Friday from April through October is one of my favorite days because I get to scope out the yard sales for the weekend. Here in Southeastern PA most of our yard sales take place on Saturdays with infrequent ones occurring on Friday or Sunday. Friday is when I sit down and scour Craigslist, local newspapers, etc to see where the sales are happening the coming day.
Here is a list of the resources I use to find yard sales in my area:
- GSALR.com
- Craigslist.org
- Local Newspapers (I prefer their online websites to print versions)
- Signs (some people don't post their sale online!)
I've been selling online since 2011 and garage sales have always been a great source of inventory for my eBay business. I've gotten away from garage sales as I've focused on switching over from an eBay focused business to an FBA-centric business. This weekend I'm going back to basics and using my yard sale adventures to source for Amazon FBA inventory.
I've been really focusing on retail arbitrage (RA) and online arbitrage (OA) lately and am dabbling with some wholesale ventures. However, you just can't beat the ROI from a $1 yard sale investment. Even if that item only sells for $30 (after fees) thats a 97% profit margin or 2900% return on investment (ROI). You just don't find margins like that with RA/OA or wholesale.
If you are just starting out selling on Amazon, or a seasoned FBA seller, challenge yourself to spend one Saturday(or whatever day is yard sale day in your area) every one in a while sourcing for anything that can be sent in to Amazon for resale. This is also a great way to source when you are just starting out and have limited capital.
When I'm hunting I make sure to check out:
- books (mostly non-fiction)
- board games (I always love finding a collector who is liquidating their stash)
- health & personal care items (we have lots of crazy couponers in our area)
- anything that is NEW in package (especially if I have no idea what it is)
Will you be hitting any yard sales this weekend? What are your favorite things to look for or feel free to share what amazing finds you have you found in the past.
What are you doing today to move your business forward?
If you are new to selling on Amazon FBA, consider checking out Amazon FBA Newbies! over on Facebook. Its a great community of veterans and newbies discussing anything and everything related to FBA.
