consignment shops

The Deals to Look for at Pawn Shops, Thrift Shops, and Other Weird Stores

Kyle James — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 10:00:08 +0000

We all know about saving money with price rollbacks at Walmart and clearance markdowns at Target. But what about saving money at less traditional outlets like thrift stores, pawn shops, flea markets, and even consignment shops? More specifically, by knowing what items at these stores provide the best value, you can really save money — and even make money — if you're looking to turn a quick profit. Here are the items to keep a keen eye out for.

Thrift Stores

Your local thrift store can be a haven for deal hunters as well those looking to turn a quick profit. Here are a few items to look for.

Vintage Pyrex

Vintage Pyrex is a nice way of saying "old," as in, it looks like something found in the Brady Bunch kitchen. Vintage Pyrex bowls and containers are often at the top of the list for many homeowners looking to build a retro kitchen, many of whom don't think to shop at thrift stores. Instead, they'll end up paying top dollar for this stuff on eBay and Etsy.

Coffee Mugs

I was blown away a couple years ago when I accidentally stumbled upon the world of coffee mug collectors. Look for unwanted mugs with characters on them, especially Disney, along with logos from Starbucks, old TV shows, and movies. They often sell for over $20 apiece on eBay, with some rare mugs fetching over $100.

Old Books and Textbooks

If you're a reader, always look for older titles at thrift stores and pay pennies on the dollar. If you're looking to turn a profit, look for first editions and autographed copies as well as textbooks. Parents will often dump their kid's old textbooks at the local thrift store rather than try to sell them. A great way to determine if a textbook has any value is to enter the ISBN via the Abe Books website while you're standing in the aisle. If it does have value, Abe Books will actually buy it from you and let you ship it to them for free via FedEx.

Vintage Ball Mason Jars

Similar to Pyrex, vintage Ball Jars are a hot commodity these days, with some fetching over $15 apiece. The best way to determine the age of a jar is to examine the Ball logo as it has changed many times over the past 130 years.

Old Video Games

Always keep an eye out for old video games, especially from Nintendo and Atari, as some are very rare and worth thousands of dollars. In particular, the Atari 2600 games like Air Raid and ET have both sold for over $1,000 in the past year on eBay. While games that are valuable will be hard to find at a thrift store, you can certainly find some great deals on newer games.

Consignment Shops

Due to the nature of consignment shops, it's often hard to find a hidden gem, as most sellers are trying to maximize their profits. But there are several items that you can typically find that'll save you a ton of money.

Wooden Furniture

You can often score a great deal on solid wood furniture at consignment shops. This is especially true if you know how to finish furniture yourself with stain and polyurethane. Unfinished wood furniture is typically 30%-40% less than the finished variety.

Brand Name Clothing

Folks regularly empty out their closets and sell their gently used name brand threads via consignment shops. Spend the time looking through the racks for your size and you can easily save 50%-75% compared to full retail. Also, with many retro styles coming back into fashion, consignment shops make for a great place to stock up on the cheap.

Baby Gear

One person's junk is another person's treasure. That could not be any truer than with unwanted strollers, cribs, pack 'n plays, and baby swings. Find name-brand baby gear at consignment shops for 30%-40% less than retail. You'd be crazy to pay full price without checking your local shop first.

Pawn Shops

Due to a popular TV show, pawn shops in recent years have gotten the reputation of only selling expensive memorabilia and ancient artifacts. In reality, you can find some great deals on everyday items. Here's what you should check out.

Tools

Pawn shops are a great place to shop and save on hand and electric tools. Surprisingly, most pawn shops I have visited have an excellent selection of name brands, and they are usually are in great condition. There's no sense paying full price for a tool you're only going to use once or twice. Plus, once you're done with it, you can sell it at a garage sale for close to the same amount you paid.

Bikes

Buying a name-brand bike from a pawn shop can save you a large chunk of change. Most pawn shops typically have a nice selection of different sized bikes. Before you make a purchase, make sure you're not buying a stolen bike by running the Frame ID or Bike Code through the database at Bike Register.com.

DVDs

For the same money it costs to rent a movie from iTunes or Amazon, you can buy the actual DVD from your local pawn shop. Most shops are often stacked with unwanted DVDs and they're practically giving them away.

Video Games

I recently stopped by my local pawn shop and was surprised to find hundreds of Nintendo Wii games, with most prices at $10 or less. Many of the titles were released in the past couple years. All sales were final so be sure to examine the disc for scratches. They also had a screaming deal on a couple Wii systems that were guaranteed to work.

Flea Markets

If your community hosts a weekly flea market, it may just be a good time to revisit it and look for deals on these specific items. Also, be ready to haggle at the flea market as most sellers price their wares higher than their hoping to sell them, knowing most savvy shoppers will negotiate the price down.

Kitchen Stuff

Think glassware, plate sets, silverware, and even kitchen gadgets. You can often find quality brands like Oneida, Pfaltzgraff, OXO, and Mikasa at the flea market for big discounts.

Picture Frames

You're bound to find some interesting framed art at a flea market. You'll also notice that many of the frames the art is displayed in are of high quality. So if you need some new frames, it's often worth it to buy the picture and use the frame only. I'll often find quality wooden frames for 50% less than what I'd pay at stores likes Michaels or Aaron Brothers.

Sterling Silver

Also, keep an eye out for sterling silver when you're shopping at a flea market. The absolute best way to determine if something is sterling, or silver-plated, is to look for tarnish, which is a thin layer of corrosion that forms. It typically means the item has silver in it and the tarnish can be easily cleaned off with the proper cleaner. Always haggle down the price, start at 25% off and be prepared to meet in the middle.

