Home Business Ideas

One of the most flexible, but highly competitive home business ideas, is to buy things that are available in your local area at a discount, then sell them nation-wide or globally using sites like eBay. This is undoubtedly the fastest way to get cash. All it takes is a certain knack for spotting bargains, and organizational skills to make the listing and delivery of the products as hassle-free as possible.

This type of business existed years ago for used booksellers and antique stores — but it was an inefficient job at best. With the advent of the Internet and competitive bid auction sites, these ‘picker’ type workers have begun really raking in some dough. Most make the rounds of garage sales, estate liquidations and pawn shops, scarfing up the best deals before anyone else gets there. These are the people that call you the night before your announced garage sale, and ask if they can ‘take a quick look’ before official opening time, on their way to work or some similar excuse.

You don’t need to limit yourself to garage sales. Watch for ‘going out of business’ signs and buy up unsold stock at a bargain. Advertise your willingness to buy with posters on bulletin boards and on your business card (not to mention your website — you did start that blog I recommended on day one, didn’t you?) Let family and friends know you are willing to help them dispose of unwanted or unneeded goods for a small commission, and be sure to encourage them to spread the word for you. Just be sure they have realistic price expectations, and agree on a minimum sales price in advance.

There are lots of online guides to using eBay — that is the largest auction market, you should begin there. But there are hundreds of other online auction sites, some specializing in a particular field, others just as general as eBay. They mostly have to charge less than eBay in order to compete, but they have much smaller audiences. If you have lots of one thing, sell some on eBay and some on other sites. Many of these competing sites don’t even charge a listing fee — you only pay if you sell. A few are even entirely free.

Keep good track of your online promotions. Don’t advertise the same thing on two sites unless you actually have two available — nothing is worse for your business reputation than having to refund a successful bid because you already sold the item to someone else. Be sure you know who has purchased what, and ship the right product to the right customer. Accept as many different forms of payment as you can — checks, PayPal for credit cards, and of course cash if people want to pick something up in person.

Specializing in one particular type of item will help you learn all the details that affect prices, and make you better able to spot a bargain. This takes time, but it pays off in more profitable transactions. Start with something you like, so that if it doesn’t sell, you won’t feel bad about having to hold on to it yourself! If you have spare cash, invest some in things that are likely to increase in value over time — antiques, coins, used jewelry, etc., and set them aside to sell later when prices have risen.

Buying locally and selling online is the most fluid business model you can have — if one thing doesn’t work out, you simply choose something else. But competition is fierce, so you need to make sharp buying decisions, to be sure you don’t get stuck with a turkey. And it takes time to shop, list items and ship items — don’t undervalue your time! Only sell cheap items (under $5) if you can buy them in bulk.