How can I earn a few extra pennies?

yorkroad

:DHello,

Me and my wife are expecting our first child in a few months and we are trying to save a little extra before he/she comes to ensure we do not fall behind when she leaves work.

I have been looking into setting up a small ebay business but really worried about wholesale/dropship scams. Are there any reputable companies out there you recommend? Also is it work doing, can a decent amount of money be made from this?

Also seen on the posts about Avon and Virgin, which my wife fancies? Again is this worth it, can you make money from this!

Any help on here would be great! Thanks for your time!

ILoveSaving

Hi I just wanted to say stay away from party plan, especially Virgin Vie. I used to sell this and it cost me more than I ever made in return. The company keep bringing out so many new products, that sellers are continually trying to add these products to their kit. And as customers like to try before buying, any profit just kept going back into the company. Customers were always expecting free gifts too, for raffles, booking a party you name it, they take it. Then 8 out of 10 times they will cancel the party, sometimes hours before you are due to arrive with all of your stock already packed in the car and too late to fill the evening elsewhere.

After working out my tax for 2 years in a row, I found I made a loss of £2000 and I never even included petrol and telephone calls into the sums. I packed it in to work in a bar and started earning £50 a week (profit) with tips for a couple of nights a week with so much less hastle. I would get the kids in bed, hubby came home and I left for work. Kids did not even know I was gone. Before they thought I was always running around chasing, delivering parcels and I was always shooing them away while talking to customers on the phone.

Avon may be more profitable, but I've never sold this. A company that does not need parties organising and sell products solely through the catalogue perhaps maybe better, but I dont advise party plan.

wileycat

Party Plan will work for some people, you have to think of you're social circle, and whether you can sell in that environment. And also think about whether the products meet the people youre trying to sell to.

Personally I prefer profits only ideas, where there is no investment needed to earn.

Potti

Hi there
Its always useful to have more than one income stream in todays climate I think. I work full time but also started my own business selling aloe vera health and beauty products (not just girlie stuff!). I make enough to be able to buy as much product as I want to use with some left over. If I spent more time on it I'd be earning a lot more. There are no get rich quick schemes but what you do get depends on the effort you put in. I joined the company when I was severely strapped for cash so it had to be something that wasn't going to fleece me. I am really glad I did as it fits in with my own lifestyle and I can see the business opportunity and its working for me alongside my full time job. One can build a team or just become a retail distributer, its down to personal choice, but the training and support is awesome!

Happy to pass on details

Cheers and good luck

littlemrtinkle

How about daily clicks, very easy to do in your lunch break etc or when you are bored. I use them to supplement my income. Need anymore info let me know.

angelic84

i would personally stay away from 'dropshipping'. it is very hard to find competative prices that allow you to profit. i would suggest finding a good wholesaler and selling products that you know about and research.. a lot... I spend a good few months researching before buying my first lot. I started my ebay business with about £50 but you must know your product. How about ironing? All you would need to start out would to have some leaflets done up. When you get a few people make sure you get PL insurance and tell the taxman! Other than that very easy to start up and you can fit in around your life!

Ruby_Moon

Party plan is not all bad, although some might not work out for several reasons.
It helps to have a unique product and to be dedicated to it. My Mum was a party planner for a pottery company for several years and made a good living from it as it was her full time job.
Avon is pin money. If you want to earn big with Avon it is hard work and would also mean being at it almost full time. I did it a long time ago and had a fantastic round but it still only brought me about £80 every 3 weeks or so. Not worth it really for the time I put in but was ok for pin money as I enjoyed it too. Also hard work trudging round when you are 7,8,9 months pregnant.

Ebay isn't as easy to make money on as it used to be and its targetted now by the Taxman too, so don't be thinking that its all in hand if you already have another job. If you are not selling off old possessions, taxman will watch your earnings.

naijapower

In my opinion, ebay is the way forward.

Spend plenty of time doing product research on ebay - Use advanced search to find good selling items on ebay.

Next stop is to find a reliable supplier. I can help in this area but you need to complete the first task yourself i.e. researching and ascertaining what you want to sell.

If you have not use ebay before, you could register and sell some of your unwanted house items. This would give you a feel of ebay and help you build some feedback rating which would be useful when you starting selling properly

tameem

it depends on your product you want to sell if it digital i think clickbank is good choice

licious

I am an independant distributor for FM Fragrancies. I know some people have mentioned it on this forum before, but I don't think many people realise how rewarding it can 'POSSIBLY' be. Now to make it absolutely clear, (hence stressing the possibly!!) it is an MLM company BUT not like your usual MLM companies! There's nobody giving you grief if you don't sponsor anyone else, etc....you can just join as an independant dristributor, like I did, and sell to family/friends/work colleagues. The prices range from as little as £10.50 for a 30ml bottle of perfume to £14.99 for a 50ml!! Not bad eh?!

There are no start up costs...as such! All I did was, buy a starter kit for, I think it's about £45ish? This kit has all the fragrance samples in that FM produce and I give the kit to friends/colleagues and they come back with orders for me. (I also reward them with 10% of any sales they get!).

You don't have to do 'Party Plan' either if you don't want to. I did one for a friend of mine last month.....she actually asked if I'd do it for her family and friends, so I did. It was a really fun evening, nothing too strenuous. We had a couple of bottles of wine and 'sniffed' some samples!! I took £200 worth of orders (£65 of that was what I'd made on the sales!!) So £65 for a couple of hours work....well not even work actually just chatting, drinking and having fun!!

Even if you decided to try it and then realised that it's not for you, the best thing is, you can keep you kit and just order for yourself or family Xmas/birthday presents, etc. It's a win win situation!!

Hope this helps?

Licious xx

PS: I have had to set myself up as self employed though too!!

MarsdenCuckoo

If it really is only a 'few pennies' you're looking for and not a get rich quick scheme then I would say give Avon a try - particularly if your wife fancies doing it anyway. You can fit it in to suit yourselves and whilst the actual remuneration may not be staggering (particularly if you calculate it on an hourly rate!) it gives you the added advantage of cheaper Avon products for your own use and cheaper pressies, etc. The kiddies shampoo/conditioner/detangler/bubble bath range tends to be popular so must be good I reckon and if you work it right you end up with lots of 'free' product.

If you start now whilst you're both still working then it will also help you build up a customer Friends and Family base.

Good luck whatever you decide and congrats on your forthcoming addition(s).

Christine