I was working eBay as my sole source of income.  With the encouragement and support from my boyfriend, I quit my two almost minimum wage jobs to pursue my dream of being a full time eBay seller.  I have been selling on eBay for a couple years now, just making a little extra spending money.  I started putting in about 30 hours a week of sourcing and listing in the beginning of February and opened up my first eBay store in the middle of the month.  
Being an eBay seller has been the best thing to happen to me.  It is so liberating to know that I am my own boss and that my effort and determination directly correlate with my earnings.  In the month of February I made $1854.15 (pure profit!).  This is more than I would’ve made [unhappily] working my two part time jobs.  This job is not for everyone though.  I am a die-hard shopper.  I could shop from sun up to sun down every single day (I don’t, but I definitely could).  But if you love shopping, making money, and being your own boss, eBay is totally for you!  Here are a couple of my sales from February.
Eileen Fisher
Profit: $32.17

Tory Burch
Profit: $26.15

TOBI
Profit:$23.36

The North Face
Profit: $24.64
On average, I made about $66 a day in February.  If I matched that in March, I would make about $2050.  I want to keep improving and eventually hit my goal of $50,000 a year, so each month I am going to try to make a little more money.  In March my goal is to make $2,250, that’s about $508 dollars a week or $73 a day.  
Check back next week to see my total sales of the first week in March and some of my thrift store flips!
February Profit