Low cost and no cost ways of finding stock for eBay Part Three

This is my third article of a series which offers information on finding low cost and no cost ways of finding items to sell on eBay.  So far I’ve covered information products, dropshipping, selling other people’s items for a profit and buying from carboot sales and charity shops etc.  Now here are a few more ideas for finding low cost stock.

Try garage sales and house clearances.  Goods are nearly always sold dirt cheap, especially when the sales are coming to an end and people just want to shift things.  The price is no reflection on the quality and you can pick up plenty of bargains this way.

There are also many freebie sites around.   These come in two categories: the sites which list the free product samples and giveaways and the sites which offer free for collection items such as Freegle.  Freebies do have a value to them even on eBay.  For example, you can put cosmetic samples in small lots of ten or twenty, usually the more the better.  You are unlikely to get more than a few pounds for them and then you have to minus your eBay and PayPal fees but there’s still a profit in it. 

Sites like Freegle offer free for collection giveaways.  I’ve not used this option myself but I know of people that do and they explain that there are going to be selling the items they collect on eBay.  They say that people don’t mind what they are going to do with the items; they’re just glad to get rid of them and glad to help someone out.

You’ll often find free giveaways offered in shop windows and in the back of newspapers too.  This offers another way of obtaining items with no cash outlay, but as with any other items, do some research and ensure there is a market for any freebies you’re collecting first or you’ll soon find yourself overburdened with them.

Supermarkets and chemists can be a good – if irregular – source for stock.  They sometimes have cosmetics and skin care items at bargain prices, around the 20p mark.  This makes the items a lot cheaper than some wholesalers and if you take a look during your usual shopping trip, then it’s not costing you anything extra.  If you are buying cosmetic items then look out for good brand names that people know and make sure that they are good shades that people will wear.

Other online auction sites are also a good way of finding items to sell.  Some sites don’t have a lot of visitors and don’t attract high bids.  Items that might only sell for a £1.00 on one site might sell for £10.00 on eBay.  Again, find a category that you are interested in selling in, do some research, and find out if there is a profit in the items you intend to sell.

Buying from other eBay sites provides another means of finding affordable stock.  Some sites attract far less visitors than others which mean goods go much cheaper.  However, the US sites has myriads of visitors but can still be used for buying items cheaply. Especially items that are mass produced in the States so sell cheaply there but are hard to obtain in other countries so they have a higher value when sold somewhere else.

This concludes my third article in this series.  Please look out for article number four.