Monday, January 13, 2014
Minor to majors leagues...
To properly introduce the process of starting my online venture, I have to come to terms with the bitter lesson I learned in Chile. After the keynote speakers were finished, we started on the meat of the workshops, with presentations on banking, second passports, tax reporting, and investing in specific counties like Chile and Mongolia.
While the dread was on-going, the realization came suddenly, probably on the last day. I knew I didn't belong. I knew my being there was borderline farce. Not including unhappy and skepticalwives spouses, I was the least prepared person attending. What was missing was not money, per se; it was the entrepreneurial mindset. I was, and am, an employee first, second, third, and last. I'm a wise-ass worker bee, and a happy one at that. I didn't have the slightest idea on how to "add value" or to open my own business, or anything else like that. I was sick to my stomach by the end of the last day, left a few minutes early, grabbed a cab, and high-tailed to the airport. I read a book on my Kindle, and flew home. Was the trip a waste of time? Of course not, but it needs to be more than just a learning experience.
I've toyed with the idea of starting an online business since I first read the Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris. I've detailed a lot of my thinking on the topic, but I was always too afraid and overwhelmed by the process to do more than talk. I simply didn't feel organized enough to attempt it, and I didn't know where to begin.
Aside from my fear, there was also an undercurrent of ignorance. The various business books available are only partially helpful. Many books concentrate on finding your niche, or monetizing your passion, or writing a book about your field of expertise, etc. There are two problems with this; first, I have no passions. Second, and far more important, I cannot accept outside payment for my financial aid knowledge; the County would be... displeased. So many of the books, while good reads, didn't have enough actionable information to be useful. Some business knowledge was assumed, for almost all the books, so I knew I'd need to learn commerce from the ground up. After all my research (and we're talking about PhD levels of digging), I felt the best course of action was to start small by selling items on EBay.
Before even getting to this point, most of the books and websites and podcasts mention a preliminary step prior to listing in earnest. You need to buy items first, and for two reasons. One is to generate positive feedback on your EBay account, vitally important to assuring buyers. The other is to learn what works and what doesn't when it comes to listing your items and sending them. Now, few people just decide to list items on EBay without having purchased anything first, but paying attention to the above details another story.
This is where the title comes in. Most people only buy from EBay, but you can always make a few extra dollars by selling excess stuff from deep within your closets. The learning curve is sharp, especially for those with little to no customer service experience, but the risk is small.
Assuming you start with your own stuff, we can call this the lowest level of the minor leagues, say The Florida Gulf Coast Rookie League. You toil on a small, part-time basis and hope to make enough to satisfy whatever short-term financial or experiential goals you have. The important thing to remember in this phase is that you will make mistakes. That's what the minor leagues are for, a training ground. You're toiling on the fringes of EBay, and for many people, this is as far as they go. The best part of this stage is that you already used the items in question, got value from them, and you already know how much they're worth. It's pure profit from crap otherwise collecting dust.
For those not turned off at the outset (which seems to be fairly common), after a few successful (and, just a importantly, unsuccessful) listings, you can use the experience to find sell-able items from thrift stores, flea markets, tag sales, etc. Of all the sources of information I've found, http://ebayscavengers.blogspot.com/ is by far the best place to get started. Following the example given, you can make a fairly nice side income selling shoes, jackets, sweaters, etc. The owners of the site find their goods at thrift shops, tag sales, flea markets, and the like. They've even repurposed things people threw away, which is a fancy way of saying they've dumpster dived; an activity I highly support. Just as you make money in real estate when you buy the property, you make money this way when you buy the item you wish to list. It's the only price point you control. You're not alone in this task, incidentally. EBay itself has plenty of guides to help you, as well as forums where sellers will answer your questions, as well as various websites, such as the podcast above.
The next levels are still the minor leagues, and I say that because you need to work at it like job, and you won't make enough money in one given year to retire. At this point, you're better at finding, pricing, listing, and shipping items, as well as resolving complaints, all the while making more money.
Right now I'm still in the buying as training phase. After only my second purchase on EBay (first since 2006), I've already learned a valuable lesson: always include the tracking number in when corresponding with your customers.
