The key is to look for and collect other things you like besides video games. Otherwise thrifting and garage sales would be depressing and no longer fun.
On my end, I am out looking for records (High margins, but can be difficult to find). But I pick up video games (lower margins, but easier to find) to make it worthwhile to drive 1hr each way.
I used to get nice hauls of video games at sales, pawn shops and thrift stores (and even game stores that didn't give a shit about NES/SNES). But that all started to dry up in the early 2000's. It wasn't until I started doing records (and making money hand over fist) that I started to get back into video games. But I have to travel to Syracuse (where there is more shit, but the competition is way fiercer).
Competition for video games has gone off the rails lately. It used to be that I barely sold any games at my Garage Sale on Friday. The video game guys might show up on Saturday morning. Now, I got people trying to get in before I open (which I detest). I might do $400 in VG sales by 8:30 AM on Friday. Some people drive 2+ hours to go to my sale. It's really nuts considering that I price my stuff pretty well. The margins these guys are working on must be super thin (unless they have a shop that is getting 2x ebay).
Just finding the stuff on my end is tough as shit (though I get lucky once in a while). Stupid motherfuckers wanna look everything up on ebay before they price it. But no, they don't write down the average sold price. They right down the highest price that the thing has sold for in the past 3 months (never mind condition or if the item has been tested). When I'm selling shit, I try to get a few bucks cheaper than the lowest sold price (minus any outliers).