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Make Money Going to Garage Sales
The Complete How-To Guide
How To Make Huge Profits Buying Items at
Garage Sales and Reselling Them Online!
By: Jamie Michael
http://GarageSaleCoach.com
Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form is prohibited.
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Page 2
Table of Contents
Introduction
Pg 3
Part 1 – The Winning Process for Garage Saling
Pg 5
When to Go Garage Saling – The Early Bird Gets the Worm!
Pg 5
Where to Garage Sale – Choosing the Right Area
Pg 7
What to do at The Garage Sale
Pg 10
Lessons Learned and Mistakes to Avoid
Pg 15
Part 2 – What To Buy
Pg 18
Excellent Categories to Buy and Resell
Pg 18
1. Electronics – My Favorite Category!
Pg 19
2. Baby Items, Toys, and Kids Stuff!
Pg 28
3. Collectibles
Pg 31
4. Everything Else
Pg 33
Part 3 – How To Sell Your Items
Pg 39
Selling Your Items on Ebay
Pg 40
How to Ship Your Items Using Paypal Shipping Labels
Pg 46
How to Sell Your Items on Craigslist
Pg 49
How to Sell Your Items on Amazon
Pg 51
How to Ship Your Amazon Items
Pg 52
Final Words
Pg 54
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Introduction
Thank you for purchasing my Complete Garage Saling Success Guide.
Over the last 7 years I have developed a wealth of knowledge on how to buy
things at garage sales and turn them into a very good income.
In this guide I am going to teach you exactly what I do to make a few
hundred dollars each weekend garage saling a few hours on Fridays and
Saturdays and then listing the items that I pick up online for huge profits.
Not only can you make good profits from these strategies, but you can also
pick up a lot of things that you can use in your own life. Here are just a few
of the items that I have in my home and my family’s homes that I picked up
at garage sales for a fraction of the cost I would have paid in the store.
Computers & Laptops
Flat Screen Monitors
Printers & a Copy Machine (My wife home schools. This comes in handy!)
Desks & Computer Chairs
Bookshelves
Entertainment Centers
Couches
End Tables
Coffee Tables
Cribs
Bunk Beds
Toddler Beds
TVs
DVD Players
Children’s Toys
Books
Baby Stuff
Power Wheels
Bikes & Scooters
Outdoor Playsets
Lawn Equipment
Tools
Front End Loading Washing Machines
All Kinds of Video Games and Video Games Systems
And Much Much More!
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As you can see, I’ve saved $1,000’s by buying items from garage sales for
our house and family and you can too!
I know that’s not why you purchased this book, so let me tell you what I’m
going to teach you that I believe will have a positive impact on your finances
and provide a little more financial freedom in your life for other things you
may enjoy.
Here is what I will teach you.
When, Where, and How to go Garage Saling. Yes I know Garage Saling is
technically not a word, but when you start making good money doing it, it
will become a word to you!
How to get items for the lowest prices possible.
I will tell you exactly what items to look for and buy.
This is the most important part of garage saling! You have to know what
has value so when you see it, you can snatch it up, buy it for cheap, put it in
the car, and know you’ve just put money in the bank!
I will tell you how to become an expert on any category you choose so that
you will know what has value and what doesn’t
I will give you all my advanced tips and tricks
I will tell you which items you should sell on eBay and Amazon, and which
items you should sell on Craigslist.
I will teach you step by step how to sell items on Ebay, Amazon and
Craigslist!
Then I’ll teach you how to ship your items from your computer and never
have to leave your home!
When you are finished reading this book, you will have the knowledge you
need to be a money making force every weekend.
By the way, many Saturdays I buy items and have cash in my hand by
Sunday, even on the items that I sell on ebay! It’s sooo much fun!
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Part 1 – The Winning Process for Garage Saling
When to Go Garage Saling – The Early Bird Gets the Worm!
THIS IS KEY!
I have come to the conclusion in my area, that most of the good stuff is gone
by 8:30am! That doesn’t mean it’s all gone, but most of it is.
This time may change by area and time of the year due to the fact that the
sun comes up at different times in different places. The truth is that if
people are selling valuable & desirable things for cheap, that stuff will sell
quickly!
I typically start garage saling around 7am - 7:30am. Most of the sales in my
area typically start around 8am, while some may start as early as 7am, and
others as late as 9-10am.
Because I do this a lot, I see a lot of people out very early, especially the
ones who are looking for the valuable items to resell. If I wasn’t out that
early I’d never know what I was missing, but I do know that I would miss…
tons of profits!
My favorite thing is when I see someone hammering a sign in front of their
neighborhood and I know I’m the 1st person there! Sometimes I won’t find
anything, but most of the time I’ll find something. Other times, I’ll buy
everything that has good resale value, leaving very little for the next guy
who comes along. I usually snatch up electronics and gaming systems
quick! I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but those are easy to find and
they resell great.
I will typically run around an area between 7am-8am and then I will run the
same route again to get the sales that weren’t out early and are just coming
out at the 8 o’clock hour. Depending on the area, this may be a good
strategy for you, but a better strategy may be to continually move on to
another area after you’ve gone through one. I do this too.
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Another tip regarding the time issue is this; sometimes from the car you can
see that a sale is a dud. Either they have very little out, you can see it all
from the car, or they are just a sale that is full of junk. When you see this,
it’s ok to not waste your time browsing around hoping to find something.
Just move on to the next sale. Although if you are unsure, just get out real
quick and make 20 second walk around looking at small stuff that you would
have missed from the car. If you don’t have a lot of sales in your area, you
may not want to pass up any sales.
The bottom line is you need to get to as many garage sales as you can as
early as you can.
Now I don’t usually stop garage saling on Saturdays until around 11am12pm depending on how many sales are out. Yes, I find over 50% of my
best profits in the first hour, but the other 40-50% is still worth $200+, and
I’m not going to pass that up! In fact, one time I went to a garage sale at
12:30pm and found a stack of old computer software that I bought for $9
and sold over the next 2 days for $899.55!
Just in case you were wondering the software was:
Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition
There were 9 discs, each in their own package. I bought each one for a $1.
I will tell you the story in a later section when I show you how to purchase
items at a garage sale.
Do what I do when you are out there early. Sing “The Early Bird Gets The
Worm” song. When you walk away with $100’s in profits because you got
there early, you’ll want to sing too!
(By the way, it’s not really a song. I just make up my own tune for it!)
A Quick Tip: Be Prepared
- Make sure you have plenty of Gas in the car.
- Make sure you have plenty of Cash.
Have $1’s and $5’s available, not just $20’s because not everybody will
have change early in the day.
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Where to Garage Sale – Choosing the Right Area
It is very important that you choose the right places to garage sale. I like to
affectionately call garage sales, garbage sales, because many times that is
exactly what you will find! But if you follow the instructions that I am
about the give you, you will have much greater success finding garage sales
with good quality & valuable items.
Areas to Target
You will do best to choose a densely populated area with middle class or
upper class families.
Here is why?
1. They Have Extra Money (or credit!)
The upper and middle class have enough money to buy valuable items and
then get rid of them cheap at garage sales because they are tired of looking at
them or they bought the newer model and have no use for their old stuff.
2. They Try to Keep Up With The Jones’
The middle class has the keep up with the Jones’ mentality and they are
always buying the newer, bigger, better, faster things. That means that they
have to get rid of their old models of things and the easiest way for them to
do that and make a little money is by putting it out at the garage sale.
3. Their Kids Outgrow A Lot of Stuff
The middle class families have children and buy nice things for them, but
kids quickly out grow all of their stuff. Guess where it goes… The garage
sale! I’m not getting into what to buy yet, but there are tons of people
looking for baby and kids stuff for their kids and this kind of stuff resells
very well.
4. Why A Densely Populated Area?
The reason for this is because the best and most valuable items at garage
sales are usually gone within the 1st hour of the sale. That means that you
need to be able to hit as many sales as possible as early as possible.
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Areas to avoid
1. Avoid Older Areas
Most older areas have a higher ratio of older people. One thing I have
learned about older people’s garage sales is they have a lot of old stuff!
Now this can be ok, if you are looking for antiques, but antiques take a lot of
knowledge, are harder to sell, harder to ship, and there aren’t as many of
them to find at these sales. There are many many items in other areas that I
will share with you in a later part of this book.
