Shopping Garage Sales? Would you do it anyway, even if it meant you would not make any money from it? Or even worse, do you shop garage and estate sales and actually spend money on what you don’t need? I would like to give you some tips on how to turn that HABIT into a BUSINESS!

I own a business, that specializes in eBay consignment selling and teaching others about buying and selling on eBay.

I started selling on eBay from my own personal stash of unwanted items, but then I branched out into hunting for goods to sell. Now I can not proclaim to be a garage sale addict prior to eBay - however, I am now! Garage sales are a great place to start when looking to sell on eBay. When your own personal items are cleaned out and you have some selling experience, now it is time to “kick it up a notch;” buying with the sole purpose of reselling.

Here are few tips to consider, you may want to copy this onto a sticky note or print it and take it with you as you get started:

1) Scour the newspaper, local free papers and don’t forget to check CraigsList.com for sales in your area.

2) Look through the ads carefully for the items you know you want, but then look for sales that are close together. Neighborhood sales or even city wide sales are worth spending a whole weekend perusing.

3) Once you have selected your sales, did you know that you can plot up to 10 addresses on one map at mapquest.com? Yep - simply visit the site and click on “try it now” at the top where it asks if you need more than one stop on your route. Pretty nifty!

4) Go early, do not be the early bird they advertise against - but do show up 5-10 minutes before the stated time at the sale you have at the top of your list.

5) Don’t forget - bring cash in $10’s, $5’s & $1’s. WATER - you don’t want to dehydrate! Boxes to organize your items so things are not flopping around and you can fit more in your vehicle. Pen & paper, explained later.

FREEZE - before you put that car in gear write down your mileage or set a trip meter. You can deduct these miles.

6)Now you are shopping! CRITICAL: do not mosey through from one side to the other glancing everything over. Head straight for one of these three: the item you came to see, to the garage or to the center table. People tend to keep the best things in the garage near the sellers, and they tend to display the more “prized possessions” on a table in the center. (Generally speaking.)

7) DO NOT glance through the clothes and shoes and books slow like and carefully - check the label, check for a tag, check the condition and price and move on.

The GOAL is to gather as much of the good stuff as possible before someone else does - at least have it in your arms, you can always put it back after you give it a closer look.

Quick story: I made the huge mistake of just starting at one side of a sale and working my way around, clear on the other side of the driveway - very obviously placed I might add - was a “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots” Vintage game brand new in the box and for $0.50!! A person who showed up after me, got to it before me…sad day…

Here are a few things to grab if you see them, 90% of the time or so, I will make money reselling the following on eBay:

Books in a complete series that are in great condition.

Anything, just about, New in Box (For a few cents to a couple dollars I will pick anything up that has the tags still on it.)

Functional items new in box, printer ink cartridges, photo paper, scrapbook supplies, games, movies, video games…etc

Clothes and Shoes with tags or box that are new, no stains, and remotely current in style.

9) Collectibles, collectibles - you will never know what you will find when you see this listed in an ad. Some to look for are Lladro, Nao, Royal Copenhagen, vintage Star Wars, vintage Entertainment Memorobilia - signed items or concert t-shirts.

10) The art of negotiating starts with - do NOT pay more than what you want to pay! Decide what you will pay and ask for a little less than that. They may say yes, or raise the price a bit. If they raise the price too far or leave it at the original price, walk away. Browse some more, maybe they will approach you after they have a moment to think about it. Be brave - it is your money to make and their money to make and a win/win situation for everyone - until you pay too much and get burned!

11) This may sound silly - but I always say “Hi” and smile as I walk up and browse around. First of all, it is nice, but also may butter them for your negotiations should you find an item you can not live without!

12) This is where the pen and paper comes in: when you get to the car write down what you bought and what you paid for it - tags will fall off. I always suggest to my eBay students, start your auction at the price you paid or just a bit over. This leaves room for the auction to do its magic, and for you to at least break even. You will likely cover your fees with the handling charges you add to your shipping.

13) Try to sell the item twice and stick it into store inventory if you have an eBay store. If you do not have an eBay store, donate it for tax deductions, donate to a school or family, put an ad on craigslist.com for it or HAVE A GARAGE SALE! Every summer I gather all of my remaining items that just did not go as planned and stick them out for sale. Combine it with a few friends items and you have a full fledged garage sale. Put your ad on craigslist and watch the process come full circle!

14) An added bonus to being a frequent garage saler is that you can plan ahead for personal and family needs. If you come across a stack of clothing one to two sizes ahead of your children - grab it! If you find some neck ties in great condition for the hubby - grab them - eventually your hubby will get a grease stain. If you find toys, movies, candles, decorative items or books in NEW condition - even if they have no hope of reselling - grab them and make a GIFT TUB that you can access over the year for gifts on demand.

15) Last advice I can give is of course HAVE FUN & don’t forget the sunscreen. At the end of your day record your miles for your tax deduction.