Please Pass the Gravy!

Booth sales are still in summer slump mode, but it's starting to pick up a bit.  I'm only running 1/3 to 1/2 less than what my daily totals should be, as opposed to last month's 1/2 to 2/3 less.  I'm trying to hang in there right now and not give anything up.  I really don't want to drop a space with fall right around the corner.  I don't think that slump times you know are going to be slump times are the time to make decisions like that.

Truth is my sales are almost exactly what they were this time last year.  I just have two more spaces, which makes a difference.  I had a huge growth spurt in March and April, so I'm expecting that to some back when fall hits into the holidays.

Right now, though, the mix just isn't right.

I look at my sales kind of like a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy.  You want to have the right amount of both so you can have a tasty meal.  I've always made most of my sales from small, lower-priced items, like five bucks and under.  It's the kind of thing that people come to a flea market to find.  Those are my potatoes, if you will.  I need a good-sized mound of them, white and fluffy.

Furniture and other large or higher-priced items are the gravy--that little extra treat on top that makes everything extra special.  You can have your taters without gravy and they'll be okay, but with it, they're fabulous.  You definitely want the tasty gravy.

Now, it's not hard and fast, but you need the right mix of the potatoes and gravy to have the right kind of sales totals--a nice mound of those small dollar sales, topped off with a bit of gravy.  On the really good days, I can look at my report and see the big items and the small ones complimenting each other to create a nice total.  Potatoes and gravy.  Mmmm!

On the off days, I can usually sum up the problem as not enough of one or the other.  It's treat to sell a 50 dollar piece of furniture, but if there are only a few smaller dollar items, then the total is going to be less than what it should be.  A huge ladle of gravy on a tiny dab of potatoes is still edible, but it just doesn't seem right.

On the other hand, a day with good small sales and little to no large action, can still fall short.  A big mound of potatoes with just a little dab of gravy is out of whack.  But on those days when you have super-strong small item sales, topped off with four or five good large items, you've hit the taters and gravy train!

Now, this is not to say that you can't go all the way to one extreme or the other.  I've definitely had some really high dollar sales days where the most expensive thing I sold was five bucks.  I just sold a ton of them.  It's a plate of just potatoes, but I'll take it.  You can take one look at me and pretty much tell that I've never passed up a plate of potatoes in my life.

I've not really had this sort of day, but it is totally possible to have a high dollar day of only high dollar items--a plate of gravy, as it were.  I'd certainly take it.  When I was growing up, my mother and my grandmother both would leave the gravy bowl on the table until all the other dishes were done.  They knew that someone (me) would be coming along to finish off the leftover gravy.  To this day, I love a bowl of cold, leftover gravy.  I know.  I'm weird.

For my experience, however, small items will sell every day.  You just have to get the right amount of them.  The big stuff sells in dribs and drabs.  That's why it's the gravy.  It's extra.  It's special.  There are a lot of vendors who primarily deal in furniture that I outsell all the time with nothing but smalls.

Obviously, this is my own model and thoughts, grown out of my own experiences.  Yours may very well vary.  They probably do.  Switch from a flea market mall to an antique mall, for instance, and the customer expectations change, so the experience and the mix changes.

The trick, which is always hard to pin down, is to figure out how to consistently get that mix right.  Right now, I'm eating enough taters, but way too little gravy.

Display's the Thing

My Easter display:

I know.  Not very inspiring.  I have absolutely no talent for these things.  The best I can do is make sure that things look like they're supposed to be placed together, that this placement has been done deliberately.  For the talentless (like me), this is often quite sufficient.

In the kinds of places where I tend to sell, Easter is not a big merch holiday.  The same for Valentines Day, Independence Day, etc.  Except for a few vendors who buy new goods from wholesalers, you just don't see whole booths done over for these holidays, unlike the big deals that folks do for Christmas and Halloween (the biggies).  The most I've ever done for any of those holidays is a table of stuff.  Usually, just a shelf or two will do.

This is where deliberateness of placement comes into play.  Over the years I've seen a lot of booths where the vendor has taken a small handful of items for a particular holiday, tossed them on a shelf, and there they sit, six months later. 

You know what I'm talking about here.  The jack-o-lantern you see in May.  Or the two boxes of Christmas cards that are still sitting on the same shelf month after month after month.  Sometimes you even see the Easter basket with the box of Valentine cards in it (in August)!  These items typically don't sell because they get tossed in with everything else in the booth and don't stand out in the least bit.  They look and feel almost like afterthoughts.  Sitting there all these weeks after their intended holiday, they make a booth look dated and stale.

It's not always necessary to make a special shelf or table for things, however.  I've seen plenty of vendors with a real talent for styling and displays in their booths who can slip a couple of bunnies or wreaths in and make it work.  These items seem to both fit in with everything and stand out at the same time.  And they sell quickly.  I'm always a little jealous of these skilled vendors, even as I admire their work.

It's folks like me who need to use the element of deliberateness to make their seasonal wares sell.  A nice grouping of items doesn't need to be large to stand out and sell.  It's the thought that goes into it that's the key.

Of course, no matter what path a vendor follows with seasonal/timely items, they need to be removed as soon as possible after their time has passed.  I know there are booths here and there that sell nothing but Christmas (and even a few that do Halloween) all year long, but that's different from what I'm talking about.  Folks like me need to look fresh and create an impression that their spaces are updated frequently who need to watch how long certain items sit around.  You'd be surprised how many people never take their holiday items out.

What is your quest?

Post title from the ever classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail:



A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Saturday where I kept showing up at sales and finding these awesome vintage items at near giveaway prices that had already been scooped up.  As I was leaving one house, I thought to myself:  "I'm glad I'm not out here looking for vintage items only.  I'd be a wreck after seeing all that."

That got me to thinking about my quest.  What is the driving force that puts me out there every Saturday and as many other days as possible.  Do I have a Holy Grail?  When I walk up to a table and scan my eye over the goodies thereon, what do I want to see leaping out at me?

The short answer is pretty obvious:  Anything that I think I can sell or that I think I might want at a good price.  But that's awfully generic and boring, isn't it?  It's also wonderfully wide open and leaves me so much room in which to roam.  I've gotten several comments lately about the wide selection of items I seem to pick up.  Let's break that short answer down a little more.  Have a glimpse into what's in my head as I go out on the hunt.

I think I have an advantage by selling in a flea market style mall.  I'm not bound to any rules or perceptions of what is or is not "vintage" or an "antique."  If I want to buy and sell that Teletubby, then I can buy and sell that Teletubby.  I also do not have to worry about fighting the myriad of ever-changing eBay rules and regs.   I don't feel bound by what my smart phone might say about what an item is bringing right now in online auctions.  It's incredibly freeing and allows me to take chances and be creative.

