When I first Retired, I was looking for an Easy, low start up cost, Work from Home Business.

A Couple Years Before I retired, I visited a Flea Market a couple of times. This stuck in the back of my mind, as a way to make extra retirement money.

Shortly After I retired, I Decided to hold a Garage Sale at my House to see what it was like, and how much money I could make. I Searched for information on the Internet about Garage and Yard Sales, and Read about strategies for a Successful Garage Sale. From what I read, It seemed pretty easy to me. Haggle a little, and have a price in mind for all your Stuff. I thought I could handle that.

I held the Maximum Garage Sales My City would allow, (Three per Year) and wondered how I could do something like this Full Time. My Area was not Zoned for holding Garage Sales every Weekend, in front of my house. So, making money like this, at my place, was not an option.

I remembered that I used to go to the Swap Meets with some of my friends when I was a Kid. It was fun, because I did not have much Money, but I was always able to buy something I could afford that I liked. And, if I came up short, there was always the Snack Bar as back up.

My Nostalgia brought me back to the same Swap Meet I went to as a kid. But, They had torn down the Drive-In and built Student Housing for a College there. I wondered where the swap meet went? I looked it up on the Internet and found their Phone Number and called them up. I found out that The New Location of the Swap Meet was now actually the Parking Lot of the College itself.

- It was only a few blocks away from the Old Drive-In. It was on Sunday, Only.

I visited the Swap Meet the very Next Sunday. I talked to some of the Vendors, and then went to the Swap Meet Office to make a few further inquiries. They told me I could sell there a few times, before I was required to apply for a Resale License from the State.

That did not seem too complicated, so I decided to Give it a Chance. I looked around and observed how the Vendors sold their wares, and made a short list of the kind of supplies those selling at the Swap Meet were using to stack their Merchandise on.

The Next Week, I visited a few other swap meets, checked with the State about the resale license, got my Turbo Tax Software, City Licence, Quick Books Software, and all the supplies I thought I would need for the next weekend.

The Following Sunday Morning, I got my Tent, Chair and Table, and loaded them all up in my Truck, with all the stuff I wanted to sell. I left my House at about 4:30AM, and got on an empty Freeway travelling toward the Local Swap Meet.

I unloaded everything in my ten by sixteen foot sellers space, set it wherever it fit, and waited. To my surprise, it was not much different than selling from my home at my own Garage Sale. And it was all over by Noon.

Everything sells for about the same prices they sell for at home. I know, and you know, that you do not really make much money like this. I mean, you buy things retail at full price, then months or years later, you decide you do not want these items anymore, because they go out of style, or whatever reason - Then, You decide to get rid of all of it.

You have a Few Options to get rid of Unwanted Household Items -

• You can Sell them at your own Garage Sale, or Local Swap Meet.
• Give it all away to family, friends or whomever.
• Give it away to Charity.
• Throw it away.
• Set it out on the curb with a Free Sign on it, and hope someone takes it away.
• Did I miss anything?

Did You Know that You can actually make a Business out of doing this?

Anyone can be in business for himself, or own his own Home Based Jobs. If you are going to do everything yourself, they call this a Sole Proprietorship. You use your name as the business - For example, Joe Smith Garage and Swap Meet Sales. That is it. You get a Business License and your State Resale License, and that is it - You are now Officially in Business.

After Legitimizing Your Business, you are entitled to almost every write off that the Businesses Downtown have. You have to keep track of your sales at the Swap Meet, and add in the sales tax at the end of the day.

But, I already paid taxes on all this stuff, what is the deal here, anyway? Well, that is only until you sell all your Own Household Stuff. If you can actually find a Real Wholesale Place to buy wholesale items for the Swap Meet, you add the sales tax on what you sell. The Customer Pays the Sales Tax.

After the First Swap Meet, I had sold all the Stuff I had from Home. So, without anything else to sell, I was basically out of business. Where do I get more to sell, and make a Profit, I asked myself?

I Searched for Days all over the internet and did not find any real wholesalers I could buy my supplies from. They did not exist. Oh, they said they were Wholesale, but they were not. All their prices were not Wholesale, they were Retail.

There was no way I could buy at those prices and resell at the Swap Meet, and make any money. I would not have been able to sell it even for what I bought it all for. What do I do now? I thought that was the end of trying to Sell at the Swap Meet.

But, I wondered how did all the other Vendors do it?

I started asking around, but did not find out much. I got all kinds of different answers - From, they buy at Garage Sales to they have a special Source in China. Hum...I did not know what to believe, or who to believe.

So, I went back and looked up Swap Meet and Flea Market Supplies again on the Internet, and I knew the prices were all too high - Unless you bought a Shipping Container full of Merchandise for thousands of dollars.

A lot of the stuff you bought was sold in crates, and part of it was damaged. You did not know what actual percent was damaged, either. I did not want to sell potentially damaged merchandise, and get complaints. I did not want to take that chance.

Also, Where would I store all the pallets of stuff? I would not have had the room in my Garage. This was not the way to go - Another Dead End.

I did not give up, but kept Searching for ways to buy Wholesale, and I do not remember how, but I stumbled upon this Certain Auction where you could bid on a full Household of Merchandise for Pennies on the Dollar.

It was really a life saver. I found out that These places were in every town, and close by - There were a lot of them. All you have to do is know where they are, get the schedule of the Auctions, and know how to bid on them. I learned how to do all this fairly quick. I then had what I needed to Sell at the Swap Meet. I know that If I can do it, you can too.

Many Vendors would come up to ask me where I bought all my Stuff, because they saw that I had the Merchandise that attracted more customers to my Booth. I did not want to give up my Source I worked so hard to find. If I would have told them, they would have been able to compete against me, and undercut my prices.

I did not want that, because that is exactly what they would have done to me. Why would I want the extra Competition from them, to make it harder on me? I would have to lower my prices below theirs, and not make nearly as much money for all my hard work.

Of Course, I Kept my Secret Source of Below Wholesale Swap Meet Merchandise to Myself. What would You Do?

It is the only way I know of to make any Real Money at your own Garage Sale, Yard Sale, Swap Meet, or Flea Market.