There are so many opportunities to make money while thrifting, yard sale hunting, or simply snagging some good deals at your local pawn shops. On top of that, there are many various niche markets that are relatively easy to break into. Antiques, Furniture, Video Games, Books, E-scrapping, etc..
I personally would stick to one niche and master it. Trying to flip everything you come across as a bargain may work for some, but I feel specialization increases focus and productivity. Within the next two weeks I'm going to try and break into flipping video games. Pawn shops around here sell xbox games for $1 a piece, xbox360 games for $3, and anything old school for a $1 and under.. I've already done plenty of research, getting lists worked up on what to look for and where the money is. i intend on building a collection along the way to either pass on to my children, self enjoyment during winter time, or to possibly sell off in the future. You can find old video games everywhere.. pawn shops, goodwill, flea markets, facebook trade groups, craigslist, ect.
Then there is furniture.. Especially if you live close to a college town, people move out.. sell furniture for cheap.. people move in, buy it for a decent price. It goes beyond college towns but, just saying. You can find furniture at the goodwill on the regular and flea markets as well. Always the chance to score antiques as well. Bonus points if you can learn enough about sewing to reupholster rough furniture.. If you can learn to do that, you can buy practically anything, pick up some cheap clothe with a nice print and turn some real profits. Only set back, may take a little space.
Guns. Takes a slightly higher amount of money to get started, and probably some good hunting and bargaining skills to get these at the right price point. But, if you can get the right connections and know how to sell.. you could turn some wide profit margins depending on what you buying.
Antiques can be found at all the previous mentioned outlets, my only problem with antiques.. Such a wide spectrum to work with there. Not everything old is worth value and unless you can quick access to references or the time to learn your shit.. may be a little hard to break into. That said, it has one of the highest profit margins.. a lot of people who sell old stuff may not know the true value.. I would say choose a niche within this niche, like old toys or old signs.. but then your limited to what you can find in your immediate area (or most likely) and the goods may be there, or they might not.
E-scrap. You guys know anything about scrapping gold out of electronics or even what to look for. Go to youtube, and look up "scrapping gold fingers".. about all there is to know.. or the most important anyways, there is more gold in some boards though besides the connectors. I think a lb. of these are going for $70-$75.. The best way to do this one if hit up any local bussinesses you have that may be updating systems.. colleges.. just whatever.. and inquire as to whether they have to pay to have their old computer tower/monitors taken off.. sometimes you can luck into a contract where you can take stuff off their hands for free as your going to "recycle them".. Takes some know how.. a solid presence and confidence in how you present yourself.. professionalism and such.. There is also silver, copper, brass , and rare earth metals that can be extracted. I dont recommend you purify the metals unless your up to speed on your chemistry.. otherwise, sell them off to someone else for the purification process on the gold and rare earth metals.
Baseball cards arent what they used to be, but.. if you know what you look for.. goes for other sports cards as well. Not only that, Magic the Gathering cards is purchased in bulk as discount prices can be lucrative. And I'm learning that.. yu-gi-oh cards are valuable? Who would have known?
Buying thrifted name brand clothes, shoes, and purses is big business for some folks who can ebay that stuff for some nice bank. Probably the easiest to find and buy at the right price, but its more about a lot of small profit margins unless you find some really damn nice deal.
Idk just thought I'd throw these out there.. pretty much common sense but in case it hadnt crossed your mind. Here it is..
