Sometimes being disabled pays off.....

8 years ago today I had the failed transplant in my knee that would forever change my life. I'm the only person in the world, who has experienced 3 transplants in the same knee. I used to be bitter about becoming disabled but not anymore. There for plenty of perks....

- We get to park closer 

- We get in free to the movies (here in Gainesville) 

- We get a certain level of freedom others do not get to experience

This weekend I experienced a new perk of being disabled. A charity was hosting a used clothing fundraiser over the weekend and disabled people received 5 complete outfits for free with a voucher. I was lucky enough to receive a voucher and got to pick out 5 shirts, 5 pants, 5 jackets and 5 shoes. I'm keeping 3 jackets and 2 shirts, giving my Mom 2 pairs of pants and 1 shirt and the rest will go on eBay. I made a donation to the charity because getting so much for free and intending to sell half of it felt wrong. Here is some of what I received for free and am selling: 

     Lite speed cycling jersey. People LOVE cycling jerseys. 

   

               Purchase price: $0.00 

                     Sold: $29.99 

         Patagonia women's pants

               Purchase Price: $0.00

                    Sold:  $14.99

     Polo Ralph Lauren Active tank top. New with the tags. It still has a Macy's return tag on it, so if it doesn't sell I'll just return it for the money. 

              Purchase Price: $0.00

               Returned: $26.00 

          Clarks Bendables: new! 

               Purchase Price: $0.00

                      Sold: $18.00 

          Cole Haan Belinda Heels 

               Purchase Price: $0.00

               Asking Price: $34.99 

     Crown Vintage ankle suede boots. I'd never heard of this brand before but the boots seemed really high quality, so I figured I'd take a chance. 

               Purchase Price: $0.00

                       Sold: $39.99 

     Sperry Top Sider wedge heels: new

               Purchase price: $0.00

               Asking Price: $39.99 

     Clarks black leather sandals: new 

               Purchase Price: $0.00 

                         Sold: $18.00 

Disabled people definitely face many roadblocks and adversities in life, but this weekend I definitely experienced a positive. Feeling very thankful! 

Holy Grails

90% of what we purchase at thrift stores, we sell. The other 10% we either donate, give as gifts or keep ourselves. There are a few items we search for to keep ourselves. In December, I went to visit family in Columbus, Ohio. One of my greatest loves in life is Ohio St. I live for Ohio St. Football! On my visit my goal was to find an Ohio St vintage Starter jacket and I did just that! 

This weekend we started to make a Holy Grail list. Items we want to find at thrift stores for ourselves. Here is what we've come up with...what are your Holy Grails? 

Jordan 11 Gamma Blue shoes. We actually found a pair and sold them, but they were too small. 

Portland Trailblazers vintage starter jacket or just about any satin Starter jacket. We've found Florida Gators, Detroit Tigers and Ohio St Buckeyes satin Starter jackets. My heart skips a beat every time we find one! 

Barcelona Dragons hat. Barcelona Dragons were a NFL Europe team in the early 90's. My Dad has always wanted one of their hats. They are VERY difficult to find. 

Rock-A-Doodle DVD. Very difficult DVD to find and also my best friend's favorite movie. 

We LOVE wrestling. We both grew up watching wrestling and still watch it. Not ashamed to admit it :) We search for any vintage wrestling shirt. The ultimate find would be an Ultimate Warrior or Andre the Giant vintage shirt. 

Vintage Fisher Price toys. We search for any Fisher Price toy we grew up playing with. My mom would go to yard sales every Saturday morning and would bring home older toys. The older toys in the early-mid 80's are now antiques. 

We will keep expanding our list. What are your holy Grails? 

Goodwill Outlet Craziness!

A few weeks ago we went to the Goodwill Outlet in Frederick, Maryland. It was amazing and nothing like we expected. First, it was ducked off behind a building and was very quiet. 

