Storage Auctions

Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?

Offline MTP

Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?
« on: May 25, 2013, 02:11:56 PM »
Ok here it goes again.

I am having a very hard time actively selling my finds. I don't think my prices are bad, the stuff is good, at least priced accordingly.
Yet they sell reaaalllll slow....

A little more background.
I am in a financially VERY depressed area. People simply do not have money to waste.
I have a 1,500 sq ft warehouse of thich I use about 700 sq ft for display of my stuff. ostly 'ok' furniture.
I can not do yardsales at home (apartment).
I CAN do yardsales at my warehouse, but being in a somewhat remote industrial area limits the traffic.
I tried it 3 times and it was sluggish the firsat 2 times, the 3rd time was a disaster. 3 people, $13 total.

I tried fleamarket. A LOT OF WORK for little $$. Blew out the good stuff for pennies on the dollar and got stuck taking back 90% of my smalls anyway.

I have been working with a nice consignment store in a neighboring city with more favorable demographics. At first I was taken back by them taking 50% of the sale. But once I realzied they are getting WAY more than double what I could ever get it was actually a real winner. Of course not everything will sell, but so far so good.
They also are VERY selective. It has to be in real nice condition or unique for them to take it.

On top of all this I am not a very sociable guy. I am wrking hard on getting better at this, as I understand it is a key in this business, but at 43 I will never be mister popular ever. LOL....

So here is my thinking....
I can get a few more consignment arrangements going. Some are also willing to take the rejects of the 'better' store. Same deal 50/50 split, but probably get more money than I could, so it wopuld be a win/win situation.

I am very good at ebay and amazon for the stuff that's worth it and practial enough.

I am thinking I will try to get as many consignment and wholesale arrangements set up as I can and for the smalls I would actualy continue my yardsale at the warehouse.
I also have consigned to a local auction house and the results were ok as well.

Do you guys think this business can be viable if I focus heavily on the passive sales, e.g. let others sell the stuff I can't handle online or otherwise?

Offline alloro

  • *****
  • 2345
    • View Profile
Re: Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2013, 02:20:39 PM »
I am in a financially VERY depressed area. People simply do not have money to waste.

Hmm, sounds like a strong clue to me.

Offline Travis

  • *****
  • 5484
  • Every storage unit he buys yields treasure.
    • View Profile
    • AuctionsTX.com
    • Email
Re: Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2013, 03:46:50 PM »
I would consider renting vacant land located on busy streets on the weekends. Maybe pay the owner $50-100 a day.
There are plenty of vacant lots or closed business that you could use. Most land owners are happy to be getting something. I have even thought about offering to mow the lot for them in exchange for weekend use.

Re: Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2013, 08:04:28 PM »
I like Travis' idea for you... bombard craigslist with each item you'll bring to the "favorable demographic" area and the time/location.... as for being non social the key to any sale is building value.. so when people show up at your selected location simply have a printed piece of paper right next to or under your item showing an ebay/amazon/etsy etc. of the same/ similar item asking several dollars more than your asking price... then when they ask "what's your best price?" ... simply say ( without rushing the response) " well as you can see, I'm asking far less than market value, what were you thinking dollar wise?''..people tend to believe printed info and and your presentation is low key/ non confrontational...

Re: Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2013, 08:47:26 PM »
I think Travis' idea for you is good. When you do warehouse yard sales, you have to blitz the community with good old fashioned home made signs. I wouldn't bother with fancy signs if you're in a financially depressed area. I live in Raleigh/Durham and there are some seriously poor areas, but there's areas that are more affluent. If I were you, and I don't know what part of the country you're in, I would advertise delivery and post ads in better parts of town. Also, check Facebook for yard sale groups locally.

If you don't have a website, get one. Then get on all the online directories about your areas "things to do" or flea market, yard sales, etc. Whatever has to do with your business. That's where people are looking!

Offline Cobia

  • ******
  • 1144
    • View Profile
Re: Passive Income Vs Active Income in Sales? Your opinion?
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2013, 08:53:14 PM »
Man, you just gotta focus on the parts of the business that work for you and bring you the best yields. There are sooo many different ways to focus and run your re-sale business you just gotta find what's right for you.

One piece of advice. Stop thinking everything is gonna come easy! Your warehouse is off-line, off-road, and you were open 3 times and the results were less then stellar. That's pretty typical. It's like you planted apple seeds a month ago and you are yelling "Where's my apples bytch!" It takes time to build a store, indoor yard sale, warehouse, etc. Your gonna have to advertise hard!


xx
Paying income tax in sales

Started by KatPsen

1 Replies
2248 Views
Last post February 01, 2011, 11:20:22 PM
by rulesforrebels
xx
income

Started by bmurray1101

6 Replies
4371 Views
Last post June 22, 2011, 05:07:08 PM
by Mr Andersen
xx
Income Tax Returns

Started by Travis

9 Replies
3106 Views
Last post February 03, 2013, 11:42:13 PM
by Alias300
xx
income tax refunds

Started by terry

6 Replies
3728 Views
Last post March 14, 2011, 10:09:04 PM
by MovieMan