Are you in the right job for you? Do you enjoy going to work? What about on the Friday, are you still as keen? Or do you tend to check your watch every minute after lunch time hanging for the day to finish.Maybe a day to day job is not right for you.I understand that with pressures of family and other commitments, that is isn’t that easy just to pack up and leave a job. I wouldn’t recommend quitting your job and starting a home based business anyway, because depending on the business, it could take some time for you to actually make an income from it. Regular income is a big plus, but why settle for something that you are not 100% happy with? What is stopping you from looking at what else is out there?So with a home based business, what are the benefits?1. The best thing about a home based business is that it can be flexible. You can do it in your own time. (In your pyjamas if you really want).2. With the internet at hand, you can potentially do everything from home! From price comparisons, to ordering, to delivering items, to calling, e-mailing, even to Skype (a free telephone service available all over the world).3. One huge advantage is, that you could even work on it when you’re not home. Work overseas, or even when you are on holidays.4. Most home based businesses create a passive income, so the income you can make is unlimited. No more ‘waiting for that big promotion’. You create your own success. If you are focused on achieving your goal in the business, you can make it happen.5. Once your business is up and running, and making you the money you require, you can then chose to quit your day job, and concentrate solely on your home based business. If you are a stay at home parent, or don’t have a job yourself, but can cover costs with some other source of income for a while, you can also build quite a substantial business if you put your mind to it.So, if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone; the regular pay cheque that comes with a day to day job, and are open to the idea that you can be so much more than you are now, then maybe you should take the step to start your own home based business.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.
Running an Online Home Based Business – Avoiding The Usual Pitfalls
While an online home-based business can be a very exciting endeavor, there are some pitfalls to be avoided if you are going to have some success.Some of these pitfalls include the following:* Getting distracted by other business opportunity offers;
* Getting distracted by other online based activities;
* Being bombarded with a tremendous amount of information that results in information overload.
* Being susceptible to a high level of business scam.Of course the above is not exhaustive but is enough to be cause for concern in running your online business.So how do you ensure that you at the very least avoid these pitfalls and get on with the task of running your business?The simple answer really is adequate preparation. Prepare yourself mentally in knowing what these pitfalls are for one, and the level of danger that they pose to the success of your business.Understanding how each of these threats can undermine your efforts at running your online home business is important in avoiding them and managing any attendant effects. For example, do you understand the danger posed to your own online business when you constantly pursue other business opportunities to you?Are you sufficiently aware of how allowing your enthusiasm to be driven by nothing but a slick sales pitch can negatively affect your mindset ultimately? Do you understand the linkage between this and the fact that you probably are guilty of jumping from opportunity to opportunity with no success to show?Do you understand the difference the importance of seeing yourself as an online home business operator and not an online consumer? Here is a clue – slick internet marketers love when you see yourself only as a consumer because then you tend to forget what your business is about. You become an easy sell.Businesses make rational buying decisions after careful thought and based on a good feel for how what they are buying fit into their business model. Consumers make decisions based on impulse and what they feel will bring them satisfaction.The lesson – you cannot be an online consumer trying to run an online home based business. You have to be a professional business operator.If you are going to have a good chance of running a successful online home based business, you have to get to understand the above issues at a very deep level. Just knowing that you should not waste time with e-mails or chasing other business opportunities when you should be doing something for your business is not enough.You have to have a deep understanding about these issues so that the negative consequences are drilled so deep into your consciousness that it becomes painful every time you even attempt to do anything like these that will undermine your own efforts. And we all know that most likely you will automatically seek to avoid the pain.That is your most effective approach to avoiding and dealing with the pitfalls that you are bound to face in running an online home-based business.