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Definitely! People collect all kinds of crap. I used to be really into collecting paper currency and coins to an extent, but then I realized I could make pretty good money simply buying it cheap (or for face value) and flipping it.
A little of everything actually.
1. I have an ad on Craigslist about buying old currency collections. Every once in a while someone messages me about having their grandpa’s collection, etc.
2. Coin shows is another really good opportunity to find stuff. I like to get there like an hour so before it ends. That is where all the good deals are because the dealers are looking to make money at the last minute to either pay for their table or turn a bigger profit for the day.
3. Mainly I find my currency at the bank. I have 5 different tellers from a series of banks that I have become “friends” with and they will straight up look for cool stuff for me. Mainly the older style “small portrait” bills (anything prior to 1995 before they changed the design). I just swap cash for the older currency and get it for face value. I also do something called cash strap searching where I go the bank and take out like $500 in singles and look for errors, star notes and fancy serial numbers. I then exchange the singles for higher denomination bills and do it all over again at a different bank. This is like real nerd stuff, but I wind up pulling out some decent finds by doing this. There is a HUGE market for bank notes and if you know what people find attractive there is a lot of money to be made. Also, there is literally no risk involved because I’m getting the bills for face value.
I do find some currency “inventory” on ebay, usually from auctions (people have auctions ending at like 7:15am sometimes – who does that?!). If the price is right and there is enough margin I will buy off ebay. Acutally, here is a question for you: do you guys buy things off ebay to then flip on ebay? If so are you buying and selling off the same account? I have 2 ebay accounts. One is almost exclusively for currency and the other is the random junk I find at thrift stores, yard sales, etc. I will buy the item on my main store and sell it under the the other currency store that way it isn’t…awkward (I don’t want the seller getting peeved that I bought something from them just to flip it for much more). I remember listening to a podcast a while ago with a dude you interviewed that does this extensively with high priced coins. If you have the capital this can be a great business model.
Thanks for this forum and the podcasts/youtube channel. It really is one of the more enjoyable outlets for scavengers like me 🙂 – Nick
