Sourcing items for resale online can be one the toughest jobs for the Ebay seller. The best option is to locate several sources so that if one dries up, you won't be left high and dry.
1. Garage Sales
Garage sales can be a great opportunity to pick up potentially valuable items selling for pennies.
However, they do require a regular time commitment and a lot of patience! You are quite likely to visit a number of sales before finding anything suitable for resale. Garage sales require
planning and rising early. The best idea is to look through the morning papers, local advertising, and local online bulletin boards. Carefully plan a route to make the most efficient use of your time. Make a list of items you would like to find and the maximum amount you would pay to make
a profit. And finally, don't forget to take cash! Small bills and some change are best as most
garage sale owners only have a small amount of cash on hand. It's a waste of everyone's time
if you have to race down to the ATM machine. While garage sales can be useful sources, they rely
on luck and can have a high time cost per item. Thus, serious sellers don't rely on garage
sales as their sole provider.
2. Liquidation sales
Liquidation sales are an excellent method of finding brand-name items at enormous discounts. Check
your newspapers and look for sales in your area. Before buying from a liquidator check to see
why the goods are being sold. Most of the time liquidation sales take place for legitimate reasons
such as company bankruptcy, store relocation and so on. However, it always pays to check as you
don't want to end up with a pile of stock you can't resell in a reasonable amount of time. Another thing - don't
bother with liquidation stock that is outside the scope of your business. There is no point buying
liquidation bicycle equipment just because it's cheap when you only sell jewelry.
Alternatively, you can find liquidation sites on the internet. One of the better ones can be found at
http://www.liquidation.com
.
These sites make it extremely easy to buy liquidation, particularly if you live in an outlying
area. One thing - just make sure that the possibility of damaged stock and used or returned
items included in the lots is small or non-existent.
Liquidation sales are an outstanding way to supplement your stock, but they can't be relied upon
to restock the shelves.
3. Estate sales
Estate sales can be a goldmine for anyone selling jewelry, old clothing, books, furniture
and so on. Once again, you need to have an idea of how much you can afford to spend before you
go. Don't forget to buy items your customers would like, rather simply getting caught up
in your own enthusiasm for what is for sale. Estate sales run by family will often bring in greater profit potential than those run by agents.
4. Clearance / Bargain Stores
At certain times of the year, most major stores will have a stock clear-out sale. Some of these
sales give you the opportunity to buy goods 50% or more below regular retail. This
can be a fantastic opportunity to find items to sell - or to replenish stock. Good clearance
sales can be equal to or even below a good wholesale price. Don't forget to overlook small
hobby shops in your area with clearance sales either. If you know the store is going to have
clearance sales regularly, then this can be one method of getting stock.
5. Wholesalers
Wholesalers are the most reliable and consistent method of sourcing goods. While the initial process can be
time consuming at first, the effort will pay off well in the end. When you have found a wholesaler, you can now be certain
of when you are going to receive stock and how much you will have to pay for it.
The best way to find wholesalers is to use a directory. Directories remove the risk of dealing
with illegitimate wholesalers and give you some peace of mind when dealing with wholesalers and
manufacturers from China. Wholesalers should be the mainstay behind your product sourcing.
About the Author:This article was adapted from information provided on the Salehoo website.
SaleHoo is one of the fastest growing product sourcing
portals on the internet. It contains a database of drop ship, wholesale, closeout and manufacturing
suppliers that literally offer thousands of product suppliers to consumers! Located
at http://www.salehoo.com,
visitors are allowed to sign up for unlimited and lifetime access to a regularly updated and searchable
database of products and suppliers.
Auction Lynx___
