One Mans' Junk Is Another Entrepreneur Idea

Garage sale. For some people that says junk for sale. For the home entrepreneur it can mean a treasure hunt for profit. Sure, you are going to find some junk at garage sales but chances are you will find some good, useful items that could be re-sold for a nice profit. Garage sales are a great place to shop if you are in the resale business or just looking for that must have item.

Buying and reselling garage sale items can be a good way to start your own business or just make a little extra spending cash. Now while digging through other people's stuff may not appeal to everyone, I can tell you from personal experience it can make you a lot of money if you know what you are doing. Buying from garage sales and reselling at my own yard sales is how I got started in the antique business.

Most yard sales are held on the weekend, usually Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. The serious treasure hunter will plan ahead and have a list of sales and the locations prepared ahead of time. This is a good idea as some sales start as early as 6 or 7 am. and you will want to get there early to get the 'good stuff' !

What exactly is the good stuff? Well that would be anything that an entrepreneur could re-sell for at least 3 times what you pay for it. From my experience furniture is one of the best items to buy for resale. Especially vintage or antique pieces. A lot of times people sell these items simply because hinges are broken or maybe the finish has worn off of a chest of drawers.

 If you are handy at fixing things or you like to refinish or paint furniture, then pieces like dressers, dining tables, nitestands and such can sometimes be bought for a few measly dollars. Then all you might have to do is put in a nail or screw somewhere or perhaps even just give it a good cleaning and now you have an item that will sell for hundreds of dollars!

Furniture has always been my biggest money maker, with antique and vintage pieces bringing the best profit. And since I love repairing and refinishing furniture, I not only make money from it but also have fun doing it.

Another garage sale item that has great profit potential is jewelry. Now when I first started out I never even paid attention to jewelry at these sales because I figured it was probably nothing but useless costume jewelry. That all changed as I began learning about art deco, vintage, and antique jewelry from my wife. She deserves an entrepreneur of the year award for that!

Once I knew what to look for in jewelry it was a whole new ballgame. The search was on and the profits soared. Two examples for you; I once paid fifty cents for a necklace that turned out to be a sterling silver vintage piece that re-sold for forty-five dollars. Another time I paid thirty-five dollars for a broach that was in fact a Victorian piece of fourteen carat gold with twelve diamonds that turned out to be worth almost two thousand dollars!

 As you can see, garage sales can be a very good source for resale items if you do not mind early morning treasure hunts. Certainly this method of making money is not for everyone, but as entrepreneur ideas go this one makes my top 10 list.

Copyright 2007 Michael Jarrett/ Top Home World.com