Estate Sale Prospecting for Fun and Profit with craigslist and eBay [Paperback]

John Landahl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2006

craigslist and eBay have created exciting new electronic venues for locating and reselling obscure but valuable estate sale items, making it easier to be a successful estate sale "prospector" today than ever before. But with so many items to choose from at a typical estate sale, as well as other buyers to contend with, how can you quickly choose a few inexpensive items that you can resell at a significant profit, either as an interesting hobby or as an income-producing small business? What will you need to plan for before you start? And how do you use craigslist and eBay to the greatest advantage? This book will help you get started!

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: InfoStrategist.com (October 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592432875
• ISBN-13: 978-1592432875
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #501,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really useful handbook, February 5, 2007

By 

Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Estate Sale Prospecting for Fun and Profit with craigslist and eBay (Paperback)

Like a lot of people these days, I'm a regular eBayer- it's a great way to clean out the basement and pick up a few $$$ for the toy account while you're at it. And like a lot of people, I can't pass up a good estate sale. I'm always looking for a deal. So of course when I was given a chace to review this book, it seemed like a natural.

What Landahl has writtten is a short, but very useful how-to that guides the absolute beginner through both finding goods to resale, and the best way to sell them on eBay, Craigslist and other outlets. He's got a lot of great tips and specifics that go beyond the mchanics of posting and selling. Lendahl gives you strategies for setting prices, posting photos, writing titles, and making your sales look as attrative as possible. He even covers details like the best source for inexpensive scales to determine shipping costs.

There are chapters on how to find good estate sales, how to identify good merchandise, examples of good and bad finds, maintaining a good rating, and what kinds of books to buy- and what kinds of books not to buy.

This book alone won't make you a successful estate sale prospector- you still need the drive to shop those sales and maintain your eBay sales. Not everyone can do that. But if you're motivated, and looking for a good source of additional income, Lendahl's book is a very good place to start.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to find treasures and resell them online, May 10, 2007

By 

Steve Weber "author of "BARCODE BOOTY: Ho... (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Estate Sale Prospecting for Fun and Profit with craigslist and eBay (Paperback)

I sell books for a living, and get quite a few of them at estate sales. Something I've never gotten around to is trying to buy some of the other knick-knacks you see at sales and reselling them on eBay. One of my favorite TV shows is Antiques Roadshow, but I've always stuck with books when it comes to my Internet business. After reading this book, perhaps I'll reconsider.

"Estate Sale Prospecting for Fun and Profit with craigslist and eBay" is a nice, easy-to-read book about how to get started selling obscure but valuable items bought at estate sales.

The idea behind the book is that two key tools have made it easier than ever to be a successful estate sale "prospector." First, craigslist, a free online classified service, allows you to quickly find all the upcoming sales in your region. And, of course, eBay enables you to put your items up for auction before a worldwide pool of buyers. The advice in this book helps you develop a system for buying a few inexpensive items at each estate sale for reselling profitably on eBay. And in that sense, it's just like bookselling -- you get better with experience. And you're not going to get rich, but you'll probably have some fun.

The author, John Landahl, got into online selling when he was cleaning out a closet and found a box of old marbles, which he nearly threw in the garbage. Instead he listed the marbles on eBay, where they sold for $94, and a new hobby was born. Landahl gives many more examples of successes and mistakes he's made along the way.

If you're interested in estate sale prospecting as a hobby or a business, I recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More like a long pamphlet than a book, May 2, 2008

By 

B. Weidner "reader" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Estate Sale Prospecting for Fun and Profit with craigslist and eBay (Paperback)

I enjoyed the antecdotal bits dealing with the author's 'finds' and how he was able to turn them into profit on eBay. Plus it was helpful to hear his experiences on what didn't work.

HOWEVER - for upwards of $19 (incl shipping), this book simply does not offer the value to match it's pricetag. I was hoping for much more information/experiences about the culture of yard/estate/garage sales. Something perhaps like the highlights of a journal he created to chronicle his experiences at these events.

There just simply wasn't enough meat on these bones and I did not come away with any new insights, really.

Plus there were some pretty egregious problems with the editing.

If the cost was in the less then $10 range, I'd say okay. But you can go out and buy a "Dummies" book (unfortunately, not specifically on this topic that I know of) and see easily tenfold the content.