The Goodwill Outlet was behind this building and was almost empty. There were 3 or 4 other people in the store. Unexpectedly, everything was on hangers and organized like any other Goodwill store. The selection was amazing and everything was 50% off. We found brands like Diesel, ADRIANO Goldschmied and Joe's Jeans. We HIGHLY recommend stopping any time you are near Frederick. 

This brings us to this week when we got BRAVE and visited the Goodwill Outlet in Ocala, Florida. It was the exact opposite of the outlet in Maryland. Everything was in large bins, there was a line to get in the store and every 30 minutes people fought over fresh batches of merchandise. We found some good things for cheap (30 items for $26) but we have new found respect for sellers who find merchandise at the Goodwill Outlet on a regular basis. It's not for the weak! 

     Goodwill Outlet, Ocala, Florida 

              Best Finds of the Week: 

     Ermenegildo Zegna Men's Jeans 

               Purchase Price: $1.25

               Sold:  $49.99 

     Vintage Notre Dame Starter Jacket 

               Purchase Price: $1.25 

               Asking Price: $24.99 

          Garfield 1976 sweatshirt

              Purchase Price: 5 cents 

              Asking Price: $22.00 

         Nike 1980's Women's Jacket 

               Purchase Price: $1.25 

               Asking Price: $24.99 

      Smurfs 1982 coffee mugs: mint! 

               Purchase Price: 50 cents 

              Asking Price: $24.99 

Jeans on Jeans on Jeans

I've never personally spent more than $20 on a pair of jeans. Growing up we didn't have much money. While I was working full time, I had the money but it wasn't a priority. Once you become disabled, money becomes REALLY tight. So, it's very ironic that my favorite area to shop at thrift store is the jeans section. 

There are several reasons I LOVE the jeans section: 

1. You can ALWAYS find a quality pair of jeans at a thrift shop. If you look through an entire jeans section and don't find one good pair of jeans....scratch that shop off your list! 

2. Jeans re-sell well. People donate very lightly worn jeans and you can make HUGE profits on them. I bought a pair of Affliction men's jeans with a broken zipper for $5.00 at a Goodwill outside Orlando and sold them for $91.00! 

3. They are easy to photograph! 

4. Everybody wears jeans, all year. Maybe my home in hot, humid Florida may be the exception. In most parts of the country, jeans are worn all year! 

5. Jeans are the one item where some people would rather buy them in poor condition! Ripped and distressed jeans are beyond popular. Sometimes real rips and wear sell even better. 

Basic tips for re-selling jeans: 

1. Bigger the size, the better! People pay a lot more for bigger jeans. 

2. Men's jeans can be ebay gold! Finding a quality pair of men's jeans put a HUGE smile on my face. 

3. Research, research, research! There are so many designer jeans brands, do your research. I look through Nordstrom's website, Barney's website, Complex magazine, and ebay's completed sales to discover expensive new brands and keep a list in my phone. I put a check mark by each brand I buy, so I keep myself entertained with a treasure list to search for. Does anybody know a resource I can read to discover more valuable jeans brands? 

Here are examples of why I LOVE to resell thrifted jeans: 

     True Religion men's jeans size 44! 

               Purchase Price: $6.99

               Selling Price: $95.00 

    Diesel men's Rumbum jeans. I actually  

    Found these jeans right next to the 

    True Religion jeans. 

               Purchase Price: $6.99

               Selling Price: $49.99 

     J Brand women's jeans found in    

     Baltimore, Maryland. 

               Purchase Price: $6.00 

               Selling Price: $49.99 

     7 For All Mankind Men's jeans

               Purchase Price: $5.99 

               Selling Price: $49.99 

     Citizens of Humanity Women's jeans 

               Purchase Price: $4.00 

               Selling Price: $24.99 

     Naked & Famous Women's jeans 

               Purchase Price: $4.99 

               Selling Price: $25.00 

     Miss Me Women's Ripped jeans 

               Purchase Price: $6.00 

               Selling Price: $34.99 

What great jeans deals have you found? 

