The follow-up question I get is 'Great, but how do I find those items'? To start, I suggest people either look at ads on Craigslist.org, where people might be unloading those items. But more reliable is if you place an 'ITEMS WANTED' ad in your local Craigslist (which is free).
So here are items you can get locally in your town/neighborhoods (or maybe in your own home), and start selling the items on Amazon.com and/or Ebay.com right away.
1. Used Books. One category of used books that continuously sells very well is Owner's manuals and Repair Manuals for Cars (and motorcycles and trucks). The reason is everyone owns a used car or two (or more) in their lifetime, and they need repair manuals to fix them. So these books are in demand. You can find these manuals at your local garage sales or thrift stores and buy them for a buck each. I recently purchased a Ford Taurus repair manual and a Chevy Camaro repair manual for $1 each and they sold for $15 and $25 on Amazon. Or place a 'WANTED' ad on Craigslist asking people to let you buy their used car manuals. For more on selling books online, you can see my previous posts here.
2. Used Toy Batmobiles and Lego Batmobiles. This is my expertise (and I can't believe I'm giving this secret away). It's actually not just Batmobiles, you could do this with any other highly-collectible toy. I place local Craigslist ads saying 'Toy Batmobiles wanted', and I pay up to $5 each depending on type, condition. Toy batmobiles from the 1980s and 1990s, and even from the past couple years, can fetch up to $100. Do a search on Amazon.com for 'Batmobile' or a 'Completed Items' Search on eBay for 'Batmobile' and you'll see what I mean when you check their selling prices. USED lego Batmobiles from the 2000s fetch up to $135+; and USED Kenner Batmobile Toys from the 1980s and 1990s can fetch up to $100+. See more of my Batmobile selling success on my post here.
3. Used Thomas Train Sets. Same concept as above. View the completed listings on eBay and get a load of those selling prices. You just have to place a 'WANTED' ad in Craigslist, buy the toys, and post them on eBay. USED Thomas trains can fetch up to $200 and more.
4. Vintage Griswold Skillets. Yes, the iron skillets your grandmother used for cooking. Be sure they are of the 'Griswold' brand. I personally do not have experience in this but the selling prices on eBay, up to $800+, speak for themselves.
5. Name Brand, Seasonal Big Lots of Baby Clothing. By 'Name Brand', I mean Gap, Ralph Lauren, OshKoshB'gosh, etc. By 'Seasona'l I mean stuff that parents are buying for their kids now. By 'Big Lots' I mean you should sell them in lots of 30 to 50 pieces. Your best bet for this is to place an ad on Craigslist asking for clothing donations, and that you'll pick them up. Or go to garage sales and wait for the end of the sale to offer $5 to $10 per garbage bag full of clothing. Some people will be happy to just give it to you. You shouldn't pay more than $1.00 per clothing item, because you need to make a healthy profit (50-piece lots of USED baby clothing on eBay have sold for up to about $200). When listing your lots on eBay, you don't have to take a picture of every piece individually, but you should have a few pictures showing several pieces in detail, and one picture showing the entire lot. Also watch your shipping fees, as clothes in bundles are heavy, so your shipping cost can add up and you should build that into your pricing, as Buyers will probably balk if you try to charge them $25 for shipping.
So there are five ideas to get you started right away. If this intrigues you and you want to know what else you can "Find Locally and Sell Globally" RIGHT NOW, check out this e-book from my colleague Skip McGrath. It has a lot more ideas and comes with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee or Your Money Back.
Do Great Stuff, and Have Fun!
