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How to: Multiply $100 from buying/reselling from Craigslist

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DeletedUser394

Guest
I buy anything and everything that I can make a profit on. I've yet to make a deal involving N64 stuff where I haven't made at least 50% profit margins.

Here is about 1/6th of my current inventory;

 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
Sold 2 games from that picture above for $60 about 10 mins ago. Woman dropped by my house to buy them for her kids. She acknowledged that I charge fair market value.

Expecting someone else in a few hours to buy a console, 2 controllers, and 1 game for $80.

Easy money...

I realize my neighbours probably think I'm a drug dealer. Random people come to my house almost every day handing me cash hahaha.
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
A quick tip when buying/selling:

As soon as someone emails you, punch in their email address into facebook and check out their profile.

I can find out everything I need to know about a person in less than 2 minutes. (their age, economic situation, etc). That way I have a distinct advantage because I know how much money that person is likely to hand over for the product(s) they are asking for or selling.

-Ryan
 

oddball

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Sold 2 games from that picture above for $60 about 10 mins ago. Woman dropped by my house to buy them for her kids. She acknowledged that I charge fair market value.

Expecting someone else in a few hours to buy a console, 2 controllers, and 1 game for $80.

Easy money...

I realize my neighbours probably think I'm a drug dealer. Random people come to my house almost every day handing me cash hahaha.

I've been taking a look into the N64 systems around here but doesn't seem to be much demand. I still may take a gamble if I can get one cheap.

People the other day probably thought I was a drug dealer or something when I was suppose to meet someone at the mall and it ended up being an undercover and then 2 cop cars showed up a minute later. My item was the same as one reported stolen but it wasn't mine. So it was a waste of time and gas to meet him.
 
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DeletedUser394

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Just a few opportunities I found (in what I'm assuming is your area).

This can easily be sold for 2x asking price... probably even get him down to $70-$75

Nintendo 64

This one can be triple flipped. (my own term lol)

Nintendo 64 with rare game

Get this guy down to $100 and you can probably fetch 2x-2.5x your money. (Conkers' Bad Fur Day + Supersmash bros. are easily $100 for both of them.. not including the actual console ($35-$40), controllers ($30), the zelda game ($25) and the other games.

http://albany.craigslist.org/ele/2719484073.html

And then here's a guy willing to buy games/consoles at a fair price. Buying old SEGA and Nintendo games!
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
No worries, if you buy any of them, go for the $35 one... you can't go wrong with that, when a standard controller costs $12-$15 alone. Sell the two controllers and you've recouped your money right there (ebay, etc).

Anyway, I need to go take inventory. Trading is addictive!
 
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Ivan

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Ryan, thanks for the tip about the game systems. I used to resell mountain bikes and make decent money, but buying has slowed since it's winter. So after reading this thread, I decided to try the video game market.

Sure enough, I was able to score the following collection for $200:
Boxed NES with 9 games
Super Nintendo with 8 games
N64 with 15 games
2 Gamecubes with 1 game
Playstation with 12 games
PS2 with 7 games
Gameboy Advance SP with 8 games
Nintendo DS lite with 1 game
Sega Genesis with 11 games
Around 20 games for Atari 2600 and Odyssey 2 (no consoles)
2 PSP games
3 Wii games
Xbox with 2 games but no controllers
A few games for Dreamcast and Game Gear

Yeah, all that for $200. The deals are out there. And this one had been up for 2 days before i saw it. If I was sure I could get the same profit per game that you do, I'd fly out to Canada tomorrow :)

As a side note, I've learned more about economics, marketing, and psychology by reselling than I have in 5 years of college. And instead of me paying tuition, this "school" pays me when I'm a good student.

Thanks again for the tip

Ivan
 

oddball

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You will definitely make some good money off that deal.

I bought a couple car parts about week and a half ago for $175. Sold one of the 2 for $185. After shipping I should still be above $175 so even. The other item I can sell for $100 on the low end to $150 depending on how long I want to sit on it.
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
Guy just drove 1.45hrs to buy a console and a game for $80 that I bought for $40 this morning. He offered me $70 on the spot (instead of the $80) but I don't care. Made $130 today and I never left my house.

Going to finally go through inventory and post what I'm at. I started at $0 a week or two ago.. pretty sure I'm close to $1,000 now.
 
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Mooza

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Guy just drove 1.45hrs to buy a console and a game for $80 that I bought for $40 this morning. He offered me $70 on the spot (instead of the $80) but I don't care. Made $130 today and I never left my house.

Going to finally go through inventory and post what I'm at. I started at $0 a week or two ago.. pretty sure I'm close to $1,000 now.

How does one start with $0? Unless you're selling an item and taking that money to buy more.
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
I sold one thing that I owned for $40. The rest of my inventory is a result of picking up free crap, and just buying bundles and breaking them up and reselling.

You don't need money to make money.

Also had some guy be a no-show today (first no show). I was giving him a deal and he simply stopped taking my calls when I got to our desired meeting place. His loss, not mine. I'll just relist it for full price and keep going.
 
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wade1mil

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Also had some guy be a no-show today (first no show). I was giving him a deal and he simply stopped taking my calls when I got to our desired meeting place. His loss, not mine. I'll just relist it for full price and keep going.

