For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you probably remember that in end of December I published a post that summarized my purchases and net income/loss for the year after including a calculation for money spent on gas. I concluded that I had pretty much broken even by the end of the year.
Since December, I have sold a few more things I purchased in 2011. Even though I sold them in 2012, I'm not counting these in my 2012 profit because I bought them in 2011, just as I didn't include items purchased in 2010 in my 2011 profit calculations.
Anyway, I have another $195 to add to my 2011 calculations, which means 2011 was a profitable year (by ~$196) for garage sales after gas payments. I sold a pocketknife for $5 (it was included in a Gameboy bundle I purchased to resell), the laser tag set for $110, some bootleg DVDs at my garage sale for $10, a mechanical keyboard for $40, and a Playstation 2 for $30. I still haven't sold that damn TI-92 graphing calculator. I'm especially proud of the DVDs; I bought fifty of them for $0.50 in November and sold them $2 each on Saturday. I still have forty-five left so I'm just going to keep them until the next time I have a sale.
Not included in the $185 were items I purchased before March 2011 and resold in 2012 (mainly games I no longer play). These items represented an additional $69 after shipping and fees.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Garage Sale Success!
As I mentioned last week, I hosted my own garage sale today. I ended up making $109.50, just short of my goal of $100. I also sold $16.50 of items for my sister and my friend with whom I had the sale made $175. Breaking $300 combined income from a garage sale is pretty respectable, especially considering that we didn't have a massive quantity of items.
The best part about today's sales was getting rid of some older Craigslist items. I finally got rid of that damn silverware -- I only got $10 for it but that's still $5 more than I paid for it. I also sold that graphics card I bought last week for $22, or a profit of $19.50. The guy who bought it was clearly a reseller; I wish him the best of luck. If I had sold it on Amazon I would have profited approximately $24 after buying it for $2.50. He'll be lucky to break even selling it on Amazon, eBay, or even Craigslist.
The guy who bought the graphics card was actually one of several resellers with whom I interacted today. I feel sorry for them when they get home and realize their investments were terrible. These guys were amateurs, paying $15+ each.
I also got rid of some stuff I had bought in previous years (meaning stuff I no longer need or use) -- $31 in total. To my surprise, I did not sell any of the signs I purchased last week; I intend to keep them and sell them at a future sale.
Selling that silverware raised my profit from garage saling on January 14th to $96.60; if I ever sell the mechanical keyboard or the AlphaSmart I bought that day then January 14th should reclaim the title as most profitable day ever from December 10th (the day I purchased the Laser Tag system).
The best part about today's sales was getting rid of some older Craigslist items. I finally got rid of that damn silverware -- I only got $10 for it but that's still $5 more than I paid for it. I also sold that graphics card I bought last week for $22, or a profit of $19.50. The guy who bought it was clearly a reseller; I wish him the best of luck. If I had sold it on Amazon I would have profited approximately $24 after buying it for $2.50. He'll be lucky to break even selling it on Amazon, eBay, or even Craigslist.
The guy who bought the graphics card was actually one of several resellers with whom I interacted today. I feel sorry for them when they get home and realize their investments were terrible. These guys were amateurs, paying $15+ each.
I also got rid of some stuff I had bought in previous years (meaning stuff I no longer need or use) -- $31 in total. To my surprise, I did not sell any of the signs I purchased last week; I intend to keep them and sell them at a future sale.
Selling that silverware raised my profit from garage saling on January 14th to $96.60; if I ever sell the mechanical keyboard or the AlphaSmart I bought that day then January 14th should reclaim the title as most profitable day ever from December 10th (the day I purchased the Laser Tag system).
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Items to Look for: Printer Cartridges
One item I've been seeing more frequently at garage sales is printer cartridges. As I'm sure you know, printer ink is absurdly expensive, so why not buy that $0.25 factory sealed instead of spending $40 on it at the store? Just be sure to note what cartridges your printer uses so you don't end up with a bunch of ink that won't work with your printer.
For whatever reason, HP ink is definitely the most common at sales. This leads me to believe that HP printers are most commonly used or the most likely to fail unexpectedly. I do also see Brother and Canon ink on occasion.
