Yard Sale or Estate Sale to Attract Buyers?

[Teal03]

Sounds more like a yard sale to me. However, as others have posted previously, you will typically get pennies on the dollar running a yard sale where people are basically trying to dispose of things they no longer want or need. I doubt you can make a living running yard sales.



A bit confused on how you plan to make money selling something you purchased at full price, never used and now want to sell.

Maybe 2 or 3 of the clothing pieces were purchased at full price 5 years ago. Most of the clothes were purchased with rewards and gift cards I received from the rude service plus I always used promo codes and got cashback. The shoes were purchased from this store trying to clear their inventory for the new season. I bought like 10 Uggs for $15 a piece and have already flipped 6 of them for $100+ each. I just sold my last pair of brand new shoes that I purchased at full price.

The Dooneys were on sale at Belks I believe for like $60 and I got Belk gift cards for Christmas that year and $10 each from RMN so I paid nothing for them.

 

[starry_solo]

Mercari, Offer Up, Poshmark for the clothes, shoes, purses.

Or if you prefer to meet in person, Craigslist and make sure you meet in a public location like Starbucks or maybe a police station.

 

[Teal03]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I thought an estate sale was for furniture, antiques etc as well until I started seeing people getting none of those things from them. Plus I do have pieces of furniture I’m trying to move as well.

I think the best thing to do is call it a yard sale and advertise the price for the items I sell on eBay etcand if people come and buy that stuff great if not hopefully they take the other clothes I’ve had for over a decade that’ll be yard sale prices.

 

[Teal03]

To the person that mentioned flea market I’m going to look into with a few friends that sell homemade items.

 

[Teal03]

Mercari, Offer Up, Poshmark for the clothes, shoes, purses.

Or if you prefer to meet in person, Craigslist and make sure you meet in a public location like Starbucks or maybe a police station.

I sell on all of those places but I get lowballed all the time on there. I figure if I’m going to get less than what I want I might as well get the money the same day instead of having to pack it, ship it, sometimes measure it, then wait on it to arrive, get rated which can take days and wait an additional day for a deposit.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

You will get seriously LESS lowballed on those apps than you will at a yard sale! I was planning to sell baby clothes at 30 pieces for $5, the best offer I got all day was, "I'll give you $30 for it all," and I had like 10 boxes of clothing. Most of it was in great condition, good brands, kid just didn't get around to wearing it before outgrowing it...

estate sale is a phrase that means, someone died and the estate needs income to pay off debt. it specifically alludes to death with the word, "estate".

you really have to not think about your time invested in shipping being part of the price, especially if you are NOT running an Ebay business - that's really when you have to count your time. If you want to sell this stuff, especially at 40% of MSRP, you will have to invest your time. If you just need it out of your house and you don't want a lot of money back for it, that's when you can just forego any effort at all and donate it.

 

[lyshia04]

I have done fairly well selling on eBay. I buy with the intent to resell. It’s a lot of work. Measuring shipping photographing is all part and parcel if you want decent money. Ebay, posh, Facebook mericari etc all take some work.

My experience is with yard sales is that people want to pay pennies. Even on good stuff. I find name brand stuff at yard sales all the time. The people who ask name brand prices still have it at the end of the day. I’ve done stockpile sales from couponing. I consider yard sales a lot of work and can have hidden costs. Signs, pricing stickers etc.

I would advertise that you have new stuff.
The last two Dooney’s I have purchased one was $5 and the other was $3. One was in like new condition. I have have also purchased other high end handbags for a couple dollars. So it can be hard to get what you want.

