Three months before I opened my little used books store, I hit every yard, garage and estate sale I could find looking for books. Any sale that had books I would quickly estimate how many books they had (count one shelf or box and multiply by how many shelves/boxes there were), figure a dime per book and round down to an even number, then make the offer. I would get one of two responses: “Well, I kinda was looking for a little more for them,” or “I’ll help you pack!”

In three months I had enough books to fill a 1000 sq ft store in all the popular genres. Once I opened, I never had to worry about inventory, as all I ever needed walked in through the front door.