For whatever reason, HP ink is definitely the most common at sales. This leads me to believe that HP printers are most commonly used or the most likely to fail unexpectedly. I do also see Brother and Canon ink on occasion.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Items to Look for: Textbooks, Continued
On Saturday I discussed criteria for determining if a textbook is a good investment. Today I'm going to talk about pricing textbooks for both buying and selling.
When buying books, it's important to know if it's worth the investment before you purchase it. As I said in my last post, if the book is older than four years, don't bother checking it; it's almost guaranteed to be outdated.
What's worth the investment varies from person to person. If I can get a book for $0.10 to resell it for a $7.50 profit, I'm fine with that. Some people require larger profits to be bothered to list the book, take it to the post office, etc. Remember that Amazon's fees and shipping add up quickly; your profit is equal to the books selling price * (1 - 0.15 in fees) - the book's initial cost (ie, how much you paid for it at the garage sale) - $2.34 in fees + $3.99 shipping credit - ~$3-$5 shipping fees. So, if you sell a book you bought for $2 for $20 on Amazon, you're really only making ~$12.50 after shipping. It's important you do the math before you make the purchase so you don't end up making an investment that loses you money.
When buying textbooks, it's very important you don't overspend. Had you spent $10 on that hypothetical textbook from above, your profit would drop to less than $5. Like everything else, be conservative: try to make your purchase as cheap as possible.
Personally, unless I am very sure I can sell the textbook very quickly for a fair sum, I am unwilling to invest more than $0.15 on it. Spending $0.50 on a book on March 3rd in which I had no idea of its value was very unusual for me; usually in this situation I wouldn't spend more than $0.10. For whatever reason I felt like taking a gamble; it paid off as the book sold for more than $28 after fees and shipping.
I employ two venues for selling textbooks: Amazon and Craigslist. I use Amazon when I'm more interested in a quick sale than I am in making a little more money; I also use it when I have failed to find a buyer on Craigslist. Like selling on Craigslist, the trade-off effect is very present: you are more likely to get more money if you're willing to wait.
Textbook prices on Amazon don't seem to fluctuate like video game prices, so listing your book in the middle and simply waiting for it to be sold doesn't seem to work. I have noticed, however, that people are willing to spend more for a book in better condition or for a book from a seller with good feedback. Obviously, don't lie about the book's condition (this will only get you negative feedback), but a good way to build good feedback is to list like-new books at the low price.
When pricing a book on Amazon, I usually don't list it at the lowest price. Instead, I price it six to eight cents cheaper than the fifth or sixth cheapest copy. This way, I'm still on the first page of used copies but I'm making a few more dollars than sellers at the top of the list.
I sell books on Craigslist in the following situations:
When buying books, it's important to know if it's worth the investment before you purchase it. As I said in my last post, if the book is older than four years, don't bother checking it; it's almost guaranteed to be outdated.
What's worth the investment varies from person to person. If I can get a book for $0.10 to resell it for a $7.50 profit, I'm fine with that. Some people require larger profits to be bothered to list the book, take it to the post office, etc. Remember that Amazon's fees and shipping add up quickly; your profit is equal to the books selling price * (1 - 0.15 in fees) - the book's initial cost (ie, how much you paid for it at the garage sale) - $2.34 in fees + $3.99 shipping credit - ~$3-$5 shipping fees. So, if you sell a book you bought for $2 for $20 on Amazon, you're really only making ~$12.50 after shipping. It's important you do the math before you make the purchase so you don't end up making an investment that loses you money.
When buying textbooks, it's very important you don't overspend. Had you spent $10 on that hypothetical textbook from above, your profit would drop to less than $5. Like everything else, be conservative: try to make your purchase as cheap as possible.
Personally, unless I am very sure I can sell the textbook very quickly for a fair sum, I am unwilling to invest more than $0.15 on it. Spending $0.50 on a book on March 3rd in which I had no idea of its value was very unusual for me; usually in this situation I wouldn't spend more than $0.10. For whatever reason I felt like taking a gamble; it paid off as the book sold for more than $28 after fees and shipping.
I employ two venues for selling textbooks: Amazon and Craigslist. I use Amazon when I'm more interested in a quick sale than I am in making a little more money; I also use it when I have failed to find a buyer on Craigslist. Like selling on Craigslist, the trade-off effect is very present: you are more likely to get more money if you're willing to wait.