Not that there is anything wrong with any of those other venues or styles of doing things,  There's more than one way to be a re-seller.  You have to find what works for you and do it consistently.  I use those tools.  I look things up.  But I also already have a strong innate sense of what is right for me to sell, what my customer base likes, and what my venues will support.  You can't find that in an app.

I'm also a seller, not a maker or re-maker or fixer upper or doer.  I have no, I repeat no discernible talent for that  kind of thing and no patience to try and learn one. I admire those who do, especially the ones with the vision that takes them beyond what they see in front of them and leads them to make it into something classy and timeless, not trendy.  The ones who know when to stop embellishing at just the right moment.  The ones who are quirky and have a sense of humor about what they're creating.  I cannot do this, and it's really better if I don't even try.  I consider myself a sourcer of raw materials for these people.  I have no doubt that there are things that have come out of my booth that are now vastly different from the way they were when they were bought.  I'm happy to have given someone something to work with.

Besides, I battle my own overwhelming sense of procrastination and disorganization every day just to get things priced and placed in a timely fashion.  Like within a week of purchase.  And I still have a store room full of stuff and a mound I call "Mount Backlog" at home.  I shudder to think what it would be like if I were saving things to refinish and repaint and repair.  I think I'd be single for sure!

Somewhere along the path, this turned into a two-parter.  I'm going to cut my general thoughts off here and come back later with something slightly more specific (or at least slightly less general).  If the pics in this post look familiar, it's because they come from previous posts of my hauls.

Shopping Where You Sell

If you are reading this on Saturday, I am either setting up for the sidewalk sale, working the sidewalk sale or tearing down after the sidewalk sale, depending on what time of day you see this.  If you are reading this on some other day, well, who knows what I'm doing?  Either way, I can guarantee you one thing:  I took some time away from my table to peruse the other sellers' wares and, most likely, bought a couple of things.

Since I'm giving up a Saturday of yard sales for this sale, I need to get my fix somewhere.  Besides, you never can tell where the bargains are going to come from.  For me, being the kind of junker that I am means that I am always on the look out for stuff.  I've learned that it pops up where and when you least expect it.

Which is why every booth work day is also a shopping (or at least browsing) day.  There are about a half dozen or so booths that I check out every time I'm in the store.  These are booths that pretty consistently have good stuff at prices that leave me a lot of room to play with in terms of making a little for myself.  Sometimes, I even find a treasure to keep.

I also almost always end up doing a bit of shopping when I am walking the aisles looking for my items that may have been left in another booth by a customer.  I try to do that once or twice a month.  Usually, I have better luck finding my misplaced stuff when I'm trying to get somewhere specific, like the bathroom and am not actually looking for them.  You'd be surprised what you can find out of the corner of your eye  when you're just passing by something.

Of course, I always make a point to hit the store booth, which contains items from the unmarked rooms, plus things from vendors who have been evicted or left owing money.  The store will hold their stuff for 30 days to give the vendor a chance to pay their bill, then they'll sell it to cover the back rent.  They pretty much always mark it down.

It's a two way street.  There are also vendors who shop my space pretty regularly, on their own hunt for bargains.  I've honestly never been one to make a big deal about someone buying something off me and then flipping it for more money, even if it's a lot more.  If I underprice something and someone else makes a killing off it, that's on me and no one else.  I know vendors who will pitch fits when this happens, hollering that they've been ripped off.  At the end of the day, if you got the price you put on the item, then no one ripped anyone off.  What someone else does with something they buy from me really isn't (or at least shouldn't be) my concern.

Since some malls actually have vendors who are also shoplifters, I try to keep myself well covered when I shop other booths.  I wait a day or two before repricing things, so that other vendors can see them on their reports.  I also put them immediately in my storage space in a bag with the receipt in the bag.  After I price and place the item, I'll file the receipts with my records.  (Record-keeping is a post for another day!)

 There are plenty of months during the year when they're aren't any yard sales happening.  You still need to keep your stock up and fresh, so you need all the extra sources you can find.  Your own mall can be one of those places, although I would imagine it's a little easier in a flea market type mall, rather than an antique mall.

Do you shop your own mall?

Don't Do This!

I'm obscuring the vendor tag to protect the innocent, since I'm looking to make a general point, not single anyone out.  Check this out:

Even though I'm not showing you the tag, let me assure you that it's marked at waaaaay more than a dollar.

It's one thing to sell Dollar Tree stuff in your booth, and there's nothing wrong with that.  If people want to buy it, they will.  Kosh knows, there's plenty of it out there at yard sales and thrifts.

It's another thing to sell Dollar Tree stuff for more than the dollar it cost when new.  Again, there's nothing inherently wrong about it, depending on the item.  If people want to buy it, they will.  I even do it myself sometimes (but never for more than $1.99).

It's even another thing to sell Dollar Tree stuff for several times more than the dollar it originally cost.  There's still nothing wrong with it, or at least trying it.  Dollar Tree and the like do get some decent stuff, after all.  If someone wants to buy it at that price, they will.  Never hurts to try.  You never know what's going to happen.

However, if you are going to try that, you need to be sure to remove the Dollar Tree tag!  Seriously. Customers do notice such things.

I try not to buy a lot of Dollar Tree merch at yard sales and such, unless it's a really awesome piece.  (And there are some of those.  The one I am holding in the pic is way cool.  You'll have to take my word for that.)  The quality is just not there, and the stuff breaks and chips way too easily for my tastes.  Plus, a lot of it is really cheesy/tacky and just not what I want to sell.  I like to try and have things that are different from what other sellers are carrying.

If you feel the same was  I do about this stuff, one thing to know is what distribution companies to look for.  You can see in the tag above that it comes from Dollar Tree Distributing.  That "K's Collection" tag is a giveaway too, since that's a brand that is only sold in stores like Dollar Tree.  Other names to look for are Dolgencorp (distribution for Dollar General Stores) and Greenbrier Distributing.

You've got to make your own decisions about what to sell and how to sell it, based on what works for you and your location/venue, for sure.  But if you do try to make serious buck off of something that someone, somewhere originally purchased for a dollar, at least remove all the evidences of its past.  You'll have better luck selling it if you do.

The Price is Right Part I: Tag! You're it!

I've been cogitating some on the concept of pricing and have decided to throw some thoughts up on the blog and see what happens.  Future installments will deal with the science of finding the right price for an item, having the right rand of prices for your booth/establishment, which numbers to use when pricing, and pricing to sell.  Today, however, I want to talk about the mechanics of pricing.

If you're going to sell stuff, you have to have a way to affix something to it that lets a buyer know how much it costs. Sounds simple, right?  For the most part, it is, but it can be a little more complicated than you would think.

