How much Money I Made Selling Thrifted Items | Thrift Flips for Profit

How much Money I Made Selling Thrifted Items | Thrift Flips for Profit | Selling Vintage Decor Tips

Рет қаралды 10,964

2 жыл бұрын

Hey Friends! I'm back today with another "What I Sold" video! Yall really seemed to like the last one and found it helpful, so we're going again :)
I sold 25 vintage items and I'm sharing the total profit for each one!
I hope this video gives you an idea of what kinds of prices you could consider asking for your finds as you work to grow your own thrift flipping and vintage selling business :)
Part 1 of the video offers some general pricing tips--don't skip this part!
Part 2 shares 25 finds, with all the info for each one :)
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Пікірлер: 107

@kathrynmichaud6289 Жыл бұрын

I always consider mark up not as $5 to $10 as 100% mark up but as 2x my money. So I tend to want to get a *minimum* 4-5x mark up for any item under $10. This helps me not acquire too many cheap items that won't cover my cost. Foe higher priced items, I want a *minimum* 2-3x mark up. Again, these numbers help me make quicker decisions and less mistakes on the buying end. Obviously 1x covers cost, 2x covers rent, 3x+ covers misc costs and then of course any profit. 😁

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@juliemaloneofficial 2 жыл бұрын

I appreciate you so much! I am about to open a mini antique mall and I am so thankful for your tips! I will not only rent booth space to other vintage resellers, but I will have my own corner with cute vintage and antique merchandise, AND I am going to have classes. I am so excited and you are definitely one of my inspirations!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

awesome!! I’m so exited for you!

@juliemaloneofficial 2 жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor thank you! 🤗

@Timetravel1111 7 ай бұрын

Where? Hows it going?

@AntiqueAgenda 2 жыл бұрын

I agree that our time is valuable!! Sometimes we have so much fun antiquing, we don't count all that "hunting" time as work hours!!!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

SO true!!

@karleenferguson4884 Жыл бұрын

Great information!! Thank you!!

@george.carrasco 2 жыл бұрын

Good job Melanie! Loved it 😍

@doloresrose371 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic! I love the selling price for the beautiful blue pitcher!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

I know! It was a fun find :)

@rhondasales5176 2 жыл бұрын

I appreciate you sharing this info. It is very helpful. Thank you for sharing.

@Skylarkhouse 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Melanie. Great video. The cobalt pitcher was a great find!

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@rikadehombreux4573 Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much Melanie 💖💖💖

@delightfuldaisy1 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you soooo much for these videos that show what's selling! I love the way you staged your items! I'm trying to do that more! It does make a difference. When I look at shops on Etsy I'm always drawn to those who have staged their items! It's fun to see what you paid and what it sold for! It's encouraging to me and gives me ideas! I truly appreciate you, Melanie! By the way, your hair looks cute!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! I just got it done yesterday, so I’m still enjoying the “hairdresser” do, you know how they always do it so nice and you can’t ever get it quite as good? 😂

@WowThingsThrift 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, lots of value ✌️

@plarsen2654 2 жыл бұрын

I always take your Advice... it works.

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it!

@vivianreid4575 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, great info. !❤️

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Hope it was helpful :)

@susievalenzuela1566 Жыл бұрын

I’m new to your channel. You have the most helpful and clear advice. As a new reseller, your videos have been so helpful in fine tuning my business approach. Thank you!

@Diane56ful 2 жыл бұрын

Great job!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thank you, hope it was helpful :)

@gloriaburton6213 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

You’re welcome!

@iraessick1994 2 жыл бұрын

Love this so mush, ty , good tips and infor. !! Wow great merch and prices and most of all profit!!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@delightfuldaisy1 2 жыл бұрын

10.00Thanks for all you do to encourage us and educate us! You are a true gem!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

@TateBugs 2 жыл бұрын

Super super super helpful videos!!!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

I’m so glad!

@jenswaringen7826 2 жыл бұрын

I am so happy for you and your profit! Have you mentioned how much your booth/business expenses are as well? Curious how much one makes with those markups.

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

My booth rent is $250 a month, with 10% commission. My business is multi-faceted, I sell online as well and have multiple revenue streams. It all feeds into one pot and I have business wide-expenses also. You’re right to consider those thing! Most booth owners don’t, and that’s why I aim for the pure cost margin that I do, it helps make sure the profit is also covering expenses… like i said at the end of the video, you have to price your items high enough so you can pay yourself and cover all the things your business needs

@jenswaringen7826 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this added information. I have been going back and forth on what to do with my side business crafting, thrift flipping, etc. I had the blessing for many years to be able to sell from my home via FB and yard sales. We moved to a new area so I lost my “community” and FB marketplace has changed so much so that my listings just don’t get seen since I want to sell locally. Anyway, your info has helped me. Thank you!

