Reseller Says Five Questions At Every Sale Turned A Digger Sale Into Over $2,700 In Profit, Including A Box She Paid Only $6 For That Nets $400

Jane Clark

2 hours ago

For years, reseller Flipping High Grammy would walk into an estate sale or yard sale, check every square inch, and leave with a few hundred dollars’ worth of treasures. Then she changed her approach. “I was missing hundreds of dollars with that approach, sometimes thousands, over and over again.”

Now she asks five specific questions at every sale. In a recent weekend, she says the first three alone found her thousands more in profit. She shares the whole story on her YouTube channel.

6 A.M. With A Flashlight And A Digger Sale Nobody Could Resist

She and her sister were on the road by 6 a.m. The first yard sale was around 6:30, so early they needed a flashlight. By 9 a.m., everything changed.

The next sale had a crowd, and she soon saw why. It was a digger sale, with stuff everywhere, nothing sorted or priced, and stacks of totes nobody had touched. “I never walk away from sourcing like this. Never.”

Question One Is A Green Light When Bundles Are Cheap

Her first question is one she asks herself. Are people checking out with bundle prices, and are those prices low? If yes, “that is a green light.”

Don’t stop to look up comps, she says. If people are leaving with a whole box for $10 or $20, you only need to sell one item on eBay and everything else is profit. She grabs a box, or empties one on the spot, and starts a pile.

At that digger sale she dug to the bottom of every tote. She paid just $40 in total, and she expects at least $1,000 from it. While paying, she also got the organizer’s contact info, because there was much more stuff for another sale.

“This Person Was Definitely A Shopaholic” And A $6 Box Worth $400

At 11 a.m. she walked into the next sale. “There were multiples of things and so many items were still in the original packaging. I was in vintage heaven.”

She overheard another shopper pay $5 for a similar size box. She paid $6, and she says that box will net her $400 easily.

One tip: never leave your finds on a hold table. She once lost a valuable ceramic bunny that way. “Pay for what you already have. Maybe take it to your car and just come back.”

“They Had Already Thrown Out At Least 50 Boxes Of Makeup”

Question two waits until there is a lull in shoppers, so a stranger can’t overhear and compete. She asks, “Do you have any more of” whatever she hunts for.

She asked about old makeup, and the man laughed. They had already thrown out at least 50 boxes of it, brand new, because they thought nobody would want to use it. “I was dying inside.”

She explained that collectors buy for nostalgia and packaging art. His daughter said there was much more in the basement and took her number to call when it was out.

She Dug Through The Trash Can And Found A 1990s Supermodel

The daughter had tossed a box of makeup that looked like a magazine cover. The trash can was right beside her, so she asked if she could look.

The mother said, “Oh, you don’t want to do that? I threw the rest of our lunch in there today.” The reseller dug in anyway, and it wasn’t messy. Inside was Elizabeth Arden makeup with a 1990s supermodel on the cover. She figures it will sell for about $40.

That second sale cost her $31 total, and her question earned her at least another $1,200. That made $2,200 from two questions at two sales.

Question Three Turns One Sale Into Several

Before leaving, she always asks, “Are you going to put more out, or are you having another sale?” She also asks about the context. Are they downsizing, or helping their parents clear out years of accumulation?

She got contact info at both sales. She remembers one follow-up sale where a family had only 24 hours to leave their house, and she walked away with three Sony digital cameras still in the box. She expects question three to net at least $500 more, for a total of at least $2,700.

Questions Four And Five Cost Nothing And Pay Off

Question four is “Is there any more inside?” Hardly anyone asks it, and she has scored some of her best hauls at sales that looked like everything was outside.

Question five is conversation. “People just want to be talked to with kindness and respect.” She tells people what she does, and she has seen opportunities follow. One viewer was walking out of Sam’s Club with bubble wrap when the greeter asked about it, and now she will sell the greeter’s expensive dolls on consignment on eBay.

She keeps it respectful because “we’re often dealing with families who’ve just lost someone.” She doesn’t ramble, and she doesn’t recite a script to every seller.

Never Show How Badly You Want An Item

The one thing she warns against is any question that gives away how much you want something. Say a Coach bag catches your eye. Asking “How much for this really cool Coach bag?” makes a discount less likely. Simply ask, “How much for this purse?”

When she can’t hear what others pay, she holds up two random items and asks if they’d take less for both. She paid $10 for a full-length maxi sweater she loved, and she says the seller never knew how much she wanted it.

What Her Haul Looked Like And A Warning About Bulk Buying

She pulled a lot of $40 and $50 pieces, including a vintage KISS magazine set, sterling and vintage watches, Fitz and Floyd boxes, a Game Boy with games, and a boxed toy she says will sell for $200 minimum. She also admits some misses, like a heavy TV she will donate.

Her last tip is about volume. Bulk buying keeps costs low, but it is “the fastest road to an out of control death pile.” Deal with it that day by making three piles: list it, donate it, or give it attention for testing, cleaning or research.

Question one: are they bundling at low prices?
Question two: do you have any more of what you hunt for?
Question three: will you put more out, or have another sale?
Question four: is there anything more inside?
Question five: talk to people and tell them what you do.