Note: If it’s an older upper class area, you may still have some luck, because
they will probably have some higher end stuff.
2. Avoid Lower Income Areas
That fact is that lower income areas don’t have the extra money to cycle
through good stuff and get rid of it at garage sales. At these sales you will
find a lot of junk and when you do find something that has some value,
usually the person setting the prices at the garage sale will want to make
money on the item, limiting the profit margin for you.
It may be worth driving 15-30 minutes to a better area.
3. Avoid Rural areas
You will spend the majority of your time driving long distances, limiting the
amount of garage sales you will be able to stop at during the most productive
hours. These sales are not necessarily a waste because they may have good
stuff; it just may not be your best choice if there is a more populated area
nearby to go to.
I know that there are all kinds of people reading this who live in all kinds of
areas, so you may have to adapt these tips to your area.
Here’s another quick tip:
If you don’t have a normal garage saling route that you use or you don’t live
in an area that has a lot of garage sales.
Search on Craigslist.org in your area in the “garage sales” section. You will
find this section in the “For Sale/Wanted” section.
You can look there to find garage sales for the next day in your area, and
then make either a mind map or plot them on actual map, so that you will be
able to hit these garage sales early. Of course while you are on your way to
all of them, you can stop at other garage sales you find along the way.
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Page 9
I use this tip for Fridays when there aren’t as many garage sales near me.
(I don’t usually find as many garage sales on Fridays, but it’s usually worth
my time to go out for an hour or two – There are also less shoppers on
Fridays, so it makes for potential to find things later in morning)
You can also use this same trick by looking in the newspaper, but less
people are using this method because of the cost, and most of the younger
families having garage sales are internet users and they’ve got the stuff you
want!
After a few weeks, you will become more familiar with the areas and
neighborhoods that you go to. You will become better at navigating through
them and knowing which areas you have the most success with.
If you do go out on Friday and you go to a garage sale, it will save you time
by passing up that same sale on Saturday. After a day of selling, they are
usually down to the junk and it wouldn’t be the best use of your time to go
there on Saturday like all the others who had no idea that they had the sale
on Friday also. (Some people do add new things on Saturday, so you may
want to still check it out, but I as a general rule, it’s normally the same stuff)
UPDATE:
Another good website that gathers garage sale information from multiple
sources is gsalr.com.
You can plot out garage sales on a map and create a route to follow.
I don’t find this necessary for me, but there are many people who use this
method and this resource.
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What to do at The Garage Sale
1st – Make a quick sweep to grab the no brainer stuff that you know you
want
You do this because if you don’t grab it quick, somebody else will!
You don’t believe me? Try leaving a Nintendo DSi on the table or an iPod
and see if somebody doesn’t grab it while you’re looking around.
Not everything goes that fast, but some things do, so you want to at least get
the stuff you are sure of in your hands.
2nd – Look a little deeper and find the things that you couldn’t see on a
quick sweep.
Sometimes you may need to look in some of the boxes to find some gems.
3rd – Ask about prices and make your offer
Ask for prices if they weren’t marked and make a lower offer on the item or
the group of items you are interested in. If they ask you to make an offer,
it’s ok to give them a low offer; that will get them to their best price.
Negotiating the Price – Making Offers
People who are having garage sales will almost always go down on price if
you ask them.
- If something is marked $5 just say “Will you take $3 for this?”
- If something is marked $20, just say “Would you take $10 for this?
About ½ the time, they will take $10 and the other ½ of the time they’ll
counter offer and say “I’ll take $15.”
- If you have several items, you stand a very good chance of getting them to
take less. Just add it all up in your head, don’t tell them the total, and just
say “Will take $xx for this?”
When you get more stuff, you’ll be able to start talking in bigger money, and
that starts to become very exciting for the person having the garage sale.
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Let me give you an illustration about making a bulk offer…
I was at a garage sale a couple years ago where I was looking through a box
of electronics. I was very pleased with what I was finding…
I found:
A Garmin GPS PDA (never seen one before, but it looked valuable)
A Linksys Wireless Router
2 Sets Of Motorola Talkabout 2-Way Radios
Then while I was going through that box,they were still putting out stuff.
The owner set a 19” Flat Screen LCD Monitor right next to me. Of course, I
immediately grabbed it, and nonchalantly asked, “How much you asking on
the monitor?” To my surprise he thought about it and said “$7.50”. I didn’t
say anything else; I just set it next to me and kept untangling the cords from
the box.
When I was done, I went to him with my plunder and said, “Will you take
$15 for this?” Well he wanted $7.50 for the monitor, which was very good
price, so that was only an additional $7.50 for everything else.
He said “No, but I’ll take $20.” Deal!
Let’s look at it…
Garmin GPS PDA – Sold for $52.00
Linksys Wireless Router – Sold for $31.00
Motorola 2-Way Radios – Sold for $10.49
Another set of 2-Way Radios – Sold for $9.99
19” LCD Computer Monitor – Sold for $60.00
Total Sold For - $164.48!
If I would have asked for the price on each individual item, the total would
have started to add up. Instead I just bunched it all together and made an
offer.
When it was all said and done, the owner was happy because he just made
$20! That’s a lot of money in garage sale money.
I made $144.48 profit! I only paid $20 out of pocket.
The point is, every dollar you take off the asking price, is money in your
pocket.
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Making Offers continued…
Don’t feel bad about making low offers. The worst case scenario is they will
say no and you will get them down to their lowest price.
Making low offers helps you know what their bottom price is.
I used to hate making low offers because I felt like it was an insult to them,
but then I realized they are getting rid of this stuff because they don’t want it
anymore. So I almost always offer less and most of the time, they accept.
I am not a rude person, and I usually know how much profit I am going to
make on something, so if somebody is giving me an absolute steal, and we
both know it, I usually don’t haggle. I just happily pay their asking price.
They feel good and I feel good knowing that I just made an excellent profit.
Don’t build up the value of the item
Whenever you find something that you are interested in and you know you
can make a great profit on it, it is very important to act is if you really don’t
care a lot about the item.
Act as if you may take it if the price is right, but you could leave it if the
price is too high.
For instance, if you are looking at an LCD Flat Screen TV.
Before you pick it up, simply say “How much are you asking for the TV?”
You don’t want to say, “How much are you asking on the Samsung Flat
Screen HDTV?”
You don’t want to build value with the way you describe the item.
Call it by its simplest, least desirable form.
Features and brand names build up value. You want to act as if it’s just
another throw away item at a garage sale that you are willing to pay a few
bucks for.
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Page 13
The $890.55 Profit Example (From 2010)
By far this is my biggest profit for such a small investment, so really I could
have paid a whole lot more and still made out like a bandit.
It was 12:30pm and I was digging through a box of computer cables and
parts where I found a stack of software.
The software was Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition.
There were 9 discs, each in their own case. There was also a couple other
pieces of software there as well. So I grabbed it all, carried it like it was just
some junk I found in a box, and said
“How much you want for the software?”
The guy said, “Oh, there’s some Microsoft Office CD’s in there. He thought
about it and said I’ll take a $1 for each.”
I quickly said, “Ok. I think I have 12. So that’s $12. Here you go. Thanks”
How I Sold Them…
At the time I didn’t want to risk selling them on auction because I wasn’t
sure what I would get.
I did my research and saw that the disc that I was watching on Saturday
ended on Sunday morning and sold for $107!
I didn’t know if that was a fluke, and maybe there was a bidding war, so I
decided to list mine as the lowest Buy It Now price for that item on Ebay.
I listed it for $99.95, Buy It Now.
Ebay would only let me sell 3 at a time. They do this to protect people from
selling and buying illegal or fake copies of software.
All 3 sold within 2 hours for a total of $299.85. I sold all 9 discs this way
over the next 24 hours for a total of $899.55!
The money was paid directly to my Paypal account and I was able to
immediately pull it out of an ATM with my Paypal debit card!
I insured the packages, tracked the packages, and asked for signature
confirmation too! I wasn’t about to lose that profit. ;)
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My Secret Advanced Technique – Use a Cell Phone to Look Up Value!
I had no idea that software was worth that much. It was 7 years old!
What I found out on Ebay was that very same software had sold on eBay for
between $65-$107 in previous auctions, so I now knew it was valuable!
Using Ebay or Amazon to Check Potential Values
I personally use an iPhone and I have downloaded the Ebay app and the
Amazon price check app. These apps make it very quick and easy for me to
find items and their value.