Textbook prices on Amazon don't seem to fluctuate like video game prices, so listing your book in the middle and simply waiting for it to be sold doesn't seem to work. I have noticed, however, that people are willing to spend more for a book in better condition or for a book from a seller with good feedback. Obviously, don't lie about the book's condition (this will only get you negative feedback), but a good way to build good feedback is to list like-new books at the low price.
When pricing a book on Amazon, I usually don't list it at the lowest price. Instead, I price it six to eight cents cheaper than the fifth or sixth cheapest copy. This way, I'm still on the first page of used copies but I'm making a few more dollars than sellers at the top of the list.
I sell books on Craigslist in the following situations:
- I know the book is used at a university in my area
- It's an older edition or it's worthless on Amazon
- I don't mind holding on to the book to potentially make more money
First of all, it's almost guaranteed you will make more money selling books on Craigslist than you will on Amazon. I've had people pay me $40 on Craigslist for a book that starts at $0.01 on Amazon. Furthermore, many students are willing to buy older versions of their books; I've had many students happy to spend $30 for the 4th edition of a book in its 4th edition that costs $150.
Perhaps the best part about selling books on Craigslist is that there's little competition. You can set your book at $50 and people will offer $40 and be happy, whereas on Amazon the book may start at $20 and there may be thirty sellers trying to sell the book for $20-$50; in this situation your copy would never even be looked at at $50.
I usually base my Craigslist asking price on the lowest Amazon price for the current edition of the book. I usually price my copy two and a half times the Amazon low price; so, for example, if the Amazon low price is $30, I will list it at $80 with a disclaimer that I will consider all reasonable offers. This way, the buyer will offer $50 and I will counter at $60. I still walk away with a good profit (even better considering I didn't have to pay Amazon's fees) and the buyer is happy.
If the Amazon low for a textbook is less than $5 I will list my copy at $20. If someone offers $10 I'll take it.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
4/21/12 Purchase Summary
Today's sales were exceptionally good but I still had trouble finding items I wanted to purchase. I ended up spending $4.45 but I failed to successfully negotiate for some other items I wanted.
One of the first sales I stopped at had a new computer graphics card for sale for $5. I knew it was old (the sale date on the box was in September 2010) but I figured it would work for my purposes. I have been intending to build myself a computer for a while now (my current computer is my college laptop I purchased five years ago) mainly as a learning exercise. As it turns out, despite the card being from around 2010, it uses an older technology: AGP, which, according to Wikipedia, was starting to phase out in 2004 and was pretty much dead by 2009. Basically, I bought something that cannot be used with any modern computer.
I'm not upset about my purchase. I managed to work the seller down to $2.50, knowing that I could sell the card on Craigslist for $20 or even $10 if it wouldn't fit my purposes. I currently have it listed for $35 and if I can get someone willing to spend $20 on it I will gladly sell it to them.
I spent the rest of the $4.45 at another sale. I purchased an AT to PS/2 cable for $0.25. Many mechanical keyboards use AT but no modern computer has AT ports so you need a converter; I think I can throw in the cable for another $5 next time I sell a mechanical keyboard. The final $1.70 was spent on seventeen signs. The seller owned a company that built medical buildings, so he had many different signs leftover, for example, signs that read: "COMBUSTIBLE," "EXIT," etc.
I bought the signs as an investment (well, I did keep a few for myself). Next week I am having a garage sale of my own and I know, from previous selling experience, that signs sell well. I anticipate being able to sell each sign for anywhere from $2 to $15 (they're all different sizes and types and some are just fancy, permanent stickers). I cleaned the seller out on signs because I figured at ten cents each the potential profit was definitely worth it; if I sell one I can pay for all of them. Besides, if they don't sell, my friends will enjoy the 8"x10" "CORROSIVE MATERIAL" stickers.
As I said above, I won't be garage saling next weekend. I will be trying to get rid of my accumulated junk, much of which I purchased from garage sales. I'm going to have out some of my unsold purchases, including those graphing calculators, the AlphaSmart, and the graphics card from today. If I don't get a decent offer I will just keep them for Craigslist.
