We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda Carver a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you on your business.
It was a normal day at my local Goodwill and I found this gorgeous leather bag. I immediately threw it in my cart and moved away from the “scene of the crime.” I joke about that, but that’s kinda how you feel when you find something awesome at the thrift store. Like, score!! And also, am I doing something criminal here? Anyways, I brought the bag home and my little girls were playing with it when something shinny fell out of a pocket onto the floor. I came closer to realize it looked a lot like a piece of fake costume jewelry. It was very bright gold and had an Asian style charm dangling off it. I assumed immediately that it was fake and threw it in the junk drawer in my kitchen. A few days later I posted the bag for sale. I was standing with the new buyer as she was looking through the bag and amazingly she came upon more gold, a thick mens gold ring was tucked tight into a pocket. And of course, we all freaked out. What is up with this bag?! We then quickly checked all the other pockets. Empty. Apparently this bag only was offering us two gold items.
After finding the ring I called the thrift store where I found the bag to make sure no one had called for their missing items. The store assured me the items in the bag were now mine, as no one had called for them and they had technically been donated with the bag. Eventually I took both items to have them appraised to learn the necklace was pure gold and the ring was 14 carrot gold and at the time (7 years ago) If I gave both to the jeweler to melt down they would pay me $1900. I could not believe it. Since that time, I have found a wad of $250 stuffed into some tennis shoes, a single diamond stud earring and lots of hairbands and receipts in pockets of all kinds, but by far this golden find is my is one for the ages!
Amanda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Thrifting is my passion. Each time I “go to work” (enter a thrift store) I am thrilled and excited. This is not a sensation all people feel. Many are overwhelmed, or disinterested in second hand shopping, but still love a good deal, and that is where I come in. People who shop with me get deeply discounted second hand items delivered to their door and they don’t have to sort and search for the awesome name brands. I do that for them and I love every second of it! As my shop has grown I began specializing in certain brands. I sell a lot of Lululemon, Anthropologie, Madewell and lots of designer denim. For instance, I will sell a pair of $225 jeans currently available at Neiman Marcus for as low as $39. I also sell Channel and Gucci and Burberry when I find those brands too. I love passing amazing deals on to my customers, so I work hard to keep my prices palatable, even for the thrifty crowd!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When COVID hit and the thrift stores were closed for almost two months, I had no idea how I was going to obtain product to sell. At the start of the shutdown I had maybe two weeks of items left to sell. As with most businesses at the time, we had to pivot. I put a call out to all my buyers, locally and nationwide to send me items for consignment. I would only take in certain brands, but then I would sell their clothes and split the profits with the seller, like a typical consignment store would do. It worked amazingly. This was coming at a time when many people were at home cleaning out closets (due to the lock down) so people said the timing was great to “get rid of clothes.” This took my business through the lock down until stores reopened!
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
What is amazing about this type of business, is it did not take much financial investment to get started. I started with maybe $500 in thrifted product, and off I went. Since I was already thrift shopping for my family, I knew the prices of the items and and knew I could potentially resell a blouse that cost $4.99 for $29.00. I hoped that if I could sell quite a few $4.99 blouses, we could be on our way to something pretty cool! And we were!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.curatedgoods.store
- Instagram: @__curatedgoods__
Image Credits
Vanessa Cote Photography