Being almost at year end, I was curious about what selling had done for me this year. So, I looked at my results on the platforms through which I sell: eBay, Tradesy, Poshmark, Vestiare, Facebook and Ann's Fabulous Finds.
Best Platform: Tradesy and eBay by far (although I HATE Tradesy). 75% of my sales were from these two sites.
Worst Platform: Facebook. I've only sold two bags there and was scammed on one of them.
Honorable Mention: Ann's Fabulous Finds. Their staff is so helpful and friendly. The consignment process is a breeze and, most importantly, they give more of the proceeds back to the seller. I tend to sell on my own to maximize receipts. But, for the rare occasion I don't want to, AFF is great!
Total Number: I forgot one bag I sold so, I'm at 15 outs for the year v. 10 ins (of those ins, I've kept 8).
Total Receipts v. Total Cost of Bags Sold: I've done really well with buying and selling at good prices. I've had a total loss of only $183.91 (or $12.26/ bag) on the 15 bags I've sold. That is amazing since I've used all but two of these bags quite a bit. It's like I got the usage for free!!!Most of this is helped by the fact that I buy the majority of my bags pre-loved or on sale.
This is why I don't care about cost per wear (CPW). When I'm done, I sell my bags and recoup funds. CPW for my bags - even though they may be expensive - is always pennies to at most a few dollars. The number that matters to me is total cost of ownership (COO).
I had been thinking about buying more bags new but, seeing this, I'm going to try to strike a balance and buy new bags on a great sale. And I'll keep with my strategy of buying preloved in new / like new / pristine condition for those bags that don't go on sale.
And, I really am not motivated to buy brands that tank in resale unless I pretty much know I can / will happily keep the bag til I "use it up". I'm still hairy eyeballing my Celine that dropped like a rock even though I got it for 30% of retail. I've owned it for only 18 months and it's now worth about 18% of resale.Never again.
Total Receipts as % of Total Spend on New Bags: What I've sold has only funded 11.22% of what I've bought this year.In contrast, in 2015, what I sold funded 86% of what I bought.
I'm not really surprised by this. The past few years, I was gutting my old "collection" (read crazy hodgepodge of random bags) and sold lots more bags each year. Also, I buy more expensive bags now. Next year things will settle as I'll be doing more of a one in / one out of bags at similar price points. That being said, seeing this number has cooled my jets. As much as I love handbags, I don't want to put a whole lot of new money into them. I'd rather use my play money disposable on travel or jewelry.
Wow, what an impressive analysis! I love how you’ve broken this down, even as far as seeing what percent of your incoming bags have been funded by your sold ones, and what that tells you about how you want to operate going forward. You seem to be really good at selling bags even though you say you hate it!
I’m always trying to find the balance between buying what I love while being mindful of resale value. I want to think I’m going to love a bag forever and that therefore resale shouldn’t matter, but it doesn’t always work out that way. While I do have a couple of “forever bags,” I don’t think it’s possible to build an entire collection of them (not possible for me, anyway!).
Thanks also for the info on Ann’s Fabulous Finds. I’ve only heard good things about them so the next time I’m thinking of selling, I will definitely get an estimate from them.
