A side hustle that cost nothing to start. Sweat equity and tenacity is all it takes to create something out of nothing. In this article you will learn how to set up, operate, and maintain a profitable all cash income. This isn’t a theory or ideas. I’m going to explain how I turned a fun hobby into $300-$400 per week cash. The best part is you can turn is on and off as you see fit.
This can be done by just one person but it’s easier with help. This strategy will work for any type of household items, vehicles, etc. You will learn how to find free stuff and sell it for a profit and buy low cost items to sell for a profit. I will explain exactly how to do both, but first I will focus on finding free stuff and selling for a profit. When you learn that, buying low and selling high will be easy.
Money Management
Before we get into how to do this it’s important to explain the need for good money management. Think of this as the economic side of your business plan. Without rules by which to operate, you will enviably waste money or worse put yourself in a position to lose money. Following this strategy provides you the opportunity to turn nothing in to something and never use a dime of your own money. It’s not magic, it’s math, and this math has rules.
There are many ways to handle the profits as they come in. A simple sustainable way is to create an operating fund. This is the minimum amount of money kept on hand to ensure your business stays moving and growing. At first this you will start with zero and as you sell things you only take out the money needed to cover expenses like gas. Let’s say want your operating fund to be $3,000. When you start off all your profit goes into the operating fund until you reach $3,000. You then keep $3,000 in that fund at all times. Any money made over $3,000 is yours to keep. It’s not that the operating is fund is untouchable, to the contrary. It’s there to be used as needed, but it should be replenished before you pay yourself. Let’s say you went to a storage unit auction and spent $200 leaving you with $2,800 in your operating fund. That $200 gets replaced before you pocket any profit. Remember with this model your profit is only the money made above and beyond the $3,000 minimum. This keeps you in a position to always have funds available to jump at opportunities as they arise. Being able to take action quickly is very important in a business like this. Don’t put obstacles in-between you and a good deal. You decide the amount for your operating fund. Could be $500 or $5,000 it’s up to you.
A word of caution, don’t brag about how much money you are making. Unfortunately, having a lot of cash on you or in your home makes you a target. So, keep the boasting to a minimum.
Tools
The first step is to create accounts on platforms to find and sell items, such as Facebook Marketplace, Offerup, etc. If the idea of using and/or learning these apps and websites is intimidating don’t let this deter you. The person who handled all my listings, message traffic, as well as scouting auctions online is over sixty and learned everything from scratch. There are many “how to guides” online for each app/website and should be reviewed to understand the capabilities and limitations of each. If a little old lady with no prior technical experience can handle 3 app/websites with dozens of listing at once, you can learn this as well. When creating the accounts stay neutral with the profile pictures. Also, take the time to verify your accounts on the platforms. No one wants to do business with a shady character you want to build trust with your customers. Do the necessary thing on the platform to prove your a real human and not some bad operator looking to take advantage of people. Reputation is key when dealing with people.
Let’s discuss trust. Be ethical in your venture. The idea is to make a profit, but not if you have to lie or take advantage of someone. Your reputation is more important than your profit. Your reputation will in large part dictate your success. Operating with high integrity will encourage people to follow your profiles and tell their friends. Referrals and word-of-mouth is some of the most profitable ways to do business.
Generate Inventory
The same app/website you created accounts on will also be your hunting grounds. Look in the free category of each app/website for something you think you can sell. It will surprise you what people are giving away. Timing is crucial with free items. Even if you can’t pick it up right away send a message to make arrangements to pick the item up later. People will usually hold the item for someone they believe will show up. So message quickly and make it clear you’re eager and willing to pick up as soon as you can. My standard message looks like this, “I’m very interested and can pick up (whatever time you can pick up). I understand you probably just want it gone ASAP, but if you hold it for me until (whatever time you can pick up) I can be counted on to pick it up.” Respectfully, Jp
You may think this is a bit over the top for a first message but it will make you stand out amongst the other people messaging them with “is this still available.” Don’t do that, if the add is up assume the item is still available and get to the point politely and respectfully. More often than not people will go with a sure thing from a respectful person.
Once you build your operating fund, you can expand into buying low and selling high. Local auctions are a great way to find inventory at very low costs. Before you start biding at auctions, make sure you know the rules. The auctioneers are always helpful and nice people. They make a piece of the sale so, it’s in there best interest to make sure you are an informed buyer.
Building simple DIY (do it yourself) projects like coffee tables or small wooden furniture items is another way to buy low and sell high. I’ve been able to make at least double the material cost for everything I’ve built. It takes many hours to complete a DIY project to sell. If you don’t enjoy the work, it’s not worth the time investment in my opinion. That also goes for refurbishing items. If you don’t like to restore things, the hours it will take to make it ready to sell might not be worth it. I prefer not to do any work to things. I don’t fix-up or refurbish anything. The most I do is clean the item before taking the listing pictures. Your time is part of the return-on-investment (ROI) calculation. The faster you can flip an item the more you can flip.
