Buying in bulk from a private party for 1st time - help!

J

Jen S

Registered Guest
OK, so I've been collecting vintage and buying and selling for quite some time, but on a small scale, so I'm not super-knowledgeable about the ins-and-outs of the business, but I'm also not a newbie. For the first time I might be purchasing a bulk lot of clothes from an individual, but I am uncertain as to how to price things and what to offer. I know no one here can help to value items, and I'm not asking for help with that -- what I'd like to know is if anyone here has a rough formula or rule on what percentage estimated retail worth they might offer when buying
a lot of say, 50 - 200 items. Is there any "standard"?

Or put another way, if a person were to sell grandma's old clothing in bulk to a dealer who comes and picks the items up, what percentage of retail worth (which would obviously be an estimate) could that person expect to receive?

Thanks for any words of experience and wisdom!
 
Perhaps it is different with vintage clothing in various areas but 50 % is generally standard on most all vintage. What the market will bear in a certain locality plays a huge role or overhead to the buyer who then turns around to sell it or try.

With clothing in a lot is it 10 designer names or 10 common items also I would think.

Nothing about this business is a quick turn around. What most do not understand. It is about the right one coming along that falls in love with an item. May be tomorrow or 3 years from when you picked it up. All IMHO. Trying to help.

Sandy
 
Jen, every dealer works differently. But when we do house calls and buy in bulk, we generally offer 20-30% (sometimes less!) of what we hope to get at retail. It really depends on item condition, how many pieces, how badly we want it, is anything of designer quality (then we pay more per piece), etc. But we could not survive on a 50% mark up, there is overhead to cover. And I tend to feel, the more pieces purchased at one time and hauled away, the lower price per piece I want to invest. Hope this helps.
Jen
 
I too agree with Jen...You can't survive on paying 50% all the time. On certain items that are special and you may know are easier to sell that works but not as a constant.

Overhead plays a big part in it as does the time required to make it ready for sale and then to actually sell it...as Sandy pointed out it can take a number of years to sell an item and that we all know that is the truth when it comes to selling vintage.
 
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Also check for condition issues. We bought three racks of clothes several years ago from a 'reputable' dealer and got burned because it turned out everything had some issue, but we were going through it in a poorly lit area of a basement and didn't notice most of the problems. In the end we only got our hard costs recouped - it was a HUGE waste of time and energy.
 
I agree with the others - I think about what I can sell for and factor in cleaning and repair costs. Condition is critical! I try not to buy damaged stock any more and if I do I don't offer much for it (almost no one buys damaged stock and even the charity shops throw it in the rag bin).

Then if I've come to them I might deduct something for my travel and time. You can always negotiate up. The bigger the lot, the less I hope to pay per piece.

Good luck!
 
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Thanks, this is all so helpful!

When I buy at thrift stores or flea markets I usually pass up anything that costs more than 10% of what I think I can sell it for, unless it's a high ticket item or it's something very easy to sell. It takes me a lot of work to prepare things for sale, and often I don't end up making much.

But having to suggest a price to a person is much more difficult that simply accepting or rejecting a pre-set price! So I really appreciate the advice.
 
In my initial contact I inform sellers my typical prices, 1/4 to 1/3 of what I thought I could sell it for. For particularly desireable items I would go higher. Without going into long drawn out details, I would briefly explain the process of cleaning, repairing, photographing for sale and that my ability to sell the items I was buying could take a long time. If the sellers were elderly and cleaning out a house, I would offer to dispose of the things I could not use for them. In most cases the family had already taken what they wanted. Sellers sometimes don't think of accessories, fabric, etc. You may have to ask.
Take a notebook, a pencil (not a pen). Keep track of what you are buying as you go along. Also bags or boxes to bring home your treasures.
It's a real adventure. Enjoy!
Marian
 
But having to suggest a price to a person is much more difficult that simply accepting or rejecting a pre-set price!
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So true! But it sounds as though you're already careful about not spending so much it doesn't leave room for a meaningful return on your investment. Marian's advice to (briefly) explain that logic up front is excellent. I get lots of people offering to sell me things at the shop, and it's much easier to stick to my guns if I've given them some insight into why it's not reasonable for them to expect me to pay them half or more of what I'll retail something at.

Also, I find that bulk purchases are often easier to negotiate, because then the seller isn't quite as fixated on the price for each item. They are happy to be clearing out unwanted stuff, and to be getting a substantial sum--one which works for me too--in return.

Good luck!
 
I have WAY WAY WAY too many pieces of vintage than I should because I bought them thinking "That's an okay piece... I can make a few dollars on it." The problem with this is that it takes the exact same amount of time to prepare, display, upload, etc. a $20 vintage garment than it does a $200 vintage garment.
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Amen!
 
When I first opened my store I had many people come in wanting to sell or consign....I had never done this, so asked around and heard "50 % of what you would sell for" for buying outright and somewhere around 60 % to 70 % to the person offering it to you on consignment. That made a certain amount of sense to me. If something is in great shape, ready to go, just needs a hanger and a pricetag to get it ready for sale....now when consigning online, I'm realizing how much more time and effort is involved, so wondering if 60 percent is reasonable.....on the other hand, for particularly desirable items, you have a much larger potential market and if the customer is not super anxious to get it sold a more lax time frame.....is a 60 40 split typical in your experience? Does anyone use different percentages given online vs in store?
 
When I did consignment, I did it 50/50% and quickly realized it was not enough $ for my time and work to sell something online - unless the item was very high end. I changed it to 60/40% where WE kept 60% and the consignor got 40%. If they complained about making less than half, I invited them to steam, mend or wash if needed, photograph, measure, list online, pack/ship, handle potential returns, and sell their items themselves. That eliminated a lot of consignment. Then I stopped taking anything on consignment except in rare cases - important designer pieces, museum de-accessions, etc. I haven't consigned anything for a couple years now.

"50% of what you would sell for" is unfortunately very poor advice, Lauren, it will not cover your true expenses. If I sell at twice what I've paid, I either made a buying mistake (spent too much, item was damaged and I didn't know), or it was something extraordinary where I knew if I spent $$, I could quickly make $$$$. Otherwise, as I said, I'm looking to buy at 20% or hopefully less of ball park retail, just to keep my head above water.
Jen
 
Oh and when I officially said "No more consignment!" - I had 67 ACTIVE consignor accounts!! Just the monthly paperwork alone on that was making my head spin. I feel it is much better to buy outright.
 
Thanks, this is all so interesting. I know I don't want consignment -- too much pressure! And I'm happy to hear others say they couldn't get by on 50%, as neither could I, unless it was a really fabulous item. I haven't been able to find too many of those.... Still learning, so much more to learn.
 
Thanks for asking the initial question Jen....it's been really informative hearing everyone's views....I've learned some of these lessons the hard way and this has focused me on future principles!
 
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