There are many other phones and services that have the ability to look up
Ebay and Amazon as well.
On eBay
1. Do a Search for the item, then refine your search to view Completed
Listings
2. Make sure that it is the same item you are looking at at the sale
If it is not the same item, but a very similar item, use your best judgment.
Looking up on Amazon – Great for Games and Books
1. If the item has a barcode, you may be able to scan it. If not just type it in.
2. Check the lowest used price. Usually that is close to what it will sell for
on Amazon.com. At least it will give you a better idea if you’re dealing with
a $2 item, a $20 item, or a $200 item!
NOTE – BE DISCREET WHEN LOOKING UP VALUES
People get funny when they realize you might be making a profit on their
items. They may even decide to change the price or keep the item and look it
up themselves.
Use Craigslist for Bigger Items that Don’t Sell on Ebay
You can also look up what people are selling some of the bigger items for on
Craigslist and that may give you an idea of what an item is worth.
Remember, that just because someone has put a price on an item on
Craigslist, doesn’t mean they will be able to sell it for that.
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Lessons Learned and Mistakes to Avoid
1. Don’t pay too much for an item
Sometimes you will find an item that you know has a good resale value, but
the owner knows its value and is asking a lot of money for it. Don’t fall in
love with it. If you can’t make a good profit, don’t buy it!
It can be very discouraging if you lose money on an item.
I have occasionally lost money on items that I took a risk on. I hate doing
that, but it’s just part of the game sometimes. Be smart and if you are going
to take a risk on something, make it a smart risk and limit any money you
could possibly lose.
2. Evaluate the Risk if you are unsure
If you are unsure on an item, evaluate the risk by asking these questions…
Can you get back what you paid for it?
If you couldn’t, how much money could you lose?
How much could you possibly make?
If you are too unsure, don’t buy it, but do your research later and see how
much a similar item sold for on eBay. If it’s only a couple bucks, buy it!
I have rarely ever lost money, and very few times only sold something for
what I paid for it.
3. Watch Out For Broken Items or Missing Pieces!
Electronics are the biggest risk in this category.
I would say that about 15-20% of all electronics that I buy don’t work
correctly. (I make so much money off of them, that this is acceptable to me)
I try to avoid this by doing the following…
- I turn it on, plug it in and test it out, or
- More often, I just ask the owner if there is anything wrong with it.
I then ask the owner if it is broken, can I bring it back?
If they tell me it works. I say jokingly, “I trust you, I know where you live.”
Most of the time I buy broken items, it’s because I don’t ask.
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Bonus Section – Community Sales!
Community Sales are by far the most profitable days for garage saling!
I like community sales that are in large neighborhoods, so I’m certain there
will be a good number of garage sales to go to.
Here are a couple tips for going to community sales…
1. Be an Early Bird!
Get there early and go to the garage sales that are out early.
If you don’t do it, somebody else is going to, and they will be the ones to get
the best stuff. (Remember to polite and considerate)
2. You may need a truck!
I get a lot of stuff sometimes and there’s not a lot of room in a car for a day
where you find a lot of stuff. It’s no fun passing up $40-$50 profits!
3. Go Back Through the Neighborhood
After you’ve gone through the neighborhood early, go hit the houses you
missed.
Many people don’t like to get their garage sale started early and they may
not get their stuff out there until 8am or 9am.
4. Start At The Back
If the front of the neighborhood is very busy, start at the back of the
neighborhood.
Sometimes thinking different from the masses pays off.
Why compete at the front of the neighborhood when you can have your pick
of the litter in the back of the neighborhood.
5. It May Be Worth the Drive
Keep an eye out in the newspaper and on Craigslist for community sales.
If the community is close enough to drive to, it may be worth it.
If the goal is to get to as many sales as you can, as early as you can, to get
valuable stuff, there is no better place to go than a community sale!
Most Community Sales are scheduled by the HOA in the Spring and the
Fall. Up North it may be in the Summer.
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Summary for Part 1 – The Winning Process for Garage Saling
1. Make sure you garage sale early.
Most of the best resale stuff is gone early.
The best time is the 1st hour of the sale
Remember: “The Early Bird Gets The Worm!”
2. Make sure you are picking the right areas to go garage saling.
Densely populated, middle class and upper class areas are the best
You want areas where the people have money to cycle through good stuff
You also want to find areas with families to cycle through baby and kid stuff
3. Make sure you are prepared.
Have enough Gas and Money with you
4. Negotiate and Make Offers
Don’t show too much excitement
Don’t build up the value of an item
If you are buying multiple items, make a bulk offer for all of it
Every dollar you save is a dollar you earned
5. Use a Cell Phone with Internet Access if possible
Use this to find values of things you are unsure about
6. Limit Your Risk and Make Smart Decisions
Don’t buy stuff if the price is too high
Don’t buy stuff if you are too unsure
Learn about the items so you are prepared next time you see them
7. Go to Community Sales when available
You will be able to find more things and make more profits on these days!
In 2012, I made over $4000 in March and over $6000 in April because of
Community Sales!
My Members at GarageSaleCoach.com have full access to see everything
that I bought and sold!
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Part 2 – What To Buy
Excellent Categories to Buy and Resell
In this section I will tell you a list of categories and Items that I personally
look for and some additional categories that are very good for resell as well.
I will break down each category and tell you what kind of items to look for.
I will also give you tons of actual items to find at garage sales, along with
many of their estimated resale prices. Many of the items that I list I have
bought multiple times and sold multiple times, so I know they’re out there
and they can make you good profits.
You will want to take some time to become familiar with the products.
Maybe do some research of your own on eBay to find additional products or
to become more familiar with the different products within each category.
You can do your research on Ebay in 2 ways.
1. Use Your Watch List
You can search for the items that are active in auctions, then add them to
your watch list.
I currently have near 200 items in my watch list that have ended, so it makes
it easy for me to go back through and familiarize myself with selling prices.
2. Use The Advanced Search for Completed Listings
Here you will be able to see what the item has sold for multiple times over
the last 60 days.
This is an excellent way to immediately “Know” what an item sells for.
It would not be possible for me to list every valuable product that you will
find at garage sales, but hopefully after reading through this section a couple
times you will have an excellent idea of what to look for and this weekend
will be able to go find some things make some of your first profits!
Note: Be sure to do some of your own research, so that you are better
equipped to make good buying and selling decisions.
Prices can and do change on certain items. I am just giving you a ball park
of what you can expect to sell these items for.
I’m not making any guarantees. I’m sharing my knowledge and experience.
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Page 19
1. Electronics – My Favorite Category!
Video Games Systems (All forms, new and old)
Nintendo (All Models – Except Gamecube)
Sega (Dreamcast, Sega CD, Sega CDX, Genesis)
Playstations (PS2 and PS3)
Xbox (All Models)
Original Atari Systems
Panasonic 3DO
Notes: While almost all systems will sell for a decent price, here are a couple
systems that don’t really sell as well: Nintendo Gamecube and Sega Genesis.
But with any system, if it is bundled with games and accessories it begins to
really increase the value. It’s best if the systems have the controllers and
cables, but don’t necessarily pass it up, because the systems are still valuable
and you may even be able to get the cables from somebody’s cable bin at
another garage sale.
I have bought and sold most of the older systems for $5-$15 and sold them
for between $30-$50, but sometimes with the right games and accessories,
they can go for $100 or more!
The newer systems like the PS3 and Xbox 360 vary in price depending on
model and hard drive size, so you will be best to look up the value on eBay
or Amazon.
Video Game Systems and their Value without games can be sold on
Amazon, eBay or Craigslist
Values range from $15-40 for older systems and newer systems can sell for
$100-$200
You have to look up current values and take shipping and fees into
consideration to determine what the best avenue to sell is.
I usually use Amazon and Craigslist
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Approximate Video Game System Values
Original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
$35-$40
Super Nintendo $40
Nintendo Gamecube –
$15 (controllers are worth about $12-15)
Nintendo Wii –
$50-$60 depending on accessories
Original Xbox
$20
Xbox 360
$100+
Playstation One
$20
Playstation 2 Original
$30
Playstation 2 Slim
$40
Playstation 3
$150-$200
Sega Genesis
$20
Sega Saturn
$40
Sega Dreamcast
$30
Atari
From $30-$80 (Depending on the Model)
There are other systems as well.
