Exercise and Fitness DVDs - P90X, Yoga, Insanity, Zumba, etc.

Sports and fitness is a billion dollar industry.  If you watch any TV at all, I'm sure you have seen the ads for P90X, and numerous other weight loss / fitness videos.  People get seduced into buying these videos all day long with the promise of a perfect beach body in just minutes a day.  There is always some latest greatest workout guru who has a revolutionary set of videos that will really work for you this time!

I found this P90X set for $30.  We have friends that use this system, my wife recently bought her own copy, and was thrilled to get it for $70.  It had all 13 DVDs, and they were in excellent shape, so I didn't balk at the price.  As I mentioned, fitness is a huge industry, and this is what's hot right now.  I put this up on a one day auction with an opening bid of $79, and it ended for $81.

Ahh the 80's... don't bother!

Now I know you are getting ready to go search your old VHS tape collection to pullout that copy of Jane Fonda's workout  Go ahead and grab it and see what it is going for on Amazon or Ebay...  My bet is that you will be lucky to sell it for a penny!   First off, the fitness industry is much like the fashion industry:  it is full of trendy fads and everyone want to have the newest and hottest workout.  Second, no one even owns a VHS tape player anymore.  I don't care what videos you are thinking about buying and selling, stay away from VHS.  Even disney movies won't sell in VHS.  So, as you are out hunting for purple unicorns and other various one of a kind bargains, keep an eye out for modern exercise DVDs.

I recently bought a set of 6 Yoga videos for $10 that ended up selling for $50.  They were in good condition, in their cases, and adult owned.  Now in case you didn't guess, a six DVD set in Kundalini Yoga is very much a niche item.  I ended up trying to sell the set for $99, and lowered the price twice before I got a hit.  however, at $10, I had a lot of wiggle room to turn a good profit, which I did.  New DVDs usually sell for around $15-$20 each, so this 6 DVD set probably retailed for close to $100 or more.  Niche products typically command a higher price simply because they are smaller distribution to an enthusiastic audience.  

Other popular workout programs right now are Insanity, also by Beachbody, the folks who publish P90X, as well as any P90X variants.  Tony Horton has put out several follow up videos after his success with P90X, and they are still in high demand.  There is a workout series called "The Firm" that has many many videos out, and you can expect an average value of $5-10. Pick these up for a dollar a piece and save them up to sell five to ten at a time.  You can certainly mix up a number of different exercise videos in the lot as well.  The only rule you really need to follow is to make sure that here are all in good condition, with their cases, on DVD - I'll say it again: Don't Buy The VHS Tapes!  The biggest loser is also very popular right now, and so Jillian has rolled out her own set of exercise videos, and I believe she has at least a half dozen of them.  These videos would fit in nicely with  the Firm videos, as they all sell for about $5 each used. 

Another workout that is really popular right now is Zumba.  It is a dance aerobics type workout and I know some of my wife's friends go to Zumba class several times a week.  These will certainly start showing up at yard sales just like the rest of the exercise videos.   What type of exercise videos or equipment have you had luck flipping?  Tell us about it!

Posey Gait Belt... re-selling medical equipment, knee braces, etc.

I found this gait belt sitting on a table, unused in the original box.  I had never even heard of a gait belt, much less did I know what it was for, but what got me was that it was new in the box, it had the original price tag of $25 on it, and they were only asking a dollar.  I figured it was worth at least $10, and at worst I would get my $1 education on whatever the heck it was.  

one of my pictures for ebay

Well, although the model hasn't changed,  this belt that was $25 a few years ago is now selling for $35.


A gait belt is used by nurses and care assistants to help move people who may need help walking or may not be able to walk at all.  See there?  I just shared my $1 education with you for free!

As with most any product, there were several factors that allowed me to sell this for $35 and turn a great profit:

• It was in brand new condition still in the original box.  Never discount the importance of this, even with something as mundane as a gait belt.
• I was able to get in a lot of key words in the title describing the belt, and I started it well below market value at $9.99, which was still a 1000% markup.  
• Little did I know when I bought it, this is a very common item and is often used to care for patients at home.  This means that people are paying for them out of their own pocket instead of getting them from hospitals and charging insurance. 

This is the second time I had a good medical score at a garage sale, the first was a knee brace and a recirculating ice cooler.  I paid $10 for the lot and kind of figured that I would end up eating it, but I had to find out so I bought it.  The knee brace ended up selling for close to $100, as it was a very nice brace with steel hinges and whatnot.  I would not have spent $10 on a simple neoprene knee brace.  The cooler had a pump and hoses so that it could circulate cold water from the cooler through the hoses.  I believe it sold for about $30.  I'm not sure that it was as nice as the one on the right, but it was the same idea.  That ended up being a heck of a find for something I figured would be a $10 education. 

Another medical item you see a lot is the standard walker.  You know, the kind that you would pick up and scoot forward then take a step to catch up and repeat.  Well, most of the ones you see at garage sales look like they are 20 years old while the plastic and rubber on them is yellowed and cracking.  I'm sure I don;t need to tell you, but stay away from these.  


There are however, good walkers to buy and resell.  The latest thing with walkers is the knee walker.  
Typically they have handlebars to steer as well.  Most knee walkers in good used condition will sell for at least $100.  The nicer ones in new condition will go for upwards of $300.  You can see the one on the left, these things have steering wheels, brakes, big rubber wheels.  I'd imagine there have been more than a few instances of the grand-kids taking granny's walker out for a spin.

As with anything, just be sure to check the condition and price it accordingly.  

Another item you see a lot are crutches.  Don't buy them, you'll have trouble giving them away. 


I'm sure there are a bunch more good quality medical items that are good for resale.  Do you flip medical items?  Tell us about it!