Make money buying off eBay. You might want to get into this :)

[wizardhat]

Most people don't like sharing their methods of making money, but I have gotten so much help from people on here I want to show you a way to make extra from buying on eBay and reselling. There are two requirements to this, you should have at least $2000 dollars to mess around with, and know something about electronics. It also helps to live in a bigger city, a bigger customer base. Some of you already know about this method and do it, but a lot of people don't. And if your totally clueless when it comes to electronics, you shouldn't do this either you might lose money.

The method is to buy iPhone 4 16GB phones off eBay/Amazon and resell them to people on Craigslist. This might sound pretty lame to you, but I am making an extra $200 dollars a week doing this. I buy them when they hit $250 dollars and then I resell them on Craigslist for $300 dollars. I live in a town with a population of 200K people, within 3-5 days I will sell 4-5 iPhones. Some days I sell them all at once, other days it takes time. You should also look into iPod touches. I am not going to go into extensively, you should do your own research. Make sure you know how to do it before you jump in. I am always welcome to give pointers.

Moderators, if you feel this doesn't belong here just move or delete the thread. Just trying to help others out .

[wizardhat]

You should only do this method with the:

iPhone 4 8GB
iPhone 4 16GB

iPod Touch 4th Generation 8GB

[Thankful]

Very nice of you to share your ideas and methods.

May try it out in UK see if it works, although prices may vary here.

But $250 is about 160 here, are you sure you buy the "iPhone 4 16gb" for 250?? if so, thats hella cheap, for that price here on uk ebay you would get a broken iphone 4 16gb for $250

[BiN4RY]

Too bad iPhones only works well in US, since most of them are locked to AT&T and similar carriers.

[MM78]

$2,000? that's a lot of merchandise I could buy and flip for more. Electronics always make me super nervous. I almost started to buy used cell phones and reselling them on ebay but the fear of them not working or something dumb could come back and bite me in the buttocks.

[KingRay]

Thats great like you said for people that know electronics and just need a little extra each week but for an income, most would simply need way too many to make enough to live off of.

$50 markup on that amount leave many more options for making better profits. Personally and thats just me, I dont bother unless I can make 4-5 times my money back on an item.

Sometimes on large thing I only get 3 times but would not touch anything that I could only double or less. Not worth the hassle usually.

Like I said though, This is me. I am spoiled I guess with high markup items.

I cant be the only one though.

[GreenBean]

It's what rocks your boat.

We all have different mileage.

Hats off to wizardhat for doing this & sharing.

[bansheezone]

These sales can help dent a stupid bill instead of your pocket, any money is good money. I am trying this thx Wizard!

[oge]

I would think it's the other way around buy on craigslist and sell on eBay it's hard to get that price for iPhones since everybody on craigslist wants to lowball you so that $300 price goes down to $270 especially if you don't include box and accessories this is my opinion since I sell iPhones on craigslist. Best iPhone to resell is 3GS unlocked since Apple changed the baseband chip so you can no longer flash it to unlock it.

[Laritha]

Originally Posted by oge

I would think it's the other way around buy on craigslist and sell on eBay it's hard to get that price for iPhones since everybody on craigslist wants to lowball

My thoughts exactly. Craigslist has too many lowballers for this to work effectively all the time. Good tip, but its hit or miss.

[MM78]

I think local "flea markets" are the best for buying and re-selling. In Cali we have a ton of them, it's just a matter of knowing what to buy at reasonable price.

[irdogg]

be careful doing this. a guy her in chandler Az was shot he was a marine and he had his young son in the car. not trying to scare you away from this just trying to make sure your safe while doing it he was selling a expensive item i forget what

[Thankful]

Originally Posted by irdogg

be careful doing this. a guy her in chandler Az was shot he was a marine and he had his young son in the car. not trying to scare you away from this just trying to make sure your safe while doing it he was selling a expensive item i forget what

he was selling an expensive item you forgot what? and he got shot for that?

Way to go! for scaring people

[irdogg]

Originally Posted by tanxful

he was selling an expensive item you forgot what? and he got shot for that?

Way to go! for scaring people

sometimes the truth is scary. Id rather you go into this seeing rather than reading about you in the news paper. ill pm you the article it was jewelry

[unkown5454]

If you have enough money to buy loads of iPhones, then you have enough money to buy a gun. Brand new .40 cal and 9mm handguns can be had for $300, and even less if you pay straight cash through gun trading websites.

Also, if you are selling expensive items on CL and are dumb enough to NOT meet in a massive public area, then that is your own d*mn fault.

[Sandy D]

Originally Posted by marysman78

I think local "flea markets" are the best for buying and re-selling. In Cali we have a ton of them, it's just a matter of knowing what to buy at reasonable price.

This post rang my ears.

Ever go to the Rose Bowl flea market?

I have them around me also, tons of them and hit them on a weekly basis.
One of them is one of the biggest in the US and thank goodness it is not on a weekend and it weeds out those who work 8-5 or 9-5.

I have had lots of success recently finding things on CL and re selling on ebay.

