This series is brought to you by Kimberly from Homemaking Expert. Kimberly is a stay-at-home mom who uses eBay to supplement her family’s income while her husband finishes college. She writes at Homemaking Expert about cleaning, cooking, budgeting and all other things related to making a house a home.
We are going to talk in this post about where to find inventory to resell on eBay. Like I mentioned in both previous posts, the best place to start is in your own home. Look for stuff that you’ve been thinking of getting rid of and get them listed! There is no risk since you already own them. You can check out a list of personal items that I’ve successfully sold in the “What to Sell” post from yesterday. Other than your own home here are places to look:
1. Thrift Stores
I probably get 80% of my resell items at local thrift stores. I check first the “collectibles” area or the cases where they keep the more expensive items and then scour the store for vintage finds or other things that have a good selling record on eBay.
Make sure to find out the sale dates and details of your local thrift store. For example, Savers has a specific color tag each week that is 50% off and the following Monday that color is $.99! Most thrift stores have similar sales to move inventory off their shelves. It’s a great way to keep your overhead low!
2. Garage Sales
Garage sales are one of the best places to find inventory. It takes a bit more time because you are driving around different sales as opposed to thrift stores that have tons of inventory in one place. However, items at garage sales are generally in better condition.
Most of the toys that I sell come from garage sales. They are typically complete and well taken care of. And garage sales typically offer prices even lower than thrift stores.
My usual garage sale day is Saturday. The night before I take 10-15 minutes to look through Craigslist and local classifieds to make a plan for the next morning. Having a plan saves much time and gas and I’m able to get out there early, find good stuff and get home in a decent amount of time.
3. Friends & Family
I recently cleaned out my mother’s landlord’s garage and in return she let me take all of her unwanted items to go through before I donated them. Out of the car load of boxes I was able to resell about a dozen things, one of which has been my best sell yet – an Hermes scarf that ended up selling for close to $250!
4. Outlet Malls
If you live near outlet malls, this is a great place to find resell items. I lived in Las Vegas for several years and would occasionally look at outlet malls for clearanced items. An example of this is I purchased an umbrella at a Burberry outlet for less than $10 and was able to resell it for close to $80 on eBay.
These are the four places that I most commonly find eBay items. So, now you know what to do to get started, have a general idea of what to sell and where to find it. Tomorrow we get into the important topic of listing your items for resell! And then you are well on your way to earning extra money.
Upcoming Posts in This Series
Getting Started
What to Sell
Finding Inventory
Listing Your Items – Part 1
Listing Your Items – Part 2
Smooth Shipping
Customer Service Tips
Staying Organized
Tips for Success
My eBay Successes & Stumbles
