Closest barn auction to me is about an hour drive away, which isn't terrible.. but it's Saturdays starting at 7. My store closes at 7. No way to get there. I've been buying a lot on auctionzip's online auctions though. Some barn auction type places have their items listed on there. Did okay with smalls on there. Bought 3 really cool circus posters from there last week for $5 ea. I'm asking $35-$125 ea.

I've had select pieces up on craigslist. In fact, I do now.. (linked below)

I pick out clothes that look nice, group them together and price the same for all pieces.

Links no longer active.

Not a single bite!

Wow.. not many people use professional movers because the cost is outrageous! If I used a professional mover, I'd have to factor in like $200 into my bidding budget, which prices me out of the action.

I love the ads that say "OMG I loved your ad! Can you respond to my personal email [email protected]?" I wonder how many suckers they get with that?

Contacts are important to maintain. I have a few. I have a guy that I can bring bedroom furniture to, he owns a mattress store and uses clean, newer furniture as displays, sells them out too. It's more of a consignment thing.. But he only charges 20%. Have another guy for vintage guitars. Another for sound equipment. The rest I take care of. I only really sell to my contacts if I have a tough time moving it though, or if I come across a room that's a major focus of one of my guys.

I've never worried about it. But I do know a lady who does auctions who is a former police officer.. She keeps her money locked in her car until pay up time.

100% agree! I've owned businesses for a while now. I owned a cell phone store, the printing biz is still running and I have a thrift store. If I didn't have my print biz, I'd be out of biz with the thrift store. In fact, I wouldn't have even opened the store. I was doing fine with selling my auction stuff on the side, craigslist, flea market, etc. I opened the store, because it gives me a quiet environment to do business through my printing company, a 7 day a week chance to make a sale, and a public meeting place for my craigslist sales. My printing biz is paying the rent at home, the store does enough to hold itself up and refund my auction budget, but I'm not making money from it yet. Of course, I'd like to do that sooner than later, but I'm in a position where I don't have to worry about where my next rent check is coming from (yet).

I haven't had to ask family or friends for funds to open the store or keep it floating, but I work very hard at keeping a couple of people coming in a day and selling through craigslist, ebay, amazon, yadda yadda..

Craigslist is a great place to sell your large pieces, like furniture, cars, large decor, etc. Or for niche stuff like baby stuff, toys, etc. But what about selling smalls like collectibles, small kitchen accessories, glassware, etc.? I haven't had much luck selling that kind of stuff.. Stuff that goes for under $10-$15..

One thing I'm thinking of doing is combining items... Like all small kitchenware in one ad for 1 price. What do you do to sell your smalls on craigslist?