What are your recent worst buys and mistakes?

[DirtyHowi]

I am.

Were you the person posting about TN on the CSF forum?

My goodness, it is a small world!

i try not to cross pollute forums i belong to so probably not .

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[gino22]

Almost all of my womens clothing purchases have been disasters. I never spend more than $15 on a clothing item unless it's an absolutely foolproof buy, so no big loss, but I'll never stop feeling violated by the particularly cutthroat nature of womens clothing returns. Every couple months I'll see a deal "too good" to pass up in the womens dept, then kick myself when I see "RETURN STARTED" 13 days after the sale. Then they sit for weeks and generally sell for less.

I also had mint pairs of Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo women's shoes representing about $100 total investment that simply would not sell, ended up giving them away a few months later. They were admittedly ugly, but still, thought the condition and brands would be worth something.

Then I had a destroyed (as in, torn to pieces) pair of Chanel sandals that sold for over $100. Buyer left me positive feedback and seems to have been satisfied.

It's just not a market I'll ever understand.

 

[Baltimore]

Almost all of my womens clothing purchases have been disasters. I never spend more than $15 on a clothing item unless it's an absolutely foolproof buy, so no big loss, but I'll never stop feeling violated by the particularly cutthroat nature of womens clothing returns. Every couple months I'll see a deal "too good" to pass up in the womens dept, then kick myself when I see "RETURN STARTED" 13 days after the sale. Then they sit for weeks and generally sell for less.

I also had mint pairs of Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo women's shoes representing about $100 total investment that simply would not sell, ended up giving them away a few months later. They were admittedly ugly, but still, thought the condition and brands would be worth something.

Then I had a destroyed (as in, torn to pieces) pair of Chanel sandals that sold for over $100. Buyer left me positive feedback and seems to have been satisfied.

It's just not a market I'll ever understand.

Aint that the truth. I love men's stuff and unisex stuff (like outerwear, t-shirts, etc) because, as a male, I know that most guys like a few particular brands, don't mind used stuff or minor flaws, and don't change their style very often so things stay relevant for a long time. Women't fashion, on the other hand, apparently changes by the day and for the life of me I can't figure it out. I've done the same thing, bought stuff by brands I thought for sure would sell, only to have to essentially give them away. The returns are awful too, I guess guys just know exactly what works for them.

I actually sell a lot of clothing to women on etsy, probably more than men actually, but since they're buying stuff like vintage denim jackets and trucker hats I figure they know what they're getting and size isn't really an issue.

 

[clovis97]

Were are you, clovis? We don't really have auctions here. The few I've seen, the prices were outragious.

Auctions, generally speaking, are one of the best ways to buy in our area.

I use the old business/sales adage of 10:3:1.

Of 10 of the auctions that I attend, 3 will be really good, and 1 will be spectacular. Generally speaking, again, there is almost a good deal at every auction. You just gotta know what that deal is.

Now, with all of that said, the 10:3:1 rule can work the other way too. Out of 10 auctions, 3 of them will have above average prices, and 1 auction will be outlandish.

I could tell some tales about outlandish auctions that I've attended over the years. I went to a Ford components plant that had closed, and they were selling off all the contents. This was a three day auction. Seems that they offered 2400 lots each day. Prices were absolutely absurd. Stuff was selling at the auction for 2X what I thought I could sell it for at the flea market. Roll-around tool box carts? I thought I could sell them for $85 each. They had over 125 of them at the auction, so I figured if I could buy 8 of them for $40 to $50 each, I could clear $280 +/- for the day's work. Those boxes sold for $150 to $160 each at the auction, and one company out of CT bought 90% of them.

I also went to the CART (IndyCar) auction when they closed their doors. You literally could have gone to a store and bought stuff for less money than what you would have paid at that auction. TOTALLY OUTLANDISH!!!

 

[clovis97]

Almost all of my womens clothing purchases have been disasters. I never spend more than $15 on a clothing item unless it's an absolutely foolproof buy, so no big loss, but I'll never stop feeling violated by the particularly cutthroat nature of womens clothing returns. Every couple months I'll see a deal "too good" to pass up in the womens dept, then kick myself when I see "RETURN STARTED" 13 days after the sale. Then they sit for weeks and generally sell for less.

I don't get it either.

We've almost sworn off women's clothes too. There was a short period of time when we were doing okay with jeans. We only sold a handful of jeans...and haven't been able to sell another pair in years. I'm guessing that we just got lucky.

Then again, we have almost quit selling all clothes on ebay too. There are just too many nit-pickers out there. We always make a practice of using a magnifying glass to cover EVERY inch of the garment, checking for defects...and still have the nit-pickers.

 

[gino22]

I stopped actively looking at women's stuff after I sold a used Louis Vuitton skirt (the type worn by employees of the LV stores, this was clearly described in the listing and auction title) for $20. Buyer paid, then immediately sent a message addressing me by my legal name accusing me of selling a fake item, and to please refer to her PurseBlog inquiry on the matter. She then supplied a link to the Purseblog post where my item's authenticity was questioned, and someone replied with the word "fake" with reference to my item.

