| A few months ago a good friend of my wife visited | | | | eBay revealed that the actual name of the item was |
| for the first time. She, like my wife, is a stay at home | | | | 'Waterford crystal retriever'. I did a quick searched |
| mom. After a few minutes of small talk she mentioned | | | | completed listing for 'Waterford crystal retriever' in |
| that she makes extra money by selling stuff on eBay | | | | which I found a few of the retrievers sold in the last |
| that she buys at garage sales. She said she makes a | | | | few weeks for at least $50. I ended up buying it for |
| few hundred dollars a week doing this. Seeing as how | | | | $20 and resold it for $56. Another $30+ profit. |
| my wife was looking for something to do, my interest | | | | While those profits are nice, it's not uncommon for us |
| was piqued. | | | | to find items for $5-10 dollars that net us around or |
| I had to find out if this was something that could be | | | | over $100. A few of those items were a new set of |
| done as easily as she said it could be. I had no clue | | | | Rosetta stone software (bought for $5, sold for $100), |
| what to look for but I had a very powerful friend... my | | | | embroidery machine (bought for $10, sold for $120), |
| iPhone. Armed with the eBay app for the iphone I hit | | | | Olympia led globe (bought for $5, sold for $107). |
| the trail of garage sales that weekend. That first | | | | Almost every weekend we find an item that we clear |
| weekend was slow going because it was new to me | | | | nearly $100 dollar on it. |
| and I didn't really know what to look for even with my | | | | Not that my wife has taken over this as her 'job', she |
| eBay app. Even though I had no clue what to look for, I | | | | find items where she can at least make $15-$20 per |
| bought a few items that ended up netting me about | | | | item. We have found that anything less than $15 is |
| $200 in profit. | | | | really not worth the trouble of listing it. Do the math... |
| How I search for items at garage sales | | | | $15 - $20 x 10 items per week = $150 - $200 minimum |
| By far the easiest way to search for items is using the | | | | per week. It's pretty easy to get there. |
| eBay selling app on the iPhone. However, the same | | | | Tips for items to buy |
| can be completed by simply searching the completed | | | | Anything that has the original box will sell better than |
| items using any phone that has access to eBay. What | | | | items that don't have the original box. If an item does |
| I do is look for is the name of the manufacturer and | | | | have a box, make sure the item that's in the box is |
| the model number of anything I find at a garage sale. | | | | that actual item. I learned this the hard way. |
| For instance, that first weekend I found an Abbeon | | | | Verify any electronic items work before buying. |
| Hydrometer that had the model number on it. I did a | | | | Stay away from stuffed animals. |
| quick search on completed items for 'Abbeon | | | | Don't buy really big things. They're very hard to ship |
| Hydrometer HBAT1433' and I found that two had sold | | | | (e.g. guitars) |
| in the past month for $39 and $75. The person selling | | | | Books don't sell very well (most can be bought now |
| the item wanted $5. I bought it and sold it 7 days later | | | | for $.99 on amazon or eBay). Only in rare cases is it |
| for $44. After all my fees I ended up netting about | | | | worth it to buy them. |
| $37. Not bad for about 1/2 hours worth of work (5 | | | | Look over items VERY carefully. Small chips, |
| minutes at garage sale, 5 minutes for photos, 10 | | | | scratches, etc can kill the value of an item. |
| minutes to create the listing and another 10 minutes | | | | Most people these days have a phone with web |
| packing and shipping it) | | | | access that can easily be used to search on eBay |
| The other way to search if you don't have a model | | | | before buying an item at a garage sale. It's really |
| number is by searching for what the item is. For | | | | simple to do and there is virtually zero competition. |
| instance, I found a Waterford crystal dog at a garage | | | | Unless you count retired folks who like to hoard stuff |
| sale. A quick search for 'Waterford crystal dog' on | | | | at their house 'competition'. |