 Re: Are Beginners welcome too?
Welcome to the forums. One statement you made concerns me, regarding patent infringement. As an FYI, stealth is designed to make you invisible to PayPal, eBay and Amazon. It does NOT make you invisible to law enforcement. So, if the goal is to sell counterfeits, or otherwise illegal items, then you will encounter problems.
If that is what you are thinking, I would seriously urge you to think of other (legal) things to sell. There are SO MANY opportunities out there to make money legally, you do not have to resort to anything shady.
I'm not trying to discourage you, or to beat up on you. I started out thinking the same way, but I quickly discovered that selling foo-foo's was no way to build a stable, long-term business. I cleaned everything up and went 100% legitimate and never looked back. The end results have been worth it.
My best advice? Think of an item that you use in your daily life (you could use it once a day or once a month). Then see what it is selling for on eBay and Amazon. Can you get it cheaper? How much cheaper? Is there a profit margin there that makes sense?
In my experience, it is not the hot and sexy items that will make money. Everyone and his brother wants to sell the iPhones, electronics and movies - the cool stuff. The problem is, with so much competition, there is little profit in that. It is the lesser known, uncool, un-sexy items that will make you money. One thing I sell is gauze rolls. Many people use these for medical reasons, and they are usually expensive if you buy them locally. I found a medical supply wholesaler and bought a few cases and voila! PROFITS! The profit from any single item will probably not create an entire business for you, but hen you have 5, 10, 25 or more, then you are looking at some serious money. All of it legal and above board. You will sleep better at night knowing that there won't be a midnight knock on the door. And you can plan for the long term.
Some people sell books, or antiques, medical supplies, art posters, power tools, industrial equipment, or whatever. I know one person who actually makes money selling COMIC BOOKS! Remember those? Very HOT back in the 1980's, very DEAD right now, but there is still a market for it and my buddy exploited that market.
I prefer out of print books and movies. Why? Because my competition is limited and the profit margins can be high. I have made profits as high as 1,000%+ selling a used book (although that would be a rare case) and they probably average better than 50%, which is not bad. I also sell items like the gauze rolls I mentioned, just stuff that I came across in my daily life and thought "gee, I bet this might do well on eBay". To be sure, not every idea you have will work out. Research is key - for every 10 products I look at, maybe ONE will prove worthwhile. But do that enough times and you will start seeing some serious results.
Again, I want to point out that I am NOT trying to beat up the OP and I am NOT saying he is doing anything wrong or was going to do anything wrong. I'm simply trying to offer the benefits of my experience - I am PROOF that you don't have to do anything shady to make money.
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