Consider that you want to attach something to your item that will:

a. Clearly indicate the price of the item
b. Have enough room for you to write an item description
c. Adhere/attach firmly to the item in order to prevent tag-switching
d. Be easy for the purchaser to remove without damaging the item
e. Make it easy enough for the store cashier to do what they have to do, whether that be remove the tag or enter information into a database, in order to record the sale properly
f. Not cover or obscure any important markings or labels on the item
g. Not make it too difficult to make attractive displays in your booth

That's an awful lot to demand from one price tag!

In the early days of my booth, I generated price labels from a spreadsheet that I used to track items.  It was a speedy way to create labels and also to minimize the number of times I was handling an item, but all the labels were address size, making it hard to use them for extremely small items.

Some stores, especially higher end antique markets, may have standards that your labels have to meet.  Some even require that you use the store's own custom labels, which may be an extra expense for you.  Labels in general will most likely be an extra expense, unless you have a huge stash/hoard of office supplies for some reason.

 

Even then, there are not all labels will adhere well to non-paper items.  Lots of file folder labels don't, for example.  Other things that don't adhere well include those little colored dots that everyone uses to rank ideas in focus groups and brainstorming meetings.  They're designed to be removable, so they come off easily and don't stick to some materials at all.  Post it notes are not the best idea either, for much the same reasons.

Then there are those labels, like name tags, that are super sticky and leave either residue or remnants on whatever they're stuck to.  On the one hand, they'll prevent theft by tag switch.  On the other, you'll have a frustrated customer who might not shop from you again.  Which is worse?

I'm in the kind of place where I have to really be on guard against the tag-switchers, so I will usually tape my tags on, just to be safe.  There are some things that I cannot do this with, of course, like delicately painted vintage items, but it works okay for me.  I have a case of the tear by hand kind of packing tape that I got at an auction several years ago for dirt cheap.  I'm still going through it, so my extra expense for taping is minimal.  That kind of tape is just sticky enough, without being too sticky, so it works for most things.  Using tape also lets me use some of the less adhesive kind of labels, so I buy labels by the handful at yard sales and the like, so I can get them cheaply.

When it comes to string tags, I will actually tie the string in a knot, rather than slipping it over itself into a loop, just for the extra security.  String tags minimize the risk of damaging the items, but they definitely add an expense to the item.  Buying in bulk minimizes the cost per tag.

I see a lot of newbie vendors using those labels they make for yard sales with the pre-printed price.  The problem with those is that they're easy to remove and they have no room for a description.  That description can make all the difference when it comes to making sure your items go out at the price you want for them.  I try to be as thorough as I can when I describe things for that very reason. A rage that just says "Booth 7742" on it with just a .99 price is too inviting to some people.  It might end up on another, more expensive item of yours, or even on someone else's item.  It's impossible for mall staff to keep up with every item in every vendor's booth, so we have to do our part to minimize theft.

I know I'm making it sound like most vendor malls are just crawling with rip off artists, but it's really like most things in life.  Ninety-five percent of the people you meet and know are good, decent folks just trying to make their way in life.  It's the other 5% you have to watch out for and take all these extra steps for.  Fortunately, I haven't had too much of a problem out of that 5%, in part because I work hard to prevent it.

Another option is writing on the item.  I know plenty of vendors who price things with a big ole black Sharpie.  I mean why not?  It's quick, easy, efficient, hard to switch and doesn't really add to the cost of the item.  It also involves WRITING ON THE ITEM!  I know some of the vintage lovers out there have just fainted, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad idea, as long as you're selective about it.  No paper.  Nothing delicate or antique. No fine wood furniture. But putting .25 and your booth number on the bottom of a coffee mug?  Go for it!

That does raise the issue of removal, but Sharpie isn't as permanent as people think.  A little Windex, a Mr Clean Magic Eraser, or even a little soap and water can usually take care of it.  Of course, those things can also damage certain finishes, but you shouldn't write on those finishes with Sharpies to begin with!

Speaking of writing on stuff, I am astounded at how long it too make to realize that I could lightly write the price in pencil on the inside of a book!  Seriously, it was years before I realized that!  That also works for most ephemera.  At least for me.  If an item is really delicate, I'll bag it before pricing.

So what happens if a tag comes off an item?  Well, most malls won't sell the item, since they don't know whose it is or how much it is.  What happens with it after that may vary from place to place, but should be spelled out in your contract or somewhere else.  In our Peddlers Mall, it goes to a storage room that vendors are encouraged to check as often as they like.  I try to check it at least once or twice a month.  All items placed there are dated, and after thirty days, they become the property of the mall.  Every couple of weeks or so, mall staff clean out items over thirty days old, mark them (usually really cheaply) and put them out for sale, with the money going to the store.  I make it a point to check the booth where they put things frequently, because there are a lot of bargains to be found there.  It can help make up for a weak yard sale weekend.

Again, all of this is spelled out in our contracts and vendors are frequently reminded to check the untagged room for their things.  Surprisingly, many don't.

Of course, it goes without saying that your mileage is going to vary on this topic.  How you price items depends on what you sell and where you sell them.  Your own personal aesthetic plays a part too.  I tend to view pricing as more of a practical thing I have to do to sell stuff, but I know that, for some folks, creating an attractive overall effect is important.  It's all good, if it works for you.

So what about you?  If you're selling in a mall or flea market, what do you use to price your items?  How do you prevent tag-switching and theft?  Any tips or advice to add?  How do you feel about Sharpies?  What does your store do with untagged items?  Share your thoughts, etc in the comments.

How to sell something

About ten years ago, I was planning a vacation to San Francisco to attend APE.  I had saved some money, done some extra house-sitting, and cashed a couple of savings bonds, all in an effort to scrape up some extra money for the trip.

A couple of weeks before leaving, I cleaned out my closets, comic book collection, CD's, and bookshelves and loaded up the car with stuff, which I took around town to sell.  This is ages before I ever even thought about having a booth, so I hit every place I knew that would buy stuff.  A few stops later, I had 500 more dollars for the trip!

I didn't sell everything, but I sold most of it.  The big money came from the comic shop, because I selected what I wanted to sell very carefully, picking things I knew they would want.  The other stuff was more of a shot in the dark.  Two bookstores bought a few things, but I learned that one of them really preferred hardcovers.  Most of the books ended up going to Half-Price Books, which doesn't pay that much, but I had enough of a quantity (along with comic books that I knew the comic store wouldn't want and leftover CD's) that I got a decent payout from them.  I would never go to HPB to make serious bank, but they're great for squeezing a few bucks out of your leftovers.

I learned a few things about selling stuff along the way, and, even though things have changed a bit since then (namely the economy), most of those lessons still hold.  When I started reselling seriously five years ago, I also started picking up more tidbits about selling that I added to the list.  When you've got a booth or do eBay or whatever, you eventually become a target from someone with a few boxes or a basement or garage full of stuff to sell.  Since I've already talked about how not sell something, I thought I would balance it out with something a bit more positive, so here are some ideas and points to help sell your stuff.

