How To Make Money Thrifting

keely stawicki - thrifting for profit expert

What's the fastest way to multiply money?

It might be reselling.

That is, buy low, sell high, repeat.

Keely Stawicki started reselling when she was just 12 years old, flipping a horse saddle on Craigslist and making $100 profit.

Fast frontward 15 years–and more than $270,000 in sales–and thrifting is now her total-time gig. Today, Keely focuses more often than not on vintage goods, clothing, and article of furniture–all items in not bad need right now.

Reselling is a concern model we keep coming back to because information technology checks some of the boxes for an awesome side hustle:

Anybody tin can do information technology
Information technology doesn't require a huge upfront investment
It's quick to become started and come across results

If this sounds like a side hustle you're interested in, listen in to hear Keely's top tips for sourcing profitable inventory, the types of products she sees doing well today, and where she lists and markets her items for maximum exposure and profitability.

Figuring Out What Products to Buy for Resale
What Kind of Turn a profit Margins to Aim For
Where to Source Profitable Items to Resell
A Consignment App?
Where To Listing Items for Resale
Keely'southward eBay Tips
Dealing with Scammers equally a Reseller
Inside a Typical Thrift Store Sourcing Trip
Thrift Shop Mistakes to Avert
How Do You Brand Your Listings Stand Out?
How to Manage Your Thrifting Inventory
Restoring Vintage-Style Furniture for Profit
Keely's #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation
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Figuring Out What Products to Buy for Resale

"The biggest thing with starting out sourcing is figuring out what to source," Keely told me.

It tin be a cause of feet for people as there are then many different categories and things to choose from.

Keely said the important thing is to "source something that you lot know well, and like." If you like the products and niche you're sourcing in, there's a proficient chance other people do, and you lot're less likely to buy things that don't have profit in them."

This is how Keely started out sourcing when she was 12 years one-time. She had a passion for horses and was surrounded past horses and horse products. So, Keely went to an auction and bought a saddle for $fifty. She cleaned information technology up, listed it on Craigslist for $150, and made a quick flip for $100 turn a profit.

Keely went dorsum to the sale the next month, bought something else and flipped it, and this is how she got started reselling.

As you go a feel for buying and reselling stuff y'all know well, you can branch out into other niches:

I Side Hustle Testify guest reported earning upwardly to $4000 a month flipping books!
Another shared how he earned $1000+ per week flipping phones.

Keely said using the sold filter on eBay is a peachy way to check what's selling, and how much for. But she besides said you often need to act fast and acquire how to utilize your "gut feeling" when making purchases.

What Kind of Turn a profit Margins to Aim For

The two main criteria Keely aims for when reselling items are:

At least fifty% margin ($fifty profit for every $100 you spend on inventory)
At least $10 profit per detail

The thrifting business tin exist labor-intensive. It takes fourth dimension to:

source items from thrift stores
make clean or gear up them up for resale
listing on eBay and/or other marketplaces
pack and ship the items

Yous need to make sure you lot have enough profit margin to brand all these activities worth your fourth dimension.

For the sake of comparison, Rob, the "Flea Market Flipper", explained he didn't want to affect anything that he didn't expect to brand at least $100 from. Check out Rob's gratuitous preparation on how he and his wife make thousands of dollars a calendar month flipping random products.

Where to Source Profitable Items to Resell

Keely however goes to local auctions twice a year and sells items from them on eBay throughout the year.

But her principal source for items to resell is thrift stores. Keely said she goes in one case a calendar week, and rarely leaves empty-handed.

She described a recent thrift shop trip where she bought 22 items. It took her about an hr and a one-half, and she will brand at least $10 per item, so that'south $220 profit.

(She estimated it'll accept some other hr and a half to make clean and list all the items.)

A Consignment App?

I interesting new style to source inventory is the free Flyp app. Flyp connects resellers like yous with people who have products (name-brand wear, shoes, and accessories) they desire to become rid of.

source products to flip risk-free with flyp

Inside the app, you can bid on "lots" (bundles of products) from members past sharing what you recollect the items should sell for and the committee percentage you lot'll accuse for selling them.

Typical committee rates on Flyp are 30-fifty%, merely keep in mind you lot'll demand to pay eBay or other marketplace fees out of those earnings.

Notwithstanding, I remember it's worth a look if you're focused on the habiliment niche.

Where To List Items for Resale

The marketplaces Kelly uses to resell online are:

eBay – The most popular and busiest online platform for reselling appurtenances. Fees are nine-xiv% depending on the category. You lot tin can pay $10 per calendar month for a storefront, lower fees, and some extra perks.
Poshmark – Expert for branded items equally they verify the items are genuine before selling them. But a 20% fee is pretty steep.
Craigslist – Keely uses Craigslist for larger items she doesn't want to ship, and niche-specific such as auto parts and electronics.
Facebook Marketplace – Groovy for items you don't want to ship or retrieve will sell locally. (This is but ane of dozens of ways to make money on Facebook.)
Depop – An app Keely said is good for selling vintage clothing.
Mercari – An app for ownership and selling anything.

