Introduction:

My name is Matt and I want to show you how one event led into a hobby, then into a passion, and now into my new career path for over two years. I want to teach you how to make extra money in a fun way, or even work for yourself.

In addition to the the financial benefit, you may appreciate working hands-on, learning by doing, connecting people with products they want, solving problems, and helping the environment. It's rewarding and meaningful to me that I can be a a pseudo "urban homesteader". I'm in full control of my success for better or worse. You can work towards that too in your own way, even if just on the side.

If it helps keep your attention, I just sold something I bought for $32.66 for $250 as I'm starting this post, one of many items I sold for similar profit margin ratio ratios today (or better as I got them for free). Please read on and you'll see what I mean...

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My workflow gave me the confidence to quit a very comfortable (but mind-numbing) corporate corporate position at one of the world's largest financial institutions in June of 2015 and not look back. I know I'm on the right path and have had many signs along the way to keep me reminded of that. I've never had a doubt in my ability to succeed and hope that you can catch some of that spark for your own goals. Whatever your passions may be, you can make money from them if you're creative and work through the obstacles that society has in place to stop you.

Image: www.missbizibee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/quit3.jpg

I want to inspire and help people break free from the conventional system one shackle at a time and pursue their own freedom. Once you make the decision and start taking steps, the momentum shift has already occurred to move you forward. Take the leap of faith. I hope you can get the movie reference below!

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Several people have asked to film a documentary on me, but I've turned the offers down because I don't want that type of attention. However, I've been inspired by some caring people on Steemit to start sharing what I do to try to help those who may need it. There's a great satisfaction for me in what I do and hope that some of you may share in that joy.

Being Realistic:

With that said, I understand that not everyone is in the same position to take the same risks, but I know there are many who could use help to cover their bills, support their families, or have funds to invest. Even if this is strictly entertainment, I'm glad.

For credibility, I've been debt free and completely support myself in one of the most expensive cities in the world, paying for my own healthcare, and funding all of my investments solely with this passion of mine. I encourage you to keep an open mind and have some faith that there are other efficient ways to generate income for yourself, whether for hobby or more.

Steemit Vision:

To start blogging with specific tips and workflows you can learn from, enjoy following, and to document daily or weekly activities for ideas and reminders that it's possible when you commit to a goal. All I ask in return is for positive encouragement, feedback on any of your success, and some general support to let me know the effort is appreciated.

This quote has been my inspiration since I was in high school and always in the back of my mind when I was stuck in the corporate phase of my life. It just took me a while to believe in the wisdom, trust in myself, and take the step.

NOW LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!

My story started with selling an ex's piece of gold jewelry. I went to sell on eBay for the first or second time and it sold overnight. I came from a sales background, so I was shocked at how easy it was, while also thinking my price may have been too low. I then turned to selling stuff from my apartment and ran out of inventory fast. One notable experience was selling a 20+ piece electronic drum set in parts when it wouldn't sell as as full set to learn early that it's more profitable to sell things in parts versus as a whole. I then started buying and selling clearance items from retail stores online until those sold out. By necessity, I needed to expand my sourcing and turned to thrift stores. This is when it all took off like a rocket ship. I live in a major city so there are a LOT of large and small thrift stores with a high volume of valuable items.

Sustainable Source #1: Thrift Stores!

While working my full-time corporate job, I hustled to the USPS in the AM before sprinting to work, went to stores during lunch and after work, and handled admin work at home in the evenings. Weekends were an all out assault on sourcing items in-between 30+ baseball games a year and band practices/recording/gigs. I had a circuit where I could hit 10-15 stores on a single weekend day by subway, bus and foot. I became a thrift store black belt and even moved to an apartment surrounded by 8 thrift stores that was a 3 minute walk from the post office as my new home base. I used my soft skills and sales experience to get discounts, access to new inventory before it was on the shelves, get text messages from employees with alerts, and all types of favors to help me get ahead of the competition. At this time, I started covering all of my bills with this part-time hustle. I started to wonder what I was capable of if I did it full time, and took a new path in life I felt was healthier, rewarding and more exciting.

While in my new neighborhood, I noticed the INSANE amount of household and corporate items people put out on the street for recycling, and the rest is history. I quit my job shortly after, once I was confident in the sustainable inventory I could obtain for little to no investment.

As one example, a business closed near my apartment, and, for weeks I opened up the same 3 small bins to recover almost 60 pairs of brand new medical shoes in their boxes, expensive NEW orthopedic products, and all types of medical devices. It was incredible, but this happens a lot more than you would believe. The city I live in makes this an extreme case, but it's essentially my personal gold mine. I can't even begin to describe the amount of amazingly perfect or gently used items I've found sitting on curbs, steps, or sparkling for me to grab out of clear plastic bags. Where you live, start to keep an eye out and you'll start to notice more!

Sustainable Source #2: Salvaging of Free Recyclable Household or Commercial Items!

Tip For The Environment/Cost Savings:

On top of repurposing these goods, another HUGE benefit to the recycling approach is that I can get my shipping materials for free from their website! I've sold several thousand items and have only paid for ONE shipping mailer EVER. No exaggeration. Aside from buying some padded mailers with free eBay promo dollars, everything outside of tape, such as bubble wrap, boxes, padded mailers, etc, has been 100% recycled, or sourced from the USPS for free from their website. I'm very proud of this and hope you can take advantage of this if possible where you live.