Finds and Sales of the Week Mar 30-April 7

SThe end of March and beginning of April has been very good to us. Tax return season must lead to more sales. We returned from thrifting in Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland on Sunday. This week we focused on listing all the items we purchased. Here are some of our favorite finds and sales of the week: 

        Vintage ANFERNEE Hardaway                 Champion jersey: Mint condition. 

      

                Purchase price: $3.99 

                       Sold: $50.00 

     Tommy Bahama lot of 3 XXL Hawaiian  

     Silk shirts. 

               Purchase price: $9.60 

                     Sold: $42.00 

     Silver Brand Women's Pioneer Jeans 

               Purchase price: $5.99 

                      Sold: $29.99 

     Vintage Shaquille O'Neal Team USA 

     Jersey: mint condition. 

               Purchase price: $3.99 

                    Sold: $30.00 

     Vintage Nike Air T-Shirt. If you find a Nike shirt with a blue label or red & gray label: buy it! They are vintage and can bring in a lot of money. This shirt wasn't even in that great of condition but received over 10 bids. The buyer left us great feedback. 

               Purchase price: $1.00 

                    Sold: $19.50 

     Citizens of Humanity men's Evans jeans size 40. COH is a brand nobody ever spoke about, but can bring in big money. The only issue is the brand's jeans tend to run small. We've had numerous pairs returned because they were too small. These are huge so hopefully it won't be an issue. 

     The Goodwills in Southwest Florida have amazing deals and selection. They are the best we've seen in the country so far. For every $100 you spend, you receive $10 free! We ended up getting these jeans free with the reward program. 

               Purchase price: Free 

               Asking price: $49.99 

     J Brand skinny women's jeans. 

               Purchase price: $5.99 

                       Sold: $49.99 

Disabled Thrifter

I I am disabled and live on Social Security Disability. Despite false perceptions, it's not an easy life. Yes, we receive a check each month from the government and luckily mine is more than most. Yet; most people on disability struggle to survive, much less thrive. I refuse to be a victim! I resell thrifted items so I can thrive again. 

Ultimately, I would like to start an organization that helps people discover their passions and assists them in using those passions to their advantage. In order to start the organization, I need to help myself before I can help others. Thrifting is how I will pay my medical bills and eventually change the world! 

What is your story? 

Thrifting in Washington DC and had to check on our friend Mr. Obama :) 

DMV Trip March 21-29

We traveled to the Washington DC-Maryland-Virgina area for Spring Break. While in the area we visited several thrift stores. Overall, the selection was great but the prices were much higher than in Florida. For instance; our local thrift stores charge $5.99 for every pair of jeans regardless of the brand. In the DMV area, the stores charged according to brands. I saw a pair of True Religion jeans for $34.99 and Hudson jeans for $19.99. The stores seemed to know the value of even less known designer brands, so finding items for resale was much more difficult. The one exception was the Goodwill outlet store in Frederick, Maryland. The somewhat hidden store priced everything at 50% off and had a lot of amazing items for cheap. We found a Diesel brand shirt for 80 cents, vintage Tommy Hilfiger men's carpenter jeans for $3.86, ADRIANO Goldschmied jeans for $2.86, Joe's Jeans for $2.86 and several other great deals. Overall, the DMV area generally expensive, but we found some great deals. Here are some of the finds: 

    Golden State Warriors Adidas stitched hoodie. 

                    Purchase Price: $6.99

                    Sold: $34.99 

                    MEK women's jeans 

                    Purchase Price: $8.00

                    Asking Price: $79.99 

                   

                    Miss Me ripped jeans 

                    Purchase price: $6.00

                    Sold:  $34.99 

                    Hudson pinstripe jeans

                    Purchase price: $7.00

                    Asking price: $39.99 

     Kobe Bryant youth champion jersey 

                   Purchase price: $1.67

                   Asking price: $28.00 

     Tommy Hilfiger men's carpenter jeans

                    Purchase price: $3.86 

                    Asking price: $49.99 

  

                  Diesel men's T-Shirt

                  Purchase price: 80 cents 

                  Sold:  $14.99 

Thrift shopping in the DMV was a great experience, but nothing beats Florida yet.