@garza7691 Жыл бұрын

I just came across your video and want to say thank you so very much ! I just started buying thrifted item with the intention to resell and make a little extra income Thank you again !! Greetings from South Florida 🙋🏻‍♀️

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

You are so welcome!

@jillbruce3624 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the show. I neither sell online or have a booth, but I have so many vintage items and collectibles and even some antiques of my own that I am wanting to sell. Facebook Marketplace is where I will start. I definitely want to take nice photos instead of just "taking a crappy picture on the dining room table." Haha. Love watching your channel and I think you have a terrific thing going and it shows.

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Yep, no crappy pictures Jill 😂😂 I wish you all the success!

@jillbruce3624 2 жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor Thanks. Too bad we don't live closer, you could shop my house and garage for your booth.

@Timetravel1111 7 ай бұрын

That beautiful blue bottle you got for a $1! One ☝️ how-where?! My thrift stores are not this low. More $5 ; Id say $15

@LostFoundDecor 6 ай бұрын

They're getting higher . . . just depends on how hard I look!

@cassfonnesbeck8057 2 жыл бұрын

In my town, people don't seem to do decor. They expect there to be antiques in our antique booths. I was surprised the prices you got for those plain Jane milk glass vases. I love milk glass and usually pick it up but have to be careful about pricing.

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

It’s good to know your target audience! If you’re selling to true collectors rather than decorators, then you need to make sure those are the items you have :)

@cassfonnesbeck8057 2 жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor yes, I learned that from you actually. I can't seem to train my customers to want painted decor!! I'm thinking I'd have to rent a different spot for decor items while keeping the one I have for antiques. We'll see.

@vickibahls7587 Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@TateBugs 2 жыл бұрын

Also, profit margins are way easier for my mind too rather than markups!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Mine too. I struggle with numbers anyway 😂

@ittledaisy 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your stellar content & willingness to share! I have 2 questions: 1.) I'm curious if you included the floral items in the sale or were they staging only? 2.) Is your profit in this video with or without shipping costs?

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

The floral items were just for staging :) And I charge extra for shipping costs, most of the time it covers my actual cost, sometimes I lose maybe $1 at most, but usually it’s pretty close :)

@ittledaisy 2 жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor Excellent! Thank you so much, Melanie!

@ambermoy8147 2 жыл бұрын

Melanie... can you elaborate on how you would go about changing your customer base? What exactly do you mean by that? I know it's probably not this simple at all but the way it sounds is that you just choose different people to sell to but I'm confused there 😕 I know that knowing who your perfect customer is, is very important and I have that down good. I guess I am confused as to what you mean by changing your customer base in general. Do you mean change the items that you are picking and sourcing to fit a different "perfect customer"? I may be looking too deep into it?!

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Sure! It comes down to who you are marketing to and how you are marketing. Think Target vs Wal-Mart: they sell the same stuff, but Target charges higher prices. They have created a brand based on more a fun, more unique shopping experience. Whereas Walmart prides themselves on being “the low Price leader”. They are all about discounts, so they attract discount shoppers. Changing your customer base could involve changing where you are selling-moving from a mall that is more of a flea market to a mall that is more boutique. It can also be done in how you talk about what you are selling. Do you present your items as discount finds? Or do you present them as unique, found treasures? That wording appeals to different people. A lot of it comes down to HOW you talk about your business and your products. We talk about this a lot more in the Booth Seller Bootcamp as well :) But I hope that helps a bit!

@ambermoy8147 Жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor don't know why I am just seeing this now but I completely understand what you are saying 💯 You put into words, exactly what I was thinking. When I first started out on this journey of mine, I did a lot of research, took courses, reached out to others that were successful in my niche, etc. all about branding. I used to think your brand was your logo and and the couple colors that you want to drag along. Oh my, is it so much more and it intrigues me! Between narrowing down my niche into a micro niche, finding my "perfect customer" and knowing as much about them as I could, knowing my why and being so crystal clear about it, telling my story, etc. it is so crazy how much each and every little aspect matters so much! I hope the timing is right one of these times that you open your bootcamp to new members and I can join because you are such a HUGE wealth of knowledge and I'd love to dive deep into the many things you have learned and mastered along the way 😊 Until then, I will of course soak up all of your YT videos and enjoy every minute of them ❣️

