This is just a small part of my collection. Nothing really valuable, but I just love them.
It seems that the hot topic for people of my generation is about downsizing and decluttering, but probably not so much about thrifting. I’ve been into downsizing, decluttering, and thrifting for about fifteen years, when I had dreams of selling everything and being a full-time camper. That didn’t happen, but the thrifting and reselling remained with me.
I started out by having a few things to sell, so I took over my son’s eBay account (I use his old username). As with many things I do, I jumped in with both feet and slowly learned as I went along. Then in 2014, I added my Etsy Store, which is an extension of my online store Shop the Hound… or at least that’s how it started. But it’s only been the last couple of years that I’ve really been doing this more consistently.
It was the realization that I could sell vintage things on Etsy and eBay that really piqued my interest. Remember, back then, I was thinking I wanted to downsize, but I loved going to yard sales. If I were to have a home on wheels, how could I continue to attend yard sales and look for vintage Asian vases? Which I loved to collect.
If you’d like to check out my Etsy Store, you can find it HERE. My eBay listings are available HERE.
This is just a tiny bit of the collection. I don’t think I took a photo of all of them. But I have all of the individual photos in a FOREVER album called Salt & Pepper.
Around that same time, I inherited my grandmother’s salt and pepper collection —a collection of over 700 plus salt and pepper shakers that the family had given to her for every occasion and every holiday they had been on. I have given away many to family and friends, but I still have so many.
I’ve shipped salt and pepper shakers all over the world, including Canada, the USA, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Australia, in the last year alone.
But I don’t just stop at salt and pepper shakers… remember, I love yard sales. Some weekends, I give my cousin a call, and we go yard sale hopping; that’s what happened this past weekend. We attended two sales, and both had great prices. I bought some things for my house. I know I said I don’t do that, but why pay full price when I can score a great deal? In that case, it was a brand-new Black & Decker Toaster Oven (used once) for just $20. An excellent score, and I saved it from the landfill.
So what else did I buy? Here are just a few of the things I bought on Friday; I still have to upload the items from Saturday. I decided to keep the grapes for now.
Tips To Get Started
Here are some tips if you’re thinking about doing something like this. Google Lens is your friend as you learn about what sells. But don’t just look at the images you see and think that’s how much you can sell things for. Once you discover what things are called, I suggest you go to eBay and search for the item by name. Then, on the left-hand side, you’ll see categories, and you’ll also see “Show More.” Click that and then scroll down and choose “sold,” then you’ll get the real picture of what sells and for how much. If you do this, you’ll gain insight into what people will look for and how much they are willing to pay.
You don’t have to go to yard sales to get started, do what I did, start out with things in your home that you’d like to downsize. Using Google Lens, figure out if there is value. If there isn’t a good value, then either donate those things or collect them all together in one place and have your own yard sale.
When I first started selling on eBay and Etsy, I used to joke that I was having a yard sale, but I was just shipping them in the mail one thing at a time.
Take good photos and do your best to use keywords and all the space in the title of your item. I’m still working on that part. You can get help with AI for your eBay descriptions. eBay offers an AI button that you can use for descriptions, although it sometimes produces wordy results. I’ve been using ChatGPT for some of my descriptions, and I think I like them better.
My current process involves taking photos and recording all the weights and dimensions, including those of the box. (Oh, I should mention that you need to save your boxes and ask your family to save theirs as well.) With the photos and other shipping information, I can create listings while watching TV at night. Once I create it on eBay, it’s easy to copy and paste over to Etsy. I list on eBay first because not everything can be listed on Etsy. Etsy needs to be either created (made) by you or vintage. Vintage is 20 years or older.
When I create my item on eBay, I almost always use a price with “Buy It Now”, but I also take “offers”. I accept offers just in case I’ve priced something too high or it’s been listed for a while. If you list it as “Buy It Now,” your item remains listed. I don’t use auctions very often because they require more management, as they keep renewing, and if they don’t, you have to relist.
When I create an Etsy item, I copy and paste from eBay; the only difference is that I can set the category to “vintage” in my store, so that people can see not only my vintage items but also my DNA jewelry, as that’s in a different category.
I sell more on Etsy than on eBay, and it’s essential to remember to cancel the sales on the other site when you make a sale. I had a membership to ListPerfectly, but I canceled it last fall and haven’t started it up again. It offers you the ability to cross-post on other sites. As I said, this isn’t my full-time job, but if it were, I’d likely use ListPerfectly all the time. (If you use my ListPerfectly link (HERE), you will save 30% off your first month).
As I mentioned earlier, you need packing things such as boxes, bubble mailers, and packing tape. I also like to include thank-you notes and stickers, but that’s just me. I think it gives a personal touch, and I get good reviews. Your customer pays for their shipping, and you receive special shipping rates. I know there are other ways to ship, but because this isn’t my full-time business, I’m happy with what the sites offer.
What I’ve Sold
Here are just a few of the items I’ve sold, along with the comments I’ve received.
I love the reviews. The first one was just from today for a product I shipped last week.
Am I becoming rich doing this… Heck no, but I enjoy vintage things so much, and as I said, this allows me to go look for the things I do need or like to collect and make some fun money on the side. But there are people whom I follow on YouTube, and this is their business. So if you like to watch them, the ones I like are Nurse Flipper, Picking and Punching, and The Homeschooling Picker. You’ll receive an education on what might sell and how to sell it.
I hope you liked this little glimpse into what I love to do besides genealogy. If you decide to or already thrift, please tell me why you love it.
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I also used to collect salt and pepper shakers. I started doing this when I was taking piano lessons, and when I had a good lesson, had practiced enough to have had the good lesson, my teacher would give rewards, and those (for me) were salt and pepper shakers. I had quite a collection. Then, when I moved away, I believe my Mom donated them, because I didn’t see them in the garage sale when SHE had to move to assisted living. Bult, I was more than 50 yrs. old by then.
Sounds like your teacher found the right gift to help you practice.