7 Thrift Finds That Sell Fastest on eBay (I Checked 16)

If you resell, the worst buy isn't the one you overpaid for. It's the one that sits. So I pulled real eBay counts on sixteen thrift-store regulars: how many sold, and how many are still listed. Number one sold almost six for every one listed. And a boot that sold over two thousand times in three months is actually one of the slow ones. So today: the seven fastest sellers I found, the popular stuff that's quietly slow, and how to check any item yourself in thirty seconds. Let's jump right into it.

So here's the check. Search the item on eBay, and turn on Sold items. I also tick Used and US Only. Write down the number of results. Now turn Sold off and keep the same filters. That's how many are listed right now. Then just compare the two. Here's a North Face Denali fleece. Over twenty-two hundred sold. Sounds great. But over ninety-five hundred are listed. That's about one sold for every four listed. Two things to know. eBay's sold results only go back about ninety days; eBay says that in its own help pages. And when the count says twenty-two hundred plus, eBay is rounding. So this is a rough guide, not a precise number. eBay's free Terapeak tool in Seller Hub shows its own sell-through rate, and I couldn't find where eBay explains that math, so don't expect it to match. Every count here was taken November first, same filters, and every price is a real eBay sold listing. Of my sixteen, Toshiba DVD-VCR combos and Red Wing boots also sold fast, but they were in a recent video, and the Ninja Creami's count was mixed up with accessories, so they're off this list.

Number seven: the Canon AE-1 Program. Nine hundred and nine sold, and over thirteen hundred listed. So about seven sold for every ten listed. Canon brought it out in April nineteen eighty-one. Look for the word Program in the name: the plain AE-1 is the older camera. Most with the fifty millimeter lens sold for about eighty to two hundred dollars. This one, with a fifty millimeter f one point four lens and extras, sold October twenty-eighth for one sixty-nine ninety-nine. But an untested one went to auction and sold for fifty-one dollars, with nineteen bids. So put a battery in it before you list it. And listen when you fire it: a squeal from the mirror mechanism means it needs a service.

Quick thing before we keep going. If you've got a pile of stuff waiting to be listed, that's exactly why I built EasyFlip. Snap a few photos and it writes the whole eBay listing for you: title, description, item specifics, the category, even a price. You check it, tap publish, done. Link's down below.

Number six: LEGO Star Wars sets. Over forty-nine hundred used sets sold, with over sixty-six hundred listed. About three sold for every four listed. Star Wars was LEGO's first licensed theme, back in nineteen ninety-nine. Typical used sets sold for about twenty-five to eighty-four dollars. A Millennium Falcon, complete with the box, sold October thirty-first for a hundred dollars. And a big retired Death Star, with the manual and minifigures, sold the same day for six twenty-five. That's the headline, not the normal. The set number is on the box and the instructions, and make sure the minifigures are there: the complete sets are the ones that got paid. Number five: the Cricut Maker. Two hundred ninety-four sold, three hundred forty-four listed. A few more listed than sold: about six sold for every seven listed. The original Maker came out in twenty seventeen, model C-X-P-L three-oh-one. Used originals sold for about fifty to a hundred thirty in the last couple of weeks, and auctions went lower. One with the power adapter sold October twenty-seventh for one twenty-nine ninety-nine. The newer Maker 3 got a hundred sixty and two hundred. So check for the power cord and the blade before you buy. Number four: Bose QuietComfort thirty-five two headphones. Five hundred eighty-four sold, four hundred seventy-eight listed. More sold than listed. These came out in twenty seventeen, with a button for the Google Assistant. Typical used pairs sold for about fifty to ninety-nine dollars. A silver pair sold October thirtieth for ninety-nine ninety-nine, and a pair with the case got a hundred twenty-five. And Bose itself warns that fakes copy real serial numbers, so a serial number alone doesn't prove a pair is real. Test them, and if anything feels off, pass.

Number three: the Canon fifty millimeter f one point eight lens, the one people call the nifty fifty. Over fourteen hundred sold, four hundred ninety-nine listed. Almost three sold for every one listed. Typical used ones sold for about sixty-eight to ninety-four dollars. There are three versions. The original, from nineteen eighty-seven, has a metal mount. The two, from around nineteen ninety, has a plastic mount, and it sold for less in what I found: one sold October thirty-first for seventy-three ninety-nine. The S-T-M, from twenty fifteen, brought the most: one with its caps sold November first for ninety-five. Number two: Garmin Forerunner running watches. Over twenty-five hundred sold, seven hundred sixty-six listed. More than three to one. The first Forerunners came out in two thousand three, and there have been a lot of them since, so the model number is everything. An old Forerunner two thirty-five sold October thirty-first for seventy dollars. A one sixty-five got one forty-four. And a nine seventy sold the same day for five fifty-five. Garmin watches use Garmin's own charging cables, so grab it if it's there. If the battery's dead, you can't test the watch without one. And number one: the Kindle Paperwhite. Over twenty-nine hundred sold. Five hundred and one listed. Almost six sold for every one listed. If nobody listed another one, at that pace the whole pile would be gone in about two weeks. Typical used ones sold for about thirty-five to ninety-five. But the generation sets the price. A sixth generation sold October thirty-first for thirty-four ninety-nine. An eleventh generation got seventy-seven ninety-nine. A twelfth generation, from twenty twenty-four, got a hundred dollars, same day. To see which one you've got, go to Device Options, then Device Info. And do a factory reset before you list it; that's what Amazon recommends before you sell one.

Now, the slow ones. Remember the boot? Dr. Martens fourteen-sixties. Over twenty-two hundred sold in the last three months. Sounds hot. But over seventy-seven hundred are listed: about three and a half for every one that sold. Typical used pairs sold for thirty-two to sixty-five dollars. A vintage Made in England pair did better: one sold October thirty-first for ninety-nine ninety-nine. That's one sale, but it's why you check the label. And in twenty seventeen, some vegan cherry red fourteen-sixties made in Vietnam were recalled. The C-P-S-C says it's illegal to sell a recalled product, so check the recall list at C-P-S-C dot gov. Then there's the shelf that never empties. Precious Moments figurines: over ten thousand sold, but over eighty-six thousand listed. Hummels: over seventy-one hundred sold, over fifty-five thousand listed. Longaberger baskets: over eleven thousand sold, and that count even includes lids and liners, against over fifty-three thousand listed. At that pace, the Precious Moments listed right now are about two years of sales. Nothing wrong with them. They're lovely, and people do buy them, typically for about ten to thirty dollars. Just know you're joining a very long line. If you're reselling, look for the scarce ones, like a Hummel club piece that sold October thirty-first for a hundred dollars.

So what do the fast ones have in common? Here's what I notice. They do a job: reading, running, taking pictures, cutting vinyl, blocking noise, building. People search for them by the exact model. And the model decides the price. So check the model, the charger and the parts before you buy. So, the recap. Seven: the AE-1 Program. Six: LEGO Star Wars. Five: the Cricut Maker. Four: the Bose QC thirty-five two. Three: the nifty fifty. Two: the Garmin Forerunner. And number one: the Kindle Paperwhite. And before you buy anything to resell, do the thirty-second check: sold, then listed. So, what's the fastest flip you've ever had, from the shelf to sold? Drop it in the comments. And if this one was useful, a like is the best way to get it to more resellers. Have a blessed day.