Iv been thrifting and buying second hand all over the West & East Coast. These are a few of the things I learned along the way to get the best price for the item you want.
OfferUp:
If you have no shame or are great at bargaining you can talk the price for much lower than posted. My tactics? When I use Offerup, I low ball. What’s that you may ask? Setting the price to the seller for so low that they either don’t reply, laugh with a bunch of emojis or accept the deal. In most cases for me they accept the deal. I always use these tips before taking the risk!
- Buying in bulk from the seller (Multiple items), then offering a lower price for all of it.
- Check the date of the listed item, this means when the item was posted. The older the item listing is the chances are the seller is more motivated to sell.
- Check the seller’s theme aka know what the seller is into, for example if your looking for a backpack and found one you like, see the sellers page. If the seller is trying to get rid of a bunch of kitchen appliances and the backpack seems a bit off for the theme they are mostly selling, chances are they do not really care about that item and want to get rid of it as soon a possible.
- If the seller doesn’t really make note of the items flaws in the description make sure to point them out, by doing this your letting them know the value is lower than like new and this opens up the push for a few dollars lower.
- Always remember to compare the item to others online, check craigslist, eBay and even thrift stores or used on Amazon, if its worth it take it!
- Don’t lose out on a really great item just because the Seller is firm on price. Which usually means they refuse to go lower than originally posted.
- If the item is in great condition, price seems reasonable, it doesn’t hurt to round down or ask for $2-$5 cheaper.
Yard Sales
Many people will post general items they are selling online when notifying people of their sale. For example, kids clothes, kitchen supplies, office supplies, this is normal but every yard sale has somewhat of a theme. So this gets a sense of who to go to and who not to waste your time on. I really don’t pick and choose which ones I go though, I simply just head to the nearest yard sales. Most rich neighborhoods will have items such as pencils, pens, notebooks that they don’t really care to value so much, this is especially good for going back to school. Those places will give it to you for a steal. Even remember at the end of most yard sales there is so many free things owners didn’t sell, they will simply put it out on the curb for free.
Amazon ;(
Yes I know, but hear me out. People are going to shop at Amazon especially since the pandemic, we just have to be a bit smarter at it. Besides a quick chat to a rep letting them know the packaging should be as low waste as possible when delivered, there’s always buying Used. More so ‘Used Like New’, ‘Used Very Good’, ‘Used Good’ or even ‘Used Acceptable’. In the past I have bought a carpet cleaner for $80 in the acceptable region, hoping it wouldn’t come in broken pieces. This specific carpet cleaner retailed $200 and it was glorious. Other times I bought a book for ‘Used acceptable’ condition, it came written all over. This happened because I didn’t read the description which states the condition of the item. But also ‘Used Acceptable’ is a wild card as it doesn’t always tell you word for word how the item will come out.
If you just want the whole column to be Used Items instead of shifting through brand new options with each click, go to the search bar, type Amazon Warehouse and click enter, the ALL on the search should switch to Amazon Warehouse. You can type the item you want, hit enter again for all the options or just stay on Amazon Warehouse page to choose the category you need. Instead of paying for a $40 backpack brand new , buying it with the used options turned it into $25.
Thrift Stores:
Before heading to any thrift store make sure to give them a quick call to ask about their sale days. They could have specific days they do sales for certain items or just have color tag discounts. Usually means any items tag that has the specific color of the day is on sale (ex: Red Tags are 10% off). Thrift stores are known for hiking prices by the seasons. If your shopping in the spring/summer, note the items for winter will be cheaper. Vise versa for winter, skirts, dresses, shorts and some bathing suits will be discounted.
Savers:
This store isn’t really my cup of tea anymore. The prices went up for the same exact stuff I can get almost brand new. But when I need to find a Christmas gift and buying online isn’t an option, I head here. Before I go in I always donate at least two boxes of stuff to their donation center on the side of the building. This ensures me a 20% off coupon to anything I like, it usually expires by the end of the year and its good for up to $100 worth of stuff. You don’t need to buy $100’s worth of things but its cool to know that every item will be 20% off of everything I buy. Do this every time you head over there and keep those coupons in your glove compartment. By doing this you get that discount ontop of the prices and declutter your home!
Good advice 👍🏽
This is a great post! I started ordering things from Amazon that were used and not only did I save so much more money, I felt good about buying things that are used and not thrown away. Can’t wait to read the rest!