The best way to get their values is just do a price check on Amazon.com
Remember to take into consideration the shipping costs.
Usually $10-$15!
Remember the real value and profit with video games are the games!
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Video Games
Sell Valuable Games Separately on Amazon
Sell the rest of the Game in Lots on eBay
Stay away from PS2 and Xbox – unless you sell in lots
Some Games are Valuable, but most are not
Newer/Recent Games sell well
Vintage Nintendo, SNES, N64, & Atari Games can sell very well.
Notes: You can pick up games for cheap at garage sales. I found that there
are a lot of games that have good resale value, but there are a lot of games
that don’t. Playstation 2 and Original Xbox games don’t really have a lot of
value, except for a few titles that can be worth $20. But when you sell
games in lots on eBay, they start to have a better resale value.
You may be surprised to know that old games for the older nintendos and
ataris still draw and good resale price because they’re hard to find!
There are many older Mario games that I’ve bought & sold for $20 or more.
I have also sold games in lots and they will sell for a decent price, even
when they wouldn’t sell by themselves.
There are 1,000’s of games, too many to know all of them, so the best way
to find their value is to look them up. In short, I look for Pokemon, Super
Mario, and Zelda games. But to give you a better instant knowledge…
A good resource for video game values can be found at
http://pricecharting.com
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Pocket Video Game Systems and Games
All Nintendo Game boys
Nintendo DS, DS Lite, DSi, 3DS
Sony PSP
Notes: These systems all have good resell value and the value increases with
the amount of games that come with them. These do have a history of not
working correctly, so you may want to test them out before you buy them or
sell them. If it’s cheap and comes with games, I will typically just ask if it
works, because I know that even if it doesn’t, I will make money on the
games.
I pick up all these items often for $2-$10 and sell for about $20-$50
Newer editions can sell for over $100
Ipods and MP3 Players
Ipods (any style or model)
Newer model MP3 Players
Notes: All ipods have value, even if they are broken. Some older MP3
players don’t really have value, but the newer models, that still sell in the
store, will have good value.
Regular iPods can be picked up for $5-$20 and sold for $30-$100
iPod Touches can be sold for up to $200 depending on the model
Cell phones, Graphing Calculators, PDA’s, GPS Systems
Smart phones
iPhones
Palm Pilots (not too old)
Newer model cell phones
GPS Systems
Graphing Calculators
Notes: This is a very wide category, so you may have to do a little research.
I have bought many of these items for $5-$30 and sold them for $40-$250!
Sometimes, I don’t know until I sell it. Stay away from really old palm
pilots or basic old phones unless you can pick them up for $1-$2.
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Computers and Monitors
All Laptops and Macbooks
Desktop Computers with Windows XP or higher
Flat Screen Monitors
Some Computer parts like Hard Drives, RAM, external drives
Notes: Try to get the recovery discs with all computers you buy if available.
This makes it very easy to restore them to their factory conditions and also
remove any viruses making it much easier to sell.
All laptops sell, even older ones. I’ve even bought broken laptops that I
have sold for over $100.
Monitors – don’t buy the old CRT monitors; The Big Ones. They won’t
sell. But buy flat screen monitors you find, unless it is broke or the price is
too high. I can sell these every day for $15-$40 on Craigslist depending on
the size.
The bigger the LCD monitor, the more it is worth!
Desktop Computers – These are usually something that will sell on
craigslist. If they are working, you can usually get $50 for a lower end
tower and if it’s a better model or you add a monitor, keyboard, and mouse
(which you can pick up cheap at garage sales) you can get $75 or more.
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Printers, Scanners, Fax Machines
All in One Combos
Laserjet Printers
Copy Machines
Thermofax Copier/Transparency Makers
Not cheap older printers!
Notes: This is a very broad category with vastly different pricing! Usually
All-In-One Combos that fax and scan will retain some value of around $30 if
sold on Craigslist. If they have ink in them, that’s a plus, because that is a
lot of the cost to use these machines.
Laserjet Printers can be very valuable as well, especially if they are color
and have their toners. They’re worth a minimum of $50, but up to $200+
The Thermofax copier is harder to find, but sells for well over $200, so I had
to make you aware of it. It is typically bought on ebay by tattoo shops.
I pass up a lot of printers and you should too! I usually pick up newer
model printers that work and fax and scan. I usually buy them for around
$10-$15 and sell them on Craigslist for around $30-$50, depending on the
model.
IMPORTANT WARNING – Probably 50% of the printers I buy at garage
sales have something wrong with them, so be sure to do your best to know
they work. I have usually had my best luck with higher end color laserjet
printers. Some of them I have sold for over $250. I have started staying
away from the lower end inkjet printers altogether.
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Printer Ink and Toner
New Sealed Name Brand Ink Only
New Printer Toner
Notes: Ink is very expensive in the stores as you may know, so it sells very
good on ebay and Amazon and is very cheap to ship. Only the Brand Name
OEM Ink cartridges will sell for a good enough price to make a profit, even
if they are past the expiration date.
I typically buy new ink cartridges for between $1-$3 and they sell on
Amazon for between $10-$20.
I buy toners for $5-$15 and sell them for $30-$100
DON’T MISS THIS!
I recently bought 7 HP Color Toners New in the Box for $5 each. One was
open, so I offered her $30 for all of them.
I sold all the new ones individually for an average of $115/each for a profit
of over $600!
By the way, I left some other new fax rolls there, because I didn’t know they
were valuable. I could have made an extra $100 that I just left sitting there!
That’s why it’s best to know all this stuff!
Wireless N Routers & Modem Router Combos
-These are easy to find and quick $20+ profit
Wireless G or Wireless N technology
Name brands – Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, 2-Wire
Notes: Try to stick with name brands. Make sure they have the power cable.
Installation discs and Ethernet cables help but are not necessary.
Be sure to ask if they work, because I have bought several that don’t work!
It’s worth the risk though because I normally pick them up for $3-$5.
Get the box if it’s available because it increases the resale value, but also the
shipping cost.
I buy routers for $2-$10 and sell them on ebay or Amazon for $20-$40.
There are a lot of Wireless B and Wireless G Routers that really are not
worth much anymore, so try to stick to Wireless N, or be sure to look up the
model on your phone on Amazon.
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Broken Electronics (Higher Original Priced Items)
Smart phones
Ipods
Laptops & Computers
Large Flat Screen TVs
Notes: Many of these items can be fixed easily by either you or the person
that buys it on ebay or Craigslist. If you can’t fix them, they can and should
be sold as-is for parts.
I just bought a Blackberry at a garage sale that was broken because the guy
jumped in a pool with it. He sold it to me for $5. It sold on Ebay, broken for
parts, for $92.00!
I also picked up an Ipod for $5 that was not working. I plugged it into
iTunes, restored it to its factory condition and my wife has been using it for
over a year.
Stereo Receivers
Name Brands like Kenwood, Sony, Marantz, Pioneer, JVC, Pyle
Notes: These can sell well on ebay, Amazon and Craigslist. Check ebay to
see what the item is selling for to see whether you should list it there are just
sell it for $40-$50 on craigslist.
Some can sell for $100 or more on ebay.
I pick these up often for $10 and sell for $45-$50 on Craigslist.
I once bought a Pioneer Elite model for $30 and sold it for over $200!
Televisions
Flat Screen TV’s (Plasma, LCD, LED)
Notes: Televisions mostly will be sold on Craigslist because of their size and
weight. Make sure they work and get the remote if you can. If people are
asking too much, just make an offer and move on. There are more
expensive ones that you can buy and resell, but I stay away from them.
I really like the higher end TV’s and they go quick. If they are working, they
can go for anywhere from $100-$300+ depending on size.
I even just bought a broken 47” Flat Screen TV for $15 and sold it for $165!
Note: Most things are fixable, except if the LCD screen itself is cracked,
then you can really only sell it for parts and for maybe on $40.
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Cameras
Newer Model Digital Cameras
10 Megapixels or higher
All SLR Digital Cameras
No Basic Film Cameras!
Notes: Make sure they work. Don’t pay too much. This is a category that
has very different prices for each model. If it’s a higher megapixel camera
and a name brand, you are safer to pay a little bit more, but if it’s a cheaply
made camera, you may be best to stay away.
SLR Digital Cameras can be very valuable, but the values range depending
on the model.