We are going to assume, for brevity's sake, that you are going to be dealing with a reasonable and fair reseller/dealer.  Most of us are.  For every asshole, there are dozens of us who treat people with respect and integrity.  If you need help finding the right people to work with, ask around.  If you do find yourself in a bad experience, walk away from it.  A better one is probably just around the corner.  You should be treated with respect and decency.  If you are working with one vendor, but you cannot seem to come to terms, ask them who else you could take your stuff to. 

You are trying to make a business transaction.  Remember that and act accordingly.  This means pushiness is OUT.  Politeness is IN.  If you want to do this kind of thing regularly, you need connections (relationships).  Someone who has already had an unpleasant encounter with you will not be so willing to deal with you again.  Even if no sale results, treat the encounter as an opportunity to build a relationship and learn about your prospective buyer and what you could do to make the transaction go better next time.

The person you are dealing with probably knows more than you.  They may or may not know more about your items, but they definitely know a lot of things you don't know:

• How well this type of item has sold for them in the past
• How many they may have in stock or in reserve at this moment
• How appropriate your item is for their venue
• What the market is for this type of item
• How much they can get for your item
• What their expenses will be in selling your item

They will use this information to make a buying decision about your stuff.  You need to listen to them and let them.  They're also going to know what they are talking about.

I once watched a guy coming back to a store at the end of the day to try and accept an offer he had rejected that morning.  He had driven his stuff all over town trying to get the better offer he knew was out there.  Turns out the one he had rejected was the best one he got all day.  The first words out of his mouth were:  "You all were right."  The next thing he said was:  "I am so sick of trying to sell these damn things."

It's not personal.  Your buyer is making a decision based on your item, not you personally.  If you take it personally or get offended, then they will most definitely make their next decision about dealing with you a negative one.

You are dealing with someone who does what they do to make money.  If you come in expecting top dollar, you're probably not going to get it.  If they pay you the top of the line price, then there is no room for them to make any money.  If they cannot see making money, then they won't buy.  We all like the things we sell, but profit is what keeps us in business.  Don't begrudge your buyer their livelihood.

Know who you are dealing with.  If you are dealing with a store, call and find out when and how they buy.  Some only see items by appointment.  Others may not be interested in certain items.  You might have to drop things off and come back for an offer.  (Be sure to keep a list of your items if you do this.) If you are consigning, know the policies, especially the timeframes for an item to sell.  Also, if you are dealing with a business, they may ask for ID or have you complete paperwork verifying that the items you are selling are yours to sell.  (I don't have the space here to tell you the stories about why this step is necessary.)

If you are selling to someone with a booth somewhere, check out their space and see what they sell.  If you are not offering the kinds of items they are selling, they're probably not going to buy from you.  Nothing annoys me more than someone wanting to sell me clothing while talking to me at my booth, where there is no clothing in sight!

Have a realistic price in mind for your items.  One of the first things I ask someone trying to sell me stuff is: "What do you want for it?"  Most, if not all, resellers do this as a way to gauge what the seller is thinking and how the deal might go.  If the response is:  "What will you give me?" then that's a sign things might not go well.  You're entering a negotiation.  Come prepared.  The person you're trying to sell to is giving you a chance to own the negotiation.  Don't blow it.  If you leave all control in their hands, then there's a higher chance you are going to feel disappointed with the deal.  Remember, you want to build a relationship here so you can do this again.  You do that by actively participating.

You need to have a realistic (more on that in a minute) opening price and a bottom line price in mind.  You may not always get your opening price, but you need to know how low you are willing to go before it becomes not worth it to you.  You're trying to make some money too. 

No one is going to reach into their pocket and give you some other seller's eBay asking price.  My response to people wanting the eBay money is to put the stuff on eBay.  Do that work.  I am not your substitute online auction.  I know what I can get for an item in my limited market, which is a flea market in Louisville, KY.  It's most likely a lot less than what someone can get in a global market like eBay.  You have to be able to see that difference.  If you can't, you're going to be frustrated and disappointed.

Do your homework, but be smart about it.  Despite what I just said, there's nothing wrong with you looking things up online to start forming your price ideas.  Just do it smart.  If you go to the first auction you find and decide that what that person is asking will be your price, you've cut a corner that will bite you in the butt.

For my money, a good online search:

• Knows the difference between a completed auction with an ending price and one that someone just put up with no bids.  (If you do not know how to look up completed/sold items on eBay, GET SOMEONE TO SHOW YOU!)
• Looks at sales over a period, rather than one or two auctions
• Looks for sales patterns
• Compares the items in the sales to the ones you have
• Checks for condition
• Looks at other sites besides eBay--especially collector's clubs, which may have information about rarity and history
• Takes sellers asking prices with a HUGE grain of salt
• Knows that you cannot find completed sales on sites like etsy and Amazon

This is where realistic pricing starts.

Examine your connection to what you are trying to sell, both current and future.  If you have any attachment to an item that is going to make you regret selling it for any price or feel guilty if you don't get top dollar for it, the DON'T SELL IT!  You're not going to be able to think clearly enough about it to negotiate.

If, on the other hand, it's some stuff you picked up at a house clean out, you also need to think about what you're going to do with it if it doesn't sell.  Do you really want to keep hauling it around or leave it sitting in the garage?  That needs to be a factor in your negotiating.

If you're dealing with a large lot of stuff you want to sell all together, the more organized you are, the better!  When a dealer looks at a room full of boxes and crap, they immediately start deducting money from their offer based on how much work they are going to have to do to get everything moved out, cleaned up, sorted through and sellable.  Lots of us run one-person shows.

If you have cleaned out the trash/broken stuff/dirty stuff/nasty stuff  and maybe arranged things in a little bit of order, you've lessened the load on your buyer and they'll see that.  If you just want to make it all go and have someone do the work, that's fine.  Just know that the offer you get will reflect all the work the buyer is going to have to do.

It's okay to stand up for yourself and negotiate.  Nothing I am saying here should be construed as you doing everything the buyer wants, taking what they offer and getting the hell out of Dodge.  I'm talking about creating a win-win for both you and the person you want to sell to.  You want stuff gone and to make a little dough.  They want to be able to make a little dough off what they buy.  You can both do this, plus have the kind of experience that guarantees repeat deals, with a little awareness and respect.

How do you make this happen?

• Respect and politeness
• Listen to each other
• Play fair
• Be reasonable
• Do your homework
• Have your shit together
• In other words, everything I've been saying this whole post!

In the end it's your call.  Final responsibility for making or breaking the deal lies with the seller.  If you cannot come to terms, it's okay to walk, but leave the door open for future dealings.  If you decide you want to try your luck with another buyer, that's okay too, but make sure that you can come back and get the same offer from your current buyer, just in case things don't work out elsewhere.  In other words, don't burn bridges.

