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How to do it: First, spend hours at the computer checking the different categories. Start by visiting the categories of items that interest you. Look at the pictures, look at the final amounts that the items sold for, see how many people bid for that item, do a search to see if all similar items gets around the same amount of money. Record in a notebook the characteristics of the most prized items. Next visit your local thrift store equipped with a little pad and pencil. I usually like the bigger Salvation Army or Goodwill type of thrift store. Sometimes, though, you can find a really cheap little one tucked away somewhere that not many people visit. When I first started out, I gave myself a rule NEVER to spend more than $1.00 on items that I am not sure I can sell. The reason for this is because it is so easy to get swept away at a thrift store buying many things and ending up with a bill of $30. Now $30 might not be much for all the junk that you bought if you purchased it for your own use. However, if the purchased items are for resale and you are not sure as to their eBay value, most likely you will be disappointed with the potential return. The most important thing you can do to start your education process is to start writing down in your little pad anything that you think might have potential. Write down every detail of the item that might seem important. For example, you see a really nice looking vintage pottery piece. Mark down the name of the manufacturer, the color, the shape of the piece and its condition. Don't forget the most important part; the price! Back at home log onto eBay.com and do "completed" searches for the items you listed in your pad (in order to do a completed search, go to SEARCH then ADVANCED SEARCH. On that page click on the COMPLETED button and do your search). The reason you should do completed searches is because you want to see what the item ultimately sold for. Compare and see if the item that you have in your pad has similar marks and is in similar condition. Now you know the eBay value of that item. Compare and see how much would you have earned if you would have bought that item. If the amount is large (when I first started I gave myself a minimum of a $10 earning per item to make it worth my while) then run, don't walk, back to the thrift store and buy the item. Naturally, using this method you might miss out on stuff that you saw and meanwhile was bought by someone else. However, from my own experience it will cost you less money to loose out on those few purchases than buy everything that you think might sell. After awhile you will become an expert on different kinds of collectable. Naturally, you can also buy price guides and search the web for more information about the items that you see. Your job will be to become an expert on items that you see often at thrift stores. The next time you go to one, look around and see what does your thrift store have allot of. The usual things you see are cloths and other types of apparel like shoes, belts, scarves, purses. Also, I see a lot of glass stuff, vases, baskets, old computers, older video games and records. In each of these there are collectables. There are people that collect the old original Atari games, computers, cloths and etc. When you do your research on eBay go to the cloths, belts, purses, Atari and vintage computer categories and find out what people are looking for and how much they are willing to spend for those items and write it all down. Every time you go to the thrift store bring you lists with you so when you happen to see a vintage dress that looks cool and the label says Pucci you can right away check your lists and realize that that dress might be worth $5000! I hope these tips help you in your new business venture. And if all this seems too overwhelming, then I hope this helped you make up your mind whether you want to even do this. Best of luck, Suzanne Wouk Here are some great ebooks related to buying and selling on eBay:
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