I've had some luck with Offer Up, while other sellers have recommended Let Become.

Keely's eBay Tips

Keely uses eBay to sell most of her items as they take the largest audience and the everyman fees. She said their app has made it incredibly easy and quick to list stuff too, and then information technology's the place to get started.

When selling on eBay, a few tips Keely shared are:

If you're selling clothing, yous need to add measurements of the items. She uses a site called Size.ly to generate all the measurements, and they also listing the measurements in centimeters for overseas buyers.
Sign upwardly for eBay international sellers' program so y'all tin can sell your items outside of the US besides. It doesn't require whatever more than piece of work; you'll just ship your items to an eBay distribution center for them to forward forth to your customer. Keely said around twenty-xxx% of her sales are to overseas customers, and so yous're leaving money on the table by not selling internationally.
Build a storefront and spend time building a following. You can notify your audience when y'all have new items for sale a pull in extra sales this way. This is especially helpful if you stay within one general niche when sourcing.

She recommends starting out with eBay, then branching out onto other platforms equally yous go a better feel for the market.

Dealing with Scammers every bit a Reseller

Keely said she tends to stay away from luxury goods, as these are more likely to concenter scammers. (Patently this is a big run a risk in the sneaker flipping side hustle.)

The main event she's had over the years is items breaking in the mail. Since and so, she's learned how to pack stuff more securely, take photos earlier sending, and buy extra insurance for expensive, fragile items.

She mentioned that eBay is generally fair to sellers — at to the lowest degree in her feel — and that documentation is always helpful in making your case should there be a dispute.

Inside a Typical Thrift Store Sourcing Trip

Keely gave me an over-the-shoulder view of what her process looks like when she'southward shopping for items to resell.

When she enters a thrift store, she starts by looking through the difficult goods (they take less time).

She'southward mainly looking for:

glassware
vintage art pieces
lamps
other homewares

Then she moves on to the clothing department. Here, she's looking for funky textures, colors, and patterns every bit those sell well.

She said she's gotten better as spotting imitation vintage items over the years. Her tip hither is to inspect the quality of the detail closely, check the labels, and practise a petty enquiry if in doubt.

Keely mainly looks at skirts, dresses, shoes, handbags, and overalls.

Overalls, in detail, are selling very well correct now for a big markup, so keep an heart out for those at your local thrift store. She recommended staying away from jeans and pants as those aren't selling well.

Thrift Store Mistakes to Avert

As a rule of pollex, stay away from annihilation that's damaged, been repaired, or looks like it might be fake.

"In vintage habiliment, the condition is truly everything," Keely said.

She added, "The biggest mistake you tin make is not hitting that sold filter [on eBay] to brand sure in that location'southward a market," Before getting carried away with items that look like an awesome deal, check to run into if there's any proven demand.

How Do You Make Your Listings Stand Out?

"For me, it'southward truly the selection of the items," Keely told me.

She puts a lot of emphasis on the quality of the images to give customers the best view of her items.

Keely uses three lightboxes and a light band to brand her images overnice and bright.

And, instead of the sterile white background, she uses a vintage befouled forest door and plants equally a backdrop to help customers visualize how the items might await in their homes.

Here's an example from Keely's eBay shop (no longer operating):

ebay photography example

Information technology's too important to put a keyword-rich, descriptive championship and a detailed description of the item.

Look at it from a buyer's perspective: if in that location'south annihilation y'all might ask virtually the particular, respond it in the description.

If you do all of this, you lot volition reduce the chance of having items returned because it's non what the buyer was expecting. "My return rate is literally zero," Keely told me.

How to Manage Your Thrifting Inventory

Reselling a high volume requires adept systems to manage and transport the items.

Keely has this downwardly, with bins for the smaller items, and double bar clothing racks.

She has an inventory listing and keeps article of clothing in large ziplock bags with numbered labels on.

When she sells an particular, she finds information technology on her inventory listing and picks it off the rack. She likes to pack items one-by-one, then label and send them out.

(She institute batch shipping had a greater risk of mixing up orders.)

She lives inside a mile of the drop box she uses to transport all her items out, and so she drops off her orders each day on the way to the gym.

Restoring Vintage-Style Piece of furniture for Profit

Keely said vintage-style furniture is selling very well correct now. She picks upward items like solid wood dressers for as little as $20 at a thousand sales and flips them for $180+.

Despite challenge to be actually bad at painting, Keely says this is a assisting product category for her. With a couple of coats of Dixie Belle Chalk Paint, a wax, and a clear coat, she can restore a dresser and make $150+ profit on it.

These are the kinds of items she sells on Craigslist and Facebook Market, where at that place are no seller fees.

Related: Flipping Furniture: How to Brand $200+ This Weekend w/ Your Get-go Article of furniture Flip