Online sales are a great way to stock up on eBay inventory without even leaving home. GAP.com is having a huge online sale. Many items have been marked down 70% from the regular price, plus a 25% (through November 11) discount on sale items when you use code EXTRA25 at checkout.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Gap Sale – Huge Discounts Online

Halloween has come and gone. I have been in Walmart, Target, and CVS this week, and the left over costumes are marked down to 75% off regular price. You may consider grabbing a few – costumes are good sellers on eBay year round.

Kids love to play dress up all year long. Moms are constantly looking for items to add to the dress-up collection for both girls and boys. New costumes make great holiday or birthday gifts. If you are buying to resell, look for princess costumes, anything by Disney, characters from popular TV shows and movies, action figures, professions (fireman, policeman), and accessories such as wigs and hats. If you wait a bit longer, you may see these items marked down to 90% off. The longer you wait, the better deal you will get, but the selection will become smaller and smaller.

I recommend buying these on clearance and listing them in store inventory with a best offer. You will be surprised at how well costumes sell after Halloween. You can even look on Walmart.com in the clearance center and find all kinds of deals – with only 97 cents shipping!

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Post from: EveryJoe

Halloween Costume Clearance

I received this question from a reader this week:

“Do you have any advice for people like me, who live in the middle of nowhere?? I live in a very small town in MN, we don’t have any stores like TJ Maxx or anything like that, not even a JC Penney! It’s too much to risk buying the big lots on the internet because of not knowing what you’re going to get and I can’t afford to lose $1000 or more dollars. Is there any advice you can give for those that do not live in a big city and it is very hard to go out and find deals? Plus we have Winter coming on, so no garage sales either until Spring.”

There are several options that may work for people living in rural areas. Think about selling a service. eBay has a category called Specialty Services. You can sell services such as web esign, graphic design, logo design, consulting, writing or editing services, sewing or crafting services, or artist services. For example, if you are an artist, you can offer to do pencil drawings or paintings from photos emailed to you. If you are a skilled seamstress, you can make specialty items such as personalized pillows or craft items. If your hobby is knitting or crocheting, you can take custom orders and make baby blankets, sweaters, or scarves. Just make a few samples, take some photos, set up a listing, and offer to create a personalized item based on the customer’s preferences.

Speaking of crafts, you may want to try a site called Etsy – which showcases all things homemade. Etsy sellers offer everything from handmade jewelry to home decor and more. Read my article explaining Etsy and comparing eBay to Etsy. Think about what you have access to or what you could make to sell. For example, I know a woman who lives in Florida on the beach and has access to shells, sand dollars, starfish, etc. She makes gorgeous and unique craft items from seashells. Her raw materials are free! I have another friend who lives in a rural area in Georgia and makes Christmas items out of pinecones. Be creative. Look at what other Etsy sellers offer and get ideas for what you can do.

You may consider a monthly road trip to a city where you can shop at thrift stores. I live in Atlanta, and I run into people all the time who come here from Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama to shop at our thrift stores. They drive here, stay with a friend or relative or in an inexpensive motel, and shop for a couple of days. These shoppers can easily acquire a trunkload full of merchandise to sell on eBay in one weekend. Consider what cities are within reasonable driving distance from you and if a monthly road trip is feasible. This technique works well for retirees as they don’t have small children to arrange babysitting for, or to take along shopping.

Shop online clearance. I’ve done this. Kohls, Old Navy, The Gap, JcPenney and other stores have clearance centers on their websites. You can get huge deals on items, and usually if your order is over a certain dollar limit, the shipping is free. The merchandise shows up at your door and all you have to do is take the photos and list the items. The items are usually individually wrapped in plastic and ready to ship out. Another advantage here is ordering multiples of the same item. For example, say you found pajamas on clearance at Old Navy. You can order several of the same style in different sizes and list them in quantities. You only have to create the listing once and list in the different size categories. You can run auctions, fixed price listings, store inventory, or a combination of all these options.

Look at WalMart. Click here for another article that explains what kind of items from WalMart sell well on eBay.

You can look on eBay for lots. This differs from working with a wholesaler or dropshipper. eBay wholesale lots may be clothing or other items offered by a single seller who just doesn’t have time to list each item individually. You can buy the lot and then break the lot and sell the individual items. This technique works well for CDs, DVDs, cosmetics, and children’s clothing. I personally like this technique better than working with a wholesaler because you are working with an individual, and if the transaction doesn’t go well, you can file a complaint through eBay and Paypal and recover your investment. You have the eBay safety net on your side, whereas if you work with a random wholesaler on the internet, you don’t have any recourse if you aren’t satisfied with the transaction. Check out eBay lots and see what is available.

I hope these suggestions give you some ideas. If you are an eBay seller in a rural area, how do you acquire your inventory?

