Thrift Store Find of the Month - March 2010

RRL (Ralph Lauren) Vest

Purchased for $2.50

Sold for $139.39

RRL (Double RL) from Ralph Lauren is sold in a few RRL stores and specialty boutiques. It is on the higher end of Ralph Lauren Brands (there are a lot of RL brands). Not quite as expensive as his Purple Label collection, but nonetheless a good thrift store find.

Here's what the tag looks like, so you can keep an eye out. I have found 3 RRL items in the last month alone.

Good Luck

John Paul

Cell Phone Find of the Week #3

Evisu Men's Jeans

Purchased for $7.99

Sold for $89.88

The jeans rack is always my first stop whenever I go thrifting. I have heard of the Evisu brand before, but have never purchased a pair of their jeans. I actually used my cell phone to research the completed sales on eBay and to check the authenticity on the eBay Reviews and Guide section.

There are a lot of Evisu FAKES out there. I actually came across 3 fake pairs late last week. Since I am inexperienced when it comes to the Evisu brand, I would of passed up on them without my cell phone to make sure I was buying the real deal.

The easiest way to determine if you have a fake item while at the store is to run a google search with the words fake and the designer name you are looking at. The eBay guides section which it a great resource is usually at the top of the search results.

Good Luck

John Paul

Daily Deal You Might Want To Look Into

A quick 2nd post for today. Over at 1saleaday.com in the watch section they are offering a Akribos XXIV Monster Rig watch for $49.99

You might want to work this deal by reselling it on Amazon. (sorry eBay only - readers) This watch is selling for $112.21 on Amazon. So if you offer it slightly lower on Amazon Marketplace section you can make a decent profit with little work. You don't need to photograph it since it is already in Amazon's database.

Here is my advice for reselling on Amazon.

• Make sure they item has at least a few reviews which this item does before buying an item to resell on Amazon.


• Make sure that other sellers are not offering it dirt cheap. This item is only being sold by Amazon which is a good thing if you want to resell it.

Good Luck

John Paul

Cell Phone Find of the Week #2

Every Monday I am going to post a sale from the previous week that if not for my cell phone to help me find while at the Thrift Store I would have probably passed on it. I just want to stress the importance of having a good eBay app. on your cell phone while shopping at a Thrift Store/Garage Sale/Consignment Pickup/etc.

VTG 1994 USA Soccer Jersey

Purchased for $4.99

Sold for $28.77

This jersey actually had a stain and 2 holes in it, but thanks to my phone I knew that 1 sold in excellent condition for $100.00+. So I figured I could make some cash off of this especially with the World Cup coming up this summer. This item passed my goal of a $10.00 profit per item.

Stay tuned to next Monday to see what I come up with next.

Good Luck

John Paul

Install The Swagbucks Toolbar

If you have not signed up for Swagbucks yet then you should take a few minutes to sign up after you finish reading this post and calling all your friends to tell them about my blog.

This is taken from the Swagbucks website:

Swagbucks is a search engine that offers you the chance to win cool prizes from swagbucks.com every time you search

OK, so how is this eBay related. Easy. Once you earn enough swagbucks you can redeem them for prizes like Amazon and Starbucks gift cards. Gift cards typically hold their value on eBay. So go ahead and list them and earn some cash. It's that easy.

Plus if you install the Swagbucks toolbar you can win without even using Swagbucks. You have a chance whenever you use the Internet, just make sure you stay logged into Swagbucks.

Good Luck,

John Paul

Do Not Give Away Too Much Info

I am writing this post because over the last week while thrift store shopping I have come across a couple of different situations that caught my attention.

1. Do not give away your eBay ID to anyone at the store.

I overheard a man telling someone else in the store his eBay user ID. I always see this guy on half price days buying up dozens of shirts, ties and blazers. Of course I was curious and checked his profile when I got home. I knew most of the brand names he had listed, but I did learn of a few new names and now he has someone else to compete with.

2. Do not act like you are buying items to resell.

I had a man online today as I was checking out tell me that the brand I was purchasing was really good. I actually had 2 items from the brand. So I just told him oh yeah they look nice so I was buying 1 for me and 1 for my wife. If I was to tell him yeah they are great sellers on eBay. What is to stop this guying from looking for this item to resell? So just becareful what you say.

I am not saying what brand I am talking about right now because it is my #1 seller and it will be in my first eBook: My Top Ten Thrift Store Items to Resell on eBay. It will be ready next week at a low price and it will pay for itself with your first sale of an item in the eBook.

Good Luck

John Paul

Deal of the Day Site - Citizen Blues

This is a great "daily deal" site that offers huge discounts on designer jeans. You have to act quick, and buy the largest size they have available. The good thing about this site compared to sites like Woot.com is that once an item sells out they list another right away, no waiting until the next day. Even if you do not buy from this website you should check it out once in a while, I'll explain why below, but first up here's the current deal.That is a pretty sweet deal. 70% off. I know $58.50 is still a pretty expensive risk, but if you list this on eBay for a fixed price of $129.99 and accept best offers, I bet you'll get some offers around $100.00

Even if you do not buy from Citizenblues.com you can still use it as a research tool. They always have the latest hot brands on there website. You can use this to learn of some new brand names that you might not have heard of before. Write those brands on your thrift store shopping list. I actually found a pair of 1921 jeans on Friday which I will list tonight. I know I have seen them in the past but skipped over them.

Good Luck

John Paul

Cell Phone Find of the Week.

I wrote a post a while back about the Android eBay Pocket Auctions App for the Motorola Droid. It is a must have if you are serious about reselling thrift store items on eBay. The main feature is the ability to check completed auctions without even signing in.

So with that said, I have decided to start a new weekly update about 1 item that I find each week thanks to the help of Pocket Auctions and the ability to be able to look it up on the spot. So I guess there is some pressure on me now to find a unique item each week, but I will now let myself or my readers down...

I would also like some reader feedback from now on. I sometimes feel like I am talking to myself here. So for those that send me e-mails about my blog THANK YOU. Start commenting so we can have a nice little Vitamin eBay following. I think I post some good tips here... not just a bunch of affiliate links to products like most of the blogs I see out there.


How about sending me some of your finds on items that you have never heard of that you hit big with on eBay. Maybe something you found at a garage sale, a thrift store, or maybe up in your attic.

Here is my first Cell Phone Find:

Vintage Viyella Wool Shirt; purchased for $2.50 at the Salvation Army (1/2 price day) Nice profit. If I can average at least a $10.00 profit after fees, I think it was a successful thrift store find....

I just knew this shirt was old and unique when I saw the label. So that is my first rare find posted here. Starting Monday 3/22 I will post a new find for the previous week...

Good Luck

John Paul

And send me some suggestions for a new title to this segment. I am not digging Cell Phone Find of the Week

Thrift Store Find of the Month - Feb. 2010

Steven Alan Plaid Flannel Shirt

--Purchased for: $3.00 (half price day at Salvation Army)
--Sold for: $59.00
Total Profit before fees $56.00

Take a moment to add the name Steven Alan to thrift store shopping list. (I am working on a very detailed Thrift Store shopping List of hundreds of brands broken down by category, sign up to my mailing list and be notified when it become available)
Here is a close up of a Steven Alan Tag, memorize it.

Got it memorized?...Good...... So when you go through the racks at your thrift store and you find one, you'll be ready for a nice payday.

I only like to talk about thrift store items that I have found on multiple occasions. I am not the world's luckiest person finding items like this; they are out there. Here is another one of my recent Steven Alan auctions.

Good Luck,
John Paul