One of the first sales I stopped at had a new computer graphics card for sale for $5. I knew it was old (the sale date on the box was in September 2010) but I figured it would work for my purposes. I have been intending to build myself a computer for a while now (my current computer is my college laptop I purchased five years ago) mainly as a learning exercise. As it turns out, despite the card being from around 2010, it uses an older technology: AGP, which, according to Wikipedia, was starting to phase out in 2004 and was pretty much dead by 2009. Basically, I bought something that cannot be used with any modern computer.
I'm not upset about my purchase. I managed to work the seller down to $2.50, knowing that I could sell the card on Craigslist for $20 or even $10 if it wouldn't fit my purposes. I currently have it listed for $35 and if I can get someone willing to spend $20 on it I will gladly sell it to them.
I spent the rest of the $4.45 at another sale. I purchased an AT to PS/2 cable for $0.25. Many mechanical keyboards use AT but no modern computer has AT ports so you need a converter; I think I can throw in the cable for another $5 next time I sell a mechanical keyboard. The final $1.70 was spent on seventeen signs. The seller owned a company that built medical buildings, so he had many different signs leftover, for example, signs that read: "COMBUSTIBLE," "EXIT," etc.
I bought the signs as an investment (well, I did keep a few for myself). Next week I am having a garage sale of my own and I know, from previous selling experience, that signs sell well. I anticipate being able to sell each sign for anywhere from $2 to $15 (they're all different sizes and types and some are just fancy, permanent stickers). I cleaned the seller out on signs because I figured at ten cents each the potential profit was definitely worth it; if I sell one I can pay for all of them. Besides, if they don't sell, my friends will enjoy the 8"x10" "CORROSIVE MATERIAL" stickers.
As I said above, I won't be garage saling next weekend. I will be trying to get rid of my accumulated junk, much of which I purchased from garage sales. I'm going to have out some of my unsold purchases, including those graphing calculators, the AlphaSmart, and the graphics card from today. If I don't get a decent offer I will just keep them for Craigslist.
Items to Look for: Textbooks
For those of you who don't know, the modern textbook industry is a rather exploitative institution. Textbooks are frequently updated with new editions to make using used books more difficult (frequently the only changes between editions are changed homework sections) and expensive. A typical college textbook costs anywhere from $120-$250 depending on the subject. When I was in college I had one book listed at $350 (I didn't buy it).
The only good thing about the textbooks being so expensive is that their resale value is pretty high. Many students do not bother (or don't know) to sell their books on Craigslist or Amazon if their university bookstore won't buy them back at the end of the semester. They hold onto the books and eventually sell them for cheap at garage sales (after all, as far as the student knows the books are worthless). You can then buy them and resell them.
I have a pretty strong understanding of the textbook market. In the last calendar year I've made over $500 selling other people's textbooks. In summer of 2010 I made over $1500 selling textbooks. The trick to making money on textbooks is being good at judging if a book is worth anything. Following is a list of things to keep in mind when looking at textbooks at garage sales:
The only good thing about the textbooks being so expensive is that their resale value is pretty high. Many students do not bother (or don't know) to sell their books on Craigslist or Amazon if their university bookstore won't buy them back at the end of the semester. They hold onto the books and eventually sell them for cheap at garage sales (after all, as far as the student knows the books are worthless). You can then buy them and resell them.
I have a pretty strong understanding of the textbook market. In the last calendar year I've made over $500 selling other people's textbooks. In summer of 2010 I made over $1500 selling textbooks. The trick to making money on textbooks is being good at judging if a book is worth anything. Following is a list of things to keep in mind when looking at textbooks at garage sales:
- Copyright date is the first indicator I use to determine if a book is worth anything. When I find a stack of books, I sort through them and discard anything with a copyright date more than four years in the past. As I said above, textbooks are replaced with new editions quickly; four years is about the maximum time between editions. Once you've looked at enough textbooks you can tell which books are older, especially books from the 80's or 90's. Don't even bother picking up books that old
- Subject is my next criteria. Different subjects have different rates of replacement. New editions of social science textbooks come out as frequently as every year or two. Engineering textbooks (which are far less common at garage sales) are replaced every four to five years on average. Math books are replaced every three to four years it seems. Unfortunately, the most common books at garage sales are social science texts.
