Good Part Time Income??

im new AND did a search for income in the forum and couldnt find what i was looking for. i KNOW its a broad question, but, to give me a idea, if you are very proactive, can you make a DECENT part time income buying from storage auctions.  not looking to get rich, just maybe a thousand a month or so. thanx for any replies. AGAIN, i know its a broad question, with many variables, just trying to get a IDEA of what can be expected. thanx again....

...if you are very proactive, can you make a DECENT part time income buying from storage auctions.  not looking to get rich, just maybe a thousand a month or so

...

The short answer is yes.

The longer answer is:

1) not as likely as it was 2 years 4 months ago (pre tv shows)

2) not as likely considering more renters are paying their bill if their stuff is of better quality

3) not as likely if newbies keep spending more than a locker is worth.

4) not as likely as regular long-time buyers are paying premium just to get stock to stay in business.

5) other contributors here may have more reasons it is tougher "now" than "then".

6) If you have far to travel between locations, the fuel bill will eat up profits, especially if you're running a large truck.

thanx for the replies. really, if i can bring home half of the thousand dollar goal ( 500 dollars) after fuel, other overhead, etc. i would be happy. just trying to get the rent paid, thats all, lol.........

I don't know.   I put in 10-15hrs/wk of actual time.  Another 10 or so a week of researching/posting while I'm watching TV in bed.....and I don't make $1000/month on a *constant* basis.

I do way better picking these days.  Less gas, no truck rentals, no dump fee's.

Would you need to rent trucks?  Do you have storage?  Do you have experience researching or know how to estimate value on multiple lines of merchandise?  Do ou have the capital to put out if a really good locker come up?

Look at Alias reply #4 above.

Like him I have been doing more picking than locker buying lately. I bought my last lkr in Mid-Dec, 2012.

Picking isn't as much work though it requires a different set of sources, techniques, etc.  You could do a little of both.

IMPORTANT:

Just trying to pay the rent you say?   Whatever you do, don't use next month's rent money to buy a locker or two. They may not make a profit ..... in fact they may not pay for themselves at all.

This is not a business for the faint of heart or the under-funded.  If you can't afford to lose the money, don't spend it.

I used to be a full time buyer but now these websites require most of my time. However, I still find time to go to 5-10 auctions a month and bid on a few online auctions. I average 2-3 lockers a month and I think $1000 profit is very achievable.

I just bought 2 lockers in Dallas for 2 grand. These people had serious money and I found tons of stuff I wasn't expecting to be there. These units are a goldmine and I haven't even gone through everything yet. As of now, I'll be able to resell just the furniture for a 4-5 grand profit and I'll be able to keep 4 grand worth of furniture and workout equipment for myself. That's a score...not too shabby for a part timer. 

"Authentic" wallets?       Those look like knock offs in the picture.  Not saying they are.  But from pics they look fake.   Especially the coach.    Hard to tell in peron sometimes let alone pictures but seem off to me.

 Are you sure they are real?


On the LV the markings don't look denied enough (could be pic) and off center.
Inside doesn't have stamp and the heart shape cut out should be lined.

Stitching on both look off but could be extreme wear.  But coach leather looks like its cracking.  Don't see that in coach but could also be wear.

The coach "C's" actually don't look to far off but the big end doesn't look crisp enough.

And I've never seen a coach wallet lined with "coach" in drivers licence area.   But I haven't delt in many wallets so old be wrong.

Heck, I might be wrong all together but just o many little 'hmmmm's". 




But I want the 3-piece set.   I've always wanted my living room to look like a 1800's whore house!   

No, really.  I like those and and the other set.  Those should sell for that price easy.  At least would here.....

The wallets came out of a unit I bought last month. I'm not an expert either but the feel right. Obviously, they have been used heavily. I'll probably have to reduce the price to get them to sell.

As to making your living room look like a 1800's whore house...I'm just going to leave that alone for now.