What bargains do you find at these unconventional shopping outlets? Share with us!

This article is from Kyle James of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Things You Might Not Know About Your Local Thrift Store

Tisha Tolar — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:09:39 +0000

If you are looking to cut costs, you might want to consider either buying from or selling at a consignment or thrift store to make some extra income during these tough times. There are some tips to follow that may help you sell more on consignment or find better deals.

IF YOU'RE BUYIN'

Don't Shop On Saturdays
If you don't want to be elbow to elbow with pushy strangers, avoid the thrift stores on Saturday. It is the busiest day for both purchases and merchandise drop-offs. If you want time to browse, pick a weekday afternoon to visit. You'll have more time to find the best deals.

What Not to Buy
A big, thrifty no-no is child car seats. Because you never know where the car seat has been (ie: in a crash) or how much abuse it took in its lifetime. Other items such as cribs that may be missing important parts, lowing the safety of the product.

You're Not Alone
Since the economic crisis, sales at thrift stores are up 35% since this same time last year.

IF YOU'RE SELLIN'

Clean Your Closets in Season
If you want to make faster cash on consignment sales, bring in summer clothing in the spring and winter clothing in the fall. People shop for the current or upcoming seasons. They rarely shop for what is already behind them.

Know That Bigger is Better
If all of your clothing sizes run about a 2, consider selling online. Bigger sizes sell much faster than smaller ones. If you have a good size wardrobe you want to get rid of, sell it on eBay as a lot and get a much better price at the same time you get rid of all your stuff at once.

Price It Right
When selling on consignment, consider not how much the item is worth but rather what someone would pay for it at a consignment shop. If you are no happy with the price reduction the shop owner recommends, sell it on your own.

Explore the Store Before Lugging Your Stuff
If you want to donate or sell items, be sure to visit the store first to be sure you will be able to unload that ping-pong table cluttering your basement.

What You Can't Consign, Yard Sale
If you are doing a major declutter, whatever you can't donate or sell on consignment, you might want to consider having a yard sale. If that doesn't work, donate what you can to community centers, crisis shelters, and other organizations rather than sending it off to the dump.

This article is from Tisha Tolar of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Who Cares if there's a Recession? I just started a business

Maggie Wells — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:51:21 +0000

About four months ago my best friend thought she’d run a crazy idea by me. Want to open a shop together?

No.

It’ll be fun....

No.

Come on we can do it together.

No. Okay. Let me think about it.

The only person I know busier than I am is my friend Kristy. A year ago a woman with a salon and boutique who did nails asked if Kristy would come back and do hair at her salon. Kristy had a good reputation in town and had made a little home salon and was getting by that way. She’d put herself through college doing hair and a few years back had decided that doing hair fit better with the mom schedule than anything else.The original salon owner was leaving and offered Kristy the business. She was buying but there was a whole second room in the shop that didn’t have much in it. The rent for that room would be about $100.00 a month. Was I interested?

I did what any friend does. I went home and ran it by the family.

Here are some factors we considered:

Cheap overhead?
Concept of the store?
Location of the shop?
Time to devote to it?

The more I thought about it, the more the idea sounded intriguing.

The overhead is $100 a month plus $60 in Internet expenses. I’d been wanting to have an office in town so that I could stop working from home all the time. The salon is located caddy corner to my kids’ school. One was getting out at noon and the other at two so I was frantically driving back and forth or having to hang around to go home. With the Internet, I could still grade papers and work in a new place. Kristy is busy and so am I. She cuts hair in the morning; I’m online in the afternoon. We could have a shop open all day and just overlap by about thirty minutes each day.

Then it dawned on me. A couple of years ago I’d started up a site on etsy.com for a bunch of women around here that made things but weren’t very Internet savvy so that they could promote their wares online. I called a few of the ones that were around. If I open an artisan consignment shop , are you up for it?

We’ve been up and running for two months. I’ve got 15 local venders that make t-shirts, soap, lotions, bbq sauce, hot sauce, jewelry, bread mixes, rocking chairs, spin and dye their own yarn plus a few artists in the area that hang their photographs and paintings. In the corner of the shop I’ve set up my desk with my wireless to grade papers and write. We put the waiting room for the salon in the room so that customers get an eye full of stuff to look at and browse through while they are waiting for hair cuts. We’re the only place for Wi-fi on the way to three campgrounds. We have a huge porch out front for the kids to play on. We aren’t making the big bucks but we don’t owe anyone a dime either. We put together a small book exchange too.

In a town with only 150 residents in a region with only 2000, having a place to hang out and to showcase local stuff for the tourists, having a little shop like this one can play a big role in the community. Once a month we have an ‘event’ that helps us make rent---thus far we’ve always cleared rent that one day for the whole month. Somedays we only make about $10 bucks. But I look at it this way---had I not moved my office into the shop , I’d have been sitting there grading papers anyhow---now I’ve got $10 extra.

Local response has been great! Vendors are willing to ‘babysit’ the store when I can’t be there. There’s nothing around here in the way of competition and people are happy to be supporting the local artisans before they go to other sources like the Internet or big box stores two hours away.

The husbands helped us with building fixtures and set up. Kristy's given some free hair cuts in trade for banners for the store and advertising. Low and behold! Last week a restaurant opened across the street from us. What was a tiny deserted ghost of a town now has a full two blocks of commerce.

So if you are sitting around working from home and you don’t mind someone walking through every now and then walking through and buying a little one of a kind treasure, consider opening a little shop---you might just make yourself and your community smile.

Long Live SierraMaid!

This article is from Maggie Wells of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: