Making Money Without a Job

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 10:01:06 +0100

Do you have a job, clocking on when you are told to, doing work that bores you to tears; same old thing day after day - for peanuts? Then take a leaf out of my book and go it alone!

It does not take much to replace your income from a dead end labouring job, factory work or stacking shelves in a supermarket. These are low paid jobs and you can easily make as much or more for less hours.

How? Easy! You can copy some of the things I do and combine them with your own ideas, or just do your own thing. Just stay grounded in the real world. We are not talking setting up a company, (not that there is anything wrong with that), just making a living.

To make money you just need to get off your butt and do something for someone who is willing to pay you for doing it. Nothing 'clever' or 'smart' just something they don't want to do, can't do or just don't have the time to do themselves.

You charge a decent whack for the work and collect your money at the end of the job, no waiting until the end of the month for a pay check.

This sounds great doesn't it? That's because it is and I wouldn't have it any other way. Being your own boss is great and I love every minute of it. Sure it's not all plain sailing but I get to keep all the money from a job, less Tax and National Insurance.

Okay being the boss is great, now all you have to do is make some money; what are you going to do? Well you can follow my postings on this blog to see some of the ways I make money. Feel free to copy them.

You are bound to find a number of money making ventures suitable for you; I have done many things over the years; with plenty of variety. To kick off this blog I will share with you one of my favourite money makers. It's a bit dull and you will certainly have heard of it before and maybe thought it is not for you BUT it does make money; good money. Every time I do this work it brings in a whole weeks wages for just a day or two of work. Short days that is.

Two days a Week

Let me see if I can put you off this money spinner right away; it will test your determination to make money. Ready? What I do is Buy and Sell goods, anything that will turn me a profit. Did you groan, you did, didn't you?

You can stop reading now if you groaned or if you do not have the fortitude to work through "the thought of doing such work." You should stick to "working for the man," clock on, clock off and do what you are told in-between for a pittance of pay.

Making Money - Buying and Selling

The thing with buying and selling goods is you get to deal in different items, so there is plenty of variety. It can get monotonous very quickly dealing in the same item every day. There is good money to be made very quickly in this venture and you can do it as and when you want to. No need to work it every day, week or month; just when you feel the need.

You can start making money doing as I did to start with and easily pull in a few hundred pounds in a day or two. It’s as easy as getting rid of your clutter and selling it.

Here’s how I got stated, nothing new or unique in this, people like you and I do it almost daily. The first thing I did was start in the loft and took out everything I no longer wanted, (which is why most things are consigned there in the first place). I put all these things in the garden, (it was the middle of the summer and a very hot day. You could use a spare room, the corner of one, or an out building).

I did the same thing in all the upstairs rooms then worked my way through the downstairs rooms. The goods were piling up by now but I moved on to the shed and garage. By the time I’d finished the lawn was covered in things to sell. The next step was to sell them.

Selling Your Goods

Okay this is the part you have already guessed, how to sell your things; at a car boot sale, right? Wrong! Sure, I have done plenty of car boot sales and will do more; they are a great way of selling unwanted items. But you have to wait for the weekend or the odd day during the week and travel there and back to a set location. All that travelling and paying for the privilege to sell your goods did not appeal to me at the time. So I came up with an American idea.

My sales method was not new, I read about it in an article in an American magazine. Further more, I doubt I was the first person to try it in England, not by a long way. But do it I did and made £429 and some shrapnel. In case you have not guessed how I sold my things I will tell you – I left the goods in my garden and sold them from there. The Americans call it a yard sale and you have probably heard of them, attended one or two, maybe even held one yourself when you last moved home.

So this is my money spinner, clear the clutter from my home and sell from the garden. But you are probably wondering how I get people to the sale. Well for that first sale I simply told my immediate neighbours, phone a few friends and family and asked them all to tell their friends and neighbours about it. There was a steady flow of people all morning on that Saturday, the day after the sort out; had to give people some notice. Word of mouth is a fantastic way of getting people to buy whatever you are selling, however you sell it!

One Off

Now this clearout the house thing is obviously a one-off money maker, so you need other sources of things to sell. Easy! Here are the ways I get things to sell from my garden, (you can also sell from your garage, shed or other out building. I have even sold larger items of furniture and electricals from within my house, this works very well as people see how it looks in the home and can test the electrical items).

Things To Sell #1

This is a great way to get free items, though limited and you need “a bit of a neck” to carry it off. Just ask your friends and family, NO not beg, 'ask' them “whenever they have a clear out or are about to throw something away, to contact you first. You will try to sell the items and split the money with them. You both make money from this arrangement; there is no ‘charity’ involved and no need to feel like a beggar.

Things To Sell #2

For a more regular supply of items to sell, try jumble sales and car boot sales. You can usually pick up a bargain or two to make money from, if you get there early enough and can rummage ruthlessly. But this is not what I do, instead I contact the organisers of jumble sales before the day of the sale and offer to clear the unsold items and rubbish for free. This will save them the hassle and expense of dumping the left overs. You can get many money earners from these sales, the rest you take to your local tip.

As for the car boot sales, yes there are bargains to be bagged, but become a car boot stalker to make the best money. Walk round the sale noting the position or car booters that have things you could sell and go back in the half hour before the sale is due to end. Offer to “buy the lot” for a ‘tenner’ or maybe £20 if you think it is worth the money.

Genuine car booters, those that are selling their ‘clear out clutter’ are the one’s that will bite; the traders will not. I have picked up a ‘lot’ from one person who was getting rid of here “cheating husbands” belongings. Now there was a great deal, I got a lot of stuff for £25, (the most I ever paid) and boy did I clean up. There was a Playstation with 23 games and 4 controllers, that made me £73 in total and the other 33 items went for a grand total of £271 and shrapnel. There really are bargains to be bagged!

Things To Sell #3

This is a ‘nifty’ idea that works great and can earn you a £100 or more from one deal. One of my best was when I got a piano for nothing; all I had to do was collect it. I say all; do you know how hard it is to move a piano from a house to your vehicle – without the correct equipment? Anyway that piano sold for a ‘fiver’ shy of £400...not bad for a freebie.

Other items have to be paid for, which is okay if you can get them for next to nothing. You can do this once or twice a week if you are vigilant. Just scour your local papers and supermarket/newsagent notice boards. Look for bulky items, furniture, cookers, fridges, freezers and other difficult to move items. People want them but are unable to get them moved. You buy them cheap from the seller keen to get rid of them and re-list them clearly pointing out that you will deliver to the buyers home. Kerching! (You can often use the original seller’s advertisement which is ideal if there is also a picture of the item. A picture helps immensely to sell these goods).

Things To Sell #4

Before I stopped selling unwanted things on a regular basis, I built up a good relationship with several local businesses. This involved offering to clear out their ‘wasted’ space, areas filled with dead stock they were never going to sell. They could get rid of it and put the space to better use. I CHARGED to clear the space for them.

This was a long time ago and the fee was from £10 to £50 depending on the number of trips I needed to make to clear the items. The most trips were 7, taking just over five hours to complete. I sold the items, old toys, comics and magazines for nearly £400 and the guy paid me £50 to take they stuff away.

Ways To Sell

1. You can sell most of your things from a yard sale alternatives are:-
2. Advertise them on local shop notice boards for free.
3. The good old car boot sale
4. Through the Free Ads Paper, you know, the Yellow one
5. eBay and other auctions can be ideal for small items, especially collectibles and larger valuable items. (Make sure you charge the correct amount for shipping or arrange for the buyer to collect; you don’t want to be out of pocket from these high costs)
6. Ask people you know. Tell them about just one or two things you are selling, asking if they know anyone that needs them. You can make quite a few sales this way. I have had people buy an item they were told about and then buy other things they saw when they came to collect. (Always keep your things in one place so buyers can see what else you have. Don’t try to ‘sell them’ let their eyes do that).

Well that is how you can make money buying and selling. Nothing clever, you just need to do it and the money will roll in.

Next on Money-Makers – Lazy People can make You £200-300 a day!

Comments

Money-makers

Making Money Without a Job