Buying thrift shops, flea markets and property gross sales might be overwhelming. With the sheer quantity of stuff, how are you aware the place to begin? How do you see gems amid all of the … nicely, junk?
As an expert reseller who has been combing via thrift shops for the higher a part of 30 years, I can assist. When you’re prepared to chop your buying time in half, rating larger bargains and stroll away with brag-worthy finds you possibly can flip for money, learn on.
From hard-to-find home items to resale money-makers, all the things featured in my “Thrift Store Like a Professional” collection qualifies as a BOLO (Be On the Look-Out for) merchandise. Whenever you discover it, purchase it!
Featured discover: Classic live performance T-shirts
As an alternative of 1 particular model of merchandise, this month’s installment covers a complete class — classic live performance T-shirts. Full disclosure: The final live performance I attended was in the course of the Clinton administration (Tori Amos, 1996, thanks very a lot). However staying on prime of the resale recreation means following purchaser demand and buying outdoors my consolation zone.
Like most different sizzling collectibles, demand for classic tees is pushed by nostalgia. Right now’s consumers are predominately middle-aged with a wholesome quantity of disposable revenue. They grew up within the Eighties and 90s and wish to recapture the magic of that Aerosmith live performance in the summertime of ’83 or relive an R.E.M. present they snuck out of the home to see.
Fortunately for buyers, most secondhand shops barely look on the content material of a T-shirt earlier than pricing. Workers merely don’t have time to course of clothes that rigorously. Particularly in smaller markets, gems from the musical previous can simply fall via the cracks.
Why purchase it?
Positive, thread-bare live performance T-shirts will not be your thought of excessive style. However bless these enthusiastic consumers who can’t get sufficient of them. Resale costs for genuine classic live performance tees are out of this world. Moreover Harris Tweed and Levi’s “Huge E” denim, few different clothes classes are as constantly sizzling.
On Etsy, this Electrical Gentle Orchestra T-shirt selling the band’s The Huge Night time tour in 1977 is listed for $1,550. On eBay, this Neil Younger and Loopy Horse live performance tee from 1978 bought for $800 and the very best bid for this 1992 Morrissey shirt was $577.89.
And people are just some highlights. Hundreds of classic live performance objects are on the market proper now on varied resale websites, together with classic hoodies, posters and ticket stubs. Although it might be tedious, make a behavior of sorting via the racks of T-shirts and sweatshirts the subsequent time you hit a thrift retailer or yard sale — it simply may repay huge.
What to search for
Most thrift retailers are crammed to the brim with T-shirts. And 99% of them aren’t value rather more than their secondhand value. Discovering that elusive 1% takes a eager eye that may shortly scan and spot a resale-ready treasure.
Right here’s what I search for in a classic live performance T-shirt:
- Situation: Consumers count on classic tees to be “pre-loved.” However stains or tears to the entrance or again graphics will scale back a shirt’s worth.
- Signatures: Most bands get their begin by taking part in smaller venues the place a couple of fortunate followers might get their shirts autographed. Uncommon signatures (assume Jerry Garcia or INXS’ Michael Hutchence) can enhance resale costs ten-fold or extra.
- Dates and cities: Tees that embody tour dates and metropolis line-ups are likely to promote higher than these with out.
- Maker: From the Seventies via the mid-Nineties, there have been dozens of print-ready T-shirt producers. A few of the most typical manufacturers embody JERZEES, Display screen Stars, Champion, Russell Athletic, Hanes and Stedman. Shirts with authentic neck labels are likely to promote higher than these with out.
- Single-stitch building: Till the Nineties, most T-shirts have been sewn utilizing a single line of thread to the underside hem, shoulder seam, and sleeve hem. Modern shirts are double-stitched in these identical areas. Single-stitch building might be an indicator that you just’ve discovered a real classic tee.
Professional tip: Classic tees of every kind are a profitable marketplace for counterfeiters. Study to identify a pretend by studying The Final Information to Classic T-Shirt Authentication at Defunked.
