BOLO stands for "Be On the Look Out" and refers to brands or items that have strong resale value. BOLO brands are generally lesser known and harder to come by when sourcing, but can sell quickly and for a high price, making them desirable finds for resellers. Brands and items can fall in and out of BOLO status as trends change. A brand that is a strong seller one year can become undesirable the next, while a seemingly mundane brand can rise in popularity.
A bread and butter is a brand that is generally well known, easily sourced, and has acceptable sell-through rates and resale prices. While less exciting than BOLOs, bread and butter brands usually make up the bulk of a successful reseller's inventory, as they can create reliable, consistent sales.
Sell-through rate (or STR) is a measure of how quickly a brand sells by comparing the number of items currently listed on a selling platform to the number that has been recently sold. For example, if there are currently 20,000 Aeropostale items listed on eBay, and 8,000 Aeropostale items were sold in the past 90 days, then it would have a 40% sell-through rate.
A good sell-through rate is aim for is 50%, but it's okay to go lower than this for items that have a large expected profit and/or you are willing to wait longer for it to sell. Brands with a sell-through rate approaching or even exceeding 100% would be considered extremely desirable. It's also worth looking at the number of items listed and sold, as an item with only 2 listed and 3 sold would generally not be considered a good pickup despite its 150% STR.
A death pile is a large stock of unlisted inventory that a reseller has accumulated. This generally happens when a reseller focuses on sourcing, but becomes too lazy to actually list the items for sale.
A long-tail (or long-tailed) item is an item that has high earning potential, but is expected to take longer to sell due to price, desirability, seasonality, and/or falling into a niche interest.
Thrift stores are the most common places resellers rely on for sourcing. Some well-known thrift store chains include Goodwill, The Salvation Army, Savers, Value Village and American Thrift. Garage sales, yard sales, flea markets, and estate sales can also be used for sourcing.
Retail arbitrage is the practice of buying new products at a discount from retail stores, usually during sales and clearances, and then reselling them for profit. Popular stores for retail arbitrage include Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, and Walmart. Retail arbitrage is generally considered unreliable for sourcing, but depending on your local stores, it may be used to supplement your other sourcing methods.
The Goodwill bins (or simply "the bins") is a nickname for Goodwill Outlet stores. It refers to the way these stores place their items into large bins rather than using racks or shelves. Unlike regular Goodwill thrift stores, items at the bins are sold by the pound, which makes their prices comparably lower. On the flip side, because the inventory comes from unsold and unacceptable items at regional Goodwill thrift stores, the items sold at the bins tend to be of lower value and quality. The stores are also known to be dirty and hectic. Some resellers are attracted to the bins due to the low prices and the "thrill of the hunt," while others avoid them entirely. There are about 160 Goodwill Outlet locations across the US.
Bin stores (unrelated to the Goodwill bins) are retail stores that sell overstocked and returned items from major retailers (typically Amazon or Target) at a discount. Items are sorted into bins (hence the name) and are all sold for the same price regardless of its original value. Bin stores run on a weekly schedule, with the price decreasing each day until it reaches the day of the week used for restocking. For example, a bin store could price all items at $10 each on Friday, $8 on Saturday, $7 on Sunday, $5 on Monday, $3 on Tuesday, $1 on Wednesday, and close to restock on Thursday. Bin stores are generally not good for sourcing, since many items are from generic or no-name brands, and can often be in poor condition. Additionally, by the time the price is low enough to consider, much of the inventory has already been picked through.