So Ive got a bit of money and I have no idea what to do with it so I though why not try buy and sell something and make a mini business. I though I'd give setting up a small airsoft accessories shop online as I only have about £500 to start up and dont want to deal with any legalities of selling guns. I would be more than happy with like £10 profit a week and am prepaired to loose the money if this doesnt go well. Just really want to see what running a business is really like (kinda like a small scale experiment) and also if it does make a bit of money thats a little bonus. So what does anyone think of this? and would you recommend and products to buy/sell? I was thinking cheapish things like rail covers that are a steady demand for.
Buy and sell accessories :)
- Thread starter Jake117
- Start date
Deva
Admin
- Sep 5, 2008
- 4,164
- 183
You have to be careful with this, I don't know a lot about the whole buying and selling thing, Finius might be the best person to ask.
You have all sorts of possible issues with regards to returns, receipt of products, chargebacks etc etc.
£10 profit a week really isn't worth your time, and for £500 you aren't going to be able to buy enough stock to receive any kind of discount to be able to sell it on at a competitive price.
You have all sorts of possible issues with regards to returns, receipt of products, chargebacks etc etc.
£10 profit a week really isn't worth your time, and for £500 you aren't going to be able to buy enough stock to receive any kind of discount to be able to sell it on at a competitive price.
- Thread starter
- #3
Yer, I'm really not expecting much but I do plan on starting a businesss within the next 5 or so years and so this experience will help me a lot. After set up all I want to be able to do is check the website about once a day, spend about an hour a day sorting out orders/returns ect and maybe making a little money. If this doesnt happen the money will most defiantly be spent on xbox games, kebabs and booze and I think I would feel a little better down the line thinking I started a small business 
I am in my second year of A level business so I do understand businesses quite well at this stage, I'm not a complete noob 
I am in my second year of A level business so I do understand businesses quite well at this stage, I'm not a complete noob 
Rock-climby-Dave
Retired Moderator
- Dec 29, 2009
- 2,309
- 296
Bear in mind that paypal/sagepay/whoever also take a comision on purchases.
Websites are more expensive than you may think.
You won't generate any traffic if you aren't in the top page of google.
Doing that costs money (getting on the top page)
Taxes must be considered.
It is FAR more than 'an hour a day' for even a small business - you have no idea how much time it takes to secure a single customer.
At this stage, I would recommend that you spend £500 on booze/whatever straight off - you'll get far more from it.
Small business idea: Buy 'bargain' guns - second hand ones from people who either aren't sure of the real value, are selling cheap or despratly need the cash - do any work and sell them on.
Websites are more expensive than you may think.
You won't generate any traffic if you aren't in the top page of google.
Doing that costs money (getting on the top page)
Taxes must be considered.
It is FAR more than 'an hour a day' for even a small business - you have no idea how much time it takes to secure a single customer.
At this stage, I would recommend that you spend £500 on booze/whatever straight off - you'll get far more from it.
Small business idea: Buy 'bargain' guns - second hand ones from people who either aren't sure of the real value, are selling cheap or despratly need the cash - do any work and sell them on.
Deva
Admin
- Sep 5, 2008
- 4,164
- 183
Just so you know, this isn't true, it is very common belief though.
We're #1 on Google UK for 'airsoft forums' - we weren't there originally (quite a while ago now) but we've nearly always been on the first page. I've never paid a bean to Google to get there. It all depends on the websites domain, content and the query entered by the user.
With regards to buying/selling guns, as long as you have a defence to buy and check those buying off you have a defence, then your good to go. I'm assuming you'll be dealing with RIF's here. If it is 2 tone's then you just need to check people are over 18.
Johnno
Members
- Sep 26, 2011
- 219
- 1
TBH unless you have a sh*t hot original idea I can't see you making much money :-(
You can buy cheap stuff from the Far East to re-sell here but TBH all anyone has to do is visit FleaBay and do it themselves cutting the middle Man (you) out so hardly worth the time and effort.
I have made quite a tidy ammount of money buy obtaining scrap Laptops and PCs from a national retailer (you can usually buy a Pallet full at a time if you have the contacts) for a stupidly cheap price and either repaired and sold them on or split them and sold the parts. I still run my own FleaBay enterprise (Lazaruslaptops 1,100 +ve, 100% feedback) selling what few odds and end I have left and still have regular Customers who will take virtually anything I can get my Hands on.
Something like this where you can obtatain Stock for little or no outlay would probably suit you best, this may sound daft but what about making Christmas Cards? My youngest Daughter does this as a hobby and she makes quite a bit of "Pin Money" after she has paid for the materials and Equipment.
You can buy cheap stuff from the Far East to re-sell here but TBH all anyone has to do is visit FleaBay and do it themselves cutting the middle Man (you) out so hardly worth the time and effort.
I have made quite a tidy ammount of money buy obtaining scrap Laptops and PCs from a national retailer (you can usually buy a Pallet full at a time if you have the contacts) for a stupidly cheap price and either repaired and sold them on or split them and sold the parts. I still run my own FleaBay enterprise (Lazaruslaptops 1,100 +ve, 100% feedback) selling what few odds and end I have left and still have regular Customers who will take virtually anything I can get my Hands on.
Something like this where you can obtatain Stock for little or no outlay would probably suit you best, this may sound daft but what about making Christmas Cards? My youngest Daughter does this as a hobby and she makes quite a bit of "Pin Money" after she has paid for the materials and Equipment.
Finius
Retired Moderator
- Jan 24, 2011
- 1,430
- 361
If you only have a small amount of start-up, you'd be best working through eBay and Paypal.
The above posts are right, any business is tied in with a whole boatload of legal issues, most designed to do the seller over if the need comes about and less designed to protect you from buyers. You also need a damned good idea to stand out and simply starting up a website alone can be a huge drain on resources and such.
If you work through eBay, you can gauge your chosen market, see your competition directly and you have a stable platform on which to list things; essentially all you're doing is buying and selling, you will have no other set up costs. It also allows for an easy transition over to your own website at some point.
eBay also makes life easier when you look at the legalities. Paypal is designed to protect everyone and provided you work to their rules and guidelines you're pretty well protected, you also avoid all the legal mumbo jumbo which requires you to fill out tax declarations and VAT forms, well, mostly. Everything about the system they use is designed to streamline things for you...
I personally set up a business properly for my photography, I looked after it for a year and made about £180, I then decided to give up calling myself a business and worked personal jobs based on contributions from people who thought I did a good job, this made me roughly £150 a month, much better.
Start small, if you latch onto something and do well, you can expand from there...
Any legal queries, feel free to ask.
The above posts are right, any business is tied in with a whole boatload of legal issues, most designed to do the seller over if the need comes about and less designed to protect you from buyers. You also need a damned good idea to stand out and simply starting up a website alone can be a huge drain on resources and such.
If you work through eBay, you can gauge your chosen market, see your competition directly and you have a stable platform on which to list things; essentially all you're doing is buying and selling, you will have no other set up costs. It also allows for an easy transition over to your own website at some point.
eBay also makes life easier when you look at the legalities. Paypal is designed to protect everyone and provided you work to their rules and guidelines you're pretty well protected, you also avoid all the legal mumbo jumbo which requires you to fill out tax declarations and VAT forms, well, mostly. Everything about the system they use is designed to streamline things for you...
I personally set up a business properly for my photography, I looked after it for a year and made about £180, I then decided to give up calling myself a business and worked personal jobs based on contributions from people who thought I did a good job, this made me roughly £150 a month, much better.
Start small, if you latch onto something and do well, you can expand from there...
Any legal queries, feel free to ask.
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