- Use your smart phone, if you have one. If I'm garage saling with someone who owns a smart phone, after my initial narrowing of the pile by copyright date I'll just check all the books that have come out in the last four years. It's easy to just scan the barcode and check Amazon for the book. Be sure you're looking at the used price and not the used price when buying a book though. One of my friends found a book that he thought sold for $160 on Amazon. When he rechecked it he realized he was looking at Amazon's new price; used copies started at $0.01.
- If you have checked the book on Amazon and it's an older edition, don't make the purchase. It's not worth it.
- If you don't have a smart phone (or you're not saling with someone who owns one) you need to be more selective. You have no way of checking a book's value so there's a very large possibility of purchasing a worthless item. When I'm in this situation, I will only buy books with a copyright date from this year or the previous year.
- Book condition should also be taken into account when buying books. Really, condition doesn't really matter if you're selling a book on Craigslist; I've sold some pretty beaten-up dumpster books and never received a complaint. On Amazon, however, condition is more important because people can give you negative feedback. Negative feedback means worse sales in the future. If a book has torn pages or a torn cover, sticky or missing pages, or excessive dirt, don't buy it.
I was going to discuss pricing textbooks to sell but I think I'll cover that on Tuesday. This post is long enough.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Another Tip Regarding Purchases and Reselling
I realized that I am willing to pay more for an item I intend to keep for myself or give as a gift than for an item I intend to resell. This makes sense as a way to minimize my risk. An item for myself or another has a guaranteed use, meaning my investment is worth it, assuming I'm getting a decent deal. Resale items are riskier. If the item doesn't sell as I anticipate, then I am both out the money and I am stuck with an item for which I have no use.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Items to Look for: Books
Books are some of the most common items at garage sales; in fact, many times the only thing stopping us from doing a drive by at a sale is a stack of books.
The great thing about books at garage sales is that you can get them for really cheap; as I've mentioned before, I try to get at least five for a dollar but I will never pay more than $0.25 per book.
The downside to buying books at garage sales from garage sales is that it can be very frustrating. Nine times out of ten, books are either of the self-help Christian variety, the Dan Brown-esque variety, or romance novels (if these excite you I am judging you very, very hard right now).
I would say I buy a book every other week I go saling. About every two months we go to a sale with a good book selection and I buy five or more books. Really, like everything else in garage saling, it's just a matter of getting lucky.
The great thing about books at garage sales is that you can get them for really cheap; as I've mentioned before, I try to get at least five for a dollar but I will never pay more than $0.25 per book.
The downside to buying books at garage sales from garage sales is that it can be very frustrating. Nine times out of ten, books are either of the self-help Christian variety, the Dan Brown-esque variety, or romance novels (if these excite you I am judging you very, very hard right now).
I would say I buy a book every other week I go saling. About every two months we go to a sale with a good book selection and I buy five or more books. Really, like everything else in garage saling, it's just a matter of getting lucky.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Items to Avoid: Video Games
Last post I discussed why you should look for video games. This post I will discuss why you should avoid them.
In my experience, video games are a poor investment. I have made the mistake of buying games solely as an investment in the past based on my own experience of what games are popular. I unfortunately didn't realize that a game's popularity has nothing to do with its value. Some games that sold millions of copies are prized on eBay and Amazon; other games that sold just as well now cost $0.99 on Amazon. I'm not telling you to not buy games as investments; I'm telling you to not buy games if you don't know their value before your purchase. Do not assume that a game is valuable just because it's old; video game value is extremely unpredictable even for people who have a decent understanding of the market.
I've learned that most people do not take care of their games. Most games I see are covered in stickers, marker, and dirt. CD's are usually scratched beyond playability. Games almost never come with their original boxes or manuals which take a few dollars off any resale value. Before you buy a game, inspect it well. If it's a CD, make sure it's not too scratched. If it's a cartridge, make sure the pins aren't too dirty and make sure the pins haven't snapped off. If in doubt, don't buy it, especially if you intend to resell.
Video game consoles are notoriously poor investments both because the market is bad and consoles never work as well as the seller claims. Not once have I had one boot on the first attempt like the seller claimed it would. For one or two dollars, the risk that a console represents is fine, especially if you get a few games with it. Don't spend the $30+ many sellers demand; you'll end up disappointed. Also keep in mind that if you buy a console as an investment there's a good chance you'll be selling it at your own sale.