You might have better luck at a flea market but that can be a lot of work. You have to pay fees and drag all your stuff there and back. I also recommend taking cards for high end items because not everybody is walking around with tons of cash and if they have to leave to get cash they just might not come back. HTH

 

[Hikergirl]

I would look in to consignment shops in your area to sell your handbags and new clothes.
Ebay and flea markets are flooded with that stuff and it's mostly fakes. Even at flea markets people want bargains, half off retail for a Dooney may be too much when they can go to the next table and get a fake for $20.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Yeah I put a Coach crossbody pouch on my yard sale table for $20 once (I got it from a friend of a friend of a friend, I didn't want it) ... everyone went for the $1 purse pile. Eventually I think I gave the Coach pouch to the woman who bought all the rest of my purses at the end of the day... which is I think what she wanted, but she was much more comfortable with buying 20 low-end purses for $20 and getting a free Coach bag LOL than actually buying the Coach bag for the $20.

 

[Teal03]

I’ve wanted to do Letgo and similar apps but I’m nervous about meeting people and getting fake bills. I do have a square and I know you can meet people at police stations but who’s to say you wont get followed?

 

[DisneyHardin]

I’ve wanted to do Letgo and similar apps but I’m nervous about meeting people and getting fake bills. I do have a square and I know you can meet people at police stations but who’s to say you wont get followed?

I'm probably just way to trusting, but I don't worry about this at all. I am too lazy to even go meet people places and have them come to my house to pick up the stuff.

 

[tvguy]

I guess the Thrift business is declining. Thrifttown, the thrift store chain featured in the movie Lady Bird announced today they are closing all but one of their stores. Just not enough business.

 

[ClapYourHands]

I’ve wanted to do Letgo and similar apps but I’m nervous about meeting people and getting fake bills. I do have a square and I know you can meet people at police stations but who’s to say you wont get followed?

Who's to say you won't get followed from the grocery store? Or the gym? Or the gas station? I really don't see how buying a handbag from someone in a public place is more likely to lead to following than any other time you go out in public.

 

[robinb]

I guess the Thrift business is declining. Thrifttown, the thrift store chain featured in the movie Lady Bird announced today they are closing all but one of their stores. Just not enough business.

That's interesting. I've read that thrift stores have seen a recent boom of items from the latest Marie Kondo craze.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I guess the Thrift business is declining. Thrifttown, the thrift store chain featured in the movie Lady Bird announced today they are closing all but one of their stores. Just not enough business.

Our thrift stores are still going strong. They are usually packed. The only thing I can see putting them out of business is their prices. They've gotten absolutely ridiculous on housewares and furniture.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

You will get seriously LESS lowballed on those apps than you will at a yard sale! I was planning to sell baby clothes at 30 pieces for $5, the best offer I got all day was, "I'll give you $30 for it all," and I had like 10 boxes of clothing. Most of it was in great condition, good brands, kid just didn't get around to wearing it before outgrowing it...

estate sale is a phrase that means, someone died and the estate needs income to pay off debt. it specifically alludes to death with the word, "estate".

you really have to not think about your time invested in shipping being part of the price, especially if you are NOT running an Ebay business - that's really when you have to count your time. If you want to sell this stuff, especially at 40% of MSRP, you will have to invest your time. If you just need it out of your house and you don't want a lot of money back for it, that's when you can just forego any effort at all and donate it.

Yard sales are so funny as to what sells and what doesn't. Where we used to live yard sales were all about baby stuff. Adult clothes and books were never touched. Here, no one wants baby clothes (or like your case, you get ridiculous lowball offers, they want it free), but books and dvds are the first thing to go, followed by adult clothes.

OP, you aren't going to get what you want an a yard sale. I really wouldn't try to sell designer purses on Ebay, either. Way too much fraud and no recourse for sellers. If someone says your bag is fake once they receive it, Ebay will refund them and you'll be out the money and the bag. Find a good consignment store in your area and sell them there.

 

[tvguy]

Our thrift stores are still going strong. They are usually packed. The only thing I can see putting them out of business is their prices. They've gotten absolutely ridiculous on housewares and furniture.

