What do working stiffs do for extra income?

[justin]

Buy the unlicensed sports jerseys from China for $3 a pop. Sell 6 a day on Ebay for $55 each. Net $45 after expenses per sale. $100,000/yr profit.

 

[Outtahere]

I actually putter on Ebay for fun. I love yard sales and fleamarkets and nothing tickles me more than to buy something for 25 cents and have it sell on Ebay for $30 to $50. Since I'm still working and my time is limited I do it to off set my Ebay purchases. I use a separate checking account for Paypal and was quite surprised to find that my balance would cover our vacation to FL for two weeks this past winter.

 

[HFWR]

Buy the unlicensed sports jerseys from China for $3 a pop.  Sell 6 a day on Ebay for $55 each.  Net $45 after expenses per sale.  $100,000/yr profit.

Does this include the cost of the civil suit...

 

[justin]

Does this include the cost of the civil suit...

Nope. Just saying how easy it would be to make $100,000. Just a little bit illegally.

I'd never do it though, due to the potential civil and criminal liability.

 

[Nords]

Here's what I don't get about Ebay...how can someone possibly sell something for less on Ebay than say Walmart can in their stores as they would get such a huge discount for purchasing in bulk.

How about:
- no bricks or bulk-shipping logistics
- no employees
- no healthcare, workman's comp, or insurance
- no sweatshop monitoring oversight
- no serious effort to collect state or federal taxes
- free storage in your garage
- buyer pays your shipping charges
- no "big box" stigma

I know plenty of woodworkers & other crafters who've extended their local advertising to eBay at no additional expense... and in many cases cheaper than a local newspaper ad.

A Navy Reserve friend in his 50s got bored accompanying his spouse to garage sales one day. He noticed that barely-used kid's clothing (newborns-age 5) was selling for 25 cents an article, and he started researching eBay sales. Today his spouse is the one tapping her foot while he loads the car, and he nets $25K/year buying with one hand and selling with the other.

 

[thefed]

You ARE fully bonded, insured, and licensed by the state, right? Haha, just kidding.

But seriously, why didn't you post about your other previous part-time career?

I have 2 mil liabilty insurance, and there's no bonding or licensing requiremnt for my line of work in my sate or county.

And FYI my mini farm has been shut down. I now have a child to care for, and that's not the best environment.
Thats why i didnt post it. It was fun run though, i must say. Made about 300/day for the last few months...PROFIT

 

[Martha]

thefed, you might consider deleting your last post.
You never know who is watching.

 

[HFWR]

"Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail. Those test tubes and the scales, just get it all out of here..." Steely Dan

 

[Martha]

And don't forget to pay the grass tax.

 

[dunc0029]

This is a topic I've really debated.  I've considered working an additional part-time job to pad the savings that much more, but I guess I feel like it doesn't make sense to work more when the whole goal of my life is to work less ( at least in cubeville ) .  I have a coworker I somewhat envy who was, at one point, working 3 part-time jobs in addition to a full-time job.  Basically, he did it for employee discounts to buy one-time big-ticket items like home theater and a telescope.  If only I didn't like my free time so much...

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

I am constantly amazed at the opportunites for making money without trying very hard.

I've mentioned my friend who collects old computers. You wouldn't think there's much opportunity for a computer collector to make money, but he's turned his hobby into a business by renting machines out as movie props, prior art for IP cases, etc.

I just sold my house to a mountain climber. This guy managed to parlay his love of mountain climbing into lucrative sponsorships and speaking gigs.

Do what you love, and the money will follow. Worst case, you'll be doing what you love.

I used to like bicycle racing a lot. I thought about turning pro until some no-talent cowboy named Lance Armstrong showed up on the scene.

 

[free4now]

There have been a lot of little side businesses I've considered, but when you're working as a software engineer the amount you could earn from them seems pretty small and not worthwhile

But now that I'm doing the ER thing, I am getting psyched up to try some of these kinds of businesses out. I particularly like the idea of finding small niches that are underserved, and selling expensive products there. The key to doing this seems to be keeping your overhead small so that if someone bigger and more efficient finds the niche and starts competing you can just close up and move on to something else.

One of the niches I'm considering is making a particular thing (won't tell you what) to well heeled amateur photographers. There are already many low quality versions of this product but none high quality enough to meet the prosumer's desires.

 

[Maximillion]

I saw this programme about a House wife who set up a cam corder and made a lot of money stripping for guys??

 

[scubamonkey]

My wife and I love boating (but hate the expense) so we are working on this plan.

BURIALS AT SEA!
We can depreciate the boat and write off the boat expenses. We are in the max tax bracket so the tax savings could be substantial - even if we don't have much business.

We would offer ashes scattered on the Gulf of Mexico - or a full Pirate funeral with a plank that the deceased slides off into the Gulf. My wife does not like the idea of the pirate funeral - but it is nice to offer options.

 

[MooreBonds]

My wife and I love boating (but hate the expense) so we are working on this plan.

BURIALS AT SEA!

Interesting idea. I would assume that there wouldn't be a huge market for this, but probably some people would be interested.

However.....if I were the IRS, I would be very curious about your 'business' and depreciation. If you only had a few clients per year, how would you explain to the IRS why there are 1,000 hours on your boat's motors?