Post from: EveryJoe

Reader Question: eBay Inventory in Rural Areas

I want to thank the ladies at Money Saving Mom, Sisterly Savings, and Northern Cheapskate for educating me over the last few months on how to get free products through drugstore rebate programs, give aways, couponing, and other frugal tactics. I’ve always been a coupon clipper, but haven’t taken the art to a higher level until lately. So here is a big shout out to my new best friends! Thanks for all your help.

If you want to learn more about how to get free items by using rebates, coupons, sales, and special promotions, read the following articles. Getting free inventory to sell on eBay just takes a few steps and we can all use extra money, right? And remember, not everyone has access to the same things you do. Some free shampoo or toothpaste might not sound like much, but when you put these items in a batch or lot and offer them for sale on eBay, you will make money.

Get Free Products Using the CVS Extra Bucks Program

Get Free Products Using the Rite Aid Single Check Rebate Program

Get Free Products Using Walgreens Rebates and Register Rewards

Get Free Products Using Craigslist

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Post from: EveryJoe

Free Inventory to Sell on eBay for Profit

Scottsboro, Alabama is the home of the Unclaimed Baggage Center – a warehouse that stores and sells baggage and freight misdirected (lost?) by airlines, cruise ships, trains, and other modes of long distance transportation. This shopper’s haven has been featured on national television programs such as the Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN News.

More than 7,000 items are added to the store showroom every day. Items for sale include shoes, clothing, golf clubs, cameras, DVD players, iPods, cosmetics, books, luggage, and souveniers. Once a lost item has been in the airline’s possession for over 90 days, it is declared unclaimed and sent to Unclaimed Baggage.

For more information, visit the Unclaimed Baggage website, where you can take a tour of the warehouse. Prepare yourself – the center covers a full city block and contains millions of items. If you plan to visit Unclaimed Baggage, plan to stay a day or two.

If you are within driving distance, you may want to check out Unclaimed Baggage as a source for eBay inventory. With millions of items to choose from, you are bound to find a few things to sell on eBay for profit.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Source for eBay Inventory – Unclaimed Baggage Center

When I first started selling on eBay, my primary source for inventory was garage sales and thrift stores. But every business has to evlove in order to grow. Big Lots is a closeout store with products that have either been discontinued, removed from store shelves because of packaging changes, or phased out all together. Small stores like CVS and Walgreens only have limited shelf space. As new items are constantly hitting store shelves, other products must be removed to allow space for newly released products. The pulled items are often sold to Big Lots and sold at clearance prices. You can find great things to sell on eBay for profit at Big Lots such as health and beauty items, toys, office supplies, pet products, cosmetics, and medicines.

You may be thinking, “Why would somebody buy a bunch of closeout drug store products on eBay?” The answer – not everyone has access to the same products. Some people just fall in love with a product and it becomes unavailable. Others live in remote areas where shopping isn’t available. Others live in big cities where the corner store doesn’t carry what they need or like. Some people may have transportation issues, physical limitations, or other issues that prohibit them from shopping in stores.

A few words of caution about buying from Big Lots to resell on eBay:

1) Do your research before you buy anything. Visit the store, make notes of the deals. Then check eBay’s completed listings and decide if you can make a profit on the item.

2) Determine if you will sell the item in a lot or as a single item. You want to get rid of it fast (before too many other people are selling it) and for the most profit available.

3) Check the store often, several times a week. Big Lots stock turns over very quickly as new deals appear daily or weekly. Pay attention to what is new in the store.

4) Don’t list an item unless you buy it first. Some eBay sellers will visit the store, go home and list the items, and wait for a sale before buying the items. A very bad strategy with Big Lots as your source of inventory. You could go back in a few days and the item is sold out. Then you’ve got to explain to the customer why you can’t fill the order.

5) Check the expiration dates. You don’t want your customer to email you after receiving the product to ask for a refund because the item has expired.

6) Don’t broadcast to the store that you are an eBay seller. Go about your business quietly. If anyone makes comments about why you are buying so much, you don’t have to answer them, or you can simply state that you are buying for “a lot of other people.” Which is true.

Post from: EveryJoe

Big Lots – Source for eBay Inventory

This is a common question, and one that will be answered regularly on eShopOwner. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to acquire your inventory from wholesalers, dropshippers, or purchase truckloads of items at a time to make money on eBay.

Here are a few sources of inventory – some of which you may not have thought of!

1) Your own home. You probably have unwanted gifts, new clothing with tags, outgrown clothing, toys that aren’t played with, stacks of CDs and DVDs, and duplicate kitchen gadgets.

2) Thrift stores and garage sales.

3) Off-price stores like Marshalls, Stein Mart, Ross, and TJ Maxx.

4) Drug stores.

5) Closeout stores like Big Lots.

Want to know more? Be sure to subscribe to eShopOwner so you can learn more about where to find items to sell for profit on eBay.

Post from: EveryJoe

eBay FAQ #4 – Where Do I Find Things to Sell?