If you’re running a buy-and-sell business, be it as a side hustle or as your main income, then naturally it’s important to be able to identify the places where you keep finding the stock that you’re selling. It’s not always easy to find things that are going to resell well, but there are a few regular choices that you can hit up time and time again.

Thrift Stores

Thrift stores, charity shops, whatever you want to call them. It’s a good idea to know what kind of items you’re looking for when you go rummaging through these repositories of second-hand goods. Get to know the best items to flip for a profit. If you can develop specialized knowledge in any of them, then you’re more likely to be able to find those that can net you a nice profit.

Library Sales

Books are one of the most popular items across all markets, and it’s not very difficult to find books to sell, at all. After you’ve gone through the local thrift stores and reduced sections in bookstores, you should keep an eye out for any library sales. It’s tragic when libraries close, but you can benefit greatly from them if you’re able to pick up the books they no longer have space for. There are also likely to be reference and textbooks in there, which sell for even more than regular fiction.

Garage Sales

Garage sales typically happen because someone is looking to move away or to downsize or because they have inherited clutter they don’t want to keep. Often, the sellers are in a rush to get rid of the things in the sale, meaning you can pick them up extra cheaply. There are sites that can help you find garage sales near you. Again, it’s a good idea to go in with a bit of knowledge of what kind of products bring the best chances to profit so that it’s easier to sift through the rest.

Online Auctions

There are online auction sites for every kind of specialty item, but when you’re online, you’re more likely to be competing against a larger audience, meaning the prices go up. Instead, you might want to find and visit local auctions. Some auction houses, such as those that are set up for charitable reasons, may not charge a commission on the items you buy, too.

Dropshipping

One method of buying and selling, that doesn’t involve spending too much money on your end, is dropshipping. Effectively, this means selling a producer’s products for them with your own store and sometimes your own branding. There are plenty of pros and cons to dropshipping, as the profit margins decline alongside the amount of effort that you have to put in. However, it is always easy to get more stock to sell, which can make it a relatively easy bit of side income.

To buy and sell effectively, you have to learn not just about where to find products, but how to ensure you find them at the right value and get the profit you need from them.