We’ve all heard the saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, but you might wonder if this is true in this day and age? Can you really still make money out of buying and selling junk secondhand goods? I know things have changed and gone are the days when second hand junk items used to hold a good price. But can you still make money? My answer is definately yes!
It all seems to be a chain reaction. New items are cheaper, therefore making them more disposable and easier to throw out, thus creating a treasure trove of junk. One particular type of person knows they can replace certain items easily and are careless about looking after it. There is another type of person that buys their junk, but values it highly, and does not even consider it junk. It’s a crazy world, but it will always be like that because we are all different.
So how do you make money out of buying and selling junk?
Junk value?
The first thing you need to be familar with is Value. The value of the item when it was brand new, the value of it second hand, and the value of it in it’s unique condition. It not good enough to know what people are trying to sell something for. Who cares about that. The only thing that matters is how much they actually got. That’s the going value of an item. For example a Nintendo DS Lite new would cost around $150. A good secondhand one should sell for around $110 but you might only get $100. If the screen is scratched you might only get $80. There are so many different values for one item.
How to determine Value?
How do you determine the value of an item? The answer is research. You need to study brochures, catelogs, and the classifieds. If you like dealing with junk and making money then this won’t be a problem for you, it will be fun. You can also go to markets and places where they sell junk and check out the prices.
Where can you find junk to buy and sell?
Ok there are a million places because people are always getting rid of stuff. Here is a quick list for you to start with:
- Garage sales and Yard sales: Go to garage sales either very early when you get first choice of the bargains or very late if you want to offer to buy everything that is left.
- Markets and car boot sales: The best time to go to these markets is when it’s raining but the stalls are already there. The stallholder feels like they have wasted their time by coming in the rain. This is the time to really bargain with them.
- Your local dump/tip: Tips and dumps around us now have shops in them. They get the best junk out to sell, but don’t panic because it is still seriously cheap.
- Advertising: Put an ad in the local newspaper saying that you will buy entire household lots for cash. Every now and then you will hit the jackpot!
- Auctions: Auctions are great for junk if you are willing to sort stuff out. You can get a pallet of boxes with all sorts of stuff in them. If you buy in bulk you save loads of money. Don’t forget about transporting what you buy though.
- Roadside pickups: In Australia we have council pickups. People leave stuff on the kurbside to get picked up at a set date. I am not sure on the rules but if you have the guts to go up and ask if you can remove their pile, how can that hurt?
Where can you sell secondhand junk?
If you come across something really good then you can sell it on Ebay or in the local paper. Garage sales are also good because you can have the sale at your house, without having to cart anything anywhere. Bigger items are hard to sell on Ebay and therefore need to be sold at a market, the local paper, or a garage sale.