Community Chat

[VegasBusinessWoman]

I'm surprised at some of the responses here.  The friend @Abrowneyegirl is talking about isn't doing anything illegal or immoral.  It's called "BUSINESS" and she is doing pretty much what many retailers do.  They bundle up and return their unsold, seasonal merch to their middlemen for credit against new their merch purchases, who then bundle them up and sell them to TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning and many other off-price retailers who routinely sell post-season merch.  If she has the time to do what she does, fine and dandy.  Believe me, big retailers aren't suffering THAT much, because they can adjust their return policies to suit their business model; they just like to complain, IMO.  I fail to see how the actions of a few individual street capitalists can meaningfully damage a retail giant.

This woman's financial condition has nothing to do with her desire to be a business woman.  In America, you are supposed to have the right to engage in free enterprise regardless of your relative wealth--or lack thereof--if you can find the means to do so. 

[handygal2]

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@50Mickey wrote:

This is what I don't understand. If she sells the items as "New with Tags" she would have to remove the tags before sending them to the buyer so that they don't see the original price. And that's a little sneaky.  Or I guess she could sell them "new without tags." I always wondered why seller would have new items that had no tags. Now I see they are misleading buyers to think they are getting an item at a bargain while marking the price up.  I don't know if I would call this immoral but maybe unethical. It seems dishonest to me. But what do I know? This would not appeal to me in the least as a way to make money.  

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@50Mickey : Some of the items l buy on eBay that are “New With Tags” have the price blacked out, or cut off from the bottom of the tag. Who knows whether the items were purchased that way, or if the seller altered the tags.

[Cakers3]

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@CAcableGirl2 wrote:

All those returns will catch up with her and the stores will stop taking her returns. 

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@CAcableGirl2   I agree.

I'm also looking at some other points about this:

TJ Maxx (at least near me) and even Marshall's back home never had one thing I wanted to buy.  I always found their items poor quality.

So her mark-up cannot be enough to really warrant what her net profit may be; between gas, time travelling and time posting plus the fees she pays as a vendor, shipping, etc.-it seems a hobby more than a business for profit.

Also does she pay her fair share of taxes where taxes are imposed?

She is free to do as she sees fit.  I do have to admit I don't like the idea of people scooping up mark-down clothing to make a profit since many people depend upon discount stores for their own purchases.

Especially since she doesn't need the money.

Whatever.  It's still her choice and right to do so.  I wouldn't label it immoral, either.  Just not something I would do, myself.

[blackhole99]

You would think the stores she purchases from and returns this stuff to would catch on and come up with a reason not to accept her returns or not sell her large quantities of stuff in the first place. I don't think what she is doing is illegal, but morally it's a stretch. I think there are people, especially those who have never had to struggle for anything, just don't get it.

[GenXmuse]

I would be so embarrassed returning armload of merchandise like that. They'll likely flag her and she won't be able to do returns anymore. 

As an eBay seller, the prices at these stores are hard to turn a profit on unless you know what you're doing and buying at rock bottom prices. She's likely just spinning her wheels. Maybe she'll figure this out on her own. 

[chrystaltree]

I think it's an incredibly smart business move.  I'm sure she isn't the only one who does it and I don't see a problem with it at all.  So what if she returns stuff to stores?  People return things for variety of reasons; from fit issues to they just changed their minds.  When we buy something, it OURS and we can do anything we want with it.  She chooses to re-sell it.  ShopLC actually encourages people to re-sell their jewelry.  And I have considered doing that.  I don't why you think there is something wrong with what she is doing.  The stores she purchasing from wouldn't have a problem with it.  They got their money and it looks like she spends a lot and is a great customer.  I've never seen Poshmark, just the commercials.  I thought Poshmark was about expensive, upscale, designer things.  Not the level of Chicos.

[AuntG]

Not illegal, not immoral, but this isn't someone I'd want as a friend. What she's doing seems more like a scheme than a job.

[sunshine45]

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@LoveMyBaby wrote:

Don't see a problem with it at all. Thousands of ebay sellers do this very exact thing. Its a lot of work, shes working for that profit. 

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@LoveMyBaby 

i used to see a lot of women at the qvc outlet in rehoboth beach doing the exact same things. they were especially interested in the jewelry. the sales people used to tell me they saw the same people each week. the customers pretty much knew the truck delivery schedule. they would be there to purchase the jewelry and then resell it on ebay, etsy, facebook, and other online platforms. they did it with other items also (like dooney handbags.)

[suzyQ3]

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@San Antonio Gal wrote:

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@smb3 wrote:

Like my dear father used to say, greed is a terrible thing...

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Or on the flip side, Gordon Gecko (aka Michael Douglas) said "Greed is good".

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And it's amazing, @San Antonio Gal, that many viewers actually agreed with that line, when it was supposed to be an indictment of that worldview.