Where do you guys get your items to sell?

[greenpeach1]

I am new to selling.  So far I have sold a fair amount of items from myself, friends, family.  But I read about these "power sellers". Where do you get your items to sell?  I have researched wholesale websites, but I am scared of being scammed.  You may not want to disclose your secrets, but thought I would ask.  

Kind regards.

[victorjunkman55]

yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, resale stores, flea markets, right here on Ebay, and so on......................

[nescreations]

Thrift stores and consignment stores are treasure troves! Find out when they have sales and you can do really well selling on EBay. Just make sure to check everything for rips, snags or stains before you purchase as returns are 9/10 not accepted. Good luck!

[femmefan1946]

I sell used paperbacks, vintage unused dress patterns and postcards on this ID and mint discount postage on another.

My sources include thrift stores, garage sales,church rummage sales, andphilatelic  estates.

However, if you plan to sell new items get off the internet. Find a copy of your local Yellow Pages. Pick a product you know something about (beauty supplies if you are a hairdresser, plumbing parts if you are a plumber).

Look in the phone book under Beauty Supplies- Wholesale.

Call all the manufacturers, liquidators, wholesalers and importers.

Ask about end of lines, seconds, returned merchandise.

Be prepared to supply a (state) tax registration number. Your wholesaler gets a rebate on the taxes he paid when he sells for resale. Actually if your supplier does not ask for that number, you are paying full retail.

Occasionally you will score a nice product at the dollar store.

Don't overlook liquidators. They buy huge quantities of random stuff daily. Visit regularly and let thestaff know what interests you. Don't bargain too hard. But do bargain.

The advantages are that you are seeing the merchandise you are planning to sell and the products are not being sold by 500 other eBayers.

[icon80s]

Thrift stores or your local salvation army . Everything is a dollar where im at.

[hvetjandi23]

Have you tried
http://www.liquidation.com/    ?

Kind regards,

Gudni

[greenpeach1]

Yes I actually did look at Liquidation.com.  But WOW, what in the world do you know what to buy?  I guess you have to research and find out what is selling the best.  Which I have not to be an easy task as well.  Thank you for your response.

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[reallynicestamps]

Sell what you know: Know what you sell.

If you are a hairdresser, sell beauty products. If you are a plumber, sell plumbing parts. If you have children (or grandchildren) sell clothing or toys or educational products.

If you have a hobby, sell from that hobby.

On this ID, I sell stamps and philatelic literature. I worked in a B&M stamp shop for a decade and know enough to know I know nothing. On another ID I sell Vintage SF books, because I have been reading SF since I was 8 and attending SF cons since 1970.

Sell what you know: Know what you sell.

Which also means: Don't dropship. Since you never see the item you are marketing and have no control over stock numbers or shipping practices, dropshipping is a disaster waiting to happen.

There are probably liquidation companies with real products within a few hours drive of your home. Start there.

[lovbugshop]

start at home things you do not use any more that are in good condition try selling them gently use items or friend and family may want you to sell for them   or thrift stores

[lovbugshop]

from family friends and thrift stores  

[lovbugshop]

yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, resale stores, flea markets

[tradexdev]

Hi,

What kind of product do you want to sell?

Do you ever think to get the items in China?

You may look for a guy to do the sourcing for you.

Thanks,

Kelvin

[reallynicestamps]

If you are selling items from an overseas manufacturer, do not offer them until you have them in hand and have inspected them.

Part of the inspection is to weed out the poorly described items. Blouses with wonky stitching, Thumb drives that have less space than advertised. Brand name products that turn out to be counterfeit.

This means that you will be spending money upfront, and many naive newbies think this is a problem. Sincerely, there are worse problems with "dropshipping" .

In addition to the quality problems mentioned above, your supplier may run out of stock (or may never have had stock to sell!), there may be delays in shipping (China closes down for more than a week over their New Year celebrations), and your buyer may be faced with import charges he did not expect.

Not to forget that your supplier has hundreds of sellers working for him, and competing with you.

[greenpeach1]

Hey there...

Not 100% sure I understand what you are saying.  Could you elaborate?

Thanks!

[greenpeach1]

I have not sold anything from overseas.  I actually don't know where to start on this one.  I hear so much about getting **bleep**pie items and I sure don't want to get stuck with these. 

So far I have had sucess in selling shoes, some clothing, vintage woodworking tools, vintage items of all kinds.  Really we don't sell any one particular item.  Just whatever we can get at a sale, auction, etc....

Thanks!