Lets talk about ROI for a minute. Time is your most valuable possession and should be used wisely. Break up the business into four categories: 1) Scouting, finding item(s) to capture for selling. 2) Transporting/storing, you will have to pick up your scouted item(s) and put them somewhere while they are waiting to be sold. 3) Listing, getting your item(s) up on the apps/websites you are using to sell the item(s). 4) Final transaction, the point at which you are selling the item(s). All of this takes time so by treating each thing as it’s own event will help streamline the process. A typical day would look like this. I wake up, with coffee in hand I’m perusing the app/websites for free stuff or good deals. When I find something I message the seller trying to set up a time for me to pick the item(s) up after work. If it’s the weekend I try and get to them as soon as they will let me come get it. I scout and message in the morning before work and pick things up on my way home. Before I go to bed I clean the item(s), take pictures and write a simple, yet thorough description(more on that later) in a Word document and save them for Friday night. I’m fulltime active duty military and was able to produce $300-$400 per week doing this. Even if you have a fulltime job this can be worked around your schedule and if life gets to busy stop and pick it up again when you have time.
I encourage you to think outside the box. Whatever you find as your niche if any, figure out ways to stand out. I liked flipping furniture because I had a truck and my son (who’s idea this was in the first place) helped me move the furniture. I was able to make more money with fewer listings with furniture and I had the means to do it, so that became our niche. We even offered delivery of things for an additional fee which was most of our sales. People jumped at the furniture they wanted but didn’t have a way to pick it up.
We also learned ways to get inventory to find us. We solicited real estate agents, contractors, storage facilities, and anyone we could think of that would have stuff to give away that we could sell. The pitch was simple; these professionals get stuck with furniture left behind. Real estate agents are faced with emptying homes for sale, contractors replace furniture during their contracted remodels, and storage facilities have customers asking them how to get rid of things they don’t want. Get your contact information in their hands. The pitch goes like this, “I can save you the trouble of getting rid of things. Call me when you need things gone and I will take it off your hands.” This saved me time and money. I had multiple real estate agents and contractors that would call me consistently to empty out a house or a building. I will do for free what they would have to pay a service to do. It’s a win, win for both of us. This may sound strange, but it works with great results.
Create Listings
Reputation is huge, so be brand protective. What I’m getting at is, be honest in your listings and interactions with your customers. If you’re selling a table and there is a small scratch on the side don’t hide it. Take an up close picture of the scratch and mention it in the description. Just a simple phrase like “small scratch on side as seen in pic”. This saves yourself a lot of time and shows your customer they can trust you. Speaking of pictures, learn how to crop. Quality pictures are a must to attract attention. I don’t mean they need to be professional grade, but no one wants to see your cat or your magnet covered refrigerator in the background. I bought a solid color blanket (one light one dark) that can be used to lay small items on. For big items I use a blank wall in my house or outside against a plain wall.
Always use a description, but be careful not to plant seeds in your customers’ mind. Don’t suggest how something can or should be used. You have no idea what your customer has in mind, so only include descriptive information. Keep descriptions short but thorough. Include measurements and details about the material. If I was selling a dining room table my listing would state: “Very sturdy, solid wood (assuming this is true) in great condition. 48” long, 36” wide, 29” tall.” That’s it, simple and descriptive. Let the customer form their own opinion.
Be organized about managing your listings. This is very important if you have multiple listings. You will list each item on each of the three apps/websites. So you will have three listings for each item. This gets messy quick. Use a Word document for writing your descriptions so you can copy and paste into the websites. This saves a lot of time since you will list each item three times. Also create a way to organize your pictures for your listings. Once something is sold move it away from where you keep the info for your active listings. If you list item XYZ make sure it’s the same across all the apps/websites. If you change details on one app/website change it on all of them.
Timing matters but is not a showstopper. It’s been my experience potential customers are most active on Saturday and Sunday morning. If you list things Friday evening or early Saturday morning, you will be at the top of their search over the weekend. I even go as far as relisting items that didn’t sell from the prior week again each Friday to ensure I’m at the top of the search every weekend. To do this you may have to delete the listing and recreate it on each app/website. This is another reason it’s important to have your descriptions saved and ready to copy and paste.
Message Management
You will encounter many people from many walks of life. Some will be clear and direct with their intentions; others will have lots of questions and some will be indecisive. If a customer asks a reasonable question, do your best to answer. If you find yourself answering the same kind of question often across multiple listings remember to include that detail in future descriptions. As you get better at writing descriptions, you will get fewer questions. When responding be honest and direct without being rude. No one wants to read a paragraph.
