On 2011-08-02, Jon Elson wrote:
On 08/01/2011 10:01 PM, Ignoramus13162 wrote:
I was wondering about something. For a while, about 10 years, I did a
little hustle on the side, which was buying and selling. (and some
minor repairs).

It always worked out nicely, making money with dirty hands (literally,
not figuratively dirty). The profits varied from good to great.

I have a bit more free time from my day job and with that extra time,
my income from selling stuff went through the roof. I am now wondering
if I should, perhaps, scale it up and make it my day job, with a
warehouse and all.

I could sell more of same $30.00-$1,000 stuff, just more of it, or with
more expensive things, like smaller size CNC machines. Things that I
could move with a flatbed trailer and a forklift. A little cleaning,
minor fixes and a quick flip.

I have never been into asking for too much money, just enough for a
quick sale.

The question that I have is, do you know anyone who does that sort of
thing and makes a decent living. How does it work in "cold, hard
reality".

Note that the machine tool business is extremely cyclical, and that
probably extends to accessories and tooling, also. I know several
people who have gotten into it in a big way, it looked to them like a
full-time occupation, and then suddenly had the bottom drop out and no
sales for many months.

I think anyone who can get a good reputation in circles of interested
folks, knows their way around the internet, and can identify and fix up
gear, ought to be able to make some money at it. Whether that can be a
full income, I just don't know. You seem to be able to turn over a lot
of stuff pretty quickly, and definitely have found sources to buy the
stuff at what must be bargain prices.

I think a warehouse is pretty essential, as some items will just sit a
while until the guy who needs that particular item comes looking for it.

Jon

Jon, selling used stuff is not nearly as cyclical business as is
selling new stuff. I went through this in 2008-2009. Machines that
previously could be bought for $500 and sold for $1,000, could be sold
only for $500. The silver lining, though, is that they could be bought
for just $150. I loved 2008-2009.

i