HOW EASY IS IT FOR YOU TO FIND THINGS TO SELL?

[getitright1234]

How easy is it for you to find things to sell?  Is it easy because you have a great wholeseller or you just know where to look for these random treasures?  

[divwido]

It's really easy if you know what you want to sell and what you don't.

[castlemagicmemories]

Many hunt for bargains on Ebay, then turn around and flip them. Re-sellers.

[ads*and*ends]

Research many, many, many types of items. Never stop.

[yuzuha]

I work B&M retail so I have a pretty good idea of what's currently "hot"/trending.  I find I can guess what will sell pretty decently just based on what I see customers buying at work.

[juststuffisell]

Knowing what I want to buyer and sell is easy. Finding the stuff I want to buy and sell takes a ton of time. A lot more than one might things. Lots of auctions you have to sit through just to get to the items you want to try and purchase. Stinkers when you spend 3 hours and the bits go for more that you can sell them for so you leave with nothing.

Cheers

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

For me? TOO easy. That's why I have so much stuff I need to get listed.

[duncanvr]

I get specialised agents to find stuff in my niche for me to list so I don't have to source.

[coolections]

Not easy at all but then again I am part time. With the items I sell I would not be able to find enough for full time unless I spent days searching. The biggest reason is because I only sell things that people want or need. Rarely do I list something that does not sell. The biggest reason is I buy low enough to afford to have prices in which people are willing to pay. Most sellers having the same thing as I list let their items sit for months and some even years. They only want top dollar and very few buyers would ever pay what they are asking price. Not sure if it is greed or they just do not know how to buy low enough to get things out the door.

[escuintla]

I got into a big trouble since my pat rack adventure took off 9 years ago when I collected so much stuff that I haven't had time to go through them all. 

You will learn down the road what to look for. Basically you start with a niche. Shoes, clothing, CDs, DVDs, etc. But when you get to perfect that detective nose, you will find out that the items you put away from an item you were trying to buy to resell are worth more than what you thought, or you didn't even notice they existed. 

My adventure started with VHS cassettes. I would go only, and only for VHS cassettes. Eventually I got a hold of a good skill to search for DVDs, then CDs, then this, then that, and any time I learned a new thing I could buy, the former things got buried in my garage. 

So, now, with my detective nose, I go the flea market, and in 5 minutes I can pick up anything I can get a $1 profit. But I have learned to buy small items with lots of profits, or lots of small items with small profit that added up will give me a good return of my money.  

For example, yesterday, I was glancing around when I saw this nice CD box and I noticed one name on 30 CDs. Jethro Tull. Actually, there were 32, but 2 from another singer. 

Yarn is another thing. Angora is hot to sell. 

I get away from heavy items unless they are a bargain and I can get $60+ profit. Otherwise I don't care. 

My best catch ever, a set of 5 posters from a local rock band from the 60s. I couldn't wait for the end of the bidding, so I accepted a $2,000 offer for something I paid a few $100s

I don't get into gold and silver. Last time I bought a lot at the flea market I got burned for $240. The coins were made in China. 

Clothing? Nah! Barely. 

Stamps? I used to buy them by the bunches, no more available anywhere. I sold many years ago almost the entire PRC (China) revolution stamps, except for a lady and a monkey and other couple of items. I wasn't selling on Ebay then, but I attended an auction house where I could hear this couple mentioning Ebay for selling, for what I was using for buying. I gave it away for $4K. A $200-$300K lot. 

I can go and on, and on. You will get there, just be curious. 

[jennieaa]

I started this adventure when DH decided it was time to stop collecting china (100+ copier paper boxes in storage) and start collecting green paper.  I started selling in an antique mall - sales were good.  Then eBay came along and that was the end of the antique mall - eBay's rent was cheaper.

I started sourcing at auctions.  Mostly box lots.  Probably went to one once a week.

Then we moved and 90 percent or more went to auction.

I started going to auctions - most of them were on-site and included the property.  The market has changed, now those auctions are not as common.  Estate / Moving sales have pretty much taken their place.

I now work for an estate sale company.  With my staff discount, I have been able to get some great deals.   My garage looks like a hoarder lives here.  I figure if I quit work, and list on eBay full time, I have a year or two of inventory to work thru before I have to source again. 

I have always done collectibles.  I have stayed away from clothes, electronics and generally new stuff but that's just my choice.  Sell what you have an affection or interest in - but you have to have the mindset 'I bought this to sell, not to keep'.

[robot-hands]

I rotate my sources and have 1000s of things I'll pick so there is almost never a time I stroll in that I don't stroll out with something good....and by good I maen tripling out to me is considered a failure.

Some of my sources try to get cute from time to time and start pricing me out of certain items....so I just switch to different stuff and let them hold the bag on the others and come back during a sale. Woulda made more money just selling to me at the regular price...it never works, I don't know why they keep doing it.

Don't compete against someone you are most likely going to lose against. It's not woth the effort. Carve out your own niche and defend it.

[lja440]

No trouble here. 

I frerquent two local weekly auctions (not every week). They both post pictures of some of the items they will be selling on a site called auctionzip. You can set up a seach for your local auctions in a mile radious that you are comfortable with.

I buy record lots here on eBay also but am currently selling records in 2 B&M's In the summer garage sales are a good bet for finding name brand clothing items for cheep which I can sell on eBay. Our area has a big yearly Hospice Fundraiser sale. One of the buildings is nothing but heaps of clothing on tables. This year I bought nearly 600 albums ($1 each) and probably 50 pairs of jeans with name brands such as Lucky, Levi's and such for $5 a bag. 

Whatever you choose to sell also consider your packing and shipping.  I found a Darkside of the Moon album in my haul (purchase price $1) sold it for $45, if I sold it here I would have less than $5 in shipping. I also picked up a retro stereo ($10) tag said radio and CD works but turntable broken. Actually the belt came off the drive, 2 minutes to fix. I sold it for $75 at the B&M but it would have been expensive to ship.

[dhbookds]

The more you KNOW about what sells well, the easier it is to find stuff.

Bought a box of plates, Church/State/attractions, for $1.......12-15 I think,  Turned them over for $10-15 and leaned alot........

[18704d]

It's very very easy for us to find items to sell on eBay.

We've been collecting rare, odd items for decades and

we've owned the house we live in for twenty years.

That means I could do a fulltime job just with the items we already possess.

And we have a very good business network.

I've said before on this board, business friends are a very valuable thing.

We know many fellow 'pickers'.   Some of them have been in business decades longer than us.

We know people who have antique mall booths, who own antique malls, who own thrift stores, who sell in flea markets, etc.

They always have stuff they're trying to get rid of. 

And no one.. can know everything about everything so we can still get great deals from them.

I'm also able to get stock from stores that are going out of business, or professionals who are retiring and getting out of the trade.

Business friends.   It can be easy to make them.

Give them some of your overflow for the same pennies you paid for it.

They will return the favor.

Thanks,

Lynn