Ideas On Choosing What To Buy

Recently I scanned the Internet for ideas about what are the most profitable items to purchase and resell. Most of what I learned were concepts and not actual items. My co-writer Mandy has mentioned some specific ideas about t-shirts in her last couple of blogs. This one is about concepts, with one specific. My understanding is if you come across anything that is older Starbucks, buy it. It should make a profit for you.

Back to concepts, the first idea I learned is that it can be profitable to buy items that are no longer produced. As I was thinking of things I could buy that are no longer produced I came up with the idea to buy many old style light bulbs. They will soon no longer be made anywhere in the U.S. They fit some people's lights and lamps better than the new ones, and even though the cost more you can just throw them out. There is no need to recycle as you must do with the new ones. Light bulbs break easy. Fragile is a great collection factor because that means the number of items that exist get lower practically every week. Finally they are light weight to send in the mail. Weight is a factor in buying any item you want to sell on eBay.

The second thing I learned is to research your new ideas. It turned out that my idea to buy up some of the last of the regular light bulbs was not original. Since the transition has been going on, hundreds of thousands of people have stocked up on them. This means that they will not be rare for many years. And there is no predicting if they will be a sought out item. So I decided against buying them. My next idea did not need to be researched but thought through throughly.

Thinking through your idea is important as well, the third thing I learned. When I heard stamps were going up from $.47 to $.50 I thought about investing in the Forever Stamps. Since there are 20 stamps in a pack that would mean that I would be making $.60 off a pack put probably could charge a little more and make a $1. In order to make enough money to make it worth the time I would need to buy at least 25 books of stamps and sell them all. They are very light weight also and could be mailed in a small envelope. I was thinking this was becoming a good idea. Then I thought of the future of stamps and remembered something else I had learned. Knowing the demand for an item is a huge part of the buying.

The demand for stamps is quickly dying out. I talked to a 22 year old who used a stamp maybe twice in her life. As technology grows stamps will keep growing less necessary. It might be difficult for me to sell even one full book of stamps today. I decided not to take the risk on something that might only earn $25.

Finally I decided to just keep up on reading the posts and blogs and learning about selling on eBay. Personally I find if you look at many you will find at least one article in each that help you out a bit. So, I am going to stick with items I know to be rare or that I see are selling. I shall be looking for vintage coffee cups and ViewMaster Reels at garage sales for now.

Sale Rained Out: What Would You Do?

A few weeks ago I went to a garage sale I saw listed on craigslist. It looked like it had potential. The weather was overcast and slightly sprinkling on and off. So I was surprised to find this:

All of their stuff was covered. The craigslist ad had indicated it was a large garage sale. So seeing this and knowing there is a good chance something you want is under the draped protection, what would you do? Look under it? And if you do look under and see something you want, what do you do next?

So I went to the door to see if they would sell anything, or had more stuff inside. No one answered.

I decided to look under the tarp. If there was anything I wanted to buy I would leave money. I lifted the edge slightly, enough to see what was under the table it was covering.

Unfortunately, under the tarp were boxes filled with wet ruined items such as several board games. It had rained the night before, and I guess they didn't cover it until it was too late.

I briefly checked under the carpet but again everything was waterlogged.

On my way to my car I saw one more table that had uncovered items.

These few things that were saved were not worth anything to me.

So do you agree with my actions? Should I have looked more thoroughly?

What is your opinion?

Finding and Selling Toys for Collectors of All Ages

It's interesting to learn about some of the many different collectibles which sell on eBay. Trish has been researching the Littlest Pet Shop toys because a few of these are in high demand, and it's a bit of a mystery as to which ones are the hot sellers. LPS is a series of little animal figures for kids, and you can buy different playsets for your little pets (houses, treehouses, vet centers, etc). Most of the little animal figures go for just a buck or two each, but there are a few that will sell for a lot more.

Turns out we had a little collie dog that was a high-demand pet, and when Trish listed it, we could see right away that lots of people were viewing it and adding it to their watch lists. It ended up selling today for just over $30. If only all of our LPS toys were like the collie, but alas...!

I think of the LPS toys as being collected by kids, and I've got to wonder if people buy the pricey individual pets to help their kids complete their collections, or if the adults are collectors, too.

Another collectible we recently learned about is a teddy bear named Muffy Vanderbear. There's a whole subcategory on eBay for Muffy-related items under the larger dolls and bears category. We picked up a bunch of odds and ends at a $1/bag sale at the end of a Daughters of the American Revolution fundraiser sale a couple weeks ago, and it turns out we'd bought a little plush cat named Purrlie. Purrlie is Muffy Vanderbear's cat. I didn't know there was a teddy bear out there who had her own cat, but you learn things every day!

I'm pretty sure that Muffy and her friends are collected more by adults than kids. I was telling my mom about Purrlie, and she said she has a friend who has a Muffy doll on display and dresses the bear up in different outfits for different seasons.

We lucked into getting a whole set of Purrlie-related items at the DAR sale, including Purrlie's cushion and basket, and three little costumes. We just listed these as a lot, so we'll see what happens. Here's our Purrlie getting ready for a nap in her basket.