Every once in a while, when I’m at an estate sale scrounging for books, I’ll come across an item I buy for myself or my family. Last year I bought a brand new, huge Coleman cooler for $10.
Something I’ve never gotten around to is trying to buy some of the other knick-knacks you see at sales and reselling them on eBay. One of my favorite TV shows is Antiques Roadshow, but I’ve always stuck with books when it comes to my Internet business.
This week I read an interesting book called Estate Sale Prospecting for Fun and Profit with craigslist and eBay. It’s a nice, short book about how to get started selling obscure but valuable items bought at estate sales.
The idea behind the book is that two key tools have made it easier than ever to be a successful estate sale “prospector.” First, craigslist, a free online classified service, allows you to quickly find all the upcoming sales in your region. And, of course, eBay enables you to put your items up for auction before a worldwide pool of buyers. The advice in this book helps you develop a system for buying a few inexpensive items at each estate sale for reselling profitably on eBay. And in that sense, it’s just like bookselling — you get better with experience. And you’re not going to get rich, but you’ll probably have some fun.
If you’ve already got a lot of experience working estate sales, this book may be redundant for you. But if you don’t — or you’re interested in expanding beyond books into other types of used merchandise — this is a book you can put to good use. If you have trouble finding enough inventory in your area, it might make sense to consider other types of collectibles.
The author, John Landahl, got into online selling when he was cleaning out a closet and found a box of old marbles, which he nearly threw in the garbage. Instead he listed the marbles on eBay, where they sold for $94, and a new hobby was born. Landahl gives many more examples of successes and mistakes he’s made along the way.
One Comment
I’m going to tell you that I have tried the collectibles route and you’re wasting your time and money. There are toooo many people in the antique business to jump right in and think you’ll make money. These people have grown up in the business and know what is what and what is not!! You might luck in to a few items and make a little change but in the end you’ll have so much ‘crappy’ stuff you’ll have to dump it. It’s just like the books, you think you’ve found a jewel and when you get home there are 10 already listed for .01 on Amazon. It’s a crap shoot at best and now with the HUGE changes in the postal system I’d just stick to what I knew best. My 2 cents