by contrastA few fivers here and there, but best two items were tools. Two items costing less than a pound sold for £56. Bought another specialist set of boat building tools for £4 (5 tools in the set). Sold for £120. So, with the bits and pieces cleared £200. Of course, not always this good, but by keep pushing it good weeks do come along and even a fiver adds to the coffers. Keep reselling people!
by contrast
Seen some eBay resellers this week go on about how they are doing a good thing taking their items back to charity shops when in reality all that means is that the stuff they’ve been forking out for to turn a profit on isn’t selling and they don’t want it cluttering up their house!
A few fivers here and there, but best two items were tools. Two items costing less than a pound sold for £56. Bought another specialist set of boat building tools for £4 (5 tools in the set). Sold for £120. So, with the bits and pieces cleared £200. Of course, not always this good, but by keep pushing it good weeks do come along and even a fiver adds to the coffers. Keep reselling people!
Well done if they were purchases from anywhere other than charity shops. If they were I hope some of the money goes back to the charity.
If bought something from a charity shop and resold it then by definition some of the money went to the charity!
The charity shop, reseller, end buyer and person donating the item all get value from such transactions. It really is a win-win situation.
Not sure that I agree with that. As I said if something goes back to the charity fair enough but if not it just does not sit right with me.
Not sure that I agree with that. As I said if something goes back to the charity fair enough but if not it just does not sit right with me.
Charity has item A
Charity has item B
They are both the same item
The aim of the charity shop is to raise as much money as they can for charity.
They sell Item A to Doris. She pays £5
They sell Item B to Tony. He pays £5
Tony then takes that item and sells it for £25 making £20 profit that the Charity shop has effectively missed out on IF THEY KNEW HOW TO PRICE THESE ITEMS CORRECTLY...
So the only people who are missing out here are the charity
So as charity shops become more 'savvy' to ebay resellers and just list the items themselves is this going to make sourcing from charity shops harder do you think?No - the charity gained £10. The charity didn't 'lose' anything. The local market might have borne a £25 price tag, but it's likely that it would bear a lower price than a national, online, or niche market would bear.
If Tony hadn't bought the item then it might not have sold, or might have been reduced further still (to, say, £3).
Tony has the know-how and time to market the item nationally or to a specific niche which he has knowledge of. He's added value by putting it to that market and is rewarded accordingly. The charity might have a policy of only putting things on ebay if they value it at £35 or more, because of the hassle factor. Its staff and volunteers might be able to sell £70 worth of items in the time it takes to list the item on eBay, reconcile the payment with the order and in the accounts system, and go to the local post office in the next village along to post it.
Knowing that Tony was so ready to pay £5 for the item, the charity shop might decide to price the next similar at at, say £10.
Charity has item A
Charity has item B
They are both the same item
The aim of the charity shop is to raise as much money as they can for charity.
They sell Item A to Doris. She pays £5
They sell Item B to Tony. He pays £5
Tony then takes that item and sells it for £25 making £20 profit that the Charity shop has effectively missed out on IF THEY KNEW HOW TO PRICE THESE ITEMS CORRECTLY...
So the only people who are missing out here are the charity
So as charity shops become more 'savvy' to ebay resellers and just list the items themselves is this going to make sourcing from charity shops harder do you think?
The person who donates feels good I agree, the person who has made the profit seems to be feeling good even though a charity shop has lost out.
I use both. If I'm not sure what I can get I use the auction. If I am pretty sure what something will bring I use buy it now.Do you find you do better with Buy it now or Auctions, Dick?
All of this stuff came from a car boot.Well done if they were purchases from anywhere other than charity shops. If they were I hope some of the money goes back to the charity.