I know people who make their reselling money by reselling solely to other resellers.  I've done my fair share of it in the past.  Even if you only have that one load of Mama's dishes to deal with at the moment, you never know what the future may hold.  What if you end up as sole inheritor of Uncle Pembert the Horder's mobile home of stuff?

How not to sell something

So, the other day I was working on the booth when the mall got a call from someone looking to sell some stuff.  This happens a lot.  Some folks don't realize that the mall is made up of individual vendors and think that the store is going to buy their stuff.  Others know the drill but figure they'll get more bang for the buck, since there are a lot of vendors that might buy their stuff.

The reality is that these calls get handed off to whoever is in the store working their booth at the time. If no one is there, then sometimes nothing happens.  Sometimes messages get taken and passed on, but  lot of times the call just ends there.  I've gotten a couple of messages, but if it's not stuff I'm particularly known for selling--like the religious stuff--I don't always look into it.

This caller was trying to sell some "old dishes."  Since I was there working (and was up by the register at the time of the call), the staff asked me if I was interested.  I said I might be, depending on what the dishes were.  I was told that it was a "very complete set" of "really old dishes" in "great shape" that were "really valuable" because they had been "looked up" online.  We'll come back to those terms in quotes in a minute.

When I indicated tat I might be interested, before I could qualify anything, the next immediate question was:  "HOW MUCH WILL YOU GIVE ME FOR THEM?'

So, I had to explain some of the basics of selling to this person, namely that I was not committing to a price on anything that I had not seen, handled, and checked out.  "Might be interested." is not the same thing as "I'm going to buy these dishes."  Honestly, no one is ever going to commit to buying something on the phone based solely on a seller's say so.

The caller told me they would be over that afternoon with their "five boxes" of dishes.  That kind of took me by surprise.  I figured they would lose interest when I would not commit to a price right away. I had already decided that I wasn't going to make an appointment for a visit with them to look at the stuff.  The course of the phone call to that point made it pretty clear to me that it probably would not be worth my time.

I went back to work on my booth and in about an hour or so, I got a page that they were here.  I went out to meet with them and got the whole story.

According to them, they had bought the entire contents of a woman's estate for one lump sum out of a family member's garage.  They said it was a lot of stuff that they bought without going through things and now they were trying to sort things out and make some money.  (Sounds to me like someone has been watching too much 'reality' TV.  They even used the term "picking" at one point.)

They also told me they had looked some things up "online" and saw big prices, but they don't have the "savvy" to "do eBay."  Total red flag for me right there.  First, eBay isn't that hard to do, in terms of the tech knowledge involved. Second, Kosh only knows what they were looking up and where they were looking and what they saw.  Third, eBay is a frikking global marketplace!  More on this in part two of this post.  (To come in a few days.)

So I go down to their car, get hit on the head, stuffed in the trunk, and ferried off to work in the salt mines in Utah dressed only in a loincloth and coconut bra for the rest of my life and was never seen again* and take a look at their stuff.  It's time to employ the Eddie's Real Life Junkometer Translator (™) to some of those phrases above.

Old Dishes:  I'll give them this one.  The dishes were vintage, but not necessarily really old.  Certainly not antique treasures, which was what they were implying on the phone.

Complete Set:  There were five boxes of dishes:  A bunch of plates from one set, along with some coffee cups and saucers.  A few bowls of another pattern from another set.  And a whole lot of odds and ends, including some decorative plates that would have hung on the wall.  Not anywhere near a "complete set" of dishes, which could run to over a hundred pieces!

Great Shape:  Of the first ten pieces I pulled out of the box, seven had major chips in them.  Major chips.  I pointed this out to them and was told:  "Well, they aren't all like that."  No, but if you remove these seven pieces from your already incomplete set, it becomes that much more incomplete.  And, do you really want me to keep digging for chipped pieces?

Really Valuable:  Do I really need to spell this one out at this point?

Looked Up:  See a couple of paragraphs up.

They kept pressing me at this point to name a price or else tell them how to sell their stuff (really?).  I suggested an eBay broker to them, if they really wanted to go the online route and did not think they could do it.  I also suggested waiting until they had the whole lot sorted out, the trash cleared away, and then make a plan.  I told them about all the different ways I knew of to get rid of a lot of stuff, including getting their own damn booth.  But I politely declined their offer to buy their chipped unmatched dishes.

So they showed me a bag of dolls and toys that were soaking wet (!) and asked if I wanted to buy them.  When I pointed out that the whole bag was wet, they seemed totally clueless about it.

In the end, I bought three decorative plates and a really cool vintage owl figurine from them.  I took their number to pass onto someone else, who declined it after I told him the whole story.

I did feel kind of sorry for them.  They'd clearly bitten off way more than they could chew.  They had sunk a lot of money into this buy and had no plan and no clue how to monetize it.  I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but it's not as easy as it looks.


*That would have been way more interesting and way less painful than what actually happened.  Plus, I look good in a coconut bra.  (No need to thank me for that enduring mental image.  It's on the house.)

  

Helpful Tips for Resellers You Won't Find in Any Other Guidebook #387

Get to know the people who work at the mall where you have your booth.  I don't care if it's an antique mall, an indoor flea market, or a vendor mall, if you really connect with the staff, it has great benefits for you as a seller.

For one thing, you have a built in buying audience.  At some point, during just about every day, a staff person will be wandering past a booth on some kind of errand and something will catch their eye.  They'll make a note of it, and return on break to check it out.  BOOM!  You've got a sale.

Just about everyone collects something.  Finding out about the hobbies and interests of the people working in your mall lets you pick up some things you know have a good chance of being quick sales.  In fact, I'll unpack something, clean it up, price it, and take it right to the front instead of putting it on the shelf.

Besides the obvious sales benefit to this approach, you'll also be deepening your relationship with the people who are there all day long watching over your stuff.  You'll probably also find out that they're really neat people to boot! 

Prep Time!

So this is how I spent my Friday.

The armaments:

Everything needed for an afternoon of cleaning and pricing!

The battlefield:

Patio table big enough to spread things out on!

The stronghold:

My much talked about shed, which really needs repainting!

The mission:

Get this organized into a yard sale!

YES, INDEED!  

IT'S YARD SALE PREP TIME!

(I kind of wish I had a theme song for this kind of thing.!)

Part of a successful yard sale is putting time into preparation and organization.  I had already selected the items to put in the sale, so now is the time to clean everything up and price it and organize it for easy set up.  

I decided to sort a lot of things out by table instead of pricing every individual item, since I have a lot of smalls in this sale.  I'll have a 25 cent table, a 50 cent table and a dollar table.  I wanted to sort it all into boxes for each table.  Plus, there were larger items to price.

I've come to the point in my life where I don't feel the need to have everything that I own.  I'm not changing who I am as a big old nerd dude who reads comics, loves cartoons, and likes cool toys and such.  I simply don't have the completist collector vibe any more.  The thought of moving all this stuff again makes me kind of queasy.  So much of this has not been out of the boxes in so long that I had forgotten I owned half of it.  I felt like I was discovering treasure!

