My nephew makes a living doing this and does okay. I think I d enjoy doing this too if I didn t need my day job.He goes to a bunch of garage sales and estate sales, with his trailer, looking for bargains. This takes a practiced eye and early on he ended up buying a lot of junk he couldn t move. Just a cost of the education. He also goes to mini-storage auctions to buy the contents of units that people have abandoned or not paid the rent. Again, a ton of unusable stuff but he has hit some big winners to make up for it.Things he can t sell on eBay for enough to make up for the fees and shipping hassles he will put on Craigslist. If they don t sell there in a reasonble time, he gives them away on Freecycle. Whatever is left he hauls to the dump.His philosopy is to not hold on to something too long. If he can t make a quick profit, he tries to break even or take just a very small loss to get rid of it. Freecycling lets him get the unsold stuff to people who could use it.What he has done lately is go to some pawn shops and make notes of items and prices. He then researches completed auctions on eBay for similar items to see what they are going for. If he senses he can make a profit, he ll go back to the pawn shop and bargain for the item, then go sell it.There are companies that will sell you cheap imported stuff at a discount that you can then sell on eBay, but you are competing with a lot of other people doing the same thing. My nephew loves the wheeling and dealing locally, meeting people while doing this, and he has found some super deals like this. We refer to him as Fred Sanford now and then.
Hi, there is always stuff at home to sell - music, books, DVDS, clothes, shoes, linen, anything. Instead of buying on ebay to resell on Ebay, why don t you hit your local garage sales (very early on Sat. mornings - check your Sat. paper) and op shops for items that you will get cheap and sell for a profit. Also do your homework and check out what other people are selling on Ebay and how much interest there is in certain itmes/ what they sold for, etc. You could also ask your Aunties, neighbours, etc if you can take unwanted goods off their hands.
Take a look at the snowboard market.Buy them on craigslist and really low-ball the seller. Usually they are trying to dump it quickly for some cash, so if they ask $70 and you offer $35-$40, they might take it.If they do, put it up on ebay for $70-$100easily get a 250% return on investment (ROI), but you need to have negotiating experience (or skill)
I m going through the same dilema , I found this should answer all your questions , an ebay money guide written by a new powerseller .Cheers http://ebayshortcut.blogspot.com
