eBay Micro Niche Profit Stream... Plastic Canvas Patterns

Here is an eBay niche for the garage sale addicts that can be developed into another cash money income stream that will continue to pay out for years to come.

Do you remember those cutesy Kleenex box covers that seemed so popular 15 or 20 years ago? Well, many folks are still merrily weaving yarn through hundreds of little holes, and there is a steady eBay money making income stream from this eBay sub-niche.

Some ideas about how to tap into this eBay micro niche

Allow me to explain what I am talking about. The thousands of plastic canvas pattern booklets and magazines that are floating around out there. If you look on eBay, at first glance, this does not appear to be an attractive eBay sub-niche, but done properly, this can be a profitable little niche.

First let me say that there are very few items in this sub-niche that will bring $35 or more on their own. However, by grouping selected items into larger lots it is not that hard to reach the $35-$50 range and some times even higher.

The ONLY WAY of profiting from this sub- niche on eBay, you must keep your inventory costs as low as possible, sell the best ones individually, and then to sell everything else in lots of 50-100 booklets or magazines.

Where can you buy them?

You will be surprised how many are available at garage & yard sales when you start looking for them. And when you find them at sales, you will usually find a whole bunch at one time.

Another possible source is thrift shops. Some thrift shops don't bother with craft items, but if they do there will be plastic canvas pattern books mixed in with everything else.

What should you pay for them?

Try not to pay more then 10 cents per booklet or magazine. Most are individually priced anywhere from 5 or 10 cents on up to 50 to 75 cents each, however, since you usually find them in bunches, count them out, multiply by 10 cents each, and off the seller that much or even a little less for all of them they have.

You will be surprised how often you will buy them. You will also find that thrift store prices will vary from store to store but usually prices range anywhere from $.50 to $1 each and that's way too much. DO NOT PAY MORE THAN 10 CENTS!!

There are a couple things that seem to add value to this eBay niche.

• Illustrated covers with drawn illustrations usually bring higher prices than photographic covers.
• Have illustrations of children or women in the home.
• Ones from part of the Bell system, with Southern Bell seemingly the best.

This should be obvious, but DO NOT BUY examples that:

• Have stained covers
• Have covers people have doodled on
• Have torn covers or torn or missing pages

When you find them you can usually buy them for 50 cents or less each. I wouldn't recommend that you pay more than $4 or $5 each unless you have good reason to think they will bring $40 or more.

I recommend the eBay category of collectibles>advertising>communication and utilities>telephones. This category generally seems to bring slightly higher prices.

Be sure you include the year, the name of the town, the word "Bell" and both telephone book & directory in your auction headline.

Most of these will sell in the $15 to $40 range with a few closing in on three figures. There will also be some that don't sell, but as long as you don't get carried away with what you pay for them the ones that sell will more than make up for what you paid for the few that don't.

You won't find these very often but when you do you will likely have the opportunity to buy a bunch of them. This is because they are often offered by pack rats and they are probably getting rid of every telephone book they've ever owned.

Telephone books from this era are definitely worth picking up when you find them if the price is right.

One final note - Don't entirely forget about the pre-1950 telephone books. If you have an opportunity to buy one for $5 or less, grab it. You should do quite nicely with it as well!

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