We all have thrift store favorites and today I’m going to share with you my favorite top five thrift store find flips. I decided to start this thrift store flipping blog to share some knowledge nuggets I’ve learned along the way. I’d like to add just because they are in my top five doesn’t mean that they are my biggest grossing but they all are my favorite for separate reasons. Let’s dive into one of my passions… reselling thrift store finds.
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links for which I may receive a small commission of a purchase is made . As always , thanks for your support:)
Thrift Store Find # 1 – A beautiful vintage wedding dress
Yay me ! I found this at the bins during one of my first trips. I was hesitant to get it because number one it was a very small size but it also had a few very dark stains at the bottom. They appear to be some sort of drink spill splatter but I did not want to attempt to remove them and ruin the dress. Honestly , I’ve never sold a wedding dress before so I was not sure how it would go. I decided to put it on Poshmark ( an amazing thrift store flipping app) and take thorough pictures of the dress.
I put up lots of measurements and I also took a lot of pictures of the stains at the bottom of the dress. It made me sooooo very happy when a lovely bride purchased this for her special day. Who would of thought that my business of reselling thrift store finds would be apart of someone’s special day?!
Thrift Store Find #2-Hot pink for full length rabbit coat
Picture this ..I was doing my third round at the bins and it was almost time to go. For those of you who are unfamiliar what the bins entails it is a goodwill reselling center where they sell clothes by the pound. It is usually under $2 a pound and it is really quite the experience. You have to really dig for stuff but I have found so many treasures while there. So on this particular day I found a black trash bag that was fairly heavy and I was almost afraid to open it up.
What Did I Find?
I have heard horror stories about people finding dead animals and other absolutely disgusting things so I was worried that it was about to be my turn to find one of these horrors. I attempted to feel the outside of the bag before I opened it just so that I would not have any surprises and it felt very fluffy. Immediately I knew it was some sort of a coat!
Next I opened the bag in there she was, the most beautiful hot pink for coat. I looked at the tag and it was a rabbit fur coat!! I took a really good look at it right then and there before I put it in my cart because I did not want to take it if it was completely messed up. Lo and behold to my surprise there were not any tears, rips, stains and surprisingly there wasn’t even a smell.
I quickly put in my cart and I got it right away. I had a HARD time letting go of this one and not keeping it for myself. When you get into the business of reselling thrift store finds make sure you don’t fall in love with your inventory!
Begrudgingly I eventually loaded this onto Poshmark and originally put it up for $450 but ended up doing a sale to someone who really really really wanted so badly. She kept messaging me about it and I’m not in the business hoarding inventory so I sold it to her.
Thrift Business Tip
For sales like this you should always go the extra mile so I decided to put it into a red leopard print coat bag that I got very cheap off of eBay. Because of the size of the box and how much the box weighed I had to update my shipping but I still made $$$ and I was very happy with the purchase.
Thrift Store Find # 3 Electric juicer plunger
Now you’re probably thinking why in the heck would this be one of your favorite sales?! To me this is the epitome of reselling thrift store finds! I bought a juicer to originally flip but while testing it I realized that I did not have the key to take it apart *face palm * .
Now I could’ve gone on to Amazon and bought the key to open it for $20 bucks and still would have cleared $20 to $30 bucks for the sale of the juicer. Get this … to top it all off I ended up dropping it in the parking lot while loading it up in my van after testing it.
Once I dropped it in the parking lot it dented the top. I was pretty irritated about it but I end up laughing because that is totally something that I would do.
Thrift Business Tip
I got very creative and figured that I would see how I could still make some money off of it so I decided to part the juicer out. Next I took apart the actual plunger that pushes the vegetables and fruits down into the juicer. I ended up selling that for $18. It is still a huge win because I got the juicer for $6 AND I have a juicer now! I use it frequently to make celery juice in the mornings.
So, not only did I get the juicer for free but I also made a couple of bucks. Sometimes that is what you have to do,you will find a really awesome appliance and you’ll be sure that it will sell and it will not sell so a good idea is to take it apart and sell the pieces individually and still make some money.
Thrift Store Find #4 -Betsey Johnson hot pink wallet
Somehow I got two of these while they were on sale for $6 each. I told myself that if I did not sell them within six months I would take one for myself. I sold the first one pretty quickly so I that I would not take the second one after all. Fast forward to four months later and I still had the second one sitting. I dropped the price once and it didn’t sell so I decided to keep it for myself.
Work from home tip…. #treatyoself
Why this is one of my top flips?? It is that I actually really want it. Instead of going out and buying it I made some money and rewarded myself. I took the second one so it’s kind of like I got the second one for free LOL. It’s also a good lesson. The fact that just because you like some thing doesn’t mean that everyone else is going to love it! I was perplexed why the first sold as quickly and it’s because everyone may not want a hot pink wallet. If you’re going to purchase stuff for flips just know that everyone has a different taste!
Thrift Store Find #5 Sparkle purple converse
Confession… I actually found these at the outlet and they were buy one get one 40% off. So honestly I think I ended up paying under $15 for them. I bought six pair and they were in a larger size so I was nervous. I’ve never sold large size shoes like this that are “specialty” and I wasn’t sure how they were going to go. I put them on half on eBay half on Poshmark and they all sold very quickly. I am highlighting this Poshmark sale because it was the first pair to sell.
Usually , I only sell womens shoes. I try to source them if they are size 7,8 or 9. As you can see these are a size 11 and they were out of my “comfort zone“. Sometimes you have to take a leap and see what will sell for you …this time and paid off.
Making a business out of reselling thrift store items can be very lucrative if you have a game plan. Please remember you do not want to go in with your heart all the time. Don’t just buy stuff just because you like it. You need to check the market, use apps to check the solds and see what is selling around that time. Rule # 1 of reselling thrift store finds ! Every item has a story but don’t fall in love or you will end up with a house full of inventory!
What is your best thrift store find I’d love to hear about it.
Xoxo
MHS
