After an overwhelming response to my first thrifting post, I wanted to thank you and keep you inspired with a few lucrative thrifting/recycling finds from recent years. The numbers don't lie. These items below cost me $50 and brought in almost $5,700 of revenue before fees and taxes because I got them dirt cheap or found them for free.
Background: I quit my corporate job ~2.5 years ago to thrift and sell recycled goods for a living to be completely independent. I hope to share knowledge, strategies and inspiration for you to benefit from in your lives.
All figures below are precise to the penny as I've tracked every find, cost and detail since I've started. I'll list the cost (if any), the sale price, and the profit before taxes (after any fees or shipping expenses). Keep in mind that market prices may change over time, for better or worse. This was a snapshot of their values at the time.
Please note that I'll often pass on larger profits because I don't want to spend $300 to make $300. Some people don't mind that risk, but I'd rather make higher profit margins to be more sustainable in the long run. I also like to stay in a certain sale price range to keep my items liquid. I prefer to spend $1-20 for items I can sell in the $50-$250 range, proportionally, since they're more affordable price points for buyers. One other point is that I also rarely sell in auction format. I determine my prices and trust my judgment, while being flexible to reduce if it sits for too long.
Note: These aren't all of my biggest sales, but they're my highest significant profit margins relative to the sale price. I have screenshots of the final sales but feel it's best to keep those private for now...
FIND 1: Sony LAM-X1 Hi-MD MiniDisc & CD Player/Recorder
Purchase Price: $13.93 (including buying a new mini-disc for testing)
Sale Price: $1,010.00
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $838.04
Story: I picked this up off a shelf a minute after the employee put it out. It was screaming rare and profitable. The only one on eBay in the past year at the time sold for ~$600 without the remote. This one had the remote and was in mint condition. Score! I decided to make up my price to reflect the scarcity of this Japanese import, and it worked out just fine after gathering over 25 watchers. I used a small portable photo booth for the pictures, which all came out looking great with the black backdrop.
It sold to a man who was in the hospital being treated for bone marrow cancer. He'd always wanted one of these, so he treated himself under the circumstances and was thrilled. It still gets me choked up a bit to have been able to bring him some joy in such a dark time. Seemed like fate to me.
FIND 2: Sealed New Encyclopedia Britannica Great Books Of The Western World Set ~1993
Purchase Price: FREE
Sale Price: $1,099.98
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $877.94
Story: I built a relationship with a building management company gutting a nearby apartment building. For 3 weeks, they gave me private access to 6 floors of this building owned by a hoarder who died with no family left. As each tenant moved on over the decades, he converted their rooms into personal hoarding museums. It was a gold mine of antiques and brand new items dating back to the 1950's. With about 20+ vacant apartments and a huge basement, each room was a decade lost in time. I pulled so many free pristine products, it was mind bending. It was a personal sign that I was meant to do this for now after getting the only "all access pass" because I had good manners when the manager saw me standing curiously outside. All I had to do was bring Gatorade and protein bars for the staff so they'd let me in and out during their shifts. I literally took full cabs home two blocks with the most amazing stuff. Most importantly, I feel like I let the owner's spirit carry on by reselling what would've been put in a dumpster.
FIND 3: Sealed New Encyclopedia Britannica 1991 Heirloom Set
Purchase Price: FREE
Sale Price: $819.99
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $649.57
Story: Same as above. The gift that kept on giving. I sold so much, but these two sets were the largest in individual revenue so far, although I still have one big item around this mark that I haven't tried to sell yet.
FIND 4: Hand Numbered Birdman Movie Talking Action Figure Promo
Purchase Price: $1.28 (after using a few store rewards dollars)
Sale Price: $400.00
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $340.68
Story: I found this at the last hour a thrift store was open after their weekend window sale. The window sale is where a long line of people stand outside (sometimes for 24 hours) to get access to buy only two items in the order they are lined up. First come first serve. After the sale and day passed, I casually strolled to the store, peeked in the window for any mistaken leftovers, and saw this gem semi-hidden on a shelf. At the time, Birdman was an Oscar Nominee, so there was a lot of hype. This was an exclusive media-only promo release and was selling up to $600 at the time. I was a little late to market so I didn't get as much, but still a great return for spending $1.28! The figure said some pretty lewd quotes, but that was the draw of the character in the movie.
FIND 5: Epson R2000 Printer
Purchase Price: $16.32
Sale Price: $714.99
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $632.72
Story: I found a thrift store employee I knew pricing some electronics, so I gently asked how much the printer would be. She slapped $14.99 on it and I thanked her profusely. This printer was in near mint shape with all components. People often take out the print heads before donating since they're very valuable, but this was complete! Easy sell a few miles away for dirt cheap shipping. A tip is to take a picture of a successful print head alignment test for your ads to prove it works.
FIND 6: Sealed New LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle Set #4842
Purchase Price: $10.88
Sale Price: $584.98
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $439.69 (rush shipment for gift)
Story: This was put out in a glass case 10 minutes before I saw it. It was fully sealed new. As a discontinued collector's set, it sold in a few days for a nice return.
FIND 7: Tenant T1 and R3 Commercial Floor/Carpet Scrubbers (Double Find)
Purchase Price: FREE (+$4 split portion of cab ride home) - T1 Unit
Sale Price: $615.00
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $587.64 (They bought prepaid shipping.)
Purchase Price: FREE (+$4 split portion of cab ride home) - R3 Unit
Sale Price: $450.00
Profit After Fees & Shipping: $446.00
Story: I found both of these outside a library that was renovating with dumpsters outside. It was a trash night, so I was glad to save these from the landfill. They weighed 100 and 125 pounds, respectively, so I had to take them back in a large cab. The driver was intrigued from my explanation and took a large folding table for himself, which was another 75 pounds saved from the trash. Win win! And, yes, I carried these both up and down 4 flights of winding stairs. Great exercise!
The T1 sold to a cleaning company for a huge discount because it had a potential water valve issue. If I chose to fix it for about $300, I could've easily sold it for $1,000 more, but I didn't know where to get it fixed. The R3 sold to an individual who was starting his own business as his first investment. The R3 was worth about $750, but I wanted to help with his startup since he was honestly straining to give me $450. I can't complain with $1,033.64 net profit though!
...That's the first look for now. Hope you enjoyed! I have so many more to share, so please check back.
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~steemmatt