Other than Goodwill, which seems to be on every corner here now, the thrift industry here is dying big time. Online killing it according to the people who own Thrifttown.
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/...ores/103-e596b0b4-c7e8-4e70-b0e8-e7e656122363

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Other than Goodwill, which seems to be on every corner here now, the thrift industry here is dying big time. Online killing it according to the people who own Thrifttown.
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/...ores/103-e596b0b4-c7e8-4e70-b0e8-e7e656122363

That's interesting, it's the online sellers that have been keeping thrifts alive for years. I'd be willing to bet that half the people shopping there are looking for stuff to re-sell. I'll definitely check out the article.

Edited to add after reading the article:

It's interesting that they claim the thrift industry is dying when Goodwill is taking over the location and even retaining the employees. This particular chain is going out of business, but the location is staying a thrift store. Plus, the comments about online commerce killing the industry is just an opinion from one person.

I wonder if they tried to profit from their fame and were trying to charge ebay prices for their stuff. I've seen a lot of thrift stores go down for that reason alone. They can't charge the same prices that someone selling on Ebay does. That ebay seller is charging a premium for having found the item, thus saving the buyer the hassle of having to hunt for it. I don't go to the thrift store looking for a specific item - say a piece of my Grandmother's china pattern. It's great if I do happen to find a piece, but I usually go to Ebay for something like that and I expect to pay more for being able to type Wedgwood Countryside into the search engine and find exactly what I'm looking for. When most people go to thrift stores they are either looking for something that they can charge that Ebay premium price for or a bargain for themselves.

 

[seasheller]

I've had yard sales where I state in the ad that there will be lots of "brand new" items. If you are moving, call it a Moving Sale because that will attract a lot more people. Also, if you can still itemize your taxes you are a lot better off just donating to a charity and claiming the deduction. It doesn't pay to go through all that work of a sale. Not sure if donations are still deductible though under the new tax rules.

 

[robinb]

That's interesting, it's the online sellers that have been keeping thrifts alive for years. I'd be willing to bet that half the people shopping there are looking for stuff to re-sell. I'll definitely check out the article.

Edited to add after reading the article:

It's interesting that they claim the thrift industry is dying when Goodwill is taking over the location and even retaining the employees. This particular chain is going out of business, but the location is staying a thrift store. Plus, the comments about online commerce killing the industry is just an opinion from one person.

I wonder if they tried to profit from their fame and were trying to charge ebay prices for their stuff. I've seen a lot of thrift stores go down for that reason alone. They can't charge the same prices that someone selling on Ebay does. That ebay seller is charging a premium for having found the item, thus saving the buyer the hassle of having to hunt for it. I don't go to the thrift store looking for a specific item - say a piece of my Grandmother's china pattern. It's great if I do happen to find a piece, but I usually go to Ebay for something like that and I expect to pay more for being able to type Wedgwood Countryside into the search engine and find exactly what I'm looking for. When most people go to thrift stores they are either looking for something that they can charge that Ebay premium price for or a bargain for themselves.

I used to sell books on Amazon and was in thrift stores around town multiple times a week. Once I was done with the books, I would shop for other things. There was a thrift store named Savers here that had took time to sort out their clothing and price it accordingly. Cheap Wal*Mart or JC Penney brands were cheaper and higher end brands were more expensive. Like the eBay sellers they took time to examine, sort, price and label each item. Yes, the prices were a bit more expensive (sometimes double for great brands) but items were easy to find and sort through since they were sorted and labeled by size. Goodwill, OTOH, priced every like thing the same price. It didn't matter if it was a pair of Arizona Jeans or Lucky Jeans, they were all $4.99 each. Clothing was crammed together in loose sizing (small, medium, large, etc) so when I was looking for a size 4 pair of nice jeans for my DD I had to dig through dozens and dozens of wrong sizes and crappy brands. What would take me 5 minutes at Savers would take me 25 minutes at Goodwill. Goodwill did not put the time, effort or staffing into making shopping easier. Goodwill and their single pricing system is still in the area, but Savers is now gone. People shop thrift stores like they do yard sales. They want the lowest price. Period. Even if it takes they 5 times longer to find what they want. Me, I was happy shopping at Savers because it was easy even though it wasn't the cheapest.