I typically pick up cheap digital cameras for $5 and nicer cameras for
around $30. The resale can go anywhere from $20 to over $100-$200
depending on the camera.
Computer Software
Higher Priced, Name Brand Software
Even if it’s a few years old!
Notes: Look for software like recovery discs, both Microsoft Windows and
Macbook Recovery Discs. Also look for other Microsoft Software, like
Microsoft Office. Also Adobe Photoshop is great value! If you’re lucky
enough to find other high priced software get it!
This is great item to ask about. Say “I look for old computer software that
most people just have lying around.” If they bring you some, pick out the
good stuff.
Most of this kind of software will resell for between $20-$40 and you can
pick it up at the garage sale for $1-$5. Some will resell for $100 or more!
Remember my $890.55 profit story?!!
One time I picked up some 3D Modeling Software for $25 and sold it for
$250!
Another time I picked up Adobe Photoshop for $20 and sold it for $200!
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2. Baby Items, Toys, and Kids Stuff!
Baby Items
Baby Monitors
Baby Furniture
Cribs & Bassinets
Baby Swings
Pack and Plays
Medela Breast Pumps
Certain Baby Mobiles and Crib Soothers
Notes: I typically sell a lot of these items on Craigslist because they are
larger. Cribs can easily draw $30-$40 and much more if they are higher end.
Nice Baby Swings can easily draw $30 or more on Craigslist. Pack and
Plays can easily sell for $30 or more.
Nicer baby monitors and video monitors can sell very well on ebay.
Medela breast pumps will easily sell for $40-$80 on ebay. I have had a day
at a community garage sale where I bought two of these in 1 day for $10
each. Condition matters on these. They sell better and for more if clean.
Other than the items that I just listed, you really have to know a lot about the
specific items you are looking at and what they sell for.
Strollers
Jogging Strollers
Strollers
Stroller Travel Systems (with car seat carrier)
Double Strollers
Notes: Strollers are easy items to sell on craigslist. I don’t buy them if they
are not in good condition.
I stay away from cheap strollers and umbrella strollers, but a basic good
graco or evenflo stroller with sell for $30-$40 and you can buy them at a
garage sale for around $10-15.
A travel system will sell for around $50; A double stroller for about $50$60.
A jogging stroller and double jogging stroller will sell for $60-$80.
Recently Peg Perego strollers have been selling for over $100
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Baby/Kids Clothes
Clean, Name Brand Clothes
Sell in Lots on ebay
Note: This is a good category, but not one that I normally buy in. I’m
certain I’ve left a lot of profit out there, but it’s just not something I want to
get into. Do your research on ebay to see what’s selling.
You can typically buy pieces of clothing for $0.50-$1, even some still with
tags. Then the best way to sell them is in a lot on ebay. There’s a lot of
profit there for those who want take the time find the good stuff.
Another option is to take them to a consignment store.
Power Wheels
All sizes, shapes, and models
Fisher Price and Peg Perego
Notes: These are very easy to buy and resell on Craigslist. It’s important
that they have a battery and a charger because the batteries for these things
cost around $70! You also want to make sure it is in decent condition and
the battery works! The full size 12V models resell the best.
I will typically pick up a 12V power wheels at a garage sale for $30-$50 and
sell it for $80-$120 on craigslist.
My kids have cycled through about 10 of them and I purchased them all at
garage sales, saving myself hundreds of dollars.
Bikes and Scooters
Kids and Adult Bikes
Electric scooters and the like
Bike Trailers
Notes: Bikes and Scooters both sell well on Craigslist. I usually try to stick
to items that are in good condition so I am certain I will be able to resell
them. Make sure the battery works on scooters.
Electric Scooters will sell for about $30-$70
Kids Bikes will sell for $20-$50 or more
Adult Bikes will sell for $50-$100
Specialty Mountain Bikes and Road Bikes can sell for much more.
I have also recently purchased a couple bike trailers for $5 & $15 that I
resold for $65 each on Craigslist.
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Toy Lots
Barbies, Bratz, Littlest Pet Shops, and dolls
Little People
Legos
Playmobil
Collectible Toys – Star Wars, Transformers, etc
Thomas The Train Toys
Disney DVDs
Any New Sealed Toy
Notes: This category could go on and on. There are tons of toys that have
large amounts of people that are loyal to the brand or choose to collect them
for themselves or their kids. You will have to do a little extra research when
you come across sets of toys to see if they are worth buying.
New Sealed Toys sell well on ebay and Amazon also.
I recently bought a box of legos for $20 and sold them online for $177.50!
I recently bought a baby doll with accessories named Baby Annabelle for
$10 and sold it for $107!
At the same garage sale, I bought a set of Bratz dolls for $5 and sold them
for $46.
I bought a New Video Now Jr. recently in a sealed package for $3. It sold
for $78 3 days later!
I have purchase many sealed sets of legos for $2-$10, that have sold for $40$50.
I have purchased many Thomas the Train lots, that I was able to break up in
sell in sets for $50-$100.
I purchased a box of old transformers for $3 and sold them for $255!
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3. Collectibles
Sports Trading Cards
Pokemon Cards and similar
Comic Books
Action Figures
TY Beanie Babies (certain ones still have value)
Disney Stuff
Star Wars Stuff
Thomas the Train
Vintage Books, Manuals, & Cookbooks
Some Vintage Board Games
Antiques
Rotary Telephones
Much, Much, More!
Notes: This category is probably the most extensive and requires the
greatest amount of specialized knowledge. These are just a few collectable
items that I have become a little familiar with over the years. There’s many
more!
Usually when I run across something in this category, I will evaluate the risk
vs. reward and I may do a quick eBay search on the items. I suggest you do
the same.
You may become more familiar with these categories as you gain
experience, but there is just more than any one person can learn.
My advice is to focus on the certain profit items that I have shared earlier
and pick some of these up when you run across them and have done a little
research on them.
Here is one example from my experience…
A couple years ago I picked up some Disney Monorail Playset items.
There were 8 boxes of different pieces. They were asking $75 for the set.
I had a feeling that they were valuable, but I didn’t want to risk too much
money, so I offered $50. They accepted.
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When I got home and did my research, I found out that the set would sell for
a combined total of around $800-$900! A couple of the items were retired
and almost impossible to find. That just made my day!
I ended up selling those items individually for almost $1000!
I have a friend that read this guide and starting going garage sales, and he
ran across some old NFL bobble-heads. He thought they might be valuable,
but wasn’t sure. The seller was asking $3 each, so instead of just buying all
4 of them, he just bought one and sold it for over $200! It was a great find,
but even greater heartache when he realized he missed out on another $600
in profit!
The Antiques and Collectibles Category has tremendous upside, and it’s
ultimately what you know that will determine how well you do it this
category.
I’m hoping to develop a community at GarageSaleCoach.com over time that
will share their knowledge and we can all become more knowledgeable in
this category and others!
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4. Everything Else
Furniture
Beds & Mattresses
Tables
Dressers
China Cabinets
Entertainment Centers
Armoires
Notes: Furniture sells well on craigslist, but it is large to store until you sell
it. There are some very nice pieces of furniture that can be found at garage
sales, in fact there is a person that I see a garage sales near me that owns a
used furniture shop. She gets all her furniture from garage sales. There is
decent money in this; you just need to have to the storage space to do it.
There are people that make a living buying items only in this category.
Many of them own used furniture stores or resell shops. There is a lot of
profit in this category if you have the vehicle or trailer to haul it and the
storage space to store it.
Brand Name Electronics and Household Goods
Name Brand Items that sell for high prices in the store
Vacuums
Carpet Cleaners
New Water Filters – Pur and Brita
Notes: If something sells for a high price when it’s new, it will probably sell
for a high price when it is in excellent used condition.
I buy carpet cleaners for $10-$15 and sell them on CL for around $60-$75.
I picked up a pack of new Brita water filters for $3 and sold them for $23.
Kitchen Appliances
High End Blenders, Mixers, Juicers, Coffee Makers, etc
Notes: There are lot of high end kitchen appliances that sell very well on
eBay and Amazon. Look for newer models, name brand items and if you
need to, look them up on eBay to see if they are worth reselling.
I once bought a Older KitchenAid mixer for $30 and sold it for nearly $200!
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Designer Clothes, Purses, Sunglasses, and other items
Coach, Gucci, Hollister, Abercrombie, Oakley and many many more!
