In this post I am going to show you how I am making money buying from thrift shops and selling the goods for a huge profit!

I’m going to show you some of the goodies I’ve found at a couple of local and out of town thrift stores. But before I do this I want to give you a little back story…

About 1 year ago I got slammed by Google for no apparent reason. Most of my sites dropped in ranking, and a couple of sites lost a little bit of traffic. But then, Google Adwords shut my account down and would not tell me why.

I Felt Like A Loser!

I told this to my brother and he said, ‘Well, you must be doing something wrong.’ I explained my situation and he couldn’t believe what they did either! I can tell you more about it some other time…

I used to be angry but that doesn’t help me. I have a family to feed and since Google cut my income in half I had to find a way to get it back.

I’ve been selling on Amazon for years. I knew about their Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program a few years ago but I never got my feet wet with it. It seemed hard to learn and since I was busy and doing well I didn’t bother with it…

Things Changed Overnight!

But things changed instantly for me literally overnight, so I started looking into FBA. First I got all the books and dvd’s around my home that we didn’t read or watch anymore and listed them on Amazon FBA.

The first month I made about $800! The next month I made about $2000. And now I am ramping up even more, and even selling on eBay and Craigslist (I’ve always sold on these venues but not like I am now. I was doing it all wrong)…

After I listed all my household books and dvd’s for sale I started going to thrift stores and library books sales to see if I could find some items to sell and make a profit from.

I did quite well with the books sales and thrift store finds, but I don’t like the library books sales all that much. However, it may be a necessary evil. I am having more fun with Thrift Stores and eBay.

Sounds like I am working really hard on Thrifting for Gold doesn’t it?

I was working hard at first, but only because I was trying to learn the FBA program and getting to know eBay and Craigslist. But that didn’t take too long to figure out…

So now I am only working about 4-6 hours per week on this business and making about $3000 per month.

My other business which I have been involved with for 15 years – Internet Marketing and E-commerce – I also do in my spare time because it’s still doing well for me. I am working at piecing the most important sites together to conform to the Penguin updates, and I am getting more aggressive in marketing to my lists.

But like I said above, Google really stuck it to me so I had to find another income stream fast!

Thrifting For Gold Side Bar: My wife and I also how a salon and spa chain which does well in the busy season and not well in the slow season like all seasonal businesses.

I remember I used to think people who went to thrift stores and garage sales to find items for sale and sell them on eBay were losers. I thought if I had to resort to ‘that sort of Internet marketing’ I would be one as well so I never did it.

And when I started doing more aggressively I did feel a little bit like a looser. But that was because I was depressed about Google sticking it to me, and here I was doing the very thing that I thought was a step down on the ‘class’ ladder, in terms of Internet marketing…

What a snobby thing to think about eBayers and Craigslist people! I should have been doing it a long time ago! I mean, really, I enjoy getting out now and hunting for treasure. Because you will find some high profit items.

Some days are better than others, but I always find things to sell. And it’s a rush when you find high profit products, and this happens frequently.

All I needed where a few amazon selling tools to get started with this business and I was off and running…

For example, below is an image of some items I found in a thrift store:

Let examine these thrift store finds:

• I got three bags of polished river rocks for $3 each. I’ll sell them for $19.95 each and my profit will be $10.57 including my cost for the item. [Update – we finally listed these and kept one for ourselves].

• On the far left I found a brand new packet of water pick replacement tips. I got it for just .25 cents. I’ll sell them for $12.95 and my profit will be $8.50. [Update – these sold right away].

• In the middle is a book that cost me .50 cents. I will sell it for $24.95. My profit will be $17.49.

• And on the far right is a typewriter ribbon that cost me .25. I bought four of them. I will sell each of them for $17.49. My profit will be $13.37. [Update – half of these thrifting for profit typewriter ribbons sold right away].

• Not pictured here is a box of DVD’s that are religious in nature. It cost me $10 which is a big number when it comes to buying items at thrift stores. At least for me. Anyway, my profit is going to be about $59 give or take.

I spent a total of about 1 hour driving to the store and sorting through the items to uncover these quality finds. After all the items sell (which could take a few months for all of them to sell, maybe a bit longer) I’ll net a total of $149.04! Not bad for a little bit of work. And all that was from just one thrift store in my area.

If I wasn’t lazy that day I would have gone to the local Goodwill and used book store which always nets me at least $40-$100 each every time I go!

And then there’s Library sales, Salvation Army, Clearance Sales, Craigslist, Estate sales, and more. There’s a gold mine out there. Really, there is…

Anyway, if that doesn’t inspire you read this…

While I was on a short vacation with my family, I stopped into a thrift store that had a lot of overpriced items. But here’s what I found:

• The two books on the left are hard cover, unique looking books that caught my attention. It will take a while for them to sell, but the new price for them on Amazon is over $100. I will list them for $74 each. The other two books will bring in a total of about $10 profit.

• I spent a total of about 20 minutes in this store. And across the street was another more popular thrift store. It also had a lot of overpriced items and the books where not that great. However, buried behind some books I saw a box set of religious books in a set of 7. They are listed for sale at over $100!

• And behind that store was another tiny little thrift store that nobody seems to pay attention to. At least that day. I found several items that will bring in about $70 – $80 profit.

The total time spent at all three stores, including driving was about 2 hours.

These are not unusual discoveries, and you can do it too!

Originally my goals was to do this part time until my websites started doing better. But I find that I enjoy the hunt and getting out from behind the computer. It’s fun, and exciting, especially when you find some high profit items.

By the way, the first week of doing this I found a booklet that cost me .50 cents, and I sold it on eBay for $117! I tell this story in my free Amazon guide.

What Questions Do You Have About ‘Operation Thrifting For Gold’? Leave your comment below and I’ll get back to you…