Procuring thrift shops, flea markets and property gross sales could 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 knowledgeable reseller who has been combing by way of thrift shops for the higher a part of 30 years, I will help. For those who’re prepared to chop your buying time in half, rating greater bargains and stroll away with brag-worthy finds you may flip for money, learn on.
From hard-to-find home goods to resale money-makers, all the things featured in my “Thrift Store Like a Professional” sequence qualifies as a BOLO (Be On the Look-Out for) merchandise. If you discover it, purchase it!
Featured discover: Classic live performance T-shirts
As a substitute 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 throughout 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. In the present day’s patrons are predominately middle-aged with a wholesome quantity of disposable revenue. They grew up within the Nineteen Eighties and 90s and need 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 customers, 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 by way of the cracks.
Why purchase it?
Certain, thread-bare live performance T-shirts is probably not your thought of excessive style. However bless these enthusiastic patrons 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 “Massive E” denim, few different clothes classes are as persistently sizzling.
On Etsy, this Electrical Gentle Orchestra T-shirt selling the band’s The Massive Evening tour in 1977 is listed for $1,550. On eBay, this Neil Younger and Loopy Horse live performance tee from 1978 offered for $800 and the 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 could be tedious, make a behavior of sorting by way of the racks of T-shirts and sweatshirts the following time you hit a thrift retailer or yard sale — it simply would possibly repay large.
What to search for
Most thrift outlets are crammed to the brim with T-shirts. And 99% of them aren’t price far more than their secondhand value. Discovering that elusive 1% takes a eager eye that may rapidly 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 cut back a shirt’s worth.
- Signatures: Most bands get their begin by enjoying smaller venues the place a number of fortunate followers may get their shirts autographed. Uncommon signatures (suppose Jerry Garcia or INXS’ Michael Hutchence) can improve resale costs ten-fold or extra.
- Dates and cities: Tees that embrace tour dates and metropolis line-ups are likely to promote higher than these with out.
- Maker: From the Nineteen Seventies by way of the mid-Nineties, there have been dozens of print-ready T-shirt producers. A number of the most typical manufacturers embrace JERZEES, Display screen Stars, Champion, Russell Athletic, Hanes and Stedman. Shirts with unique 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 similar areas. Single-stitch building could be an indicator that you simply’ve discovered a real classic tee.
Professional tip: Classic tees of all types are a profitable marketplace for counterfeiters. Study to identify a faux by studying The Final Information to Classic T-Shirt Authentication at Defunked.