In my experience, video games are a poor investment. I have made the mistake of buying games solely as an investment in the past based on my own experience of what games are popular. I unfortunately didn't realize that a game's popularity has nothing to do with its value. Some games that sold millions of copies are prized on eBay and Amazon; other games that sold just as well now cost $0.99 on Amazon. I'm not telling you to not buy games as investments; I'm telling you to not buy games if you don't know their value before your purchase. Do not assume that a game is valuable just because it's old; video game value is extremely unpredictable even for people who have a decent understanding of the market.
I've learned that most people do not take care of their games. Most games I see are covered in stickers, marker, and dirt. CD's are usually scratched beyond playability. Games almost never come with their original boxes or manuals which take a few dollars off any resale value. Before you buy a game, inspect it well. If it's a CD, make sure it's not too scratched. If it's a cartridge, make sure the pins aren't too dirty and make sure the pins haven't snapped off. If in doubt, don't buy it, especially if you intend to resell.
Video game consoles are notoriously poor investments both because the market is bad and consoles never work as well as the seller claims. Not once have I had one boot on the first attempt like the seller claimed it would. For one or two dollars, the risk that a console represents is fine, especially if you get a few games with it. Don't spend the $30+ many sellers demand; you'll end up disappointed. Also keep in mind that if you buy a console as an investment there's a good chance you'll be selling it at your own sale.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
4/7/12 Purchase Summary
I didn't actually go garage saling this weekend. I did what I did on March 10th: I took a morning walk through my neighborhood and stopped at any sales I found. Today I only found one and it was terrible; it was made entirely of clothing.
Going out today I did happen to stop at another sale because it was on the route I usually take anyway. This house frequently has sales (this is the fourth one I've seen since December) and I always stop because the sales are usually pretty good. Today I did not leave disappointed: I bought a TI-83 graphing calculator for $0.50.
The calculator is missing the sliding cover and the battery cover. Other than these somewhat major flaws, it's in perfect condition; I expect to get anywhere from $30-$50 for it.
Yesterday I sold one of the books I purchased two weeks ago. After Amazon's fees, my cut comes to around $11.72. Shipping will be $3-$4, so in the worst case I'll be getting ~$7.75 off a $0.10 investment. It's not much, but it at least pays for my portion of the gas money for that trip.
Going out today I did happen to stop at another sale because it was on the route I usually take anyway. This house frequently has sales (this is the fourth one I've seen since December) and I always stop because the sales are usually pretty good. Today I did not leave disappointed: I bought a TI-83 graphing calculator for $0.50.
The calculator is missing the sliding cover and the battery cover. Other than these somewhat major flaws, it's in perfect condition; I expect to get anywhere from $30-$50 for it.
Yesterday I sold one of the books I purchased two weeks ago. After Amazon's fees, my cut comes to around $11.72. Shipping will be $3-$4, so in the worst case I'll be getting ~$7.75 off a $0.10 investment. It's not much, but it at least pays for my portion of the gas money for that trip.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Items to Look for: Video Games
As you probably know, video games, even used video games, are expensive. Garage sales are great for buying games because you can get them for a fraction of their used price, frequently a dollar or less per game. I'm not saying you're going to see games every week you go out; many weekends I don't see any games at all. However, when you do see sales with games, they're usually selling a few games, not just one.
When I see a stack of games at a sale, I usually grab the whole thing and make an offer on it. Why? For several reasons.
For one, if the seller denies my offer, I can take out one or two games I definitely do not want (usually sports games, I hate sports games) as a bargaining tactic. I take out the games, offer the same sum I offered previously, and frequently the seller will agree. If the seller accepts my initial offer, then I get a couple games I don't really want. I can either give these to Goodwill or hang onto them to bundle them into my next game/console sale.
Another reason is for reselling. I've bought some fairly valuable games ($20 range) in the past in game bundles at sales. If you get lucky like that, you can sell one game, keep the rest, and make a profit. As I mentioned above, if you get a few games in which you are not interested and they prove worthless, bundle them together and sell them at your own garage sale. I've had parents and grandparents buying games for their children or grandchildren pay quite a bit for worthless games at my own sales. Worthless games that I bought in bundles and kept the good games.
Obviously, this works best if you're buying games for yourself or you know a fair bit about games and you intend to gift or resell them. I know the popular SNES and N64 games and I know what games for these consoles will get you decent money. I will buy games for myself for other consoles but I won't buy games for other consoles to resell because I don't know the markets.
