How to Buy (Acquire) and Sell for profit

This How To article is my first in a series of articles to come. I am interested in helping other people gain extra income by means of buying and/or acquiring items to sell via the internet, local papers, or yes even direct sales.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Internet Access
• Very Small Budget ($50-$500)
• Cell Phone
• Do it now Attitude
• Don't be Gready
• Don't be Generous
• Do be Successful

1. 
    
   Don't steal from your business, let it grow.

   Treat this as a business.

2. 
    
   INVEST

   Invest into the business. Decide how much capitol you can afford to start with. I suggest about $250.00, but you can make it work with as little as $0.00. Yes you can start with absolutely nothing; however, I suggest having money set aside for gas, advertising, and if you want enough to pay for cell phone and internet access every month.

3. 
    
   Classified Ads

   Get up and go to you local convenience store and get a FREE classified ad paper such as the "Thrifty Nickle","American Classifieds","The Green Sheet","Penny Saver", or what ever is popular in your area.

4. 
    

   Now that you have you classified paper find out where the yard sales are this week and go buy things that people need and are willing to pay for (I find it easy to sell things that are taking up space around the house that I don't need and most likely will never need again.). I have some simple rules when buying.
   
   1) Get it Free if you can, or discounted, or have them throw in extras to close the deal.
   2) Never buy large items that take up space.
   3) Never buy heavy items that are hard to transport or move.
   4) Buy only items that you have a high degree of confidence in selling.
   5) Don't buy anything that you personally want yourself, or you will end up a shopper and not as an investor with the intent to sell for profit.
   6) Buy simple items that don't require alot of thought (Example: A Ladder or a empty fish tank)
   7) You must log what you buy and how much you spent for that item, this will be very usefully when pricing your items to sell

5. 
    

   Spend the time and effort to clean everything you have bought. Do not put it away without cleaning it or it most likely will not get done an probably never sold.

6. 
    

   Take good quality digital pictures of each item. I suggest taking at least 4 pictures of each item. Try to take your pictures away from every thing so the item is the only thing in the photo.

7. 
    

   Get an account on www.craigslist.com
   Post each item separately with the 4 quality pictures
   Make sure your Phone# is in the ad at least once preferably 3 times.
   Price the items not based on what you bought it for + (This is called Cost Plus Selling) but rather what you fell it is worth. People will haggle your price down I promise you they will.
   
   DO NOT SELL YOU ITEMS FOR LESS THAN %25 MARKUP...
   DO NOT THROW IN EXTRAS FOR FREE
   DO NOT DELIVER
   DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING OTHER THAN CASH.
   
   MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU ARE IN BUSINESS NOW EVERY PHONE CALLL COULD BE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET...... ANSWER YOUR PHONE AND BE NICE.

8. 
    

   REINVEST YOUR MONEY.
   
   THIS SHOULD BE A SIDE INCOME THAT COULD PRODUCE ANYWHERE FROM $300 TO $1500 PER MONTH.
   
   
   **** I GET A CERTAIN PRODUCT FOR FREE EACH WEEK FROM A JUNK YARD, I USUALLY GET 20 A WEEK AND SELL FOR $15 EACH AND EVERY WEEK FOR THE LAST YEAR. ****
   
   THAT IS $15,600 IN A YEAR FROM JUNK... AND NO COST TO ME.

Tips & Warnings

• ANSWER YOUR PHONE PEOPLE RARELY LEAVE MESSAGES
• IF YOU MISS A CALL. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO CALL BACK AND SIMPLY TELL THEM YOU MISSED SOMEONES CALL YOU HAD SOME ITEMS FOR SALE.
• BE NICE AND POLITE
• ACCEPT ONLY CASH
• WHEN YOU FIND SOMETHING THAT SALES STICK WITH IT.
• DON'T DELIVER
• DON'T SELL TO CHEAP.
• DON'T SPEND MONEY ON ADVERTISING UNTILL YOU HAVE SOLD ENOUGH OF AN ITEM THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH, CRAIGS LIST, OR OTHER FREE MEANS FIRST.

[synchronicitys]

on 3/29/2009 This really works. Thank you!

[evbaw2]

on 3/16/2009 Thanks for the great article. Thanks for Step 7. 5* and recommendation.

[SchoolOfLife]

on 3/16/2009 You did a great job on this article, very informative. Thanks! :)

[greatnews]

on 3/9/2009 Awesome. I was doing this for a while for eBay, because I didn't want people coming to my home. eBay makes it easy to stay annonymous.I'm not paranoid! I can't help it if everyone is out to get me. :OJoking, of course! (As far as you know.:))

[staysik]

on 1/16/2009 Really informative article, I must pass this on to a few people who do this already but may need the extra info!