What I've done is made myself pare down things to my absolute most favorite pieces.  I've set those aside (which amounted to about 1/3 of the overall lot).  My goal is to find a way to display the down-sized collection in the house once this is all over.  I'll probably end up paring it all down again before that happened.

I took a bunch of what I culled for the booth, but there was too much to funnel that way, so the rest is in my yard sale.  I figure that whatever doesn't sell can still head to the booth.  This is kind of like an overstock deal.  I'm not so much worried about the money I'll make as I am getting rid of this stuff.  If I can get a hundred bucks or so, I'll be pretty happy.

Some highlights:

Batman will always rock, as far as I'm concerned.

A lot of my anime stuff is Japanese merch.

I'm putting a lot of anime stuff in the sale, mostly Sailor Moon, which was always my favorite.  When I got into anime, I became a huge fan of shoujo stuff, especially magical girls.  I've always kind of liked the sweetness of the genre and its tendency towards campiness and kitsch.  I'm going to craft my Craiglist ad to try and draw in the nerds and hipsters who would be interested in this sort of thing.

There are a few Pokemon items.  The original series came out when I was really getting into anime, but it wasn't really a favorite of mine.  There was too much of a forced completism thing going on for my tastes.  Don't tell me I gotta catch 'em all.  I'll decide that for myself, thank you.  Still, I always thought Pikachu was really cute, and I do have some small Pika stuff, but that is the extent of my Poke-madness.  Well, except for Jigglypuff.

Pikachu, I see you!

I do have some vintage in the sale, like this snowmobile jacket. Yes, I know that spring is the wrong time to try and sell a leather jacket.  I'm an optimist.

I'm also putting this old chest in the sale, too.  I figure it will attract some interest.  We have a cedar chest that Keith's grandfather made in the bedroom, so I have no need for this one that I bought in a yard sale ages ago.  It has a loose hinge on the lid, so I'm selling it "as is."

Ooooo look!  I'm making progress!  Yay!

Organized things!

More organized things!

Priced things!

 I'm also putting a lot of books in the sale, mainly my mother's.  I was going to add some of mine as well, but I have three good sized tubs of Mom's, and I figure that's enough.  I'll save mine and have a book sale later on.  I actually figure I have enough stuff to have two more sales this season, which is the most you can have in one year in Louisville.  I've only cleaned out a third of the shed so far.  The rest of it will give me enough for two sales, a good sized Goodwill donation and enough extra stuff for the booth to keep me rolling on smalls well into fall.

With the small stuff covered like that, I'll be able to specifically hunt for furniture and vintage when I go saling and thrifting.

Finally, we're done!  I know that looks like the first pic, but trust me, it's not.  For one thing the angle is different, silly.  The real difference is on the inside of the tubs and boxes.  It's all sorted and organized, guaranteed to make set up a breeze!

Done!  Yay!

Happy by-product!

Empty boxes for recycling mean downsizing has occurred!  Yay!  It all took a lot less time that I thought.  I was even able to pull a few more items out of the shed for the sale.  By the time you read this, I'll be in throes of running the sale, so wish me luck!

I'll have pics and a report either tomorrow or (more likely) Monday!

By the way, I know those photos make it look like the shed is still packed to the gills, but it's not.  One side of it is nearly empty.  I just put everything back right inside the door to make it easier to get to in the morning,

$2.08

So last Sunday I'm sitting around at about ten til ten, just like I do every night, waiting for my sales email to come in from the Peddlers Mall.

My phone flashes!

It's in!

I punch up the email and, lo and behold, it's a massive, whopping $2.08!

Yes.

$2.08.

Two dollars and eight cents.  Two-freaking-dollars and eight-freaking-cents!

$2.08!

So, I wail a bit.  And gnash my teeth.  And don sack cloth and ashes.  And curse the ground I walk on, the air I breathe, the sky above me, all the gods in heaven, and the day I was born.  No, scratch that last bit.  I rue the day I was born.  And I bemoan the cruel fate the will befall every junker several times in their junking life.*

The ebb and flow.

The yin and the yang of reselling.  Sometimes you're flush with $100+ days.  Sometimes you don't make enough to buy a decent latte.

Customers, they are a capricious and unpredictable lot.  Sometimes, they just ain't buying  your stuff.  And there's nothing you can do about it.  For the occasional ebbs, that is.

If you're having a constant, predictable series of non-starters as sales days, then something is wrong.  But, if you're getting a couple a month, nestled in amongst other good strong days, then you're probably okay.  $2.08 is better that $2.05 or $1.99 or $0.49 or---gulp----nada!

Sometimes a wee dose of perspective helps a lot, huh?

Seriously, I've had waaaaaaaay more than my share of those less than ten dollar days this year, and I fretted them, and--as soon as I could, I did something about them.  So far, for October, I've only had two, and they've been balanced out with lots of really good days, large item sales, and lots of activities.  I ain't gonna sweat this one.

Except, somewhere deep inside, in that place where I'm down on myself a lot.  Where I never quite believe that I know what I'm doing.  Where I don't always have the best self image and self confidence.

There, in that place, I'm totally stressed out about this.

But, I'm trying pretty damn hard to ignore that place.

*Hey!  I'm a drama queen!  We're required to wail, gnash, moan, curse, and rue at least once every six weeks, or we lose our license.  I'm in the "once every six days" club.  I get an extra star in my crown for that.  If I can keep it up for a full year, I get my own drama queen holiday!  Let's just say I'm doing pretty well on that one!

Righting the Ship

I've not made a secret of the fact that my re-sale stuff hasn't been going as well as I would have liked recently.  While I'm not going under, things haven't been performing at the level I need them to for some time.

The fault is mainly mine.  I got into the habit (out of necessity) of doing the bare minimum to keep things running while I was sick, but haven't made any efforts to get out of that mode since I've been better.   

September was my wake up call.  I didn't make my rent until the last week of the month.  For a while, I thought I wasn't going to make it at all.  Things turned around that last week, thanks in part to the renewed efforts I started making.  My sales for the end of September were better than they had been in a long while, even if we take the exceptional last Saturday out of the equation.

I've been putting a lot of thought in to this and I've started taking some steps to make the needed changes.  It will take a little time and a lot of effort, but I'm sure I can not only move in the direction I want to be going, but also really start hitting my sales targets.  I've still got a lot to do, though.

Refocusing:  Dropping one store is going to allow me to put my time and energy into the one that has always consistently produced for me.  Just the little extra time I've been putting in at the Peddlers Mall is already starting to pay off.

Clearing Out the Deadwood:  I've taken several bags of booth duds to a thrift and the rest are getting marked down and put out for the various outdoor sales and yard sales I have coming up.  It's time for all the shelf sitters to go.  I bring in fresh stuff each week.  It needs to stand out more than it does with all the deadwood all around it.

