goWholesale

Chris,
The above advise is a great place to start. Research long and hard and do a simple ebay search on items that interest you. That will give you an idea if you can make anything from them. Also look into companies offering what you have in mind. Prices will vary greatly. You may want to consider brand name tools, as there's always a market for them. Sporting goods are also going to move well soon. Your problem will be finding the sources to buy them that are not already being purchased by others. No one wil share these secrets with you, so it's up to you to search everywhere you possibly can. Believe me, they are out there, and money is to be made from them.
Wish I could help you more, but I'm backing out of this and getting back into construction full time. Wish you luck though.

I am so very glad I found this web site!
Listen to these people, they know what they're talking about.
I came here last week, pretty much in the same position as you, and I'm just trying to listen and learn.


Here's one piece of advice I've always given everyone who is looking for something to do/looking for what to do with their life: Stick with things you like. I don't know how else to explain it, but it seems very obvious to me that you must truly enjoy the widgets you work with. I will never sell pharmaceuticals because all things medical bore me silly. I even worked in medical publishing at one point, and I know this for a FACT. I happen to LOVE cosmetics and perfumes. Can't get enough of the stuff. The subject of how people make lip balm interests me. Selling Avon came naturally to me. I just wish I only had to sell cosmetics instead of the lower-commision garbage they also sell (like DVD's, tacky teddy bears, butt-ugly light-up Easter Bunnies. *Shudder*).It may be easy to sell, but I'd like to sell things I truly get excited about. I'm not saying you can be naive about this, though. I happen to love the NBA, but I don't think I'll try to make a living selling jerseys and hats, because I expect it's already being done by too many other people. I'm just saying that you should find out what you DO like and let yourself explore it. It might take time, but it will pay off.

Forgive me for rambling. Listen to the other people here. They'll steer you right.

Chris,

The first post is absolutley correct. Change your name, for every good person in life there are that many more on the other side. How many ebooks did you buy? How many wholesale clubs are there to join for a nominal fee?

A lot of people here have gone through the long hours of trying to find that secret potion. Very few have found it. About five years ago I got my part-time internet business up to around 1700 per month, pure profit, oh was I on my way to the big time. Then reality set in, I am married with four children(girls at that), I was so busy with my part time venture I did'nt see the family. The internet business got to the point it was not part time anymore and I had to make a choice. I started getting out of my day job to pursue the EASY life. What a fool, I have been fairly successful in the construction industry but it is a tuff living. Physically, mentally, on every level, maybe GVOD can attest. In any case, there comes a point that your little venture becomes a REAL job, at that point you need to make a decision. I have been trying to to quite construction for 15 years. However it pays the bills on a more regular basis and I have to many responsabilities. By the way, I never did the math, didn't want to, but I don't think I made 8.00 per hour when I was REALLY kicking butt

I told my little story not to discourage you but to make you understand the amount of work it takes. If it were that easy I would re-fi my house and be rich tomorrow.

I apologize for the length of this post, I did not even cover what I actually started to say. If you want pm me or email me or even continue this post, and I will tell you what I did, I will assure you, it is nothing different from most folk here. I will not disclose suppliers, that would not be fair to those who kill themselves tracking them down.

Good luck and I hope to hear from you.


Kenny

sensa35 wrote:Chris,

The first post is absolutley correct. Change your name, for every good person in life there are that many more on the other side. How many ebooks did you buy? How many wholesale clubs are there to join for a nominal fee?

Kenny

I absolutely cringe when I see posts advertise they have money to "invest". I imagine a PM box full of "special offers". DELETE THEM ALL. I was NOT kidding about that.

And yes, please read and learn. It's a common mistake to go public with the amount you intend to invest. To a buyer, it lends credibility, like "I'm really ready to make a purchase of $XXXX, but to a seller, it may not have the desired effect. To them, it's another pigeon with $1,000 to give away.

Just be happy you posted now, and not a few weeks from now asking why your shipment hasn't arrived yet.......

Hang in there! You're learning quick! Your money is still in your account after all, which is more than others could attest

I like what the above poster has to say: he/she has found success selling at markets and auctions. What's cool about those situations is that you have more control over what happens to your money and merchandise. You're dealing with people face-to-face and all transactions are done in person. It's safer for the newbie.

My own sales experience has always been face-to-face. I get off on the rush of selling and cold-calling. I'm a "type A" personality and therefor good at it. My talent would probably be wasted on Ebay!

I've only sold one thing on EBay and that was just a laptop I personally wanted to sell. I got a fair price considering it wasn't brand new. I now have a couple of other things I'll sell for cash, but they're things I've personally owned (a camera, a gps device, and a musical instrument.) I'm selling them because I need to get some cash to start my flea market biz and those items are just collecting dust in my house, anyway.

What you can do is visit some flea markets and observe. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for stuff on the 'net that you think will "flip" for a fair profit. I know http://www.dollardays.com is considered an honest seller, and they've got the kind of merchandise the above poster was talking about: smaller, lower-priced items. I've heard they sell the best at flea markets. You can invest in a variety of stuff with relatively low risk. In fact, I'd say $1000 will go pretty far at that site. I'm pretty sure you can at least get your money back by selling the loser stuff at cost (which seems to be roughly 50 cents an item.)

On the topic of sticking with what you like and are interested in: one invaluable virtue of doing this is you'll instinctively know what you're doing much of the time. In a former life, I made good money and had no dependents. I spent most of my money on make-up and perfume (I seriously had about 60 perfumes on my dresser, and several tackle-boxes of makeup.) I knew all the lines from Chanel to the 99-cent stuff. I also travelled to Europe a lot. I went as an art historian, but my second-favorite thing to do after visiting cathedrals was to look for cosmetics and perfumes I couldn't find in the US. I've read books on perfuming and cosmetic making. I read the fashion mags and I always browse the makeup aisle at the store, even though I now rarely buy anything. I sell cosmetics, and so I know Avon's products (as well as our main rival's) very well. Therefor, when I look into finding bulk cosmetics at wholesale prices (that's the mythical "wholesale" but that's another thread) I already know what I'm dealing with. I also know who to ask for advice and am getting amazing information from some of the most fantastically generous and kind people you can imagine.

In fact, I think I have found the true "wholesale" - I'm now dealing directly with the artisans and craftsmen themselves. I can't get bars of Ivory soap for wholesale, but I can get gorgeous hand-made stuff that smells like heaven and sells for $5 or more per bar at wholesale prices. I only need to pick which ones are worth doing business with... and I'm going to be able to do it without putting any of my own money down. I still have a LOT to learn about the industry, but since I think it's fun, it won't feel like work to me.

Craftsmen and artisans are very creative and they love what they do. Most of them, however, suck at sales. They barely sell enough to support their hobbies, but they all dream of being the next Mrs. Field's success story. Try visiting high-end gift shops, and seeing what sells. Then go to crafts shows and seeing what's out there. Talk to the artists and see if they wouldn't like to sell in other venues. Also, if you see artisans selling at a flea market, and they seem to be doing well, talk to them about wholesale prices for their stuff and offer to sell it at another flea market in a nearby town. One drawback they face when selling their own product is that they can only be one place on any given weekend. They might be very eager to sell in another market. Be prepared to learn everything about their craft, as people want to ask questions about hand-made things.

That's what I've been running into - offers from artisans looking for a sales rep. I'm still researching it, but I think I'll do it. I won't risk my own money, and it should be fun.

So, there, some free advice! It's worth what you paid for it. I can't tell you anything about DVD's and video cameras or surplus stuff, but I can give you some new ideas to explore.