The Best Places to Buy Inventory From

One of the most fundamental aspects of reselling is buying inventory, where knowing good places to buy inventory from is often the difference between having success or failure. Often, sourcing can be difficult but I just wanted to share some some of the best places that you can go to get inventory, and ways to use the methods in the most effective manner possible.

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Thrift Stores

Thrift stores are a great way to purchase inventory for reselling. They get their inventory by taking donations from the public at large, and selling it through their physical stores. They have very cheap inventory for both Amazon and eBay and it is important to look at them on a frequent basis as their inventory is constantly changing. However, it is important to keep in mind that there are varying qualities of thrift stores. Some thrift stores actually sell stuff on Amazon and eBay, and Goodwill even has their own auction website. This can limit the amount of profit that you are able to earn. With this being said, it is typically only the large chains such as Goodwill that have the ability to do this, where smaller, more local thrift stores tend to be much better places to source. Moreover, some categories are better at thrift stores than others, which makes it very important to keep an open mind when going to them. For example, there is a thrift store that I always go to that sells a lot on eBay. However, they do not sell books on Amazon and I can usually find some fairly profitable books when I go there.

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Garage Sales

Garage sales are another great way to buy some inventory. Often, people will get stuff that they want to get rid of at garage sales for really cheap, which is especially true in situations where people are moving. To find them, the best way to do this is to use an app called yard sale treasure map, which scours the internet for garage sales that are near you. Then, make a route the night before you plan on going garage saling, then try to get to the first one around around 8am so you can get some of the better stuff. This way, you will not waste time driving unecessarly, and you will have the ability to get some of the best inventory. Also, while out garage saling, keep on the lookout for signs as some people do not advertise garage sales online, and just put signs out. These, in my opinion, tend to be some of the best ones. Also, look out for them on platforms such as Facebook marketplace as the yard sale treasure map does not pick up on all of them. However, keep in mind that the quality of garage sales vary widely, and you will have to spend more time traveling to get from one to another than for example thrift stores. Also, keep in mind that if you go to a few and find nothing do not get discouraged as it only takes one good garage sale to make your entire day worth it.

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FB Marketplace

FB marketplace is another amazing way to source inventory. This is a component of Facebook where people can buy and sell stuff from one person to another, and is even a way to get free inventory that people are putting on the curb. Personally, I check this platform a few times throughout the day because good stuff goes fast, but there is definitely good stuff to be had. When buying stuff through FB marketplace, make sure that you follow all of the necessary safety precautions such as meeting up in a public place, or do porch pick up where you just leave the money under a mat and pick up your stuff.

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Online and Retail Arbitrage

Another great way to get inventory is through the clearance sections of stores and websites. Often, stores will get too much inventory and will be forced to put it on clearance as a result, where sometimes different branches put different items on different levels of clearance for different reasons, making unique opportunities in some stores to earn a profit. A great way to go about doing this is to join groups that are focused on finding deals online and in store, and checking them every day so you will not have to go about looking for the deals yourself, and take advantage of more opportunities as they arise.

I hope that this was helpful. Remember, go anywhere and everywhere you can to find good inventory, as inventory can be found in more places than you may have originally thought. However, knowing some specific places to go to in order to get some inventory can be the difference between succeeding and failing in reselling. Have a great day.