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Wanted to pass along an idea I have been using for about 5 years. I opened a consignment account with a local used sporting goods store. They are always on the look out for leather baseball gloves, batting helmets, baseball pants, football pants and jerseys, tennis racquets, treadmills, weights, bicycles, and more importantly, cleated sports shoes for adults and kids. I receive 40% of the sale price-that amounts to about $5 per pair of cleats, sometimes $10-20 for a nice leather ball glove. (I once found a NFL pro type football helmet and made $50.)
Here is the important thing: I can walk up to nearly any yard sale and know I can make at least $5-$10 off sporting goods alone if it is a family with kids-as the kids always outgrow equipment and shoes. Many days, at a large neighborhood sale, I walk off with about $75 just in sporting goods profits, in addition to my new inventory for ebay. The same with thrift stores. There are almost always a pair of cleats or two, and that pays my gas/lunch money for the day!.
Golf equipment is another big seller, but I know nothing about clubs etc., and usually avoid it. Occasionally, I find what I think is a good golf item, and I call the store. They are happy to give me a price over the phone. I have used that technique when buying weight lifting stations, exercise bikes, treadmills and other big ticket items. The store also owns a truck, and they will pick heavy items up for me.
Like ebay, you are building a “store” through your consignment account. After a couple of months, the money begins to roll in. It is quite easy to make $200-$300 a month. And best of all-you don’t have to list a thing! Just drop it off! The employees are very helpful telling you what to look for and what to avoid, and a quick walk around the store will give you plenty of ideas. -
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Play it again sports is a national franchise-I frequent one in Indiana and also in FL (when snowbirding). There may be others.
I visit about every two weeks, and drop off $75 to $100 or so. They cut a check for anything that has sold then. Easy-peasy.
I told a friend in Michigan about them. He found a store near Detroit. His first sale was 4 referee (zebra) shirts he purchased at a church sale for $1 each. He made $35.
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In my area (mind you I am in hockey mad Canada) we have a lot of “skate exchanges” where you trade in skates for other used skates for a small charge, and most carry other hockey and other sports equipment on consignment.
A lot of parents use them for hockey equipment – a new set of equipment is easily $1000 to $2000 – and if your kids grow out of them every year, it gets expensive. Usually you can bring in your old stuff for a larger size and only need to spend a few hundred to move up sizes.
I use to take oddball items that are hard to ship (hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks, bowling balls) but found the profit margin wasn’t worthwhile in my area.
They also kill the online market for used hockey equipment – the only items I tend to sell are vintage leather (pre-1970’s), retro looking helmets (1970s-1980s), or the odd high-end brand to someone in the Southern U.S. or non-hockey country like Australia where they don’t have used sports equipment stores carrying hockey equipment.
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