Vince used to lose an hour at every estate sale to "just one more search." He would stand by a shelf of glassware reading forum threads, comparing eight different sold listings, second-guessing whether the maker mark on the base was the early version or the reissue. By the time he made up his mind, the dealer who was decisive walked out the door with the pieces that mattered.
The fix was not better instincts—it was a script. Vince built a 60-second triage he runs at every sourcing stop, and his close rate on profitable items more than doubled because he stopped over-shopping. Here is the routine, the tabs, and the decision rules that make it stick.
Why 60 Seconds Is the Right Budget
Slow research feels safe but punishes you twice. First, you miss adjacent finds while you stare at one item. Second, you build emotional commitment—after 12 minutes of comp-hunting you talk yourself into a marginal buy because you "earned" the decision. A short, repeatable script keeps you cold and lets you walk away without sunk-cost guilt.
The goal is not perfect knowledge. The goal is enough signal to say buy / pass / flag for later with reasonable confidence. Items that need more than 60 seconds usually fall into "flag for later"—snap a photo, check at the truck, decide before leaving the parking lot.
The 60-Second Script
Vince's routine has four moves, each timed roughly:
| Step | Time | Action | Decision input |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Identify | ~10s | Brand + model / pattern + condition note | "What exactly is this?" |
| 2. Comps | ~25s | eBay sold filter, sort recent | Median sold price, last 90 days |
| 3. Velocity | ~15s | Count of sold comps in window | "Does this actually move?" |
| 4. Math | ~10s | Margin check at asking price | Buy / pass / flag |
Step 1: Identify (10 seconds)
Read the item—brand stamp, model number, pattern name, year clue. Vince photographs the maker mark first and the full item second. This habit ends the "wait, was that a Federal or Anchor Hocking?" memory lapse three aisles later.
Step 2: Comps (25 seconds)
Open eBay, search the exact phrase from the maker mark, apply the Sold listings filter, sort by Recently Ended. Skim the first ten results, ignoring obvious outliers. You are looking for a median, not a maximum—the dealer ceiling lies and the hopeful active listing lies harder.
For categories eBay does not cover well (handbags, designer apparel, certain collectibles), Vince keeps a short bookmarked alternative list: Worthpoint for archived estate-sale data, specific subreddit price-check threads, dedicated category apps for sneakers and watches.
Step 3: Velocity (15 seconds)
Count the sold comps in your window. A median of $80 means nothing if only two items have sold in 90 days—the next buyer might be three months away. Vince uses a rough heuristic: at least six sold comps in 90 days for general merchandise, ten or more for fashion. Anything thinner becomes a "flag" item.
Step 4: Math (10 seconds)
Apply your platform's rough fee burden in your head and compare to asking price. For Vince's main channel:
Buy if: asking price ≤ 33% of median sold (after estimated fees and shipping).
That ratio gives him a target net margin he is comfortable with for his velocity profile. Yours will differ. Pick a number and respect it.
Tabs and Shortcuts Worth Pre-Loading
- eBay app with the sold-listings filter saved.
- Camera roll with date-grouping on (so flagged items by stop are easy to revisit).
- One niche app per cluster you sell — for example a sneaker app for athletic, a bookscanner for paperbacks, a serial-number lookup for tools.
- A blank notes file for "flag for later" items, organized by stop.
When 60 Seconds Is Not Enough
Some categories deserve more time—but at the truck, not at the booth. Vince's "flag for later" rule covers:
- High-dollar single items over $200 asking, where one decision moves your week.
- Unfamiliar maker marks that might be either repro or rare original.
- Bundles where mixed-quality items require pricing each unit separately to model the bundle as a basket.
Move on, finish the floor, come back if the price still feels right. Some of Vince's best buys came from walking the room twice—the rush of the first pass dies down, and what is actually undervalued becomes obvious.
Vince's One Boring Habit That Made the Biggest Difference
He logs every "flag for later" item in a notes file with two columns: asking price and median sold. Once a quarter he reviews the file. The pattern is brutal—about a third of the items he flagged would have been clear buys. Half were clear passes. The remainder taught him where his script had blind spots.
Sourcing speed is not about confidence. It is about a script you trust enough that confidence stops being the bottleneck. Sixty seconds is enough when the steps are right.