Starting an Ebay business and beyond...

[cbcansurvive]

I am currently a working-stiff-desk-jockey type who hopes to not be one forever. My father just retired in May with a good pension (25 years with the Teamsters Union) and is now able to devote full attention to a side business that he started about 10 years ago. Basically he buys and sells pretty much anything-something my grandfather always did. He would go to yard sales, pick things out of the trash, etc…and then have a yard sale of his own and mark things up enough to make a little profit. My dad does pretty much the same thing (he has yard sales and goes to flea markets) but he’s brought it into the internet age by using Ebay and Craigslist. For example, recently he bought a large machinist’s tool chest at a yard sale for $100. It was full of old machinist’s tools (calipers, micrometers, feeler gauges) so put them up piece by piece on Ebay. Once they were all gone the total was just over $500. He then listed the empty chest, but the prospect of high shipping cost seemed to scare folks away, he ended up moving it on Craigslist for $200. Not a bad return on a $100 investment, but of course not every deal is that good. On occasion he has gotten permission through word of mouth to help someone clean out the home of a deceased relative to get it ready for sale which he’d like to do more of. He’s seen many places go to professional companies that make estate cleanouts their sole business.

I did ask him recently how he thought business was and he said that things have been steady-his theory is that folks would rather do a little searching online and buy something used for a lower price in this economy. He’s also branching out into small power equipment repair. Like my grandfather he would take things out of the trash, clean/fix them up, and then sell them, and he would do it with lawn mowers from time to time. Mostly he would pick push mowers out of the garbage to find that they sat all winter with old gas in them and come spring they wouldn’t start. A little carb cleaner and a hose down and they’d be put up for sale on the front lawn. It’s amazing how many $40 lawn mowers can sell on a Saturday afternoon in early Spring. Now that he has much more time on his hands he signed up for a small engine repair course at the county vocational school so that he can learn to fix more serious problems. Next semester he plans to take welding (he’s ok with a stick welder but wants to learn brazing, MIG, and TIG).

Anyway, I’ve been trying to get him to think more in terms of turning it into a serious business, registering as an LLC, moving the operation out of the basement and into a small warehouse type facility, etc… He wants to do it and I’ve discussed some ideas of how I could see the business branching out further if I were to get involved as well. Right now he is the President and CEO, Director of Sales, IT guy, Shipping and Receiving Manger, Account, and Transportation Manager and the list goes on. His niche is that he has the “eye” for what sells so he is the better guy to be out in the field actually looking for items. I am more computer savvy and able to more quickly navigate Ebay, Craigslist, etc… He gets by on his own but it’s a slow process wink Right now his garage and basement are literally bursting at the seams with items he simply doesn’t have time to photograph and list. The simple buying and selling is one thing, but I see the business developing a multifaceted way. For example, with the flexible schedule that this type of thing offers, I would be interested in developing a services side (yard cleanup, snow plowing, gutter cleaning, power washing, selling firewood wink) and maybe once things took off we would be able to get into either purchasing rental properties or buying homes in need of repairs/updating and flipping them. Just wondering if anyone else out there is doing anything similar (or considering it) and what their experiences were.