When I see a stack of games at a sale, I usually grab the whole thing and make an offer on it. Why? For several reasons.
For one, if the seller denies my offer, I can take out one or two games I definitely do not want (usually sports games, I hate sports games) as a bargaining tactic. I take out the games, offer the same sum I offered previously, and frequently the seller will agree. If the seller accepts my initial offer, then I get a couple games I don't really want. I can either give these to Goodwill or hang onto them to bundle them into my next game/console sale.
Another reason is for reselling. I've bought some fairly valuable games ($20 range) in the past in game bundles at sales. If you get lucky like that, you can sell one game, keep the rest, and make a profit. As I mentioned above, if you get a few games in which you are not interested and they prove worthless, bundle them together and sell them at your own garage sale. I've had parents and grandparents buying games for their children or grandchildren pay quite a bit for worthless games at my own sales. Worthless games that I bought in bundles and kept the good games.
Obviously, this works best if you're buying games for yourself or you know a fair bit about games and you intend to gift or resell them. I know the popular SNES and N64 games and I know what games for these consoles will get you decent money. I will buy games for myself for other consoles but I won't buy games for other consoles to resell because I don't know the markets.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Items to Look for: Nerf Guns
I'm going to start a series discussing common items that are potential great deals, either from a reselling standpoint or a buy for one's self standpoint. I'm also going to start a related series of items to avoid; at least one item will appear on both lists.
Today's topic is Nerf guns. Why? Nerf guns have been the single most profitable category of resale items I have come across. I have made at least $170 off them since I started reselling Nerf guns back in 2008 and I have an additional $40-$60 worth of guns sitting in my sister's room (it's OK, she's away at college).
The great thing about Nerf guns is that most people think they're worthless. Of the $170+ in guns I have sold, I invested a total of less than $3. If people are willing to sell their guns for cheap, they're going to let them go for almost free. At one sale, I traded a few foreign coins (all worthless, mainly Canadian pennies) for guns I later resold for $35.
Some guns are worth more than others. The Longshot is fairly common and, having been discontinued in the US, is worth up to $60 on eBay, as I've mentioned before. The Longshot comes in the original blue, yellow, and red. The red version was sold as the Red Strike only on Black Friday 2009 at Wal-mart. All version of this gun will fetch a fair amount of money but the Red Strike is considered to be very valuable.
The Vulcan is another gun considered to be worth a fair amount. It's a fully-automatic, tripod-mounted gun that uses six C batteries. Don't spend much buying this gun; two of the three I have purchased proved to be broken and you can't really check if it works if the seller doesn't have fresh batteries. A working Vulcan will get you $35-$40.
Today's topic is Nerf guns. Why? Nerf guns have been the single most profitable category of resale items I have come across. I have made at least $170 off them since I started reselling Nerf guns back in 2008 and I have an additional $40-$60 worth of guns sitting in my sister's room (it's OK, she's away at college).
The great thing about Nerf guns is that most people think they're worthless. Of the $170+ in guns I have sold, I invested a total of less than $3. If people are willing to sell their guns for cheap, they're going to let them go for almost free. At one sale, I traded a few foreign coins (all worthless, mainly Canadian pennies) for guns I later resold for $35.
Some guns are worth more than others. The Longshot is fairly common and, having been discontinued in the US, is worth up to $60 on eBay, as I've mentioned before. The Longshot comes in the original blue, yellow, and red. The red version was sold as the Red Strike only on Black Friday 2009 at Wal-mart. All version of this gun will fetch a fair amount of money but the Red Strike is considered to be very valuable.
The Longshot
The Vulcan
Other guns will fetch your varying amounts of money. According to my reading, the crossbow is considered one of the best Nerf guns ever made but I have no idea how much money you can get for it. The Nerf Wiki is a great site for pricing and listing Nerf guns; I always use it when flipping guns (it's also where I'm getting my information for this post).
One great thing about Nerf guns is that you frequently buy them in sets. People on Craigslist are unwilling to spend more than $5 per gun if they're sold individually; however, if the guns come in a set, they are willing to pay more. A set of four guns, depending on the model, will usually get you between $25 and $50.
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