Ironically, the people that flake are usually the ones that are getting the best deals. I listed two fish on craigslist for free and 10-15 people said they were going to pick them up later. None of them came through. So, I relisted them for $20 and sold them to a girl within an hour.
 

rc08234

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Everyone thing in my area is complete garbage, or ridiculously overpriced. Cheap a$$ jersey people
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
I don't know where you are in Jersey, but took me 2 mins to find these 2 deals. (within video games)

Worth 2-3x at re sale Lot of N64 Nintendo 64 games for sale

Worth at least $150. Classic NINTENDO 64 N64 System w/9 games, 4 controllers + xtras

Also found some 200% profit margins on bike deals in North Jersey (wherever the hell that is), gold selling at 30% under spot, triple to quad flips on laptops..etc.

Making money isn't it hard, all you have to do is quit making generalized statements and actually do your research.

EDIT: Found a few cars that are easily flips for $1,000+ profit each.
 
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rc08234

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I don't know where you are in Jersey, but took me 2 mins to find these 2 deals. (within video games)

Worth 2-3x at re sale Lot of N64 Nintendo 64 games for sale

Worth at least $150. Classic NINTENDO 64 N64 System w/9 games, 4 controllers + xtras

Also found some 200% profit margins on bike deals in North Jersey (wherever the hell that is), gold selling at 30% under spot, triple to quad flips on laptops..etc.

Making money isn't it hard, all you have to do is quit making generalized statements and actually do your research.

EDIT: Found a few cars that are easily flips for $1,000+ profit each.

South Jersey, as far as the gold, how are you valuing that? Enless it says the weight and the karat how would you be able to determine what the value is? Just interested because I've looked into that before on craiglists.
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
Weight and Karat yep. (Just send them an email asking if they know).

Also bullion. Every so often you get someone who has no idea what they have. Bought two gold coins off someone for $80 each (1/10th ounce) a while ago sold them at spot the same day at a coin dealer.
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
Week 1 Complete:

Cash On Hand: $130
Inventory: $940

Total: $1,070

Currently have 9 listings (with around 40-50 items) for sale online. Averaging 1-2 deals per day.
 
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smanzari

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Ive been looking on craigslist and i really only am looking at iphones cause i know the market for those. What else should i be looking out for and around what prices? I want things that sell well.

Stick with what you know- I personally deal in sports cards and autographs as well as technology. I have been active in all three markets for some time and know what they should sell for as well as what is authentic or not!

If you know tools-stick to tools! If you know cars, do the same!
 
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DeletedUser394

Guest
Stick with what you know- I personally deal in sports cards and autographs as well as technology. I have been active in all three markets for some time and know what they should sell for as well as what is authentic or not!

If you know tools-stick to tools! If you know cars, do the same!

Well, unless you're trying to buy precious gems or something similar over the internet, it's quite easy to learn what something is worth in this day and age (as well as if it's real).

A week ago I knew nothing about N64 systems, now I control the market. Look at almost EVERYTHING, find where you can make the biggest profits, and learn all you can about that product. It's not hard with ebay/craigslist/appraisal sites, etc.

I don't want to be selling N64s forever, but right now that's where I can flip for the highest profit. If I could make 200%+ on bicycles for example, than I'd be doing that and learning all I can about bicycles.. even though at present I know absolutely nothing about them and couldn't care less about them.

Probably going to move on to Iphones next... even though I've never owned one and know nothing about them right now.

Anyway, do whatever works for you, but I wouldn't be limiting myself.. I just want the money.
 

biggeemac

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Just out of curiosity, what kind of people are buying video game systems that are almost three generations old?
 
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DeletedUser394

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Just out of curiosity, what kind of people are buying video game systems that are almost three generations old?

I've had a few people in their early 20's (the nostalgic effect of playing games you played as a kid), a few mothers buying for their kids, and some 40,50,60 year olds that remember playing these systems with their kids.

If you have a product that brings back fond memories to your customers, you can sell anything to anyone.

Things like X Box's are worth close to nothing, because they are not old enough... I imagine they will appeal to kids that were young/in their teens when they came out... but not for some years.

The people that grew up with older systems are in their 20s and 30s now, so it's a great time to be selling older generation video games/systems.

The last system I sold to two ~25 year old guys, and they were giggling like schoolgirls they were so excited to relive a little of their childhood.
 

Adam_C

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I was looking on Ebay UK to see what prices some games are selling for. Mario Party 3 (Which you assume would be 10 a penny) £50+ :O
 

UncommonWay

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I have successfully made a couple hundred dollars buying and selling diabetic testing supplies, especially the test strips. You can buy them for $10-15 a box, and sell them for 2-3 times that amount on eBay. Just make sure they're sealed and unused.
 
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Vigilante

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Quick heads up for you deal trackers. I picked up three 8GB, 6th generation iPods from ShopKo in River Falls, Wisconsin tonight on clearance. Bundle kit with 7 accessories + the brand new Nano for $134.99 (same cost that the nano retails for with NO accessory kit).

The street retail on the KIT version is $269. I will be selling the units that I bought somewhere between $199 - $225.

Worth checking out if you have a local ShopKo and can get your hands on multiple units.
 

Davidla

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Just had a sweet deal come through today.

Bought a 95 ford windstar from an old lady for $500 Sunday (she was asking $750) and then immediately reposted on CL with good pictures for $1500. Two days later got an offer for $1200, talked to a couple of other interested buyers and ended up selling it to the first one.

The plan was actually to use the van myself, but I had a feeling it would sell nicely and I knew I was gonna be travelling for a month. So it was actually a win win either way.
 

theBiz

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most fastlaners started selling stuff out of garbage bags on the street, any entrepreneurship is a learning experience, you have to learn how to crawl before you walk... anyone who disagrees was never and will never be successful.
 

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