I have even bought from other states listings once I finally found a way to search nationally for my keywords.

Thanks to the OP for sharing. Given back to those who appreciate will always come back and pay off to you in some way.

[AmazonStealth]

Some people may think, why can you buy cheap stuff at flea markets and sell it on ebay, when the people selling it could just do the same thing? and here is the answer.....

- Many things at the flea markets are stolen. Everything from small items to big ticket items. Such as OTC (over the counter) medication to high tech items. They will simply use "booster bags" and often times get away with it. This has become pretty common and people are starting to get busted, and the police find warehouses full of every day items that are soon to be sold online or in flea markets.

- They sell items at flea markets rather than online, for another obvious reason....they dont get taxed. This ties along with the reason above. They could steal 20 boxes of OTC medication that retails for $40 each and sell them for $20 tax free. People dont hesitate buying these items, and at a tax free sale thats an easy $400.

- Some other reasons would include not being tracked as easy by selling online, not dealing with shipping, waiting to be paid etc.

- Keep in mind, that I am not trying to be racist here by any means, but most of these people are uneducated, foreign, no life/long term goals, and are doing this to just get by in life, and are looking for quick untaxed money.

- With that being said, myself along with you guys dont care how they get the items, since buying them and reselling isnt illegal. As long as you can distinguish the faux from real, and what will sell for profit and what wont, then make their bad life decisions your gain.

[AmazonStealth]

I would also like to add, that I purchased 50 boxes of OTC medication that expired 2 years from the date I purchased it. I could tell it was authentic as it was something I have used on a monthly basis, and I assumed it was stolen, as those were the type of items this person was selling. They retailed for $59.99 each. Person was asking $30 each. I told them I would give them $15 for all 50 boxes, they said no, so I started to walk away and then they called me back and we aggregated on $17 each for all $50. So I paid $850 cash. Sold them @ retail on amazon for $59.99+ $6 Shipping, and all were sold within a couple weeks. Keep in mind this person simply snagged all these from some department store in one swoop, so their bad life decisions got them an easy $850 cash (next time might be jail).

So....

Paid $850
Sold $3299.50

Profit $2449.50

This can be done on a pretty regular basis if you know the retail price and the online price and if there is a common demand for it.

[OfficialGenius]

Originally Posted by AmazonStealth

I would also like to add, that I purchased 50 boxes of OTC medication that expired 2 years from the date I purchased it. I could tell it was authentic as it was something I have used on a monthly basis, and I assumed it was stolen, as those were the type of items this person was selling. They retailed for $59.99 each. Person was asking $30 each. I told them I would give them $15 for all 50 boxes, they said no, so I started to walk away and then they called me back and we aggregated on $17 each for all $50. So I paid $850 cash. Sold them @ retail on amazon for $59.99+ $6 Shipping, and all were sold within a couple weeks. Keep in mind this person simply snagged all these from some department store in one swoop, so their bad life decisions got them an easy $850 cash (next time might be jail).

So....

Paid $850
Sold $3299.50

Profit $2449.50

This can be done on a pretty regular basis if you know the retail price and the online price and if there is a common demand for it.

...

[OfficialGenius]

Originally Posted by oge

I would think it's the other way around buy on craigslist and sell on eBay it's hard to get that price for iPhones since everybody on craigslist wants to lowball you so that $300 price goes down to $270 especially if you don't include box and accessories this is my opinion since I sell iPhones on craigslist. Best iPhone to resell is 3GS unlocked since Apple changed the baseband chip so you can no longer flash it to unlock it.

Correct!

And I live in New York City. These phones go up and down like the stock market and it's too much competition.

[moneyhustler88]

Very interesting thread but as thankful said in the UK we cant get iphones or these items for this much

[Sandy D]

I recently met a guy at a local antique auction who buys box lots of mostly crap.

I overheard someone ask him what do you do with all that stuff you buy every week?

He said I sell it on ebay as a hobby, something to do since I do not go out on a boat anymore.

The guy said but you are buying a lot of small items and dont you have to take pictures and all that?

The man said yes but it gives me something to do and pays for my wife and me to go on a couple cruises, Hawaii etc anytime we want without using any of my retirement or savings.

The man said yes but come on that is a lot of work.

The buyer said to him, would you come here once a week and take pictures of this stuff to make 100k per year?

The eyes were then large. He said well maybe.

He said I sell everything I buy because I start everything at 0.99 and most everything gets bid up but a few items.

The man said would not be worth the hassle.

Buyer said I bought enough junk to make 100k PROFIT last year and work 1 day a week buying and one day listing and packing and it is not worth it.

Once the conversation was over I said to the buyer, good for you. Some people want to get greedy and make 3-4 times their money on everything they touch and that aint going to happen anymore like it used to.

He gave me his ebay user ID and wow, the man is awesome and I have already learned a ton from him and his marketing smarts.

Watching him buy a box lot last week and knowing what was in the box he paid 10.00 for, the items so far are well over 200.00 and are all green.

So sometimes thinking greedy and thinking smart can get people into trouble.

This man is making a ton of money 1.00 at a time.