Running the numbers - just started keeping track of my main sources, sales, profits, per items etc (including shipping costs, but not eBay & PayPal fees) for January 2013.
Turns out, Goodwill (and other thrifts) are still tops insofar as items sold, overall profit, and profit per item. 2nd place is Marshalls / TJ Maxx. 3rd place is my so-called new honey-hole which has been less than fruitful given that it's a 5-hour drive and takes 4+ hours to go through thus not worth the time / gas / miles / etc.
Goodwill et al is riskier as it can be hit-or-miss and I still toss out (re-donate) a good number of items due to unseen issues. But the prices are lowest and have the best ROI for me.
Marshalls / TJX is a good hit of you can get something on 2nd or 3rd markdown (yellow tag) and you know what you're buying...and they still have the 30-day return window. And if you make a major score you can apply for their credit card and get 10% off, plus a $10 gift card for every $100 bought in the future. Not too shabby.
Now for what I thought would be my new honey hole but hasn't panned out that well... Anyone in the SE USA really should visit; it's worth the trip / detour if you're shopping for yourself, and you might find something flippable to cover gas & lunch. It's the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. 40,000 square feet of stuff people lost on the airlines / trains / buses. And it's not like a thrift store in that people wanted to keep this stuff - they brought it on vacations and business trips - they did not donate it. It comes into the UBC about 6 months after it was lost, and they generally know what stuff is worth so the prices are far above thrift prices, unless you can find something they're not familiar with. They get an average of 7,000 new items every day. An entire case full of iPads, cases full of iPhones, MacBooks, laptops, cameras and DSLRs are in electronics. Genuine Persian rugs. And clothes - my god - bring hand lotion because your fingers and hands will literally dry out pawing all the fabrics and flipping labels. The mens section is about 1/5 the size as womens clothes. They also have CD's, DVD's, sporting goods, luggage of course, shoes, kids clothes, artwork - you name it. It's the only place like it in the USA; there are a couple copy-cat stores nearby but the UBC is the real deal. They donate stuff they deem "unsellable" to the local Goodwill, which I checked out and they're way over-priced compared to a normal Goodwill - $25 sport coats no matter the brand, etc. The UBC has a 14-day return policy except on discounted items (they regularly mark things down 25%, 50% and 75% off)...but that only matters if you plan to go back in less than 2 weeks.
Anyhoo - I'll probably still hit up the UBC on occasion when I feel like a road trip - it's 5 hours round-trip for me, and given that they get 7k items per day I'm not worried about anyone cleaning it out. Don't expect to make any huge scores; but there are deals to be had.
