Hey, it was OK to be broke in Atlanta in the 1980’s, when it was still a somewhat sleepy, up & coming Southern city. You could ride MARTA trains and buses for 75 cents till 2:30 AM, when mass transit stopped running. The Phoenix Club, that was downtown near the Omni, was free on Tuesday & Wednesday nights, featuring some of the best house music in the antebellum South. Montre’s was an exclusive place to be seen on Friday nite in the West End(you could catch a lotta stuff for nothing there...well, maybe scratch that one). Point is, you could be broke and still survive, but now, it ain’t looking so hot for those with no dough. But all kinds of cash is literally sitting in that hall closet, your garage, trunk of your Caddy-most of us have clutter, things we’ve bought and have no plans on ever using, or have used and simply outgrown.
How can you make your bank account catch the mumps? Here’s some ideas:
One option is to purchase merchandise from a wholesaler or another flea market or auction seller, and resell it for a profit. This is risky, since you may not make the sale. Also, it requires an initial investment.
An easy way to get your neighbor’s closet clutter for free is to start a “Free Pickup Service.” Many people have garage or yard sales and don’t want to put the leftovers from the sale back into their garage, closet or basement. The first step in getting free items to sell is to inform any garage sale people that you will haul away any unsold items free of charge-spread the word in Buckhead, Virginia Highland and Midtown. You can also advertise to people who may be doing spring or fall cleaning. It’s amazing the stuff people are willing to throw on the curb, and with a little gumption and gas, your pockets can gain some weight.
In newspapers like Creative Loafing, you can place low cost advertisements that states you will pick up any re-usable items that are no longer wanted. “We Remove Unwanted Items for Free!” Be prepared with a truck or van and a professional demeanor. This is ideal for a couple of people strong enough to lift heavier items into the truck.
Once people begin to call you to pick up the free items, make sure you hand out fliers and business cards so they can pass on the information to their friends. Word of mouth is great advertising. In your quest for saleable free items, you will be stuck with some real junk too. You can stipulate what you will and will not take: no mattresses(especially from anyone living in Little Five), no large appliances, etc. You could even state a minimum amount of things that you will travel to pick up.
There are many well-to-do people willing to give you their clutter-heck, there are a lotta poor people who caught in that web of consumerism who simply have bought too much crap. Getting free items to sell in this way is pretty easy and fun, and maybe you’ll make a little dough on the side. Help pay for that little condo on Bradford at Peachtree.
