Your input good or bad

[cheech]

Looking for input on making this a full-time gig right now I'm only doing it as a part-time hobby and the little extra cash as a bonus all input welcome good or bad if you're doing it now full-time and how's it working for you or if you're just doing it part-time and that's the best way to keep it thanks for all the replies
Beach kid I'd really like to hear from you as I read some of your other post says you been doing it for a while as a full-time gig

 

[Beans]

Doing full time depends on what you sell, where you live and contacts. I do this part time because garage sales, donations to TS etc seem to be seasonal. I do great during spring and summer. Now it is winter and all has come to a screeching halt. Even TS only get what people could not sell at their GS.

 

[captain flintlock]

It's a part time thing for this pirate! I'm actually a senior lab technician by trade. I would think that it depends on where you live, if the area offers enough good finds to make a living. So my wife and I just do this for a hobby/part time extra $ on the side kind of thing. I've gotten to know a lot of dealers in the area so I do a bit of picking too as well as a lot of collecting!! I personally think that it's not worth giving up benefits and such from a regular full time gig. I know a few people who do it full time but they have their own shop or other avenues of income such as property. Jmo for what it's worth. Sorry for getting long winded!! [emoji16][emoji100].

 

[captain flintlock]

Doing full time depends on what you sell, where you live and contacts. I do this part time because garage sales, donations to TS etc seem to be seasonal. I do great during spring and summer. Now it is winter and all has come to a screeching halt. Even TS only get what people could not sell at their GS.

We'll have to form a support group for those of us in the off season!! [emoji30]

 

[patiodadio]

I'm retired so I have some time to hunt. Today I did Meals on Wheels where we deliver meals to old folks who can't get out. After doing that I hit a kinda park, common area in the small town where I live. After an hour and a half I had two clad pennies and a cheap ring. Glad I don't have to do this for a living !

 

[dejapooh]

Here in Southern California, there is no Off season. I had a Black Friday Garage sale at my house. Sold all of the stuff that I couldn't sell online. Still turned a profit, so... GOOD DAY!

 

[Beachkid23]

I've been doing it from home full-time for about almost 2 years now. But I just put in an application today for a job. I'm not going to go back to doing electrical work anytime soon but there's a lot of time in between when you get sick of listing stuff or low on inventory. For me it seems like a lot of my money goes towards raising my family not giving me as much money as I would like to have to continue to repurchase more and higher value items. So I'm going to pick up a job so that my income from work goes towards my living expenses. And my eBay goes towards my business/ savings.

As long as the job is worth going to. No $8 dollar an hour minimum wage thing. And I have to have at least one or two Saturdays off a month. I want to continue to grow my business but I don't seem to have enough money coming in to pay all my bills, raise my kids, and continue to buy stuff on a regular basis. Even though I have gotten some pretty good things but The really good things after they are sold turn into piles of smaller things. I just have a lot of downtime when I get sick of listing stuff and need to find something else to occupy my mind for a little while.

 

[bdsawyer]

I do this full time, and there are some nice benefits especially working from home, setting your own hours, no boss, etc. you have to always be looking for new items and be constantly motivated to sell. No keeping the best items, and I have to refrain from collecting much as that cuts down on profit.
You have to be sure you can continue to find quality merchandise, stuff you can quickly turn $50-100 (or more) profits on.

 

[cheech]

Thanks for all the replies as of right now I have one full-time job and two part-time jobs one is reselling items and the other part time is at UPS I have no plans on leaving UPS because of the benefits I was thinking of just having two part-time jobs so I can have the freedom but it's still very risky and I live on the east coast of south Florida which can turn out some pretty good Pickens

 

[artslinger]

I actually also have a full time professional employment, but I do thrift stores, pawn shops, swap meets during the week, and garage sales and more thrift stores, swap meets during the weekend! I'm extremely hungry for the score, not because I'm selfish, but because of the financial rewards that can help me help my immediate family and my elderly mom and love ones! We all want a better life, and this I know will help me achieve it. I've developed such a love for art that I've decided to enroll in a comm college, and then transfer to a Univ for a bachelor's degree in Art. Right now, because of my dependents, I have to stay employed for the income, insurance, etc.

