Are estate sales really a good place to find items to sell on eBay
Are estate sales really a good place to find items to sell on eBay? Have you been thinking about visiting estate sales and wondering whether it’s worth it, are items expensive, or really good deals? We can assure you that estate sales are absolutely a good place to find merchandise to sell!
Estate sales are also good places to find small to large inexpensive pieces of furniture that can be repaired, refinished, and sold for more profit.
Oftentimes at the end of estate sales, there are a lot of good leftover resalable household items that need to be disposed of, which is a great opportunity for eBay sellers.
This is how you get it. You visit EstateSales.net and EstateSales.org to locate estate sales that you may be interested in attending to source eBay merchandise. Contact the estate sale company, by email preferably, to offer to “broom clean” the house after the sale for all the leftover items (donations), which could include side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, sofa beds, arts and crafts supplies, books, antiques, housewares, etc. Providing “free” broom cleaning to remove all unsold items and vacuuming the floors, in exchange for these items, is a win-win situation!
By taking this back door approach to contacting estate sellers before the sale, it gives you an edge because they may not have anyone scheduled to perform this service. Estate sellers are not clairvoyant so we don’t know whether an estate sale will sell out to the bare walls or not. If it doesn’t, and most of them don’t, the owners may not want to keep the leftovers. They just want to leave the house empty. If you are fortunate to get this broom cleaning opportunity, you are certain to find items that are in good condition that you can sell on eBay.
Not to worry. There’s nothing unethical about approaching the estate sale company about this. You are simply offering to render a service that picks- up charities don’t do. On the other hand, if you were only interested in what you can get for “free,” or as a buyout, without offering complimentary cleanout and hauling services; then you would be competing with charitable organizations that these leftover household goods are normally reserved for.
In fact, it’s becoming more and more common to offer related services to help estate sale providers whose staff is exhausted after the sale! It is also unethical for estate sale companies to compete with charities for leftover personal property. If the client does not specify the donation of the leftovers, a reputable estate sale provider may be delighted to accept your cleanout and hauling help for leftover items in lieu of payment!
As a result of performing excellent broom cleaning service, you may get a regular opportunity to help other estate sellers, that will give you “insider” shortcuts to getting good leftover merchandise that you couldn’t otherwise find, to sell on eBay.
Another reason why estate sales are a good place for sourcing eBay merchandise is: You find good deals on any number of items. Once you find an inexpensive deal, you need to do a little research to find out what the value is on eBay. You can do a quick search of closed listings to see how much people are paying for the particular item you’ve found. Once you’ve confirmed that there’s a solid market for the item you’ve found, list it on eBay. The more you shop at estate sales (especially on the last day); you can acquire a good supply of used, vintage, antique, and collectible merchandise.
Unlike buying over-priced items at thrift stores or promising someone else’s items from drop-shippers, there are lower prices for higher quality items, and little risk involved with the strategy of sourcing estate sales for eBay inventory.
Whether trading useful services for estate sale merchandise or waiting until the last day to buy things for pennies on the dollar—you will always know what you have in stock. Unlike drop-shipper’s stock that you have no way of knowing the item is sold out, when a customer places an order with you, your estate sale merchandise is available.
The best way to avoid this merchandise problem is to become a helpful resource for estate sellers and shop at estate sales. When your merchandise sells on eBay, you can buy more. Estate sales almost guarantee that you’ll never run out of quality, high-profit things to sell and make some great money.