Second Weekend Back At the Flipping Game
Hey everyone, back again for another day to recap my thrifting-to-flipping endeavor! Today was my second weekend visiting local thrift shops, trying to I find items that I could buy and sell on eBay for profit. I’ve been super excited about going thrifting all week since I went last week and made sure to get up pretty early for a Saturday! My roommate and I left around 8:15 to get to the St. Vincent de Paul in Butler at around 9 when it opens. We heard through a friend this store had in particular, very good items to flip, so I was pretty excited about finding something that was unique or rare.
We got there around 9 and were one of the first people inside the store. I immediately went straight for my favorite section in any thrift store: the mugs. As I got closer, I saw there was a rather large selection of mugs and quickly started to peruse through them. What I found were a bunch of mugs, reasonably priced around $0.49, but mostly lacking any resale value. There were a couple mugs that caught my eye, but nothing like a Starbucks mug or Dunkin Donuts mug that I knew would sell immediately. I ended up finding a really interesting, vintage Golden State Warriors mug with Chris Mullin on the side. I looked up the mug on eBay, but couldn’t seem to find anything that was even close to the mug I was holding. I ended up putting it in my basket and kept on moving.
Rob and I made our way around the store, looking through everything, but finding nothing. They had a lot of stuff there, but nothing that really caught our eye or that we knew we could sell. I ended up taking my mug to the counter, checking out, and leaving. We were a bit disappointed that there wasn’t too much else there that we could flip
We next one to the Goodwill a little bit up the road. It definitely had a lot nicer items than the St. Vincent de Paul, but everything was also marked up. I’m not exactly if I like thrifting in Goodwill due to their prices. Sometimes they’re really good, and other times, it seems like the merchandise is marked up pretty high compared to what people are wanting to spend on a mug or stuffed animal. Most people don’t want to spend three or four bucks on a mug, making it hard for Goodwill to move inventory. Looking through the mugs, seemed like there would be a promising mug to come out of this batch. There are so many mugs, but I had to start somewhere.
I went through row by row and looked at the brand, design, and the cost of each mug, filtering out all the ones that wouldn’t fit what I was looking for. I ended up finding a really cool HP inventors mug, but it was 3 bucks. I put it back because I hardly ever spend more than a dollar on a mug. The only other one I found was a red Mickey and Minnie Mouse mug that had an embossed design on it that raised up and down, giving the mug a really interesting and unique feel when you pick it up. I went over to Rob, who was having a little bit of trouble too because there wasn’t much else worth flipping. We made our way through the store a couple times, but after not finding anything else, we left. My mug count was at 2 mugs, but Rob’s total purchase count was still at zero.
We stopped at Sam’s Club for a quick moment because I needed some salad for this week by the way their salad is the best salad you can buy. Is so much better tasting and sweeter than salad you buy anywhere else.) We made our way over to the last thrift shop in Butler, the Salvation Army. The thrift shop was definitely on their A game. They had everything marked up to a point where you were either coming in there to buy it for yourself or you were leaving there with nothing. They had a man who actually worked there who had to have known his way around eBay and the whole thrifting business. He would go in the back rooms and price out the items and then come out and look at how people are reacting to them. He actually noticed that we were trying to find stuff of value and pointed stuff out, telling us how much it would flip for on eBay, even though he was a worker there. He knew what was worth something and what wasn’t and judging as he was the guy who prices everything, it was a hard place to look through. We ended up not really finding anything in there.
I did purchase with a little something for my girlfriend that will be really fun to give her on her birthday as a little thing in addition to the gift I’m giving her. She loves Oreos, and I found a milkshake glass that was Oreo-themed that she’ll really love. I’ll make her a milkshake for her birthday and surprise her with the glass.
We ended our thrift shopping day at the local Grove City Salvation Army. This is still by far the best thrift shop I’ve been to. All the mugs are $0.49 to $0.99 depending on size and weight, and I found some really cool stuff there. I came across two Fat Head’s Brewing beer mugs, an item that I don’t believe Fat Head’s actually sells unless you go to their locations in Ohio. They are extremely rare, so I picked them up and put them in my basket. I also found to Looney Tunes soda glasses for $0.49 each. I looked them up on eBay, but I only found a couple listings, and none have sold. Since they were only a total of a dollar, I figured I would give it a shot and try to sell them as a set. Rob ended up finding your brand new puzzle for $3 that can sell for around 30, and a small mug for himself. We ended up getting out of there with our finds apartment to end the thrifting day.
It was a decent day for thrifting. I’m excited about everything I found, but a little worried because most of the stuff I bought I couldn’t even find on eBay. The Mickey Mouse mug and the Golden State Warriors mug have pretty strong brands right now and judging how other items like them are selling, I’m fairly confident I can get rid of them with the right price. The Fat Head’s beer mugs were shot in the dark. They are actually crazy expensive to ship, even together. If it ends up becoming that they’re too hard to sell, I’ll give them to one of my cousins who loves to collect different beer glasses and mugs. The Looney Tunes glasses have me slightly perplexed, but for $1, I can package them as a set of vintage glasses. It ended up being a pretty good day and strengthened my love for thrift shopping. I’ll keep you updated with how everything is selling and how my thrifting experiences are going! Thank you so much for reading!