This would also depend on your situation. There is so much to learn in every field, and if you decide to do this full time, I would recommend for you to keep your eyes and ears opened. Don't be like a race horse with blinders. Learn, investigate, question, and finally take action. Carry these along with a trusty loupe.....Faith, Hope, and Great Expectations...like the American Express Card, never leave home without them! All the best to you in what you decide to do. Don't forget to have fun, very important! :-)

 

[bigcaddy64]

I'm doing this strictly as a part-time deal. I work full time yet have plenty of time off due to my schedule so, instead of being bored with X amount of money, i fill my time with buying/sellling which allows me to earn extra cash and an education that can never be taken away.

All of the money that is made is used to further buy more "junk" to sell or increase my collections. Junk is the girlfriends term, not so much mine. She never complains when that junk is magically transformed into vacations, purses etc, etc.

The Socal weather, like dejapooh mentioned, allows picking full-time, unless you have photophobia or can't access a flannel shirt for when it gets really cold during our bitter winters

The only real "off-season" is during the holidays. My area has a large Jewish/Middle Eastern population so you figure Hanukkah knocks out the first half of December and then the whole Christmas crowd takes the second half. Not to mention lots of college kids are home for the break and parents want to spend time with the kids when they visit.

I think i counted 7 sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, none of which i wanted to attend. I was much busier opening a box of Cubans and hanging out with family. I personally stockpile small, high dollar items to sell for this time of year. It keeps the money coming in and i don't have to leave the house which is a huge Win-Win for me.

 

[diggummup]

It's part time and a hobby for me. It's one of the things I do for fun since I quit drinking years ago. I could really use a beer right now though, lol. I've contemplated doing it full time. I see myself doing it full time realistically when I'm 60 or so because my body won't be able to handle the current work that I now do. I'm good for another 10 years or so, hopefully.

I know you are just north of me in Palm Beach county, so keeping inventory shouldn't be a problem, it's the opposite for me. I've seen some of your finds and you have a good eye. The only thing that prevents me from going full time is that my present gig is too good to pass up. That and I would have to put in many, many more hours of work per week. Besides eBay, I'd probably sell at local shows and flea markets and a few of the larger shows in other parts of the state at certain times of the year too. I know several people down here that do this full time. A couple are more or less retired though, so it's more supplemental I think.

 

[Carl995]

I was a night foreman at 19 of 4 press crews on the large offset web presses. From there got into electronics most of my life.
Owned service centers/repair shops.
NOW, neither of those trades exist.
Started eBay in 1996 as I was an auctioneer/storage buyer for 15 yrs. Left work for full time eBay 6 months ago.
House & garage is full of vintage electronics & more!
Ebay/Craigslist just isn't for me anymore. I'm not into relisting, relisting & putting up with the headaches etc.

I'm going back to work.
I got offered a new job starting this week evaluating estates & i'm going for it!
I want to be able to come home after work & see my family & work on hobbies/projects,
not constantly worrying where my next buck is coming from.

On another thread here mentioned you become a slave to the stuff you collected/hoarded.
I'm going to haul loads of vintage electronics & collectibles to local auctions & forget about it all!!

Sorry for the rant! Iv'e read here that some have 500 listings a week, no way will I do that!
I guess if you have a lot of jewelry, easy to ship. That's possible.

 

[Carl995]

I've been doing it from home full-time for about almost 2 years now. But I just put in an application today for a job. I'm not going to go back to doing electrical work anytime soon but there's a lot of time in between when you get sick of listing stuff or low on inventory. For me it seems like a lot of my money goes towards raising my family not giving me as much money as I would like to have to continue to repurchase more and higher value items. So I'm going to pick up a job so that my income from work goes towards my living expenses. And my eBay goes towards my business/ savings.

