Wanna make US$100,000 a year by selling things you don't own over the Internet? :) No, this isn't a scam, i'm not a Nigerian, and, no, i won't be asking you for your credit card number (well, not yet, anyways...)
I've been doing some research for the PPS Anniversary T-Shirt project, and i stumbled across this article on WSJ.com: "By Accident or Design, Selling T-Shirts Is Big Business on Web":
CollegeHumor.com, a site offering jokes and pictures from college campuses nationwide, sells T-shirts that say "My other shirt has its collar up," "What Would Ashton Do," and dozens of others. Its parent company, Connected Ventures LLC, says it takes in roughly $200,000 in monthly revenue from the shirts, about half of its total income. "A year from now things could be very different, but for now, T-shirts are a great way to monetize the Internet," says Josh Abramson, one of the site's founders.
How's this for an idea:
1. You're good with a camera.
2. Take some amazing photos of anything you want.
3. Take your photos to Cafepress.com.
4. Turn your photos into high-quality posters/prints.
5. Sell. Make $$$
The good thing about it: you don't spend a sen on inventory costs, you don't spend a sen on paying for a online payment gateway, you don't spend a sen on the handling and shipping of goods, you don't spend a minute going to the post office to send the goods out, you don't even need to spend a sen on Customer Service.
And the best thing about it: you get paid in US dollars.
Obviously the market for this sort of thing isn't in Asia, its in Europe and the US where their currency is strong, and the culture of online shopping is thriving. For us, US$20 is a lot of money, but for an American who has a liking of your photography/artwork/designs, US$20 is a pittance -- taking into account Purchasing Power Parity, US$20 to the average American is like RM$20 to the average Malaysian. But the profits to you are very real, and in US$.
So what are you waiting for? Go out there and make some money.
And remember ol' Aiz when you make your first million. :)
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