"I'm writing a story ... (about) the closeout industry - items like movies, books and video games. Seems that the recession has caused a boom for these kinds of (items). And specifically for entertainment-related products."

This is no surprise. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, movies and radio were incredibly popular. We can assume that people liked to spend a couple of hours in a movie theater to forget their troubles and it's no different today. With less income to spend on entertainment outside the home, items of entertainment for home use are a booming business!

What Is "Closeout Merchandise"?

Our reporter's query mentioned the closeout industry but what does she mean by that? Closeout items are often mentioned as a synonym with "overstock" and "liquidation" and indeed the lines between them are blurred. Closeout generally refers to discontinued products, shelf pulls and items that were returned to stores by customers.

In the past, buying closeout involved buying very large amounts. Merchandise is still offered by lots, pallets, trailers, truckloads and container loads. Since the explosion of online selling, though, it's possible to find vendors that will sell in smaller amounts.

Our reporter mentioned entertainment items as being very 'hot', so where can we find these goodies at a price where we can resell and make a profit? It's not that hard. Here are a few examples.

1. Brandywine Liquidators, Tampa FL 33619

Closeout deals are, of course, constantly changing but today Brandywine is offering new, popular title, VHS movies for $.20 each. The 'catch' is that the buyer must take 1,000. That means your total investment would be $200.

Is there a market for VHS movies on eBay? I wouldn't have thought so - but I'm wrong. Go to eBay and type "VHS movies" into the search box. Today there are a staggering 102,937 listings. The cheapest price on new movies is $6 while the top prices are $100+ for Michael Jackson movies. Even if you sold your movies at the lowest prices of $6, your investment would be $200 - and your profit $6,000.

2. B & D Salvage, Earl NC 28038

This surplus company is offering 'NASCAR Race Warrior Comic Books'. There is a minimum order of 100 at

$.20 cents each or you can order 300 pieces at $.17 each. There are only three of these for sale today on eBay, but their prices range from $7.99-$16.00.

Want some higher priced items to sell on eBay? Then how about "Assorted Video Games and Accessories for Nintendo Wii, PlayStation3 and Xbox 360"? You must buy 100 of them, but are you ready for the price? An astounding $11.14! Check out eBay to see the profits on these.

3. Sara Trading Inc., Bridgeview, IL 60455

Sara trading is today offering "Gameshark for PlayStation": cost $3 and a minimum of 50 pieces must be ordered. The current sale price on eBay averages around $20, for a profit of $17. If you bought 50 your cost would be $150 and you would make $850.

Beat The Recession

Naturally, you must be careful when deciding on any merchandise to sell on eBay, Google, Amazon or anywhere else. Here are guidelines that will keep you profitable.

1. Never, never believe anyone else's estimates of profits. There are merchandisers who will give inflated retail prices to lure in unskilled sellers: "Our price: $110, Retail price: $250" ... and the retail price may be a complete lie.

2. Usually, your best sources will not be the big, flashy sites on the Net. Countless times I've heard students say, "My wholesale price on the Net is higher than what they're selling for on eBay!". That is quite true. The folks who have the really good deals want to deal with serious sellers, instead of Internet-wannabes, and generally have terrible websites - if they have any at all.

3. The good news: most of them have "notification lists". Generally, these are by email but a few suppliers still offer fax lists. If you are on these lists you will often find incredible deals but you must act quickly or they will be gone.

We have other articles about finding wholesale bargains but closeout and liquidation can bring in large sums of money. There are always people spending money, even in the worst of times, and surviving a recession in comfort is simple: figure out what people will buy during these hard times. What to sell on eBay certainly is no mystery.