As long as the job is worth going to. No $8 dollar an hour minimum wage thing. And I have to have at least one or two Saturdays off a month. I want to continue to grow my business but I don't seem to have enough money coming in to pay all my bills, raise my kids, and continue to buy stuff on a regular basis. Even though I have gotten some pretty good things but The really good things after they are sold turn into piles of smaller things. I just have a lot of downtime when I get sick of listing stuff and need to find something else to occupy my mind for a little while.

I hear that, sick of it!! The thing is if you get a job & then list on your time off, you wont have time for your family!
Listing at home no matter how you look at it (off at 5) your still mentally working in your head 24/7!

 

[Tallone]

I have always worked full time at a regular job and plan to retire very soon. My job isn't very stimulating but it pays reasonably well. I have been buying and re-selling for many years as what I call a "profitable hobby". There was a time when I considered quitting my job and making my hobby a full time gig but I decided there was too much risk. Risk of not bringing in enough money and risk of an enjoyable hobby becoming drudgery. I enjoy the hunt for profitable items but I don't particularly enjoy the process of selling them.

The other thing that convinced me to keep my hobby small-scale is the logistics of storage and shipping. It is VERY easy to get overwhelmed with the volume of stuff my wife and I have purchased. This factor alone keeps me from going to more yard sales and auctions. Shipping materials can be very expensive so I am always on the lookout for free boxes and shipping materials. When I find free materials I grab them but that also adds to the volume.

I may spend more time buying and selling after I retire but, fortunately, there shouldn't be a compelling financial need to so I'm sure it will always remain a "profitable hobby".

 

[randazzo1]

I started in archaeology, which got me hooked on digging, which turned into metal detecting (I know there's a conflict there), which turned into general treasure hunting, which eventually included picking, which turned into a focus on jewelry, which then turned into a business with my brother and buddy. It's definitely doable, but you need to look at it as a real business. That means you either go the slow grow route (rolling items into cash, into more item ad infinitum) or the capital route (what I did) which requires you to put up good chunk of cash. Two years into it we have tens of thousands of items in inventory, employees, two spaces and all the headaches that come with the foregoing. But it does make money and the profit margins are excellent.

 

[SEANO]

I could easily do it full-time and do very well. Since I'm working, I miss some good sales and weekday auctions. I would run some advertising for items that I'm looking to buy and perhaps some picking (knocking on door). But it comes down to insurance. I have the insurance (health), and wife works for herself. With kids (slug teens) it just doesn’t make sense for us. I could buy insurance as an option, but that’d brings up other issues. Additionally, I also am an owner in the company I work at.

So short answer is, everyone has to evaluate their whole picture.

 

[artslinger]

I could easily do it full-time and do very well. Since I'm working, I miss some good sales and weekday auctions. I would run some advertising for items that I'm looking to buy and perhaps some picking (knocking on door). But it comes down to insurance. I have the insurance (health), and wife works for herself. With kids (slug teens) it just doesn’t make sense for us. I could buy insurance as an option, but that’d brings up other issues. Additionally, I also am an owner in the company I work at.

So short answer is, everyone has to evaluate their whole picture.

I have to ask, what is a "slug teen"? I've never heard that phrase before. Thanks!

 

[Drmad7]

I ran into a guy at Goodwill who I could tell was a reseller based on the variety of the three things he purchased. We got to talking about reselling and he said he had been doing it full time for 8 years and he loved it. He said he always tells people to go for it if hey enjoy doing it because he wished he had started sooner but had 2 small kids and a mortgage. He is now debt free and his son also has a resell business. And he said he has a six figure income from doing it! Nice guy and he told me places to go to get good picks because he travels around the country doing it. I would love to do it full time myself but I need to be able to bank all of the income from reselling in order to prove to myself(and my wife) that I can live reasonably well from it.

 

[tamrock]

My first thought about any kind of an idea like that is "what a you got to lose" And what do you hope to gain It's a crap shoot any way you look at it and thinking about it won't get you anywhere. So roll the dice as the odds are better then a lot of other gambles