Pendleton Is A Good Brand Name to Sell on eBay

I know someone who lives in Washington state and sells on eBay full time. In fact, I owe him my start on eBay because he encouraged me continually until I followed my eBay dream! He has mentioned to me that the brand Pendelton sells well on eBay. During my treasure hunting days at thrift stores and Goodwill, I always keep my eye out for this brand. It's good quality, the name has been around a long time, they are durable and often used for hunters and fishers, and in cold climates.

One day while shopping at a Goodwill I came across not one, but two Pendelton men's shirts. Both were 100% wool, and looked to be in very good shape. I bought them for the seemingly high price of $5.75 each. That may not seem "seemingly high" if one were to buy this short for a husband, father, brother or son, or any other male in your life. But by thrift shopping standards, for people who are reselling on eBay, that is high. But I wanted to make money and I knew this was a good brand so I decided to chance it. I brought them home and listed them.

Here are the shirts that I bought that day:

I like to do auction style listings that end on Sunday nights. I listed them both separately as auctions with a starting bid of $14.95 each. They didn't sell right away, but the second week, I was excited and surprised to see a bidding war going on for both of them, with separate buyers. And to my surprise, at the end of a Sunday night in January, the cranberry one sold for $24.50 and the red one for $21.50! When I subtracted the expenses of buying them, here's what I came out with:

Cranberry shirt: $24.50 minus the $6.00 purchasing price including tax, and the 15% eBay and Paypal fees = a profit of $14.82

Red plaid shirt: $21.50 minus the $6.00 purchasing price including tax, plus the 15% eBay and Paypal fees = a profit of $11.82

For some people, that is not enough of a profit to make it worthwhile, but for me, I am having a ball uncovering these treasures and passing them on to other people at a reasonable price. Those process that they paid were much more reasonable than if they were to buy those Pendleton shirts brand new. To me it is definitely worth it. Would that profit be worth it to you?

Vintage Needlework Kits Sell Well on eBay

Yard Sales Are Good Sources For eBay Items

I started selling on eBay in the latter part of 2013. Once I had sold everything lying around my house I realized that I needed a new source of items to sell on eBay. The consensus from my online research was that yard sales and estate sales were great sources to find things to resell. Many people don't know what a goldmine they actually have in their homes and sell stuff inexpensively. I particularly like going to yard sales given by groups of people such as the Boy Scouts or at churches because lots of people bring their items there, and you can find a lot more variety than at just one yard sale put on by one family.

My Boy Scout Sale Find

One of the items I found out sells well are needlepoint kits, especially vintage ones by the Janlynn and the Bucilla Company that have not been opened. Shortly after reading this online, I went to a Boy Scout yard sale. There were lots of great items there and I was quite excited to find 9 items I liked. The way most of the Boy Scout sales I have been to work is that you find what you want, bring it to a checkout table and ask how much. They give you a reasonable price. The lady quoted me $10 and I happily paid. Because it was more like a donation to a charity than a purchase, I didn't haggle a price with her like some people do at yard sales. At $10.00 for 9 items that made the cost of each item I bought come out to $1.11. One of the items I bought was a Janlynn Needlepoint kit (above). I was excited to get it home and see how much it was going for on eBay. I didn't have a SmartPhone so couldn't check the prices there. I listed it for $24.95 for a 7 day auction, and was disappointed when it didn't sell in the first two weeks. The third week I dropped the price to $19.95 and it sold immediately. That was a profit of $18.84 minus about 15% for eBay and Paypal fees, brought me a profit of about $15.84. I didn't do much work for it, and it was easy to ship in a padded envelope. If I had waited it out and just let it sit in my eBay store, I am sure I could have gotten more for it.

Checking Out Antiques Stores in The South

The next amazing deal I got on a needlepoint kit was in an antiques store. Usually one might think that an antiques store has high prices. I have found that the price of antiques in the South is less than what one would pay in an antiques store in New England. Shortly after moving to Georgia from Connecticut, I found an antiques store in October with about 12 different rooms of goodies. I saw a needlepoint kit for a Christmas stocking by Bucilla and although the price was $12.50 I thought that with Christmas coming, it might go for a higher amount. I was thrilled when the clerk told me that everything in that seller's stall was 25% off that week. That made the purchase price $9.37, and you can bet I was excited.

I took it home and saw that there was a varying range of prices for these stockings so I listed it again at $19.95, with a "buy it now" price of $39.95. It sold within two days of the listing for $39.95! Then I got a message from the buyer saying she wanted to complete this stocking for her grandson by Christmas so she would appreciate it if I could ship I out as soon as possible. You can bet I sure did! Christmas items go very well on eBay especially in the Fall. The amount of profit I made on the stocking, minus purchase price and eBay and Paypal fees was $24.58. People would have to work 2.5 to 3 hours in most minimum wage jobs in order to earn that money. With a keen eye and a knack for doing research and finding the right items, it is possible to have a blast and make good money on eBay.

If you are interested in following along to see the items I buy at thrift stores and yard sales to resell, please feel free to do so, or leave comments about your deals on eBay as well.

Living the Thrifting for eBay Dream

Welcome to my blog about thrift store shopping to find items to resell on eBay. I will be sharing with you all about my great finds as I live the dream of having my own eBay business.

My name is Karen and I will be the first to admit that I am a thrift shopping addict! I used to pop into a thrift store now and then to shop for myself, but now I am going thrift shopping to sell items on eBay and it is one of the most exciting things I have done in a long time. I look forward to going shopping and can't wait to bring home deals and list them on eBay.

When my children were young, I thought it would be a wonderful thing to be able to sell items on eBay full time so I could work from home and be there for my children. But for some reason I was afraid to take the first few steps to do it. Over 15 years went by and then I met someone on the internet who was selling on eBay full time, and with his coaching, gave me the motivation to get started. I have now been selling on eBay for approximately 18 months, and the more I get into it, the more fun I am having and money I am making.

I get SO excited when I find good deals at Goodwill stores and thrift stores that I want to share it with all of you. My intent with this blog is to share the deals I am finding at yard sales, estate sales, Goodwill stores and thrift stores so you can see the types of deals that are available out there. I can't believe that there are name brand fantastic items out there for prices like $2.00, $3.50, all the way up to $10.00. I have never paid more than $10.00 for these items but I sell them for a lot more. And I am still learning as I go. Here are a few examples:

This shirt was bought for $2.00 at a local thrift store, and sold on eBay for $31.00 after a budding war.

I will be adding posts each week as I continue with this blog. If you would like to follow along with the deals I get, please sign up to follow me. If you know of anyone interested in following along, or selling on eBay themselves, feel free to send them the link. And any comments about either thrifting or selling on eBay are welcome.