Best Money Making Ideas

Old Newsreel Profits

Since the copyright is not usually renewed on old newsreels and training film reels, you can copy and resell them. Turn them into DVDs and start selling.

This is one of those ‘business ideas’ that should do well using the Internet to sell items that trigger old nostalgia and memories. Offer a variety of different old newsreels and training films to the public. There are so many to choose from, you could categorize them according to years or subjects. This would depend entirely on how you decide to offer them.

Since you don’t need to pay for these, all you need to do is download them, copy them to DVDs and sell them to interested people that would like to buy them from you. The only investment that you will need to make is in the buying of DVDs, mailing envelopes, and a website to sell your films from. Of course, you will need to use a computer and have the proper software to download these films, and then burn them to a DVD.

It is a good idea to have a website that is easy to find and easy for your customers to use and order from you. You may want to include small clips from certain filmstrips that you want to sell. Choose a memorable name for your business so that people can remember and find your business easily.

It is important to make sure that you ship these DVDs out as quickly as you can. People don’t like to wait very long for items they purchase on-line. You can offer to send them by media mail, but this will take a long time for them to receive the DVDs. You are better off sending them priority mail, have the customers pay for this and they will receive what they order in 2 or 3 days.

You might be able to advertise these films in magazines too. Advertise filmstrips that you think readers of certain magazines might be interested in. This could cost you quite a bit of money though, so you should expect this.

You could make your services known by offering short clips on YouTube also. Just give the clips fun and enticing titles and people will be curious and take a look at them. Just use short clips from the various films that you will be offering.

When you burn the DVDs, make sure that you attach attractive labels to each that have your business name on them. It is a good idea to package them in nice cases too, with an attractive picture taken from the film showing on the case, if you can. The more professional they look when received the better your business will do.

Always include shipping receipts with the items you ship out. Include coupons when you ship merchandise, this always encourages customers to buy from you again. Your return customers are important to the regular growth of your business.

Resources:

http://www.nero.com/enu/index.html

http://www.archive.org/details/movies

http://www.copyright.gov/

http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/seller-landing.html

Sell Rare Books

There are many book lovers out there and most of them collect books. On the other hand, some may just want to find a certain book that their parents or grandparents had read to them, or one that a relative wrote long ago. If you can find these books for them, whatever the reason, you are in business. Charge your customers 20% above the cost of the book, with a minimum of $20. This is your “finder’s fee.” Your service will make many people very happy!

Specializing in finding these specific books for your customers could be a great ‘business idea’ to get started in. This type of business should especially appeal to a book lover. If you can find these wanted books for your customers, whatever their reason for wanting a certain book, or books, you are in business.

Many people that are not skilled in finding things on the Internet will especially want to use your service. Yes, there are still a lot of people that do not know how to find things on the Internet! The Internet will be one of the best sources for you to use in finding some of these hard-to-find books, even books that have been out of print for decades. At the end of this article, you will see a list of just a few sources that you can use on the Internet.

Other places to find these older books are; used bookstores, estate sales, garage or yard sales, thrift stores, libraries (they have regular sales of books not kept), auctions, etc. It takes a keen eye sometimes in finding some of these books, but be persistent.

Because there are many book lovers out there and scores of them collect books, you should have a very successful business. Finding customers will be work once you have established reliable sources for your book finding. Advertise in local newspapers and magazines if you can. Try to pick a unique business name that represents the aim of your business too. Place your business in the yellow pages also if you can. You might also check with your local libraries and see if you can post a flyer with your business information on it, for those book loving people that are searching for a specific book to buy.

Charge your customers 20% above the cost of the book, with a minimum of $20. This is your “finder’s fee.” This should cover the cost of your efforts to locate the books your customers are looking for.

After you have been in business for a while you may notice a trend with some books that people are searching for, pick these up whenever you get a chance, knowing that you will have a customer asking for it in the future. You may find that you will need to maintain an extra room set aside just for storing certain popular books that you have found in your searches. Because your commodity is books, you will need to keep them stored in a dry, safe place and try to keep them in an easy to find organized fashion. Maintaining your stock in this way will make your business more enjoyable and you will have less hassle finding the books your customers are looking for. When you see the joy on people’s faces when they are able to own a book they have been looking for many years for, you will love the business you are in!

If you decide to open a business like this on the Internet, be sure to ship the books insured and always wrap them in a way that shows that the book is of great value. This will usually include tissue paper and possibly extra cardboard to maintain the shape of the book. Don’t just throw the books in an envelope and ship them. You really want your customers to enjoy receiving their sought-after book and feel like they paid for an exclusive service that they may want to use again in the future.

Resources:

http://www.bookfinder.com/

http://www.alibris.com/

http://www.abebooks.com

http://www.amazon.com

http://www.ebay.com

See Spot Sell: The World of Old Textbooks

Some naysayers claim that books don’t sell well on eBay. They say book buyers always go to online bookstores like Amazon and Alibris, and that eBay is their last resort. When it comes to most new or used books, they may be right. But there’s another area where eBay excels: in sales of nostalgia items. People go to eBay first to find toys from grade school, discontinued perfume from their teen years, rare LP albums they remember from college. Few items bring back childhood nostalgia more readily than an elementary school textbook.

Textbooks from the 1940s to the 1960s sell very well, although they aren’t true antiques. Many texts from this era can bring back happy memories of learning to read or of a beloved teacher. The “Dick and Jane” textbook series, with its familiar characters and iconic illustrations, has become collectible in the last few years.

Finding Textbooks
Where can you find these textbooks? Sometimes they show up at secondhand bookstores, but the best place to look is at elementary schools. Every now and then, schools sort through their textbook inventory and discard older texts to make way for new ones. If you ask politely, you can sometimes get discarded textbooks for next to nothing. Once a teacher asked me to get rid of a heap of discarded library books. I took the books home, sorted them, kept what I thought I could sell, and gave the rest to a thrift store.

What Will Sell?
Look for books in good condition, with firm bindings, undamaged spines and no loose pages. Buyers expect these books to be used, but the more presentable they are, the better the selling price. Books with bright illustrations sell well, as do books which describe vanished aspects of American life in the postwar years. Textbooks with the characters Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff are very easy to sell.

Prep Work
If you have a textbook in near-perfect condition, consider cleaning it up. Textbooks with slick covers clean up well-just wash the covers gently with water and mild cleanser. Don’t get the book really wet, or you could damage the text. You should also erase pencil marks. Small pen and crayon marks can sometimes be sanded away with very fine (320 grit) sandpaper, but it’s best to practice this first on a book you don’t mind losing. If your book was originally a library discard, be sure to indicate this in the auction. Before listing the textbooks, be sure to educate yourself on the basic publishers of vintage children’s textbooks since you will need to include the publisher’s name in your listing. You will also need to search the web and find out an average price that similar books are selling for.

Best Sales
The best times of the year to sell used textbooks are during the back-to-school season and just before Christmas. Check on current prices in the completed auctions. Be sure to include plenty of pictures in your auction-not just of the cover, but of some inside illustrations-and give names of characters and a publication date. This information helps collectors to find the textbooks they remember from childhood.

Older textbooks are a genuine piece of Americana, and they can be good, dependable moneymakers. List a few for sale, and see how far Spot can run.

Resources:

http://www.tagnwag.com/

http://search.rubylane.com/collectibles?id=11%2e34

http://search.ebay.com/Vintage-1940s-Childrens-School-Reader-Textbooks-Books_W0QQfsiZ1QQsatitleZVintageQ201940Q27sQ20ChildrensQ20SchoolQ20ReaderQ20TextbooksQ20Books

http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/