how do people get things so cheap?

[dansazz]

im always hearing about this site or that site, where you can buy a bunch of stuff at really cheap prices then sell it on ebay for profit, why have I never found any of these sites?

[Flackle]

Its called wholesale. Look up "insert product you want to sell" wholesale on Google and you can find some wholesale sources for these items.

Wholesale still kind of sucks, since you usually can't get items cheaper than half of what they are worth retail. There's a lot of risk involved in wholesale, and a lot of work managing such huge numbers of items (the main disadvantage of wholesale is the more you buy the more you save, but unless you have employees then handling such large numbers of items is daunting.)

 I suggest checking out thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, real life auction houses, consignment stores. Any store that is not selling items for retail can get great sources for both individual items and large numbers of items. Some warehouses has huge pallets of items that never got sold for wholesale but there is an untapped online market for them. Getting to know people are consignment stores and people who run auctions can lead you to these sources.

If you're going to get into this sort of business its going to take some real effort. You can't expect a google search to get you all the things you want to know. You've gotta get involved with people and network. Start small, and concentrate your efforts on learning the value of individual items. Pick a market, like sports memorabilia, and use eBay to learn what things are going for so you know what to keep an eye out for. Being able to judge and items actual value is not enough, knowing what it goes for on eBay is the only surefire method of knowing what you can sell that item for on eBay. You will also be getting a lot of stuff not worth anything, and if you get boxes of stuff you'll have to deal with junk you don't want. This is where having a yard sale yourself, or putting everything up for sale on craigslist can come in handy. Be prepared for a lot of organizing, and learn how to manage your risk. The fact remains, getting an item worth 50 bucks on eBay for a quarter is a lot better return then getting something for 5 bucks and trying to sell it for 10 or 15.

[dansazz]

Its called wholesale. Look up "insert product you want to sell" wholesale on Google and you can find some wholesale sources for these items.

Wholesale still kind of sucks, since you usually can't get items cheaper than half of what they are worth retail. There's a lot of risk involved in wholesale, and a lot of work managing such huge numbers of items (the main disadvantage of wholesale is the more you buy the more you save, but unless you have employees then handling such large numbers of items is daunting.)

 I suggest checking out thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, real life auction houses, consignment stores. Any store that is not selling items for retail can get great sources for both individual items and large numbers of items. Some warehouses has huge pallets of items that never got sold for wholesale but there is an untapped online market for them. Getting to know people are consignment stores and people who run auctions can lead you to these sources.

If you're going to get into this sort of business its going to take some real effort. You can't expect a google search to get you all the things you want to know. You've gotta get involved with people and network. Start small, and concentrate your efforts on learning the value of individual items. Pick a market, like sports memorabilia, and use eBay to learn what things are going for so you know what to keep an eye out for. Being able to judge and items actual value is not enough, knowing what it goes for on eBay is the only surefire method of knowing what you can sell that item for on eBay. You will also be getting a lot of stuff not worth anything, and if you get boxes of stuff you'll have to deal with junk you don't want. This is where having a yard sale yourself, or putting everything up for sale on craigslist can come in handy. Be prepared for a lot of organizing, and learn how to manage your risk. The fact remains, getting an item worth 50 bucks on eBay for a quarter is a lot better return then getting something for 5 bucks and trying to sell it for 10 or 15.

I know what wholesale is. I was talking about sites that you get things for a couple bucks and sell for 15 to 30 or more.

[demaina]

You may be thinking of sites like Quibids and a few of those other sites where you buy bids and then bid on items.  I personally haven't used them but they say you can get things for up to 95% off the retail price.  I believe I've heard people buying items from their and then selling them afterwards.

[Flackle]

Its called wholesale. Look up "insert product you want to sell" wholesale on Google and you can find some wholesale sources for these items.

Wholesale still kind of sucks, since you usually can't get items cheaper than half of what they are worth retail. There's a lot of risk involved in wholesale, and a lot of work managing such huge numbers of items (the main disadvantage of wholesale is the more you buy the more you save, but unless you have employees then handling such large numbers of items is daunting.)

 I suggest checking out thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, real life auction houses, consignment stores. Any store that is not selling items for retail can get great sources for both individual items and large numbers of items. Some warehouses has huge pallets of items that never got sold for wholesale but there is an untapped online market for them. Getting to know people are consignment stores and people who run auctions can lead you to these sources.

If you're going to get into this sort of business its going to take some real effort. You can't expect a google search to get you all the things you want to know. You've gotta get involved with people and network. Start small, and concentrate your efforts on learning the value of individual items. Pick a market, like sports memorabilia, and use eBay to learn what things are going for so you know what to keep an eye out for. Being able to judge and items actual value is not enough, knowing what it goes for on eBay is the only surefire method of knowing what you can sell that item for on eBay. You will also be getting a lot of stuff not worth anything, and if you get boxes of stuff you'll have to deal with junk you don't want. This is where having a yard sale yourself, or putting everything up for sale on craigslist can come in handy. Be prepared for a lot of organizing, and learn how to manage your risk. The fact remains, getting an item worth 50 bucks on eBay for a quarter is a lot better return then getting something for 5 bucks and trying to sell it for 10 or 15.

I know what wholesale is. I was talking about sites that you get things for a couple bucks and sell for 15 to 30 or more.

There's two things off the top of my head that I think you are describing. One is penny auctions, and I would avoid those like the plague. The second is buying things low and selling them high. This is essentially what is known to be called Arbitrage. Arbitrage exist when there is market inefficiency (and item in one "location" is not selling the same as an item in another "location"). There are lots of methods to arbitrage. Some I described above, but one way of doing it online is to find and item that sells well, and find it far cheaper somewhere else. This could be due to an item on eBay being listed wrong (such as a misspelling) and are able to pick it up cheaper because no one else found it. Or you find an item on another site (like amazon). These are not likely, though, since the internet is a very efficient. There is a lot less efficiency when you get outside of the internet and source products in real life (or vice-versa) which I found to be have a lot more opportunities. One great site to source products locally online is craigslist.

[Gerianne]

One of my neighbors told me a  story a few weeks ago.
His grand daughter goes to the dollar store to buy something in large quantity.
Then, she puts the item for sale on EBay.
She makes a profit.
She must do all right if she keeps doing it.

[tjung10]

Some people do drop shipping for companies! You don't have to touch the product and sell it for them!

[jonhall37]

a lot of good ideas on this thread, thanks all!!

[lackeyk]

You can also search in the google page " legit cheap items for sale " they will give you a whole list. Good luck whatever you looking for

[ladycasshmere]

I get things cheap by using coupon sites and blogs

[tykhailfa]

Ebay there bids are dirt cheap to me

[gwendolynconrad]

Sometime I go to some Thrift Stores and get items very cheap.

[jwallbank]

Gave me some good ideas, Thank you too!

[vickysue]

You have to be really careful with what you are buying there is so much knockoffs out there. Alot of people get burned when they think they are getting the real deal and then find out later it is not the real mccoy.  If it sounds too  good to be true then it is proably phoney. Good luck on finding what you want.