@jdmunder 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for sharing your expertise and providing such helpful tips. I opened a booth in a local antique mall in June. I have recently discovered your channel. I am learning so much from your videos and finding so much useful information. I do have questions about the items you showed us in this video; many of the pieces have greenery and I was curious if the greenery was included with the item as part of the sale or do you price it separately? If included, is the cost of the greenery included in your "bought" costs or do you track it separately as an upcycle cost? Also, do you track what sells in the booth separately from on-line sales, as on-line sales would have packaging and shipping costs? Thanks again for sharing

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Hi JD! Greenery is not included in the sale :) I sell the greenery separately, so I just pull from my inventory and use what I have on hand for the staging. And yes, I do track what sells online vs what sells in my booth. It all goes into one pot at the end of the month, but I do make a note of where an item sells

@treasureslayer3049 2 жыл бұрын

I know brass is so popular now. I’m in central Mo and I can’t give the stuff away and have several nice piece stuff

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Sometimes you just need to find the right buyer…. Try staging it differently, maybe bundling IG together for one price?

@Ms1Buzz 2 жыл бұрын

Profit margins can be deceiving when the cost of obtaining and selling those items is not factored in, I.e., travel expense, time, cost of rent on booth, website selling costs, etc.? How will you break all of that down?

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Yes! You’re right! That’s why I am for a 75% margin of pure cost, that leaves room to make sure the rest of business expenses are covered. I run a monthly profit and loss in my QuickBooks, and it breaks it down further. I want booth owners to remember that sales aren’t everything, you have to be on top of all your numbers. We talk about that more in several other videos :)

@kayhenderson7040 Жыл бұрын

Melanie do you clean brass items when you find them or do you normally leave them as is? And if you do clean them what do you typically use? THANK YOU!

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

I almost always leave them as-is :) I've tried some Brasso before, but it was smelly and messy!

@mascottie Жыл бұрын

Do you sell on Etsy or eBay? You should include the cost of fees and shipping so we know how much you netted

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

I sell in my own online shop, so the only fees are standard credit card processing fees. I also charge for shipping-don’t ship for free! So a small amount comes out for boxes and peanuts, but that’s spread out over all the shipping I do for a month, so it’s more of a general business that item specific cost

@eltifoods8634 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Are those prices including shipping?

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

No, I charge for shipping :)

@shelleymallory7254 2 жыл бұрын

Hi I am a newbie collector and seller , from Ontario Canada and wondering how you sell the majority of your collections? ebay? etsy? website ? utube ? which venue should i TRY TO MAKE THE BEST IN MY BUSINESS THANKS if you can answer me

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Shelley! I sell on my own website and in my antique booth. Most of these items featured sold in my online shop. If you check out the first video I did like this, I share more about the importance of creating a customer base that supports your better prices :) Hope that helps!

@traceyfrank1006 Жыл бұрын

Hi Melanie! Do you sell the florals with your items or are they separate? Thanks!

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

I usually price my florals that I have in my booth space separately :)

@pamwerren1458 2 жыл бұрын

Oh my gosh, I missed this when it first came out - so I'm late and I hope you may still have the time to look at my question! I have an ebay store and have been a reseller around 15 or so years. I've never really known how to properly price my items. I use the research method and try to price my item a bit below the highest sold price I find. But you're talking about profit margin and I'm so lost because I just don't understand how to figure that out. My items usually sell sooooo slowly and I'm just thinking surely there is a better way to price my items - what I'm doing just doesn't work! Is there any way you could give me a bit of help figuring the profit margin thing - I listened to your instructions several times and even googled it but just couldn't understand how to do it. Yes, I know, I'm way math challenged and not at my brightest stage of life Lol....help, if possible.

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Pam! So I don’t sell on EBay and think that’s a bit of a different beast-you’re selling to kind of a “random” customer, if that makes sense. I sell in my own online shop to a customers I’ve built relationships with over the years, and so I am able to perhaps ask a tad bit higher for items because I’m not competing with 100’s of other people selling the same thing, if that makes sense 😊 I don’t consider myself an expert on eBay reselling at all! But I will gladly help try to explain profit margin. How to figure profit margin- take the retail price you plan on selling an item for, let’s say $10. Then subtract from the retail cost what you paid for your item, let’s say $2. That leaves you with an $8 difference between what you paid for the item, and what you plan on selling it for, which is your total profit. Then to figure profit margin, divide your total profit by your retail price, and that will give you the margin. So it’s Retail price $10 - cost $2 = $8 total profit. Then $8 profit / $10 price = .8 or 80% profit margin. I hope that helps!!

@pamwerren1458 2 жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor Thank you so much for taking the time to help me, I really appreciate it! And this does help tremendously. I don't know why I find it so confusing but once I've done it a few times I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Pam

@robertaykavel1129 2 жыл бұрын

Blue pitcher$?