Notes: Name brand clothes and purses sell very well on eBay. Don’t pass up
these items if you find them for cheap.
I have bought a number of coach purses for $10-$20 and sold them for $40$80.
BEWARE OF DESIGNER FAKES – You need to know what to look for.
Lawn & Garden Equipment
Power Equipment
Lawn Mowers
Edgers, Blowers, Weed Eaters, etc
Pressure Washers
Notes: These items will sell best in spring and summer. You can pick these
up cheap and put them on Craigslist for a quick profit. If you are good at
repairing these machines, you can make even more money by buying them
broken and reselling them fixed.
Information Package products (newer with DVD’s) Can sell for $40$100
Making money
Losing weight
Personal Development
These sell well, especially ones that still have infomercials running!
Notes: I have had a lot of success in this category. Typically people will let
this stuff go for just a few dollars and the newer sets that are still being
marketed sell especially well on eBay and Amazon.
I have picked up a set of Anthony Robbins stuff for cheap that I sold for
around $100.
I also recently picked up a set of Zumba DVD’s for $1, it ended up being 2
separate sets and I sold them for a combined price near $90.
I’ve picked up P90X Workout set for $15 and sold for $75.
I’ve pick up sold Weight Loss Kits that sold for over $100.
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Wheels Rims with Good Tires
Notes: People have to buy new tires and then pay to get them installed and
balanced. They are happy to find upgraded wheels and newer tires for less
than it would cost them to go to the tire shop.
I have bought 2 sets of tires with rims. One was for a Toyota Camry and the
other was for a Chrysler 300. I bought one set for $100 and the other set for
$140. I sold one set for $350 and one set for $375.
DVD Lots
TV Show Sets
Disney DVDs
Collectors Edition Sets
Notes: You will find a lot of DVDs at garage sales and very few of them sell
well, but when sold in lots, they may bring a profit. One thing that does
bring a profit is the DVD sets.
I have bought multiple TV show seasons for $5 and sold them for $15-$25.
Disney DVD’s normally sell from about $7-15 each or more in a set
I just bought a Star Wars Collectors set for $3 and sold for $40
I bought all 5 Seasons of Alias for $20 and sold them for$70
Other Categories to consider or learn about…
Musical Instruments
Guitars
Band Equipment
Orchestra Instruments
Many more…
Notes: Musical Equipment is expensive and the prices and brands vary
greatly. As a general rule of thumb, if you find an instrument cheap, it’s
probably worth getting.
I have purchased flutes and clarinets for $10-$20 and sold for $50-$90
I’ve bought electric guitars and guitar amps for cheap and sold the sets for
over $100.
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Guns
Any and All have value
Note: I stay away from guns because I don’t know the laws about selling
them. But if you know something about guns, you know how valuable they
are. Plus you stand a better chance of not shooting it accidentally than I do!
Tools
Name brand power tools – Especially Dewalt and Milwaukee
Notes: Tools are very expensive have an excellent resale value on Craigslist,
eBay, and Amazon. The higher end brands maintain their resell value.
I have not become an expert enough on this category yet, but there is a lot of
profit to be made.
Parts, Cables, & Adapters
Power Cords
Ethernet Cables
Chargers – for Cell Phones, Videos Games, etc
Notes: A lot of times later in the day, I spend time looking through boxes of
old cords and electronics. Many times I will be pick up cords and cables
that I can use later for other electronics that I buy that don’t have power
cords or cables. That stuff is expensive to buy at full price and your stuff
will sell better with all the necessary cables.
I have a bin a cell phone chargers, laptop chargers, and video game power
and video cables. I use items from these bins almost weekly to go with other
items I buy, saving myself a lot of money and increasing my profits.
The Last Category…
If it looks valuable, then Buy It!
I have bought many things that I knew nothing about, but I just had a good
feeling that it was worth something and most of the time, my hunch was
correct. The $100’s that I make, makes up for the $5-$10 I may lose.
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Here are Few of the Best Overlooked, High Value Items !!
Bose Speakers
Pool Cleaners
High Value Software
Microsoft Windows & Office, Photoshop, and similar
Commercial Equipment!
Specialty Printers, Printer Toners, Sound/AV Equipment
Merchant Services Equipment
(Credit Card Machines, Receipt Printers, etc)
Each of these items are usually over $100 profit each! The great things
about the things in this category is that others seem to pass these items up
often!
I have purchased Bose speakers for $20 and sold them for over $200.
I have purchased several pool cleaners from $5-$30 and sold them for $100$150
I have purchased Genuine Microsoft Office Software, Windows XP, Vista,
and Windows 7 Software, Adobe Photoshop software, and other high-end
software for $1-$20 and sold them for $50-$200 profits per item. One time
profiting almost $1000!
I have purchased many office laserjet printers for $40-$50 that I sold for
over $200, and I usually sell any extra boxes of toner for an additional $50$100 profit each!
I have purchased sound equipment of all kinds for $10-$50 and sold them
for $75-$250.
I have purchased many credit card machines and receipt printers for $5-$10
and sold them for $50-$100+.
I think commercial equipment is overlooked, because the people who buy
that kind of stuff and know about that kind of stuff are not normally the
people that go to garage sales. On top of that, the people that are selling it at
the garage sale, may not be the ones who actually paid for the items in the
first place so they are selling it for very cheap! Other times, the company
may have gone out of business and they are just getting rid of things.
I once purchased 6 new toners for $30 and sold them for almost $500!
The lady just said the office had purchased a new printer and no longer had
use for the old toners.
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Summary of What to Buy
As you can see there are thousands of valuable items that you may run
across at a garage sale.
It is important for you to know what is valuable and what is not.
Both experience and research will help you be prepared to make good
choices and excellent profits.
A cell phone with internet access could also be helpful for those more
difficult decisions and collectibles. If you are serious about doing this, the
cell phone will more than pay for itself. (I love my money making iPhone!)
You will most likely find some things early on that you are comfortable with
purchasing because you have become very confident in their value, but you
will also pass up things that you later find out would have been a good buy!
As time goes by you will continue to add to your knowledge of these items
and categories. You will continue to become more profitable as you learn to
quickly look through a garage sale and pick out almost everything that will
make you a profit.
It just takes a little research and a little experience.
I have put together additional resources on my website at
http://garagesalecoach.com
Probably the greatest tool I could create to help you know value is my profit
reports. There you will see everything that I buy and sell! Complete with
purchase price, sale price, shipping costs, fees, and total profit!
This resource alone could be worth $100’s every month to you.
Now let’s move on to turning your items into money!
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Part 3 – How To Sell Your Items
Ebay, Amazon, or Craigslist?
The first thing you need to do is decide where you are going to sell each of
your items.
Sell Small Stuff on Ebay and Amazon & Large Stuff on Craigslist
A general rule of thumb is to sell small stuff on eBay/Amazon and large
items on Craigslist because of the cost of shipping.
Craigslist – Find your city at http://craigslist.org
With Craigslist there are no listing fees in most areas and there is no cost for
shipping as all sales are local and the person will meet you and pick up the
items.
If you live in a city that craigslist has begun charging fees to list your items,
you will have to weigh that cost into your buying decisions.
Ebay – List your items at http://ebay.com
eBay is still the best place to sell anything! You can sell things in lots, sell
things broken, sell collectibles and antiques, basically sell anything! They
have the largest audience of buyers, so you’re sure to get the best price for
your items.
Amazon (My New Favorite) – List your items at http://amazon.com
This is a very easy selling experience. You do not need to take pictures or
write a long description. As long as your item is listed in the Amazon
marketplace, most likely you can sell it there.
The downside is that you are limited in what items you can sell there, but
over the past year, I’ve really seen their marketplace grow and I’m able to
sell a majority of my items there!
In the Next Section, I will give you Step by Step instructions on how to Sell
on Each of these Platforms.
I will also have step by step videos available on my website at
http://garagesalecoach.com
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Selling Your Items on Ebay
1. Sign In or Set Up an Account at http://ebay.com
2. Do a search to find items like yours
a. Make sure your item will sell for something
b. Get ideas about a good Title and Description for your listing
3. Click on “Sell” at the top of the page. Then Click “Start Selling”.
4. Find the Category to List Your Item
a. Type in the item and click “Search”
b. Select the category that best matches your item, Click “Continue”
- If you are unsure, look to see which category others are using
c. Search for your product and select it
- Ebay has many items already in their database
- If you can’t find yours, that’s ok, just click “Skip this step”
Tip: Skip this step by searching completed listings for the item you are going
to sell, or a similar item, and click on the link “Sell one like this” just below
the photo of the item.
