By now you should be mostly sold out of the odds and ends kicking around your house. Now you need to be searching for products to buy and list. You should know how to use the completed item research tool, and it will be your best friend when going out and hunting for deals.
Now is where you go inventory hunting at outlet malls and other storefronts. You want to find inventory from stores that are clearing out items. Stores that already have discounted prices such as outlet malls, Ross, Marshalls, Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx are great stores to hit when sales are on. Bring a pen and paper to write down deals, and take quick pics of the items if you have a camera phone. Right now, you’re just checking to see what’s out there. Having a good feel of eBay Pulse will also give you a good idea for what to start looking for.
When you go home, make a list of deals that you found while browsing around. With your list, you are now ready to find out which deals are keepers and which ones are not. Go through each item on your list and perform some completed item research on eBay. This will tell you if the items are selling or not and what they sell for on eBay. Once you have determined which items are profitable to buy (after listing fees), then go back to the stores and pick up the items you want to start selling.
If there are multiples of the items that are profitable, buy multiples. Having an item you can relist and sell more than once saves time and makes you more money.
Thinking this is all just a waste of time and there is no profit to be found? We used this exact same strategy and bought a pair of jeans for $9 at a Marshalls and sold them for $100 on eBay.
Once you get the hang of it, you really get to see what you can sell on eBay for a profit. Start making relationships with the store managers and clear out old inventory for them. Usually they are more than happy for you to move their old stock for them if they still sell well on eBay.
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