That brings me to message etiquette. Some people don’t understand text shortcuts like ty (thank you) so minimize there use. Always be leading the conversation without coming across as pushy. I do this by answering their questions and ending with leading information that gives them a clue as to the reply I’m looking for. The most common customer message will be “is it still available?” Let’s assume the item being sold is still available , my response will be “Yes, I’m available today from blank-blank and I live near blank.” This response gives them all the information they need to decide if they will purchase the item. I sometimes field thirty or more messages in a day so I have standardized my responses for the most common customer replies. Saving them on the clipboard on my phone to be copied and pasted as needed.
Another tip for common mistakes in messaging is giving your address prematurely. Only give your address to someone that has committed to picking up or agreeing to come see the item. Once you give out your address, that’s it you are locked into to that person. If more than one person is interested I will respond with “there is one person ahead of you. If they don’t show I will let you know.” I say that to everyone regardless of how many people are messaging me about the item. This keeps them interested and hopeful without promising anything. This also gives you options of who to respond to next should the original person not show. Lets say you have a meeting scheduled with Bob at 1pm and you have told five others they are next in line. If Bob doesn’t show you can pick the person that seems the most interested to message next. When doing this I always give Bob a chance before moving on to the next person. This helps Bob know he is being passed on, which will help avoid possible confrontation if he shows up after you have already promised the item to someone else. It goes like this, at 30 minutes prior to the meeting I ask if he’s still on track for 1pm. If I don’t get a response I wait about 15 minutes and message “there are others interested in this item and I’m going to move on if I don’t hear from you.” I wait until 1pm then message, “Sorry I’m moving on the the next person.” I then wait another 15 minutes just in case Bob happens to show up. If he doesn’t I message the next most likely customer.
This also works if you need an answer from someone that is being indecisive or not responding. Lets say you gotten as far as giving a person your address, but then the messages stop. No thumbs up, or nothing, just silence in the chat. I will say “there are others interested in this item, I need to know if you want to schedule a pick up or I need to move on to the next person.” This usually gets a response and if it doesn’t wait 15 minutes and say “sorry I’m moving on to the next person.” I do this even if there is no one else messaging me about the item to create a sense of urgency and to keep things moving. I’m not super aggressive about it, but if the message goes for an hour with no response I want to know if they are even still interested and this gives me that signal.
Staying in control of the conversation without being rude or pushy will save you a ton of time and stress. I once had two people show up at the same time for the same thing because I assumed the wrong thing in the messaging. It was not only embarrassing, but I almost had to call the police over china cabinet. I learned the hard way never to assume another persons actions. You have no idea what the other person is thinking. Be clear, direct, polite, and professional.
Stay organized. It’s very easy to lose track of who messaged you for what. Remember, you will have each item listed on three apps/websites and could get multiple messages from multiple apps/websites.
Most importantly stay safe. Do not give your personal information out to anyone. Never give your phone number and if you can help it, avoid people coming to your home. If someone’s asking for your email or phone number be suspicious.
The Art of Negotiating
Some people love to negotiate and treat negotiation like a sport or a game. For some the thought of negotiating is terrifying. I have partners like this so an easy way to avoid the fear of saying no or arguing with someone is to just take the argument away. If a customer is trying to get you to lower your price simple say “sorry, there are others interested at full price, I’m not willing to negotiate.” It might even help to practice saying this out-loud in the mirror before you meet with someone so you have it ready just in case. This phrase also creates a sense of urgency in the customer and a fear of missing out.
Build Your Brand
One of the most important aspects of this will be your reputation. Don’t give customers a reason to write a bad review about you. You can’t please everyone and some people are expecting too much sometimes. With that said, it’s important to protect your reputation and encourage good reviews. I do this by rating every buyer very highly even if they don’t deserve it. My hope is they will reciprocate with a good review of their own. For the customers that check reviews having a list of good reviews could be the deciding factor. I’m not saying you need to bend to every customers request, I certainly don’t. People can be weird and sometimes the requested information or requested action like delivering at no extra charge is just unreasonable. Politely and professionally deny their request. The customer is not always right and maintaining polite professionalism will help you protect your reputation.
The Best Part
Have fun. Ya, it’s work to do this well, but it can be very rewarding. I started my flipping adventure because my 12-year-old (at the time) expressed an interest. I took his spark and started a fire, then other people in my family became interested when they saw how much fun we were having while making some real money. This also taught my son that entrepreneurship is an option for his future. Hard work can produce real tangible results. You don’t have to know how to do something as long as you’re willing to learn how.
Be safe! Be Profitable! In that order!