Yeah, I agree. I think I have them priced just right. If someone comes with reasonable offer, I'll take it. I'm debating on keeping the electric massage table for my home gym. It would definitely get some use around here. I looked it up and it retails for $750. I have it priced for $400 and would probably take $300. It's hard to turn down cash like that, especially for something I wasn't even counting on being in the unit.

The mirror, well, the mirror is just awesome. Can you imagine how big this guys house must have been to accommodate that 5 piece Bassett living room set and a 7'X5' mirror? The guy must of had a 40'X40' living room with 20 foot ceilings.

First off, let me apologize for my last post.  Didnt proof read.  Autocorrect sucks.

Now....

Don't know the market there but here the wallets wouldn't sell.  At all.   Ive tried.
Might at garage sale or swap for $5.   

Even if real, they are just to beat up. 
And the outlet sells past edition coach wallets for $40-100.  Checkbook covers for $30-$60 (and who has check books these days?)

I'm still skeptical since the LV doesn't have a "made in" stamp.

If they sell be sure to let us know and how much.

Can you imagine how big this guys house must have been to accommodate that 5 piece Bassett living room set and a 7'X5' mirror? The guy must of had a 40'X40' living room with 20 foot ceilings.

I'm sure it wasn't a double-wide.

And despite all his "goodies" he lost them all to a lien auction...guess it was nice while it lasted.

I'm sure it wasn't a double-wide.

And despite all his "goodies" he lost them all to a lien auction...guess it was nice while it lasted.

I found the guy's bankruptcy record and was considering contacting him, but on second thought, I didn't want to open that can of worms.

What these guys are failing to mention is that you get out of it what you put into it. If you only work part time hours, you will get poor results. You have to hedge your bets, (to use a gambling term). You will buy a locker that loses you money, you will buy a locker that doubles your cash within 24 hours. By and large, you will buy a locker that makes you a decent profit, if you stay focused.

Do not underestimate how much time it takes to sell your stuff. Meeting people from craigslist, posting ads, keeping track of your ebay or amazon, going to the fleas on the weekend, all eats up time.. If you need to flip stuff quick, you have to be available at all times. If you wait until after your day job to answer your craigslist responses, chances are, that person found their item somewhere else.

If you wait until after your day job to answer your craigslist responses, chances are, that person found their item somewhere else.

Absolutely! It's extremely irritating to contact a seller and not get a response back for 2 or 3 day.

In my opinion, making $1,000 a month profit is very feasible, especially if you DON'T start a business, use your existing house to store everything, and use your existing car/truck to load/move everything from storage lockers. Understand you will probably spend 90% of all available free time to realize this $1,000 profit.

Here's the problem with this "business" (depending on your current resources). Making $500 or $1,000 a month is accomplishable for most people.

The primary issue with making any more money part-time or full-time is overhead.

It's easy to assume if I buy 4 units a month & make $1,000 in profit, then if I buy 8 units a month I will make $2,000 profit!

NOT SO FAST!

Here's what happens:

More units means you need a way to move them: (rent trucks, buy truck, buy trailer, etc.) major capital expenses.
More units means you need a way to store inventory: (rent storage units, warehouse, buy out-building, build barn, etc.) major capital expense.
More units means you need more money to buy/win the units: major capital expense.
More inventory means you need more outlets to sell from then your house: (flea markets, vendor's mall, store, etc.) major capital expense.
Then all the the other costs that you don't notice when you are "small time" creep in: (fuel, shipping fees, commission fees, cleaning supplies, shipping supplies, office supplies, moving supplies, repair supplies, etc.)

Dont' forget the intangibles, like the regular auction crowd might be fine with you winning 1 unit a month/week but as soon as you try to become a "player" they are going to run you up on units making your cost of inventory higher.

My point being, working out of your house a buying a storage unit or two can be a way to make a good part-time income, but upscaling the process to earn more money is more challenging then it might appear.