Run your own easy home business buying and selling surplus stock

Buy low-sell high is one of the simplest business models there is. And here’s a report on how you could run your own part or full time home business buying and selling surplus stock.

Many thanks to a contact called Sam for sharing this idea with me. Sam doesn’t mind me sharing it with you because, as he says, it’s not that secret. Anybody could do it.

You see, Sam is a surplus stock buyer. He goes DIRECT to local shops and offers to buy their surplus stocks.

Here’s what Sam tells me he does: He looks around for shops selling the sort of things he knows he can sell on. He noses around, looking for slow moving lines. He also looks for shops that are on the verge of closing down. (And there are quite a lot of those right now.)

Then he makes a direct approach. He calls and asks to speak to the manager. You could write or email if you wanted I suppose. And he makes a simple offer along these lines?

Do you have any surplus stock you’d like to shift? Any end-of-line or end-of-season stock for example? Or ex-display or shop soiled lines? If so, I could give you a good price for it. Let me know.

Sam doesn’t pressurise the managers into selling. He leaves it at that and waits for them to contact him. And more often than not they do.

And this is where the fun begins! You see, as Sam tells me, when he gets a call you need to bear in mind that the shops can’t sell this stock. So it’s not really worth very much at all. So in many ways you are doing them a service by taking it away.

He tells me you need to price very low when you buy this way. Starting at 10% of the original retail price and lower. And Sam tells me that very often this strategy works. Shop managers are often glad to get a little cash for something they can’t sell and which, otherwise, they would have to pay to have taken away.

Now here’s a point. Sam doesn’t collect surplus stock for the fun of it. To make money from buying surplus stock this way you’ve got to have a good idea of WHAT you can resell, WHERE you can resell it, and HOW MUCH you can resell it for.

So rather than dealing in everything Sam specialises in a few things he knows he can move on for a profit. He looks for good quality clothes …. especially things from past seasons which he says will still sell for a good price. He also buys books from remainder bookshops …. books are always easy to resell. Tools are another thing he says there’s always a good market for. He also picks up ex-display electrical appliances and furniture sometimes.

Here are some of the bargains Sam tells me he’s picked up over the years: Designer T-shirts marked up at £45 for £2 each. A new but ex-display Bosch washing machine for £75. End of line greetings cards for 1p each. Leather ‘designer look’ handbags for £3 each. Camping sets for £4. Unbranded jeans for 80p. Sony LCD computer monitor for £17. Wellington boots, assorted sizes, £1. Chest of drawers flatpacks, £5. Car mat sets 90p. Gas Barbecues £22. Ex-display laptop for £80.

Sam sells on his stuff by doing car boots in summer and eBaying in winter. But there are other methods you could use to turn a profit too.

If you’re interested in this biz opp here are some other make money ideas you might like:

Make Money From Government Surplus

How To Source Stock At Auction