Finding the items that turn into money making flips on eBay are so fun and make you want to keep searching! The best moment is when you hear “Cha Ching” from your eBay app and you realize that item you bought for $1 sold for $25. Yay! But what about those items that you invested $70 on and you still have them a year later. (don’t ever buy beanie babies) Here is a guide for what to buy.
SELL WHAT YOU KNOW
The key is finding what you know and love. For me, I mostly sell clothes and shoes because it’s what I know. You may love vintage items or board games or motorcycle gear. Start with that.
WHERE TO BUY & HOW MUCH TO INVEST
Every week I go to garage sales or thrift stores to find things to sell. I really like garage sales because you find the gems that people just want to get rid of for a dollar. Name brand clothing and shoes is really what I search for. Usually I don’t spend more that $6 on anything unless I can sell it for $50+. The average I spend on clothes is $1-2 an item. (It’s rare when you find the $0.25 and $0.50 garage sales these days.)
I know I can make $4.83 profit on an item if I invest $1 on it, sell it for just $9.99 with free shipping, spend $2.66 on shipping, and $1.50 on fees. Spending less on that initial investment is key. You make money at the buy. If I would have invested $5 on that item at a thrift store, I would have only made $0.83!
What has helped me the most over the years is research. Look at what is trending on eBay. Type in a brand and go to completed listings. That is where you find out if you want to invest in that brand or not. If you see 100 items didn’t sell for $2, you would probably skip that brand. When I am given free clothes, I list it no matter what the brand is. It may take a couple months to sell, but I don’t have money invested in it, so I know I will make a profit.
When you are out and you aren’t sure whether or not to buy something to sell, search your eBay app.
Type in what the item is, then refine the search category, then click “completed items”.
Here you will find all the items that have sold in green and have not sold in red recently. Or you can click “sold items” to know only what sold.
This will help you decide. Don’t forget to factor in: shipping cost, eBay fees (10%), PayPal fees ($0.30+2.9%).
Try not to buy anything with flaws. There are exceptions, like shoes and purses. Last garage sale season I bought an extremely worn out pair of Tory Burch knee high boots for $1. I cleaned and put shoe polish on them and they sold for almost $100 last winter on bid starting at $50.
Here are a few brands I keep my eye out for:
Nike: Tank top and t-shirts usually sell for $8.99-$12.99, so don’t invest more than a dollar in these. Nike jackets usually sell for $20-$30, so you can invest more in Nike jackets. Nike shoes are a hit and miss. That’s when you breakout your phone, type in the number on the inside tongue on the internet so you know what type of shoe they are, then type that in your eBay search box on completed listings.
Lululemon: When I find Lululemon clothing under $5 in good condition, I’m excited! People wear $100 outfits to the gym, and they’re searching for this brand.
Michael Kors: MK purses definitely sell, but some of the time when you find them at a thrift store they are fake (do not sell fakes on eBay!). Michael Kors clothes are a hit and miss, but I would buy if it’s under $4. If it is new with tags, you can invest a little more- just look it up to make sure you won’t loose any money.
Other brands I search for:
J. Crew, Free People, Banana Republic, Anthropologie brands, Vineyard Vines, Patagonia, Roolee brands, PINK, Victoria’s Secret, Adidas, Eileen Fisher, Jordan
I was not sponsored or gifted these products. Some of the links are affiliated, which means that by purchasing I make a small amount, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting me!
