Here is How I Made $491 in Less Than an Hour
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Here is How I Made $491 in Less Than an Hour
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“Why Not Me? by Jarrylew” is an e-commerce and investment newsletter that focuses around the idea of using efficient income to become self-employed and financially free.
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It is once again time to show some real examples of completed e-commerce transactions that made me money over the past few weeks.
I am not showing off, rather showing what is possible if you put in some effort on a business that is as straight-forward as it gets.
As usual, these transactions are non-fiction book sales that were done entirely from home and all online.
Anyone can do this, even if you live outside the United States.
Why do I share this? I’ll explain.
Out there somewhere is someone who is fed up with the idea of strictly trading their time for a fixed hourly rate that they have no control over.
How do I know? I was once this person.
I knew quitting my job right away wasn’t possible. I had bills to pay and things I wanted to buy.
So I did the next best thing…
I started a simple online business, selling things on Amazon.
I didn’t come up with some fancy new invention, I started selling things that already sold really well.
After a few years of reinvesting profits and applying the skills I learned to other areas of online business, I was able to make more money than I made as an Aerospace Engineer.
This snowballed into self-employment and now, financial freedom.
I’m not special, nor am I a genius.
All I did was take what I’m about to show you and double down on it for years until I broke free.
Book #1
Here is a book that I got for $103 (5% cash back) on Amazon. Thanks to the ongoing “busy season” this was sold for much more just a few weeks later.
Cost Basis: $103
Sale Price: $300
Fees: $54
Profit After Fees: $143
ROI: 139%
Book #2
Got this book for $38 on Amazon after it dropped well below it’s usual selling price. I priced it really high and it eventually sold.
The more patient you are, often times the more you are rewarded.
If I really needed the capital back, I would have been more aggressive on the sale and priced lower.
Cost Basis: $38
Sale Price: $170
Fees: $33
Profit After Fees: $99
ROI: 261%
Book #3
Once again, another Amazon to Amazon flip… these are very common.
Selling a book on Amazon for double or triple the price comes down to one thing: shipping speed.
Customers in America love when things arrive quickly. So much so, that they are willing to overpay by a LOT.
So we selectively take couple books here and there that arrive in 1-2 weeks, do the waiting for our future customer, then offer the book with 2-3 day shipping.
It might sound crazy, but if you know anything about people who have more money than patience…. it’s not that crazy.
Cost Basis: $54
Sale Price: $140
Fees: $29
Profit After Fees: $57
ROI: 105%
Book #4
Here we are with another “busy season” book that tends to sell for a lot more during this time of year than the rest.
We paid just over $30 for it and sold it for much, much more.
Cost Basis: $31
Sale Price: $130
Fees: $27
Profit After Fees: $72
ROI: 232%
Book #5
We end this list with an eBay purchase that features two copies of the same book for a total of just over $30.
I rarely buy more than one copy of a book and only do so if it’s a fantastic deal.
This is to avoid fighting other sellers on price.
It’s better to expand horizontally (# of book titles) than it is to expand vertically (# of copies of each book title).
Cost Basis: $16 per book
Sale Price: $100 per book
Fees: $24 per book
Profit After Fees: $60 per book
Total Profit: $120
ROI: 375%
Summary
Total Cost Basis: $258
Total Revenue: $940
Fees: $191
Profit After Fees: $491
ROI: 190%
Time invested: 30-60 minutes
Do me a favor and scour the internet for another e-commerce business that makes a return on investment like this business does…
You’ll be searching for a long time because they don’t exist.
This business can’t scale as far as Nike has, but it can go far enough to make six figures in profit in a single year.
That’s pretty good for something that requires:
No website
No fancy inventions
No branding
No content creation
No marketing
No advertising
We made almost $500 in six total transactions. Six!
Also, do you know anyone else online showing proof of their sales like I do? Doubtful.
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Here is How I Made $491 in Less Than an Hour
Tips on finding the right books? Textbooks makes a lot of sense in July/August, but which ones? Do you have success looking for relevant curriculums and finding required textbooks? What about other times of the year - what makes for a good flip candidate in your experience?