If you were ever a Star Trek fan then I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase “boldly going where no man has gone before” which was used in all the lead-ins to the original Star Trek series.

According to Wikipedia the phrase came into being when:

“The Star Trek character Zefram Cochrane supposedly originated the phrase in a speech which described what humans could do with this new warp technology.”

I’m guessing when Mr. Cochrane first used that phrase he was talking to a group of Star Fleet commanders, but it’s also great advice for people who shop at garage sales for eBay inventory because if you are willing to boldly go where no man has gone before I promise you, you’re going to buy a lot more good inventory and make a lot more money.

There are several ways you can apply the phrase boldly go where no man has gone before to your garage sale shopping.

• Stay away from the neighborhood sales that advertise multiple garage sales within a few blocks of each other. These neighborhood sales attract hundreds of buyers who are there 30 minutes to an hour before the advertised opening time. Your chances of being the first person into more than one of these sales are zip. If 8 AM is their advertised opening time, there are probably a dozen or more sales in other areas of town that open at 8 also. Instead, boldly go where no man has gone before - leave the neighborhood sale to everyone else and go to the other sales first. You will probably be the first person in the door to a half dozen sales or more and have first pick of everything there.
• Is there an area of town that everyone goes to first because it’s considered prime garage sale territory? Boldly go where no man has gone before and start your day in an area of town where others consider the pickings less desirable. There may not be as much “good stuff” but your chances of buying what there is will increase dramatically and at the end of the day you’ll have more items to put on eBay.
• Is there a sale advertised in todays paper that starts tomorrow or the next day that sounds like it’s filled with eBay-able merchandise? Then you can be sure there will be people knocking on the door an hour or two before it’s scheduled to open. Boldly go where no man has gone before and pick up the phone, drive over there and knock on the door, wave hundred dollar bills around, tell a little fib if you have to, but make every effort to get the opportunity to cherry-pick it today, before anyone else sees what they have for sale.
• Are there estate sales in your area that offer early buyer privileges similar to what I wrote about yesterday? If your area is similar to mine, other dealers have shown they won’t spend the few extra dollars to get in early. Boldly go where no man has gone before and pay the extra $5 to $25 to get in early. It’s worth it. Myself and one other local dealer have picked the three sales that have done this clean before anyone else arrived because most won’t gamble a five or ten dollar bill.

Different areas of the country may be different, but I guarantee you if you will take a little time and think about how you can go where no man has gone before when shopping at garage sales you’ll buy a lot more inventory and make a lot more money then most of those who you currently consider to be your competition.

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