Where do people get the stuff they sell at discounted prices on eBay?

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I'm looking at Vera Bradley bags (Merry Christmas to me!), and I'm seeing people selling NWT bags (multiple bags, not just, say, one they got for a gift) for less than they're selling on sale on the VB site. I've seen that with other things too, and I always wonder where the sellers get their inventory. It can't all have just fallen off the back of the truck, right? 

 

How do people manage this?

[sarasue7272]

Clearance. There is a store in my grandfathers small town that sells Vera. The back room is clearance stuff and there is always a good selection. It's always more than half off.

 

Eta: also lots of stuff on ebay is from thrift stores. I assumed you meant the people selling tons of vera bradley. Maybe they live near an outlet.

Edited December 15, 2015 by sarasue7272

[SparklyUnicorn]

Probably various ways.  There is also a chance some of the stuff is fake.

 

 

[Twigs]

…  There is also a chance some of the stuff is fake.

:iagree:  This was my first thought.

[Arcadia]

There is a premium outlet 4 miles away from me. We can get lower than ebay prices at Nordstrom Rack, Off 5th Saks Ave, Marshalls, Bloomingdales Outlet, Nieman Marcus outlet...

 

We could find off season items for 70% to 85% off MSRP.

 

ETA:

The outlets have a 30 day returns period and people tend to buy and return at this time of the year as they shop for gifts.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Arcadia

[Carol in Cal.]

I always assume that those are fake. There is a woman on a local garage sale list that has a seemingly infinite supply of these.  No one buys that many bags and changes her mind about using them.  No one.  And the prices are too low to even be outlet ones.

[JustEm]

One thing they do is buy it wholesale from a store going out of business and then resell it for more than they paid but less than retail.

[Onceuponatime]

My son and daughter in law like to go to auctions. They have sound some amazing stuff for very little money. Some of it my DIL sells online. I imagine you could do that as a full time job.

[Lady Florida.]

It's called Retail Arbitrage and it's a huge business. People who live in the right location or who can afford to buy from online arbitrage wholesalers make a pretty good living at it.

 

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/04/412046900/retailer-arbitrage-how-internet-middlemen-are-scaring-traditional-stores

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

See, I thought about clearance stuff, but VB is still selling the same bags on their site for $49, whereas the eBay person is selling them for $34 or so. I can't imagine VB marked them down that drastically and then back up to just $11 below the regular price. The same with the outlets--I don't see eBayers getting them cheaply enough at an outlet that they can sell the bags for $34 on eBay while VB itself is selling them $49. Or do outlets operate wholly independently from their main retailer? Clearance does make sense. I forgot that you can buy VB bags at third-party stores, so I could see someone getting a score if a boutique is closing or dumping inventory. Huh!

 

In the early days of the interwebs, when I lived in NYC, I used to buy Kate Spade bags and planners at the twice-annual sample sales and resell them on eBay for quite a bit of money.The planners, in particular, tolerated a big markup. Ah, those were the days :lol: 

 

It's called Retail Arbitrage and it's a huge business. People who live in the right location or who can afford to buy from online arbitrage wholesalers make a pretty good living at it.

 

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/04/412046900/retailer-arbitrage-how-internet-middlemen-are-scaring-traditional-stores

 

Wow!!! That's crazy! I don't think that's what happening in this case, since the eBayers are undercutting or matching the online prices, but I always wondered what on earth was going on with Amazon prices like that. I always figured it was a software algorithm glitch. I can't believe people actually pay those inflated prices!

[Arcadia]

Or do outlets operate wholly independently from their main retailer?

Designers do have an outlet line and a non-outlet line. Some items at outlet has the label "made for outlet" or similar wording.

 

Bloomingdales Outlet and Nordstrom Rack does get things from Bloomingdales and Nordtrom respectively. Usually those are returns or overruns.

[Rachel]

Not specifically Vera Bradley, but I have a friend who bargain shops and then resells things on eBay. She shops at clearance center type places. Recently she found football jerseys for a university several states away. She worked out a deal with the store and bought 15 or some ridiculous number for $10 each then sold them on eBay for $25 which was significantly below retail. She's always finding things like that, I don't have the patience to seek out the deals but it's a good side income for her.

[Denise in IN]

With the Vera Bradley - they have a huge outlet sale in Indiana once a year.  I know people go there every year and buy up tons of stuff.  It is in our area, and you see VB at garage sales all over the place.  I always assume that at least some of the resellers get stuff from the sale.

[VaKim]

I knew somebody who had an ebay store. She would go to all the Thrift stores and Goodwill stores and pick up name brand stuff to resell. I have found many expensive, name brand things at those stores for myself. I just saw a Vera Bradley purse at our Goodwill for 3.50 last week. I didn't buy it because I don't know anybody who likes them and I don't care for the trouble of trying to sell stuff. 

[MercyA]

When a Hallmark store near me went out of business, I think they sold all of their VB inventory for 50% off. I always buy my Vera bags on eBay or in resale shops. I can't imagine paying full price.