This will automatically take you to the sell section and already choose your
category and item if applicable!
5. Write your Title
- Be sure to put the item name in this section
- Be sure to use words that people would use to search for your item
- Get ideas from other people’s listings for your item or just copy theirs
(Open their ebay listing in another window, so you can refer to it)
a. Fill in “Item Specifics”
- You don’t have to fill in any or all of these sections.
6. Upload Pictures (You need to take pictures before you list your item)
a. Click “Add pictures”
b. Click “Browse” to find the pictures that you want to upload
- When you find the pictures you want. Select it & click “Open”
Tip: You can select multiple photos at once by holding “ctrl”
c. You can now edit or crop your photos if desired
d. Now Click “Upload”
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Ebay used to charge extra for photos, so you used to have to list with limited
photos to save money, but now you can upload up to 12 photos for free. So
it is best to take detailed photos of all sides of your item.
7. Write Your Description
- This is where you put all the details of the item
- Put the model #, the condition of the item, & everything that is
included with your listing
- Get ideas from other listings as you need to
- You can format your description with different fonts and html
I just leave it plain with 14pt Arial font
Note: If you are good with HTML, you can be very creative here.
I will be soon creating an HTML template to use with my listing that will
include my additional details like my return policy, my 100% Satisfaction
Guarantee Policy, and my desire to avoid negative feedback.
I may make this available on my website as well.
Optional - Listing Designer
I’ve maybe used this once, but it’s not necessary. I would just save the
$0.10 and not use it. Most people don’t.
Option – Visitor Counter
I also leave this hidden, this way I can see it, but nobody else can
8. Select The Type of Listing – Auction of Fixed Price
Note: For the majority of items that sell well, Auction is the best choice.
Just make sure that you end your item at a good time.
I’ve found that ending your item in the evening is best. Stay away from
ending your item on Friday or Saturday evenings though.
Ending on Sunday Evenings is always good, I’ve also had success with
Tuesday – Thursday evenings.
If you are selling an item that is valuable, but not very popular, you may
want to list with a Buy it Now or Best Offer, this way you make sure that
you get the selling price you desire.
See the next page for instructions on the different types of listings.
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For Auction Style Listings
a. Select Your Starting price
Your listing fee will be higher, the higher your starting price is
If it’s an item that sells well, just start it at $0.99!
You’ll get a lot of watchers and it will still sell well
b. You Can Also Select a Buy It Now Price
I recommend you don’t do this
The ebay fees are higher and you may cut yourself short
c. Optional – Set a Reserve Price
This is a price that your item must reach in order for it to sell
This costs extra money, and is not normally necessary.
I’ve rarely used it. I believe it discourages bids from buyers
d. Set the Duration
The longer your listing, the more it will likely sell for
5-7 Days is probably the best (3 is fine for popular items)
e. Set the Start Time
Select “Start listing immediately” to start the auction now
Select “Schedule start time” to pick a time to start the auction
Note: The start time is also the end time.
Remember the time is in Pacific Standard Time
I like to end my auctions between 8pm-9pm EST
For Fixed Price Listings
a. Choose your “Buy It Now price”
b. Select whether you want to Allow Offers
I kind of like this. At least if its not selling, you can sell for less
The offer from another person is binding for 48 hours
You have 48 hours to accept or you can propose a counter offer
c. Set the Quantity of Items
If you have more than one item, you can sell more than one
If someone uses “Buy It Now” they are only buying one, not all
d. Set the Duration
The longer your listing, the more opportunity it has to sell
7 Days is probably the best, It gives you long enough to sell and
it keeps you higher in the search results
e. Set the Start Time
Select “Start Listing Immediately”
Since this is not an auction, it doesn’t really matter when it ends
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9. Select How You Want to be Paid
Paypal is now the only option to be paid on eBay
The money is deposited in your account immediately
You can use the money to pay for shipping
You can withdrawl money with your Paypal debit card
You can transfer the money to your bank account
Or You can just leave it in there
Note: If you are new to paypal or ebay, they may hold your money
until the buyer has received their item or left you positive feedback.
a. Put Your Paypal Email Address
b. Select “Require immediate payment when buyer uses Buy It Now”
This is only if you are using the Buy It Now option
10. Set Up the Shipping Details
As you become comfortable with shipping prices and weights, you
can use flat costs, but when you are just starting out, it may be best to
use “Calculated” shipping.
a. If you are new – Use the “Shipping Wizard”
This will help you select the best option to ship the package
b. If you are more advanced select whichever option you would like
c. Select “Handling Time”
This how long it will take for you to ship the item out after
auction (You should select 1 business day to reach Top Rated
Seller)
Optional – International Shipping
I don’t ship international because I have to fill out special forms at the
post office, and because I’ve $1000’s of merchandise stolen!
BEWARE – Mail systems in other countries are not reliable or safe
Item location
Be sure that your item location is correct if you are using calculated
shipping.
Optional – Buyer Requirements
I allow all buyers and I have not had a problem.
Some people block new buyers or buyers with negative feedback, etc.
11. Fill out your Return Policy
I use a 14 Day Money Back policy with shipping paid by the Buyer
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Next: Click “Continue” to Review Your Listing
12. Review Your Listing for Accuracy
a. You don’t need any the added features at the top
In most cases, for our purposes, they are a waste of money
b. Make sure you’re happy with Your Picture and Item Title
Preview your listing if you would like to
c. Check your fees
This is how you will know if you’ve made a mistake!
13. List Your Item
a. Click “List your item”
Congratulations! You’ve just listed an item on Ebay!
If you need further assistance, view my tutorial videos at
http://garagesalecoach.com/sell-your-items
View the next section to see how to:
Monitor Your Auctions
Answer Questions from Potential Buyers
Ship Your Items After They’ve Sold
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Monitoring Your Auctions and Answering Questions
1. Sign into your eBay account
2. Click on “My eBay” on the top of the page
3. On the left side of the page, click “Active” under the Sell section
Here you will be able to see all of your active auctions.
Revise Your Listing
You can revise an auction from here all the way up until 12 hours remaining
If there is a bid, you will only be able to add to your description or
add pictures. You will not be able to make any other changes.
Do this by clicking or the item and the clicking “Revise Your Item”
Or Click on “Revise” from the drop down menu next to your item on right
Responding to Questions from Buyers
If an item has a question from a buyer, you will see a red box above your
listing that says “UNANSWERED QUESTION”.
To respond:
1. Click “Respond” on the right side of your item in your My eBay section
2. Write your response in the box provided
3. Decide if you want this Question and Answer posted on your listing.
This is a good a idea if others may want to know the answer to this
question as well.
4. Click “Send” and you’re done.
After the Auction is Completed…
How to Send An Invoice
If a person hasn’t paid within a couple hours after an auction has completed,
I will usually send them an invoice.
This is very simple to do.
1. Log back into your eBay and account and go to the “My eBay” section
2. Click on “Sold” on left side under the “Sell” section
3. Next to your item you will see an option that says “Send Invoice”
Here you can edit any shipping costs or send a message
4. When you are finished, click “Send Invoice”
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How to Ship Your Items Using Paypal Shipping Labels
Note: At this point you will need your items packed and ready to ship, so
that you will be able to input the correct weight and measurements.
If you don’t have a scale, you may need to buy one. You can get one at an
office supply store, on ebay, on Amazon, or of course, at a garage sale!
I used to use a meat scale I bought at a garage sale, but I finally bought one
on Amazon for $30
1. Login To eBay – Go To My eBay – Go to “Sold” on the Left of the page
2. Go to “Print Shipping Label” just to the right of the item that you would
like to ship.
If you do not see it right away, you will see it in the drop-down box on the
right side of your item
3. This will take you to Paypal
You will need to login, unless you were already logged in.
Tip: What I like to do, is “right click” on Print Shipping Label and select
“Open in New Window” this way eBay will remain open while I am
working on creating my shipment in Paypal.
4. Select UPS or USPS
If the item small, you will almost always use USPS.
If the item is large, you may need to check both rates
If the item is heavy, you most likely will ship UPS.