Overview:

My normal workflow is to thrift during the day, walk the NYC recycling grids at night, list my new items and ship out my sales. I sell on eBay and Craigslist depending on item, it's resilience to be shipped, and potential shipping cost. My markups on my purchases would make retailers pass out, but it's because I've developed a trained eye for unique, in-demand and/or scarce items of high quality. I've developed a memory bank that makes me very efficient and allows me to make decisions on risk/reward/profit quickly. I've also learned that people donate or throw things out that they think are broken but just need a few minutes of troubleshooting or elbow grease. I test everything out and make sure I back up my reputation online.
I test everything out and make sure I back up my reputation online. It's fun to bring something back to life when just the smallest piece needed an adjustment, oil, glue, or love tap.

I stay organized. I log every single purchase, sourced item and sale in Excel with costs/expenses, notes, reference numbers, and profits for tax purposes and my tracking. I've saved every receipt and picture set of every item for evidence because not many people believe me when I tell them I bought something for $11 and sold it for $1,015, or $1 for $400, etc., or got things for free I've sold for 4 figures. I've turned it into a science and database for defensibility if I ever need to win a bar bet.

There's so much I can elaborate on, but I'll do that over the course of my blogging.

Here's my first easy example of taking something I found for free last Friday a few blocks from my apartment and how I'll convert it into cash.

Please note that I'll cover LOTS of different items over the course of my blogs if there's enough interest, so don't tune this out yet if this doesn't particularly interest you.

Step 1: THE FIND (40" Samsung LCD TV & Bas.e).

Background - Many people toss these because they crack the screen, but all of the parts inside often work perfectly and can be sold along with the stand. Other times, people simply upgrade their TV and want the old one on the street ASAP. This is very wasteful, but I'm all over it to save some parts from waste, get them to consumers who need them, and make a living doing it.

Did you know that most TV motherboards sell in the $50-$90 range and most powerboards sell in the $45-$80 range? Stands can go for $30-$115! There are also other parts such as the T-con board and speakers that I'll show as we go along that are easy to take out and sell on eBay. All in all, I can take a decent TV from the street and make $125-$250 from it with little effort. Different models have different price points, so I look up the model number on eBay under the "sold listings" tab and see what they go for, and how often they sell. If it's not a good seller or several of the parts have been stuck for sale, then I might leave it behind to focus on more profitable things. TV parts are also usually easy and cheap to ship, another thing to consider down the road when finding maximum profit opportunities.

STEP 2: Testing.

Most TVs use one or two types of generic plugs. I have these at home and do a quick sound and video test. If it all checks out, I list the parts as used. If something is funky or unable to be confirmed, I list the components as "for parts/as is" untested for a discount. If the TV is perfectly fine, maybe you'll want to keep it! However, I focus on selling and quickly move on the the next step.

That's Spike...

STEP 3: Opening The Unit.

Take the stand off and lay the TV face down on the floor. Remove the screws on the back casing. Be careful to remove all screws before pulling too hard. There is often a screw in the actual motherboard which could damage the board if you try to force the cover off. Motherboards also often have two tiny metal screw on end caps you have to remove first that secure over the back case.

STEP 4: Stripping The Parts.

Go to town on removing the parts, but don't force anything. Certain part tiny screws you might not notice. Save wires and screws for aded value. This TV was basic, so it only took me 10 minutes to process. You'll want to remove the motherboard, power board, T-con board, and potentially the speakers or other sensors if you want to maximize profit. Certain parts don't demand enough revenue to be worth my time since I deal in volume, but it could be worth it for you.

This TV's motherboard was fairly small here as most are about twice the size. This TV's power board was particularly large, but most are usually 30-50% smaller. The T-con board is often hidden under an extra frame you'll need to uncover with a smaller screwdriver. Make sure to carefully unplug all wires to not snap anything.

STEP 5: Put The Cover Back On.

Use some of the screws so you can put it out for recycling and put the waste parts loose inside. Make sure to take a picture of the external product label so you can use it in your listings so the buyer can match up their unit with your parts.

STEP 6: Sell Your Items On eBay.

Take pictures of the parts with clear lighting (back and front, and zoom ups of product labels). Make thorough listings for each on eBay or any site of your choice. Determine the appropriate price (buy it now format recommended) and shipping options. Some items may sit a while waiting for their buyer, but since you got them for free and they're small, it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Keep them organized with a reference name or number tapes to them with the screws/wires so you don't mix up anything later. When you ship, make sure everything matches exactly what was in your pictures and pack it very well for the trip.

Below is a summary shot of the parts I'll sell, plus the original stand which has its model number on the bottom. As you can see, it's not a lot of big stuff, but it's all free profit.

Confident Total Revenue Valuation (Before Fees, Shipping & Taxes): $255!!

• Power Board = $85
• Motherboard = $75
• Stand with Neck = $50
• Speakers & Controls = $30
• T-Con Board = $15

Shipping projections vary greatly by zip code/distance/weight/speed/carrier, but here are some general guesses on average for the size and weight of the items shown:

• Power Board = $8-$12
• Motherboard = $3
• Stand with Neck = $11-$16
• Speakers & Controls = $4
• T-Con Board = $2.80

TIP - PayPal always take a 3% fee.

TIP - If you don't have an eBay store subscription that offers discounted sale fees, eBay takes 10% of the sale/shipping value. My fees are discounted a bit and I get a monthly rebate back as well. It's worth considering a basic store option if you get fairly involved.

That's the end of my first post. Future posts will be much more direct and shorter with a reference to this initial post linked for new readers to catch up.

Please upvote, follow and resteem to help my cause and be alerted to all of my upcoming tips.

I'll have many different ideas if this first one isn't for you. I'll also also show finds from thrift stores where I can sometimes find thousands of dollars of potential profit in one trip, or, on average, several hundreds of dollars of free stuff from 1-2 hours of walking around outside.

Thanks for your time. I look forward to your feedback and prosperity.

"Indecision is the thief of opportunity." - Jim Rohn