Looking beyond buying, I'm lucky I live in such a wealthy area. We have tons of thrift stores, such as the Greenwich Thrift Store, which has designer brand bags, shoes, dresses, suits, fur coats, Tiffany lamps, new televisions, and high-end furniture. Also, the stuff people throw away around here would make the Third world jealous. I've covered this before, and I'm going back there again.
While the dread was on-going, the realization came suddenly, probably on the last day. I knew I didn't belong. I knew my being there was borderline farce. Not including unhappy and skeptical
I've toyed with the idea of starting an online business since I first read the Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris. I've detailed a lot of my thinking on the topic, but I was always too afraid and overwhelmed by the process to do more than talk. I simply didn't feel organized enough to attempt it, and I didn't know where to begin.
Aside from my fear, there was also an undercurrent of ignorance. The various business books available are only partially helpful. Many books concentrate on finding your niche, or monetizing your passion, or writing a book about your field of expertise, etc. There are two problems with this; first, I have no passions. Second, and far more important, I cannot accept outside payment for my financial aid knowledge; the County would be... displeased. So many of the books, while good reads, didn't have enough actionable information to be useful. Some business knowledge was assumed, for almost all the books, so I knew I'd need to learn commerce from the ground up. After all my research (and we're talking about PhD levels of digging), I felt the best course of action was to start small by selling items on EBay.
Before even getting to this point, most of the books and websites and podcasts mention a preliminary step prior to listing in earnest. You need to buy items first, and for two reasons. One is to generate positive feedback on your EBay account, vitally important to assuring buyers. The other is to learn what works and what doesn't when it comes to listing your items and sending them. Now, few people just decide to list items on EBay without having purchased anything first, but paying attention to the above details another story.
This is where the title comes in. Most people only buy from EBay, but you can always make a few extra dollars by selling excess stuff from deep within your closets. The learning curve is sharp, especially for those with little to no customer service experience, but the risk is small.
Assuming you start with your own stuff, we can call this the lowest level of the minor leagues, say The Florida Gulf Coast Rookie League. You toil on a small, part-time basis and hope to make enough to satisfy whatever short-term financial or experiential goals you have. The important thing to remember in this phase is that you will make mistakes. That's what the minor leagues are for, a training ground. You're toiling on the fringes of EBay, and for many people, this is as far as they go. The best part of this stage is that you already used the items in question, got value from them, and you already know how much they're worth. It's pure profit from crap otherwise collecting dust.
For those not turned off at the outset (which seems to be fairly common), after a few successful (and, just a importantly, unsuccessful) listings, you can use the experience to find sell-able items from thrift stores, flea markets, tag sales, etc. Of all the sources of information I've found, http://ebayscavengers.blogspot.com/ is by far the best place to get started. Following the example given, you can make a fairly nice side income selling shoes, jackets, sweaters, etc. The owners of the site find their goods at thrift shops, tag sales, flea markets, and the like. They've even repurposed things people threw away, which is a fancy way of saying they've dumpster dived; an activity I highly support. Just as you make money in real estate when you buy the property, you make money this way when you buy the item you wish to list. It's the only price point you control. You're not alone in this task, incidentally. EBay itself has plenty of guides to help you, as well as forums where sellers will answer your questions, as well as various websites, such as the podcast above.
The next levels are still the minor leagues, and I say that because you need to work at it like job, and you won't make enough money in one given year to retire. At this point, you're better at finding, pricing, listing, and shipping items, as well as resolving complaints, all the while making more money.
Right now I'm still in the buying as training phase. After only my second purchase on EBay (first since 2006), I've already learned a valuable lesson: always include the tracking number in when corresponding with your customers.
Looking beyond buying, I'm lucky I live in such a wealthy area. We have tons of thrift stores, such as the Greenwich Thrift Store, which has designer brand bags, shoes, dresses, suits, fur coats, Tiffany lamps, new televisions, and high-end furniture. Also, the stuff people throw away around here would make the Third world jealous. I've covered this before, and I'm going back there again.