With the exception of using a USPS Flat Rate Box. They don’t have a
weight limit. You can ship whatever you can fit in there for the same
price.
Note: You may need to go to UPS.com and create an account and then
upload your account number to paypal to use UPS Paypal Shipping
5. Input your Weight, Measurements, and Your Preferred Shipping Method
For UPS, I always use UPS Ground
For USPS, I use
First Class Mail – For anything under 13oz
Priority Mail – For items between 14oz and 2 pounds
Parcel Post – For items over 2 pounds
Priority Mail Flat Rate Box – For Items that are over 5 pounds and fit
Media Mail – When Shipping Books or other forms of Media
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Notes: For boxes over 2 pounds, you may want to calculate one carrier and
see what the price will be and the select “Select a different carrier” next to
the shipment details, to calculate using the other carrier. Then go with who
is cheaper.
6. Accept and Pay for your Printing Label
When you’ve decided on your shipping method, you will select “Pay and
Continue”. At this point your PayPal account will be debited the shipping
cost and your label will be prepared for printing.
7. Print Your Shipping Label
- If you’re printing on regular printer paper, simply just follow the prompts
and print.
You will then need to use packaging tape to affix your label to your package.
- If you are printing to a sticker label, you will need to make sure your page
setup is set to the right margins to print your label correctly onto your label
paper.
I use sticker shipping labels that come 2 per page.
- (I recommend buying shipping labels on eBay, they’re easier to use)
In order for this type to print correctly, I go to File, Page Settings,
and make the Top Margin 0.5 for USPS and 1.0 for UPS.
Your printer and browser setup may vary
8. Simply drop off your package at the UPS Store or Post Office, Hand it to
your carrier, or schedule a pickup from UPS or USPS.
After you have done this once or twice, you will find that this is much easier
and faster than having to go to the post office or UPS store!
A Quick Note About Shipping
I tend to ship a majority of my items via USPS in padded envelopes.
These envelopes are light, cheaper to buy, and cheaper to ship.
You can also have ebay automatically calculate the shipping to your buyer’s
address, so that they will for sure pay enough shipping cost to cover the
shipping. You will have to know how much your item weighs and the
measurements when you are listing your item on eBay.
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My Shipping Mistake: When I 1st got started, I didn’t know how much
shipping was and the 1st item I sold I ended up making no profit and losing
money!
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How To Sell Your Items On Craigslist
1. You will need to setup a Craigslist.org account.
Then login to your account
2. Make sure you are in the correct city and click “post to classifieds”.
3. Select the type of posting, then select the correct category
For our purposes the type will be “for sale”
4. Create Your Listing
a. Create Your Title
Make sure it uses keywords that best describe the item and use
words that people may use when looking for your item.
b. Set Your Price
Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t make your price too high
either. A high price will not get much response.
- You can always repost 2 days later with a lower price though
c. Optional – Put Your Specific Location
This is most applicable in bigger areas
d. IMPORTANT – Check “anonymize” in the “Reply to” section if
you want to receive emails from potential buyers.
- If you put your email address where it is visible, it will be
scraped by spammers and you will begin to receive a lot of
spam!
e. Create your description
Just like ebay, just describe the item, model and condition
f. Upload Pictures
This is very important! Listings without pictures get very little
response.
Show as much detail as possible in your pictures.
Tip: When taking pictures for Craigslist, set your camera to
6mp or less. If your pictures are too big, it will take a very long
time to upload your photos and it could even time out.
5. Complete Your Listing
Don’t forget to continue all the way through, until you enter the
Captcha in you get one. That’s the part where you have to
verify the squiggly words.
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Responding to Craigslist Inquiries & Warnings
A Warning
You will receive a lot of emails that were created by spammers and their
automated software. These emails will generally come from a gmail.com,
aol.com, or hotmail.com email account and it will be very generic.
An example email address would be: [email protected]. It
usually has 2 names and then 2 numbers following the name.
These emails are to simply capture your email address to sell or Spam.
You can also put your phone number in the ad for calls or text.
Phone is the best way to sell, but put your number like this
555-FiveFiveFive-5555, this will protect you for scrapers and text spam.
If you receive an email that doesn’t look like it’s from a real person and they
don’t specifically mention your item in their message. Just ignore it.
If they mention your item in the subject or email exactly as your wrote in the
Ad Title of your listing, it also may be spam.
Responding to Legitimate Inquiries
It is usually easiest to eventually text someone or call someone on the phone
in order to set up a time and place to meet for the item.
If you are a woman or meeting with a woman, you, or the other person may
want to meet in a public place. This is normal for safety.
Many items like furniture or others, will require someone to come to your
house. I’ve never had a problem with this and I’ve sold 100’s of things on
craigslist, but it is a good idea to be cautious.
Reposting Your Item (Renewing Your Item)
You will want to Renew your item if it does not sell, because it will begin to
fall further down the list of postings; especially in competitive cities and
categories, making it harder to sell.
Craigslist will allow you to Renew your item after 48 hours.
After 48 hours, login to your account and click “Renew” next to your item.
You can also post your item more than once if you use a different ad title
and description. But that’s up to you. I’ve never really had to do that.
Some things may take a few days or a couple weeks to sell on craigslist
unless you drop the price way down. Just be patient and adjust your price as
needed.
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How to Sell Your Items on Amazon
You will need to create an account at
http://sellercentral.amazon.com
If you have a current Amazon.com account as a customer, you can use that
account.
Just follow the instructions
To List an item on Amazon.com
1. Find Your Item in the Amazon Marketplace
You can find the item on Amazon.com
Or You can Add a Product from within your seller account
2. Click on the “Sell on Amazon” on the items Amazon page
You will find it on the Right had side of the listing
3. Select Your Item’s Condition
New, Used-Like New, Used-Very Good, Used-Good, Used-Acceptable
4. Add Item Details
Typically I will just put a little details about condition and what is included
I also like to put 100% Satisfaction Guarantee on my listing
5. Select Quantity
6. Review Your Listing
7. List Your Item
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Ship Your Amazon Items
1. Login to your account at http://sellercentral.amazon.com
2. Click on “Manage Orders” or “Unshipped Orders”
3. Click on Print a Packing Slip
4. Click on Buy Shipping next to your item
Here you will select the weight of the item and you can choose which
method you would like to use to ship your item.
If you would like to use UPS, you will need to add Package Dimension to
get the UPS shipping option
5. Confirm Your Choice and Purchase Shipping Label
6. Print Your Label
Your label will be in a PDF file for easy printing
7. Put Your Label on your Package or Envelope
Put in out for the Mailman or get it to UPS
Getting Paid
Amazon automatically sends your money to you every 14 days, or you can
click on your balance and select “Request Transfer” and Amazon will
process your transfer that day. You will receive the money in your account
in 2-3 business days.
If you are a new seller, Amazon may hold your funds for up to 30 days to
make sure that you are actually selling your items and that your customers
are satisfied. They have to do this to protect themselves from fraudulent
sellers.
A great thing about Amazon is they take their fees out upfront, so when you
get paid, you won’t have a balance left to pay at the end of the month.
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A Couple other Good Things about Amazon
Another great thing is Amazon refunds.
When you process a refund, they will process the refund and just deduct
your account balance. If you don’t have any funds in your account, they
won’t deduct the funds from you until the next 14 day deposit day!
This means you have an additional 2 weeks to sell other items to cover the
refund. I like this ☺
Amazon also has excellent customer service.
You can actually speak with them on the phone immediately.
They are very helpful.
Lastly, items tend to sell for more on Amazon than they do on eBay and it’s
much easier to list your item there.
I use it for every item that I can. Everything else, I list on eBay.
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Final Words
Hopefully from reading this guide, you now have the tools and knowledge to
start making some extra money
This whole process is simple and just requires you to develop some
specialized knowledge and a few of the skills necessary to sell your items.
I will always be happy to help you and I am looking forward to you sending
me your success story.
Feel free to send me your feedback on this guide. Tell me what you liked
and any improvements you would suggest for the next update.
I am putting all my effort into making my Garage Sale Coach a great tool to
help you, and even more effort to providing any and every tool that I can to
help my members be successful.
So visit http://GarageSaleCoach.com for further help, resources, and
training!
I wish you tremendous success and don’t forget to have fun out there!
Jamie
[email protected]
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