A special tribunal had been organized to question the authenticity of a $20 used pencil skirt.

My reputation was on the line - both my eBay business and myself as an individual - over a $20 used pencil skirt.

A $20 used pencil skirt that the buyer hadn't even received yet.

I clarified once again that the item was made for LV employees in my response, to which she replied there had been a misunderstanding and would wait for the item to arrive. Never heard from her again.

I backchecked the name and address I mailed to, expecting to find a meth lab or something. Nope -- an attorney residing in a high-six-figure home, hustling and bustling over a $20 USED pencil skirt.

Never again.

 

[mugsisme]

My mistakes ... Oiy! I made a ton. Remember that butt ugly horrible disgusting men's ring I bought for $379? The one that was only worth about $300 spot? I finally sold that and I think I made maybe $20, after it sitting here for 6 months.
I bought an expensive piece of jewelry marked 14K. It's not. :-( That was upsetting.
The "sure deals" I bought, thinking I would make a fortune, and then they sit and sit and sit. The 18K cameo that I paid $130 finally sold after forever for $200something (I can't remember how much).

The best is from two weeks ago ... I was at a new store (new to me), and I saw 2 gold chains. Marked 10K gold. Nice, heavy chains. Well, they were sitting there for months. First red flag. If someone doesn't snap it up, gotta be a reason. I was too embarrassed to pull out my loop. I knew there was writing on the clasp. I figured it was just saying 10k. I paid $15 for one and $27 for the other. Get home, and find out they are both plated. Look on the receipt, and it says, Gold necklace and Gold filled bracelet. GRRR! I called the store back. I was going to return them for a store credit (or at least try to get one), but it's been two weeks and the store is too far for me to go ... so I just ate it. Anyone want some junk jewelry

Let's not talk about the two worst jars I ever bought ... the one that was $200 and had two nice pieces in it. Not gold, just rhinestone vintage pieces. Or the $100 one with nothing but broken jewelry that is not sellable at all and single earrings. Those both came from the same store, and I decided not to go there anymore.

 

[clovis97]

I almost had another bad buy this year. It was only $60, but I tell you, I was disappointed.

I went to the estate of a guy who supposedly was a McGyver type welding wizard. Under the tables, there were totes full of new welding rod.

I was sure that the welding rod was going to sell well, and that I was going to make a small fortune on it.

Once I got home, I sorted out the bad stuff, and scrapped it. Then I started going through the totes, and found that it was all older stock, much of it from the 1980's.

The common stuff for repairing steel or iron sold really quick. I thought that my fortune was in the specialty rod for weird alloys. Wrong!!!!

The welding guys want fresh stock. They also want to know what the numbers of the rod are, and without good packaging or someone at a counter telling them to use a certain type of rod for a special application, most are clueless. As well, it isn't every day that a welder needs to weld aluminum to high content nickel steel, underwater, LOL.

I cleared my money on it, but not much. What a disappointment!!! I thought I was looking at a $500 profit, at minimum! I was able to sell the plastic totes for $5 each to help clear on the deal.

It was a TON of work, and a big headache to clear $25. Welding rod is heavy, especially in large quantities!

 

[mugsisme]

The ugly ring is coming back. She said it didn't fit and wasn't pretty. :-(
It's going in the safe deposit box and when gold goes back up I'll scrap it. Or use it to make something pretty for myself!

 

[Beachkid23]

The ugly ring is coming back. She said it didn't fit and wasn't pretty. :-( It's going in the safe deposit box and when gold goes back up I'll scrap it. Or use it to make something pretty for myself!

I hate that!!! I sold one for $1000. It came back! Had an offer for $230 but never more. It's put away now. I only paid $5 but don't want to give it away either.

 

[OldSowBreath]

Although it didn't cost me much, I purchased a heart defibrillator from a warehouse sale. Think it was $5.00. Vintage '70's; one of those things with the long paddles, where everyone in the OR would yell "Clear!" and rush back and the patient would fly up off the table like Bruno Hauptmann on a bad day. I had it at the office and everyone was afraid to even plug it in it was so damn evil looking (but cool). I thought at least I could sell it to some Third World County, or for parts, or as a Hollywood movie prop, but WRONG. You have to have an FDA license to sell it, and it can only be sold to some entity with an FDA license. So I destroyed it so it couldn't hurt anyone and deep-sixed it. I'm now leery of all medical devices.

 

[dumpsterdiver]

Many of mine went back to the goodwill today. Some of the items I've seen other people sell but mine just sat there. I think my bigger mistakes didn't cost so much but took up way too much space. Go to the auction $5 of glass in box, nobody bids, adds two more boxes. I figured 2 boxes of glass and a 1 box of some weird japanese china pattern would be worth $5. Honestly it just took up too much space. I have to be more selective about what I buy now. But you live and learn.