Buying Then Selling On Ebay

It's tough to do Bassmaster, especially these days in a down market. There will always be the occasional cherry pick but as a general rule? No, it doesn't work out if you're trying to make real money. I like to B/S/T as part of the hobby though so turning a profit isn't the #1 goal.

A few years ago when the metals markets when moving up and the coin market was strong you could turn a profit easily, especially with the Bing Cashback offers. Those were the days!

Yeah, I have been doing this. I like to buy tackle boxes at auctions and then sell the lures in small lots out of them. Do either of you guys do something like this with coins?

It can be done but patience is the key. Keep looking and researching and about once or twice a month for me a decent opportunity appears. But to make a living, tough to do. I just scored an error coin, for less than half of what I can sell it for, that the auctioneer flatly missed, and had it graded wrong. Of course the other bidder was going on what the auctioneer had graded, so I had a distinct advantage. Probably more luck than anything else. That was also at an auction site, sorry to go a little sideways here.

I have tried to do what edweather has said and I also do antiques etc. I hit flea markets and yard sales when I have time to resale. When I am getting low on inventory, I go hit flea markets and get some good things to sale. I have made money this way, but not big money. I guess it is all on how many items you have on.

I don't mind saying that some of the things I make the best money on are things no one else looks for. There's a good bit of competition in my area at estate sales, antique malls, garage sales, etc. If you want to buy coins, pottery, glass ware, sterling, advertising, or any of the other main stream collectibles you have to either have sellers come to you or have a connection that lets you shop first at estate sales.

The best thing to do is learn about something no one in your area looks for. I stumbled into vintage electronics & scientific instruments/equipment earlier this year. I live in a University town so those kind of things pop up on a fairly regular basis. There's no local demand so you can buy cheap & they sell high on ebay. Another example is boxes for high end watches. I pick up a dozen or more a year for 50 cents or a $1 & resell for $20-50 on ebay. It wouldn't be worth shopping just for those, but I'm buying anyway & it's one more item I can pick up. I've got a pretty big list of things like that.

Knowledge of what sells is the key. Nobody can know about everything but a broad base of knowledge puts food on the table....or coins in the collection.

When I 1st started buying for resale I had a really hard time finding items. That's still the hardest part of the business for me. I live in a fairly small town so opportunities to buy are limited. The key is to gain a broad base of knowledge about what sells. Lots of that comes with experience. ebay is a great resource for items to keep an eye out for. You can do a search for completed items in a range of sold prices to get ideas. I won't sell an item on ebay unless I can make at least $20 profit so I search for items that sell in the $35-60 range. You would be surprised at what you see selling in that range....lot's of times it's items you passed on at the last estate sale.

How much is figured for taxes on the gain of items sold? I always see people show the 13% for eBay/Paypal but what about the income taxes owed for selling coins at a profit? Doesn't that eat into profit?

Thanks trdhrdr007. That is what I thought. I just never see people include the 30% tax cost into their profit margin. Between taxes and ebay you are looking at almost 50%. It takes some pretty good margins to make a living with that. I agree many fly under the radar. I believe the day is coming where ebay has to report sellers to the IRS and would be willing to bet sales tax in on the way as well.