Buying and selling books, DVDs and CDs

I love garage sales! I spend many of my Saturday mornings in spring, summer and fall going to the many garage sales in our area. I look for books, DVDs and CDs that I like and purchase them at a reduced rate from what I would purchase in the store. I look for items with good resale value too. Many times I buy things that I don’t want to read or watch because for a $1 purchase, I can get a resale value of $3 - $10.

Here are my secrets of getting cheap entertainment and then making a profit on them!
First, find cheap things at garage sales in good condition. The condition of an item is the key to resale value. Check the CDs and DVDs for scratches. Stay away from broken plastic cases, ripped paper covers, etc. Books shouldn’t be creased on the spine, have ripped covers or bent corners.

Books at garage sales can sell anywhere from a quarter to a dollar or two. The best garage sales have hard backs for $1 each or less and soft covers for 50 cents or less. Do not purchase romances if you wish to resell the book. Romances are not bought by second hand shops. Probably because you can get them for a quarter or less and one romance author is as good as another. In other words, there are few people who are dying to read X author’s latest work. If you love to read romances you will hit the jackpot at garage sales. They are plentiful and cheap.

CDs are for sale at garage sales but they are not as cheap as books. Depending on the popularity of the singer or band, they are usually $2-3. However, many of them have good resale value.
DVDs are usually for sale at $2-5. I don’t pay more than $3 for DVDs. I think the market is getting flooded with different ways to view movies and a price must reflect this. If I have a subscription to Netflix, $3 is a high price to pay for a DVD. But, they can get great resale value at the resale store.

Videos deserve special mention here. I have many videos that I get for 50 cents or a dollar. They are well worth it to me since it still costs less than getting the movie from anywhere but the public library. My husband loves old movies and many are for sale on videos at garage sales. We still own our VCR and will continue to use it until it dies. If you still own your VCR get videos for cheap at garage sales and enjoy them. You can’t resell them but they are cheap entertainment.

The final piece of the puzzle is where to resell items. You can resell them at Rainbow Records in Newark, DE. I love Rainbow. It is a small business that buys and sells records (as in vinyl!), DVDs, CDs and books! When you resell items at Rainbow, bring them in a batch not just one or two items. You can get store credit, or cash. Store credit gives you more than cash. We use the store credit to do some of our Christmas and birthday shopping for our teenagers. Because Rainbow is a small business, I usually shop there for our book and CD needs, too.
Another place to resell is on Amazon. I have been an Amazon seller before but gave up since they take a huge chunk out of the sale for their commission. There are also many people selling the item and the money I had to charge to make a sale was so small, it wasn’t worth my time to pack and ship the item. But, you may wish to try your luck there or on half.com.