Yard Sale Arbitrage – Soccer Cleats
In case you didn’t already know, I absolutely love yard sale arbitrage! This is where you find stuff at yard sales at a bargain and resell them on Craigslist or Ebay for a nice profit. I’ve written about this previously in these posts: Vera Bradley Purse Arbitrage and Wii Game Arbitrage. Check those out if you’re interested in learning more.
I’ve had pretty good success with both purses and video games so far. You won’t get rich doing this type of thing, but you can end up getting $20-$40 per hour of your time once you get a little practice at it. I have been stuck with a couple “dud” items that I wasn’t able to flip for a profit, but I have always at least broken even. Let’s take a look at another item that works well for yard sale arbitrage – soccer cleats.
Yard Sale Arbitrage – Soccer Cleats – Background
Just about anything you can imagine is for sale on Ebay. I have discovered one very lucrative area in particular that we’ll be discussing here. I’m sure there are hundreds more out there that I’ve yet to uncover. Did you know that the new and used shoe market on Ebay is huge?
Even more specifically, the soccer cleat section of Ebay is gigantic IMHO. Why even as we speak, there are currently 44,943 active auctions for soccer cleats! I smell an opportunity!
Yard Sale Arbitrage – Soccer Cleats – The Find
Our family was out doing our yard sale thing one weekend about a year ago when we ran into an interesting deal. A lady was selling what looked to be a nearly brand new set of soccer cleats for $1. I had just read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad and the gears in my head were turning around different wasy to make money. A thought entered my brain from the ether… I’m sure I could sell these on Ebay for at least $10… I would only be risking $1 to try it so I figured why not go ahead and give it a try. Before that point in time, I had not even considered that people would buy used cleats, or shoes for that matter, on Ebay. Boy was I wrong!
Yard Sale Arbitrage – Soccer Cleats – The Flip
So, how do I go about getting top dollar for used soccer cleats? So far, I’d say I’ve probably sold 8 or 9 pairs of soccer cleats for ~1500+% profit. Based on this experience, I have three main rules that I’ve developed over the months:
- Never pay more than $1 or $2 for them. Anything more, and it really starts to dig into your profits.
- Make sure the soccer cleats are clean for the pictures. Most people selling their soccer cleats at yard sales still have them caked in mud. It normally takes about 5-10 mins a pair to scrub the mud off of them and have them looking good as new. Who would want to pay top dollar for muddy old shoes?
- List the soccer cleats as a “Buy-it-Now” type of auction and don’t be afraid to list them on the upper end of the price range. This will ensure you get top dollar for your time.
That’s about all there is to it. I can usually buy a pair for $1 and sell them from $12 – $25 a pair. Not too bad! The picture above is of a pair I bought for $1 and have listed for $19.
Yard Sale Arbitrage – Soccer Cleats – Final Thoughts
As I said earlier, you will not get rich by selling used soccer cleats on Ebay, but it is a fun way to make a little extra cash. Soccer cleats are just one example out of hundreds where yard sale arbitrage is a good way to make a couple extra bucks for your time.
That’s a great profit if you’ve got the time and inclination to do that! Good for you!
debt debs recently posted…Curve Balls – When You Are Hit With Unexpected Financial Events
It’s a fun way to fill the income gaps from other larger projects. Unless you could find a way to do this thousands of times, you aren’t really going to get rich from it 🙂
I think I need to take another look at eBay. I haven’t been successful there in the past.
Tre recently posted…May Update & June Goals
Tre,
As long as you are getting stuff from yard sales for $1-$2, it is hard to go wrong. They do charge 15% of the the total as their fee, so you need to ensure you take that into account. I just sold a guitar amp on Ebay yesterday for $30 that I bought for $1 at a yard sale a couple months back. I was too lazy to list it until this weekend – it sold in all of about 3 days 🙂
Soccer cleats are a goldmine…..as well as most youth sports equipment. Kids outgrow them much faster than they can wear them out, so many parents are looking for quality used items to buy. I’ve been on both sides of this transaction many times. 🙂
Brock @cleverdude recently posted…Which is Cheaper: Keg or Canned Beer?
Brock,
Wow – I guess I should also broaden the scope to all sports equipment that is small enough to ship. Makes sense 🙂 Thanks for the tip!
Great idea! I have noticed they are easy to find right after soccer season. The price goes up right before the season.
andy recently posted…Save Money on a Trip to Yellowstone National Park
Yeah, I had several pairs sitting around that didn’t move through the winter months 🙂 I will try and price accordingly to prevent that from happening this year!