Taking a Leap:  I took a big leap of faith the other day at the Peddlers Mall and priced most of my shelving and display pieces.  Once I get the YesterNook shelves over there, I'm going to have too many, so I'm trying to be a little proactive.  Plus, it shakes up the look of a booth and forces me to work a little harder when one sells.  It can also generate a nice chunk of change, since I priced those puppies enough to make it worth my while to deal with getting replacements. So far, one has gone and I'm thrilled.  Even if none of the others actually sells, it's a chance worth taking.

Getting It All Together:  One of my goals for the year was to get my junk stuff organized.  So far, I've failed miserably at that.  Up until now, I could blame that on being sick, but that excuse is starting to look faded and shopworn.  I was able to do some buying while the chemo was going one, but the pricing and packing and prepping part that has to come after every buy only got done about half the time.  I've got some cool shit to sell that needs to make it to a booth.

Being Present:  Since my space has gotten bigger, I've come to realize that I need to go over more than once a week.  My night shift knocks out two possible evening for booth work, but I still have all day on Fridays, plus Monday and Wednesday afternoons.  My current plan is to go in on Mondays to clean and restock from the weekend and Fridays to clean up from the week and get ready for the weekend.  I've been doing it for a couple of weeks now, and it seems to be working. 

Putting It Out There:  I've come to realize that once things make it into the house, they run the risk of getting stuck there for longer than is necessary or healthy.  I've already started running larger items out there on the day I acquire them.  I need to set a turnaround limit on smaller stuff to stick with it.

Thinking Big:  I'm a smalls guy at heart.  Big stuff, like furniture, scares me.  It feels risky and I don't do well with it.  There's a lot I don't know.  But I need larger items and the money they can bring.  Slowly, but surely, I'll be taking more of that plunge.  I've got the room.

Using All the Options:  The Peddlers Mall consigns furniture for vendors, which is an option I've not used to the greatest extent I could.  I'm starting to get my stuff back up on Craigslist again.  Two years ago, I set up a blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page for my booth activities.  I still haven't done anything with them yet.  And I'm starting to seriously consider eBay and Etsy, even though I have some qualms about the idea.

Planning Ahead:  Ending one booth and moving it all out is going to take a lot of work.  Doing it in an orderly fashion will take a lot of planning.  I think this will be good for me.

Appearances are Everything:  The layout for my space needs a facelift badly.  It was what I could make out of the new space when I was ill, but it's really not the most functional or welcoming.  I'm mulling ideas right now, but it will probably be the first of the year before I make a major shift.  I'll need to get past the holidays first.

Staying on Schedule:  As we move into the holiday season, getting stuff out in a timely fashion is important.  I've already been paying the price for not having my Halloween stuff out in time.  It's not going to happen with the Christmas stuff.

Playing to My Strengths:  One thing my experience at YesterNook has taught me is who I am as a seller.  I'm not a vintage market, decorator oriented, repurposing, trend-following kind of dude.  I'm a flea market seller.  I like to sell fun, cool things of all types, including awesome vintage.  I sell comic books and religious items and have an audience and customer base for both.  I like to have fun in my buying and selling.  I kind of lost track of that somewhere along the line.  One of my goals is to get it back.

This is How We Do It: Shopping for Catholic Stuff

Junkers are notorious for not revealing our sources.  There's too many of us, and not enough stuff to go around to be giving away all our secrets.  Interestingly enough, we do like to brag to each other about our most awesome finds.  We want to show off our stuff, just not tell where we got it all.

When you specialize in certain kinds of items, you get known for having a good selection of, in my case, religious items.  You create a bit of a customer base, and eventually you get the question:  "Where do you find all this stuff?"

My standard answer is:  "Everywhere!"  Admittedly, it's a bit vague, but it's also pretty much true.  As a collector, I'm more tuned to find the items I collect than someone who is not.  Truthfully, they just leap out at me, because I notice them more readily.  It doesn't matter where they are.  I use this to my advantage as a seller.

Sometime last year, I was hitting some estate sales with another dealer.  She went down in the basement and came back up declaring that there was nothing there I would be interested in.  I went down, stayed five minutes, and came up with half a dozen framed vintage religious pictures.  She was oblivious to them, because it's not something she was tuned into.

It honestly doesn't matter what the item is, someone who collects or deals in that item will be more likely to find it in a general setting.  This doesn't mean that it's all sheer luck and keeping your eyes open, however.  There are some other tricks that I use in my hunt for Catholic religious items in particular.

It does help to know a little bit about the religious history and development of this area.  Part of my interest as a hobbyist has lead me to do a lot of reading about the Catholic church in Louisville, so  I use that information when I can.  Call it "pre-find" research.  I use it to choose my hunting grounds.

Along with that, estate sales in neighborhoods that have been heavily Catholic are a good source.  In days past, life was more neighborhood-centered, so many people belonged to the churches in their area.  Usually an estate sale near an older church will be the home of a deceased parishioner.  Older church members are typically more devoted to having things like images and statues, so those sales are a good source.  This is true even if the church has been closed or consolidated with another one.  Just because the church moves doesn't mean the people do.  Oftentimes, the family will keep one or two items that have a lot of memories, like a rosary, but have no interest in the other stuff.

Another great source for me is to make sure to hit sales in the somewhat more eclectic parts of town.  Lots of the "cool kids" are into this kind of stuff too, so I find a lot there.  Never underestimate what you can find at a "hipster" sale.  Stuff is usually cheap too.

Finally, another no-brainer:  look for church-run thrifts and/or sales benefiting Catholic schools, organizations and charities. Never miss a sale run by a Catholic church either!  Ever!

That's how it works for me, anyways.  For another category of item, the tips might be a little different, but mainly it's about using the knowledge you have to figure out where you need to be.  

This Is How We Do It: Thrifting for ReSale Tips

Eddie-tor's Note:  I started this post quite a while ago, but it sat in my drafts forever waiting to be finished.  As a result, it is now going up when I'm kind of in a thrift-lull imposed by my chemo and the bricks.  Please read this as a description of the way I used to do things, the way I would do things now if I could, and the way things are going to be again--very soon!  Thanks!

A lot of re-sellers I know don't like searching for merch at thrifts.  'The prices are too high," they say. "I can never find anything."  Most of these folks have never thrifted for fun, pleasure, and personal use, so I don't think they get the thrifts and the thrift mentality.  Me, I love them.  Always have.  Always will.  Whether shopping for me personally or for re-sale, going to a thrift is an adventure I look forward to every week.

Which is not to say that there isn't a certain knack involved in thrifting for re-sale.  Here are some thoughts to keep in mind.

