Buying and reselling for PROFITS Thread

What Wild Chicken said, depends on what it is and the savings. It wouldn't be worth the hassle for a HDMI cable or something.

Lets say most of the time the product is purchased in smaller quantities and "shipping can sometimes kill the deal", where it can equal or exceed the price of the actual product being shipped. Buying more product results in lower overall shipping cost.

So basically I will be coordinating the group buy (locally) and setting the price per item (actual cost + shipping + payment card swipe fee considered) slightly higher than what I will be paying for it, allowing for a per item "profit". Even with Ohio sales tax added it should (I am still crunching the numbers) be at or lower than what it is sold for online. I should mention that this would be a hobby business as I am employed full time, and I would most likely be included some of the group buys to get the product for myself and also keep a little in stock for local events with booths/tables, flea markets, etc.

Thoughts? For now these are just thoughts in my head and I am in the process of constructing a business plan. I would like input from people who may do this already, or at least an outside perspective. Bottom line is I feel this is a product that certain people could want, and they may feel that it is a hassle go home and order online or too expensive to purchase considering the shipping so they would be willing to pay a little more to have it in their hands today...

Thanks in advance. I really do need my own thread, apologies to the OP.

Edit: In order to create a visual imagine the product is the coolest iPhone 5 case in all the hottest colors. I would purchase these in quantities of 100 at a time. Assume they are not available locally and in order to get a good deal on one you have to buy 100. If I had enough interest locally I would make the purchase, distribute them to the group buy participants (collecting sales tax of course), keep a few for myself and sell the rest to people at flea markets, fairs, etc.

I can't see it working. When you see "shipping kills the deal", its because its a cheap item that became more expensive with the shipping. i.e. a DVD that cost $5 which may be a good deal, but the $3 shipping made it not such a good deal.

When you factor in the time people would have to spend picking it up, then the sales tax, swipe costs, and profits, the hassles of meeting people, finding people interested in that particular product etc....i just can't see it working. Time could be better spent on something else more profitable.

Quote from BargainSnatcher : I can't see it working. When you see "shipping kills the deal", its because its a cheap item that became more expensive with the shipping. i.e. a DVD that cost $5 which may be a good deal, but the $3 shipping made it not such a good deal. When you factor in the time people would have to spend picking it up, then the sales tax, swipe costs, and profits, the hassles of meeting people, finding people interested in that particular product etc....i just can't see it working. Time could be better spent on something else more profitable.

Thank you for the positive and honest reply. Group buys would be tough to coordinate, it would be better with friends or people you know and trust. I guess I was trying to avoid keeping inventory until I was certain there was a desire for the product. What are your thoughts on initially purchasing an inventory, renting tables and booths to unload it on weekends, collecting taxes and such as a vendor at various places? The product is something people would use to customize, and I would be demonstrating it as well as have examples on hand to show what it you can do with it.

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[QUOTE=Nick6280;57762180]Thank you for the positive and honest reply. Group buys would be tough to coordinate, it would be better with friends or people you know and trust. I guess I was trying to avoid keeping inventory until I was certain there was a desire for the product. What are your thoughts on initially purchasing an inventory, renting tables and booths to unload it on weekends, collecting taxes and such as a vendor at various places? The product is something people would use to customize, and I would be demonstrating it as well as have examples on hand to show what it you can do with it.

Sounds like you are gonna spend a lot of time/effort making very little money.

Quote from WildChickenDanc : Sounds like you are gonna spend a lot of time/effort making very little money.

Thank you for the quick reply. This really does show the benefit of creating a potential business plan to identify pot holes or things you don't account for when planning a small business. It is easy to think of all the benefits, sometimes ignoring the negatives.

Do you guys have any suggestions for a hobby business/potential small business tax shelter? I guess I was trying to see if I could start a small business promoting a product that I use and believe in and that others that I tell about it are interested in...

The original plan was to create a website to promote the product's uses, a forum to talk about its uses, and offer group buys to save on small quantity shipping costs, while getting my own product at a reduced cost.

I still plan to do the first two BTW...

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Quote from Nick6280 : The product is something people would use to customize, and I would be demonstrating it as well as have examples on hand to show what it you can do with it.

Sounds like you have something specific in mind, which changes things. Different things work with different products.

Yes I do, and I feel that there is a hole that I can fill by buying in larger quantities than the average Joe would, combining shipping and selling it locally. Without going into detail the item carries hazmat requirements, which ups the shipping cost by a lot and could not be sidestepped by online retailers. You can't get it around here, or I would. Lets say you can get one shipped for $10, 2 for $12, 3 for $14, and so on.

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Quote from Nick6280 : Yes I do, and I feel that there is a hole that I can fill by buying in larger quantities than the average Joe would, combining shipping and selling it locally. Without going into detail the item carries hazmat requirements, which ups the shipping cost by a lot and could not be sidestepped by online retailers. You can't get it around here, or I would. Lets say you can get one shipped for $10, 2 for $12, 3 for $14, and so on. Sent from the official Slickdeals App for iPhone & iPod Touch.

First you had no product and now you do? What is it? Model rocket fuel?

Insurance and storage for hazmat materials in large quantities? City, county, state, federal regulations for sales/distribution? If this was easy "PROFITS" someone else would be doing it. In fact, there probably is some business/person in your local/region that sells this.