@lorriedowns2623 2 жыл бұрын

Next time could you slow down the video when you start showing what you sold. It was really hard for me to read it all before you went to the next item. Thanks

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Sure! Thanks for the feedback.

@robertaykavel1129 2 жыл бұрын

Do you have to pay taxes on your sales?

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I pay federal tax on my business income :)

@islandfunhouse Жыл бұрын

I have learned ALOT from watching most of Melanie's videos...and I am a subscriber....she is a great educator.....but I am not without a really major concern!! Melanie has a great handle on the dynamics of this business of running an antiques booth.....and if you want to learn all about staging, customers, mistakes to avoid, branding, etc...she has the BEST videos. BUT....my large question concerns the values of pieces she is reselling....her flips and thrift hauls are the lowest of the LOW END items. In my own booth, if I stay in that area I will die. Her examples of sales items seem to reflect like a several dollar profit and only low end items. ... For those of us working in the trenches who are not that interested in making money off social media, I don't understand how her videos -in reality- reflect making a real profit on a booth. Where are the real antiques and how are they handled? It also calls into question - what is a vintage and decor booth as opposed to a real antiques booth. AGAIN I want to emphasize that I have learned alot from her and she has a great and unique educational thing going....I just feel like there is an important piece missing.

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

Hi Jim :) You're right, I'm not a high-end antique dealer. Never have been, may never will be. I've always sold for decorative value and that has worked for me. And yes, you're also correct I do have multiple revenue streams, and I taught that in my booth coaching course as an essential part of what has helped me make this a real help for my family. There are a million different ways to run your business, and if you wanna dive headfirst into high-end antiques for big $$, awesome! That's not my gig, I prefer to sell lower-end items and also have a blog, and do youtube, and sell some paint, and have that all add up to a paycheck. That works for me and it's 100% ok if that doesn't work for you. There are several different ways to “be in the trenches” as you say 😊 I'm sure there are other resources on KZfaq that better fit the business model you're going for, isn't that great that we have access to all of these free informational resources?

@islandfunhouse Жыл бұрын

@@LostFoundDecor I so appreciate your reply. Thank you. And again, your videos have been of enormous value to my wife and I in thinking about our business model and strategy. You are an excellent educator and have a unique approach. My current struggle is in making enough money on my 10x10 (215 a month and no other fees) to make it really worth the time and money we put into it. We have always loved collecting, buying and selling, and love the idea of having a booth. This is my third time doing it over ten years, and is my last experiment with a booth. We're going to give it a year. We feel we really need to get at least 800 to 1000 per month to make it feasible. This really forces us into thinking about trading in higher value items. There are many aspects of your business model and philosophy that we we can adapt for our own direction, and I appreciate that you have already made contributions to our experiment. we'll continue to watch for your new content, which we do enjoy, and I'll let ya know how it goes!

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

I get it Jim! It’s great that you have a sales target in mind and I would ask this-how are you marketing your booth? Does your mall get your “ideal customer” walking through the door on a regular basis? Do your displays curate the “look” for the shoppers, so they can see how they can use your amazing finds in their own home? You can have GREAT stuff that’s high dollar, but if that customer isn’t walking in the door, it will sit. My biggest suggestion to you would be marketing. You have to let people know what you have. You mentioned in your initial comment that you speculated I make money on social media… but I don’t :) I use social media to market my business. It’s free advertising! Without social media, I could have never built the customer base I have. So if you really do wanna give this a go… market your stuff. Find a way to connect with customers. Build fans of your business and of what you have. Rarely does the stuff sell itself… it has to be sold by either you, or by your mall owner. And many mall owners aren’t marketing to the right kind of buyer, or market poorly. I hope that helps!

@upclady60 2 жыл бұрын

What about shipping? The idea of that sounds overwhelming.

@LostFoundDecor Жыл бұрын

It can be at first, I have a video about hosting FB live sales that talks a lot about shipping and shows a good basic formula I use :)

@kellierohaley8328 2 жыл бұрын

I can’t believe y’all sell milk glass. There is so much of it on the shelves at our Goodwill‘s and Salvation Army‘s etc. etc. I’m in Pennsylvania. No one wants it here.

@LostFoundDecor 2 жыл бұрын

It’s all about perceived value! I sell it to customers who don’t have time or want to sort through Goodwill :)

@jimg8887 2 жыл бұрын

Ran across a new channel called 505 flips. Looks like a nice family with only a few followers. Would you mind sending a link to your followers and hopefully help them build an audience on KZfaq. It look slide he's currently doing a giveaway giving a pair of shows to someone for a back to school giveaway.im not affiliated with them, just saw them and hoped I could help boost their audience since they were trying to do something nice for people