My wife let me go out “pawning and thrifting” today since I'll be on travel for most of September for work.
A good way to make a side income on a shoestring is to buy things to re-sell. If you enjoy going to garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, and auctions, this might be a good business for you to try. It's possible to start out with $20 and get hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, depending on how you buy.
A friend who owns a comic book and toy business put forth these gems: You make money when you buy. And you need to know what you can sell things for in order to know what to buy them for.
Sometimes you get things so dirt cheap that you can't pass them up. Like today, I went to a thrift store, and they were having a deal on books (10 for $1). Well, some of the “books” were thirty-year-old vehicle repair manuals. AMC Technical Manuals from the early- to mid-seventies. I got a whole stack of these — taller than my daughter! — for $4. Folks are trying to sell some of the things I bought for around $50 each on eBay.
My wife's response: “Great! Get them up on eBay instead of talking about how much you could sell them for!”
So I'll start up an eBay store after I get back from travel. I'll post about it here and share lessons learned.
(Update: Now I have a series on how to make money with an eBay store!)
Anybody reselling things on eBay?
My wife’s response: “Great! Get them up on eBay instead of talking about how much you could sell them for!”
Ya' know- I get that same kind of comment…. "Sell them now or they get pitched"
I do resell things on eBay, but I tend to resell things I used. I have never really tried buying something just to flip it for a profit on eBay. It is a great idea and I hope you do well with your book finds!
We've had some success at buying and re-selling on ebay. Not tons, but enough to pay off some bills. We don't do it full time, and it takes a lot of research to see what will sell. And, of course, you always take the chance that you pay for something and then it's worthless on ebay…
Good luck!
I have been buying stuff to re-sell on ebay for the past month or two, along with my two daughters. While I am having lots of fun and learning alot, I have been surprised at what hasn't sold. We have been sticking to clothes, since that's what we know about. My auctions: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZfrugalpersonalsh… Good luck!
I've been e-baying leftover Mary Kay from my business (and its apparent I am not the only one doing this!) I just want it gone and if I can get a bit of money for it, I will. But I am thinking about seeing about other things to flip on ebay as long as I can get them cheap.