Buy/Sell/Trade Forum

Facebook, craigslist, and thift stores. The biggest thing is if it isnt a flipper if you have personality and they can tell you arent going to resell or take advantage of them then they will be more than willing to deal with you and even cut you a deal.

For me personally, #1 LUCK and #2 Connections! I don't use Facebook, Twitter, Craig's List or anything else listed in this thread. I ONLY use TCDB and NUTS for my online connections to the card world. I got a massive collection from a local estate sale in 2018 when a someone on my Mom's rural mail route passed away. The wife sold off a bunch of possessions and I ended up with over 35K cards and some diecast cars. That was luck! Then in July of 2020, I acquired a massive collection of at least 37K cards from a member on here. I didn't even know he was a member on this site until after I met him to pick up the cards. He contacted me through the Beckett site (which has since banned me for harsh comments about their complete uselessness in the hobby for the past 7-8 years). But the footprint I've spread over the years without using all the social media sites keeps bringing more cards to me and I keep spreading them out to the collectors. For me personally, I've just been really lucky to keep acquiring cards without spending a bunch of money and without spending ANY time on the main social media sites. It's all about the people I've dealt online over the past 15-20 years. They spread the word and people find me from those connections.

Some of my best deals were as a result of setting up at local card shows.  People come in...sometimes they have stuff to sell, or maybe they have something that they didnt bring but are looking for information on its value.  A simple conversation may be all it takes for you to get an opportunity to look at and buy an entire collection.  Setting up at card shows isnt alwasy about selling, sometimes its more about the opportunities that come with it!

Also, networking with other dealers is key...some dealers will pass on items because they don't want the bulk.  Well, I build sets, so bulk is sometimes a great opportunity for me to build some of the early 2000-2009 Heritage sets and a really good way to locate Heritage SPs. It's also great for TCDB trading material!!
 

Locally there are a few locations that one might not think trading cards (or comic books my first passion)

There are a acouple of salvation army thrift stoers nearby, they ocasionally have small collections donated.

goodwill (love 'em or hate'em) can have things turn up once in a while.

 Although it may count as "newspapers" there are several local publications that post free want ads/sales.

We have access to the "Greentabs", The Tri-State Merchantette", The Ad Weekly, and the "I Wanta" print form want ad style lisings for $1/ 0.50ish.

also check out local antique shops that have the "Attic Picker" style proprietor as they will sometimes buy collections as a "favor" for friends and will sometimes put boxes of comics and trading cards out on display to just get rid of them.

These are some interesting suggestions. Maybe I'll look into Facebook marketplace. The closest I've come to any of these is estate/yard sales. It's pretty hard to hit the big score, but I did get a whole bunch of 1961 Topps at a good price once. But usually, it's either nothing or cards from the 1990s. 

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I used yard sales, estate sales, auction houses, and Craig's list to find my big collections