You made some money on eBay, got the taste of being your own boss, worked in your underwear. But now that the closets and attic are cleaned out, reality hits...in order to continue making money, you have to hunt up new things to sell. That's sometimes not as easy as you think.
One of the most lucrative options for digging up treasures is still the tag sales/garage sales/rummage sales/white elephant sales route. Whatever you call them, these days a more appropriate designation is "slim pickings" since more people each year have discovered the Internet. Great buys that used to be had for a dollar are now culled by knowledgeable sellers. More often than not, it's the real junk they're trying to sell. Your only hope is to trip across a home that doesn't possess a computer. Buck up, with stamina and diligence the good sales are still out there, but if you're anything like me and like to sleep late, this is not an easy road to travel.
In the case of the tag sale, it's true about that early bird catching the worm but that adage can be amended to "the early bird annoys the worm" since sometimes the term "early" extends into the day before as anyone who's had a tag sale can tell you. Once that free listing hits the papers, the die hard bargain hunters start prowling. Within hours of the paper hitting the streets, buyers start knocking on doors asking to help you go through things to "save you the trouble of having to drag them outside." You'll hear all sorts of excuses why they can't possibly show up the next day and mostly the truth is that they'll be at other tag sales where the seller wasn't so amenable to their help.
If you like to travel, you can always take excursions to the local and not so local shops looking for "mistakes" on items the proprietor under-priced. If you have a resale number, you may be eligible for a trade discount, making your find all the more appetizing. But the Internet hasn't only increased the number of people looking for things to sell, it's made it easier for shop owners to research their wares. Again, the computer-less shop is your best friend.
Nobody said inventory hunting was easy. My personal favorite is auctions, especially the small ones in country settings where you have the chance of seeing fresh stock right out of a house. These do still exist, and bargains may be found if not too many savvy buyers show up. Beware, they're addictive and the flurry of bidding can get you into trouble. Trying to fit that lot of 10 chamber pots or the $75 Oriental rug into a small car can bring on headaches of their own.
If all else fails and you find you haven't the time to visit shops or tag sales, try an ad in the local newspaper. You never know who'll call and what they'll have. Housecalls are still the best bet when searching for unusual items in good condition. Why not set up an offshoot business if you have teenagers too young to work in regular jobs? They can clean out cellars and split the profits from what you sell on eBay.
There are successful antique dealers who drive the streets of their city on trash day, looking for...yes, inventory. Just this week my mother-in-law watched one man snatch a perfectly good mirror from her neighbor's curbside. When asked why he would do this himself, the man replied that the mirror will bring him $25 on the Internet. Not a bad profit for a free stop on his way home.
The diminishing avenues for finding good merchandise makes partnerships with established businesses more attractive to those who prefer regular hours. But it's important to make sure that the partner you choose provides an equal amount of work or goods to make the enterprise fruitful and less frustrating. You can choose a variety of ways to cooperate: one provides the goods, the other the work, both of you contribute goods and time. Success is in the details. Who pays for the costs? Who pays the taxes? Will the partnership be for a fixed amount of a percentage of the profits? Are you the only partner? Does the partner have a good and honorable reputation? In order to avoid conflicts, work out the process beforehand, making sure your agreement is clear and in writing.
No matter how you decide to proceed, you have to be ready for any opportunity. Keep boxes and bags in the trunk of your car. You never know when you'll be driving along and find a garage sale full of just the thing you like to sell. Keep a reference book handy as well to help you make up your mind on those iffy items. Even casual visits to relatives can result in a "find" if you tell people what you're doing. And that's another thing...talk about what you want. Even if the items are not immediately available, people will "keep you in mind" if someone else mentions having to clean out a house or garage.
Finding inventory may not be easy, but it's possible. It all depends on what you sell. If you decide you want to sell new items, get yourself a distributor and go to town. If you make things yourself, spend a part of the year preparing, the other part selling.
Whatever you choose, you'll have to budget your time to include this. After all, if you don't, your enterprise will be short lived. And it's a good bet the next job won't let you show up in your pajamas.
