'Bulk Buying Brings Bucks'
by Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions
It all started several weeks ago in Palm Desert. I was at one of my favorite thrift stores and saw a bag full of what looked like doll clothes. It was $4.00 and taped shut like there was gold from Fort Knox inside.
Don't you love those thrift stores that go nuts with the packing tape? Anyway, I patiently took the tape off and was able to pull out one of the items. It was a 12 month Baby Dior Christening gown in pale pink. Score! I put the tape back on and purchased the item.
Tip #1: Always open up bulk items and make sure that at least one of the items will bring a good return.
I knew that the Baby Dior gown would pay for the entire bag full and once I got home I checked out the other items. Inside was another baby dress that was made in Finland and four doll outfits without labels. I figured I would start all six items at $9.99 and gross at least $60 on the purchase.
I only got two of the items listed before leaving for Washington state. The Baby Dior Dress and the Finnish Baby Dress. Neither sold for the starting bid price of $9.99. Lucky me!
We relisted the Baby Dior dress immediately in my eBay store and it sold two days later! Check it out here and see how much I sold it for. Yipppeeee!
Click here to see more.
Tip #2: Listen to Children
What do I mean by listen to children? Exactly what I said. Sometimes kids have the best instincts. Indy's best friend Paige was over for a sleepover (two days before we left Palm Desert for Bellingham) and I asked the girls if they wanted to go to the Goodwill with me. Of course. You see, Paige's dad is a garage sale fanatic--just like me--and she loves thrift stores.
Here is a story from my new book, The 4th 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay Home Run that features Indy and Paige--and Houston sticking his neck out into the picture--what a goofball!
Anyway, as we pulled up to the Goodwill, Paige says with glee, "I have never been to this Thrift Store before." How wonderful to have children in my life that love the thrill of the hunt.
As we were checking out, Paige said to me, "Look at this jar full of jewelry and buttons." I did and it was a mason jar filled with earrings, buttons, pins and other miscellaneous jewelry. All of it was priced to sell at just $7.99. Sold to me and thanks to Paige!
I picked through the jar full and brought the best items to Bellingham with me. They were easy to pack and I wrote up 34 of them last week. I only got one item listed, but will list the others in the next week or so.
Check out this amazing sterling pendant that was in the jar and it was signed Valencia 925. I think it is by a famous designer and I started the bidding price high. No bids yet but when I did my research, some of these pendants can sell for $100.
Click here to learn more about this pendant and chain.
I will do great on that bulk purchase. All of the items will be listed individually starting at $9.99. As a side note, remember that badge is a great term to use in a pin or button listing. I will be using that when I list all the vintage USC buttons (or badges)!
Tip #3: Count the items in your Bulk Purchase
I was at a charity sale with my mom this past Saturday. It was run by a good friend of mine, Teresa, who donates all the money from this sale to a great charity. Her time is a gift and the money helps a lot of unfortunate people.
I wanted to buy something to contribute to her goal of making $15,000 that day. She showed me a wonderful clock that was $250 and she thought was worth close to $1,000. And then she showed me a collection of bears priced at $300.
One thing I learned from my grandmother was to "count." She would always count the items in a bulk buy and then decide what she could pay. I knew that I didn't want to tie up $250 in one item that may take months to sell. I quietly counted all the bear items.
The line was Muffy Vanderbear and there were clothes, bears, accessories and outfits. I did a quick calculation and estimated that there were at least 40 different items.
I quickly figured out the worst case scenario and that was that I would sell 40 items at $9.99 and maybe make $100. The money was going to a great cause and I said "I'll take it!"
Here is a photo of most of the items.
I got the Muffy Vanderbear stuff home and I had a blast! The bears and their clothes were so cute and so much fun. The lady that had collected them had kept them in perfect condition. Some were still even in the original packaging from as early as 1992.
I did some quick research and ended up "parting it out" like this. My grandmother always used that term "Parting it out" to describe how she would be selling the individual items from a bulk buy. Some would be sold in sets, some would be sold individually and sometimes she would actually keep things! She was a pack rat you know!
I decided to sell the dressed bears as such. I contemplated undressing them and selling the outfits separately, because in my research I found that sometimes, the outfits sold for more than a dressed bear. However, they were just so adorable, I couldn't do it.
Here is one of the dressed bears. Click here to see the auction.
I did find that the Muffy Vanderbear family consists of 6 main characters. There is Mom Alice, Dad Cornelius, Twins Fuzzy and Fluffy, and the youngest Muffy and her best friend the Vanderhare Floppy (the rabbit if you didn't guess it from the hare!)
It seemed like the larger sized outfits went for more money. So here is how I priced (or parted it all out).
But first, check out this Dad outfit that already has a bid. It is so cute.
It turned out that I had 37 items to sell. I kept the bears dressed and left all the outfits and their accessories together. I started 25 of them at $9.99 each. That was approximately $250. I started 2 of the dressed bears (mom and dad) at $49.99 each. That was about $100. I started 10 of the better outfits and dressed bears at $24.99 each. That was about $250. Grand total for starting auction prices was about $600. I think I am going to double my money! And I bought it to help a great charity. I feel great about this.
I already have 6 items with bids and there are 5 days left. The bid amounts add up to about $91.00. I think I will do just great!
There is one item that may be a runner or SCORE. It has six watchers and a $10.49 bid. It is a tiny picnic basket. Who knew? I did a radio interview tonight with RRB radio and Melinda who is a cohost of the show is a Muffy Vanderbear specialist. Small world! She told me today that the picnic basket is pretty rare and may sell for $50.00. Cool!
And here is a link to the 1 1⁄2 hour interview I did with Melinda, Beth and her group. It was a blast! Thanks ladies!
Please watch for bulk buying opportunities and follow these three tips to bulk buy and bring in big bucks. Good luck to you and...
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