The wider your net, the better your luck.  The more focused you are in your quest, the more specific the type of merchandise you seek, the less likely you are to be successful on a given day.  One of the reasons I usually find several items is that I sell a great variety of things.  If furniture is too high on a given day, toys and books may not be.  Greater focus leads to more finds.  (Although there always will be those days where you find absolutely nothing!)  If I were totally focused on high end antiques or gold and silver jewelry, I don't think that thrifts would be high on my list.

Routinize your thrift stops.  Because of travel distances and gas prices, one of the best way to keep expenses down is work your thrift stops into other trips that you have to make.  The way I look at it, if I am heading somewhere I have to be for some other reason, that thrift stop doesn't add any extra expense to the trip.  It's just a stop-over.  I'm lucky in that my weekly work route takes me by three thrifts.  I can't help but build in a few extra minutes every few days for a quick junking run.

Not all thrifts are created equally.  Let's be honest.  Some thrifts are over-priced for what they have.  Some are full of nothing but crap.  Others are just a musty, dusty mess.  It's okay to recognize that some thrifts are just not worth trying regularly, even if they are convenient.  There's a thrift in the same building where I have a booth.  Even though I am over there regularly, I still only stop in there only once every few weeks.  It's just that hit or miss.  I walk out of there empty-handed more than any other thrift.

But neither should any be totally written off.  On the other hand, that same thrift has frequent sales, with deep discounts.  So I keep an eye on it, in order to know what's going on, but limit my visits based on experience.  Infrequency makes the heart grow fonder.

Small hauls add up.  Even if you only find a few items every time you visit a thrift, that haul adds up over time.  I try to be excited and thankful for every little bit I can find.

Know the policies.  Stick to them.  Thrift stores have a purpose, typically supporting some charity or cause.  They also have expenses to meet--including overhead and payroll.  They're not flea markets, and generally bargaining is not encouraged or appreciated.  If you know you are at a store where the prices are fixed, don't embarrass yourself or the staff by trying to bargain.  Also, make sure you know their policies on returns (in case an item doesn't work) and on holding purchases (in case you buy something large).  There's a store in town I love, but they have an odd rule about not shopping out of the carts that the staff are using to stock shelves.  I think it's weird and arbitrary, but it's their store, so I honor the rule. 

Be polite to the staff.  Chances are they're only making minimum wage.  They have to put up with a wide variety of people, some of whom can be demanding and rude.  Don't add to their burden.  Dealers have a bad rep because some of them are some of the biggest assholes you can run across.  I've kind of made it my mission to make a different impression on folks.  That includes thrift staff.  As a result, some of them have gotten to know me and my interests.  They'll point things out to me when I'm in the store.  I never ask them to bend the rules, but I do take the time to make some conversation. 

Don't be afraid to politely ask for what you need.  There's a clerk at the local Goodwill who is kind of haphazard with her wrapping.  Sometimes she'll wrap breakables, sometimes she won't.  I've learned that if she's in the mood where she's not wrapping, that I need to ask her and she will.  If there's something you need or want, that isn't against any posted rules or guidelines, it never hurts to ask.  Just be understanding if they cannot do it. 

Stay informed.  Some stores have regular sales.  Others have systems for rotating merchandise so that something is always on sale.  Some even have some sort of sale running every day.  Staying informed can lead you to the best bargains.  Do you know if a store in your area has half-off on Monday holidays?  Sign up for email lists.  Check the web.  Look for Facebook pages or Twitter accounts.  There are lots of ways to stay on top of what's going on at your fave thrift.  Take advantage of them.

Wrapping stuff well is an art.  Getting your purchases home in one piece can be a challenge, whether from a thrift or a yard sale.  When you thrift on a bike, like I do frequently, it's even more challenging.  Some cashiers are diligent about doing it well.  Others, not so much.  I've been known to throw in a helping hand when I have a large order or I see that it's not quite up to snuff.  I do it under the guise of helping out, not being critical.  Everything I know about effective wrapping I learned from one of the best thrift clerks in the city.  One of these days, I'll do a post about that.

Large orders take time.  Along with the above, I also try to be really friendly with the clerk and with the folks in line behind me on days when I'm buying a lot of stuff.  It kind of eases the tension that builds up when people have to wait.  I also make sure to thank everyone effusively when we're all done.  Always let the little old lady who is just buying a hat or something small go in front of your cartful of stuff.  That's a rule.

Check everywhere in the store.  Thrifts are the worst for items getting moved and never put back.  There's usually too much stuff to keep up with.  You may not buy toys, but check the toys anyway.  The vintage scarf you find over there may be right up your alley.  Check the kids books for adult titles that got misplaced.  Plus, older and vintage items often get mixed in with the newer stuff.  Make two or three passes, just to make sure you get everything and see everywhere.  It's not always convenient, but it's worth it.  A couple of thrifts here in town put stuff in these bins that are attached to the tops of the clothing racks, and it's always stuff that is not at all related to clothing.  They treat them as overflow display for any type of item, so a lot of people give them a miss.  I've made great finds in those bins.

Have fun!  If you're not enjoying it at least a little, then why are you doing it?  Seriously, find another avenue for your stuff-gathering.  The day re-selling stops being fun is the day I stop.  There are too many sour-faced dealers out there as it is.

Don't force yourself to spend money.  You don't have to buy something every time you come into a thrift.  If it doesn't speak strongly to you, don't buy it.  If it doesn't speak to you at all, don't buy it.  If you have four of them waiting to go into a space, don't buy it.  Use your head and common sense.  If I'm thrifting and I see several "eh" items, but no "wow" item, I tend to pass by, unless I really need stuff.  My personal rule is that one "wow" item trumps several "eh" items.  The corollary is that I have to find the "wow" item before putting any "eh" items in my cart.  It serves me well and keeps me on budget.

That's how I try to do it, anyway.  As always, your thrifting mileage may vary.  I'd love to hear your thoughts or ideas in the comments.

Fun Finds: Doing the Research

So I found these little dudes at the YesterNook outdoor sale and could not resist them.

I can't decide whether they are cute or creepy.

They have no markings on them, other than the words "Mattel 1975" on their backsides.  I googled "Mattel toys 1975" and found a pic of one of them from an old Etsy sale.  That sale led me to the phrase "lil guy", which I added to my search.  That then turned up an eBay auction for a Mattel Little Big Guy.  Turns out, these little dudes are firemen and originally came with removable coats and boots. Cool!

And, that, my friends, is how you research your finds!

I also found a couple of other great items at the sale, as well.

This super-cute dollhouse dresser has an actual mirror on it, instead of a piece of tin foil or some such.

I also got this sweet Hummel holy water font.  It's cracked, but for two bucks, I'll take it!  It's likely the only way I'll be able to have an old piece of Hummel.  This one goes in the collection.

I love this mini metal bench that's been painted to look like graniteware.

Just goes to show that shopping can happen anywhere, even when you're selling!