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Originally Posted by Quicksilv3r
$100K in the classic car market could go a long way if you know what to look for and how to market them. Keep a close eye on the big auto auctions (Mecum/Barrett-Jackson/Bonhams/Gooding & Co./etc.) and what certain models are going for within your price range. Originality is key, stay away from resto-mods. Mini cars have been hot lately; rare-coded early T-birds ('55, '56, '57) will always be popular among the masses. '60's 190SL Mercedes' are also coming into their own as of late, a car that was once worth no more than $35K that is now valued between $80K-$110K. I've seen a few well-restored examples bring even more. Nicely restored '50's and early '60's (pre-1967) VW beetles will be forever popular (even if Top Gear hates them, everyone else seems to love them); I've bought and sold nearly a dozen examples in the past 6-7 years and never lost any money on one. Short term returns of <$5K-10K are a more comfortable bargain than the long term instability of the housing market (and I'm in the mortgage business) or worse, the stock market. If you buy from an auction (not recommended), know & understand the bidding process and set a max bid for yourself; know when to walk away before you're in too deep. Don't fall in love with the cars you buy and deal with private owners where possible.
Antiques are another outlet (especially American antiques), but you'd need to be well-versed in that field before opening that door. Too many reproduction items out there to trick a novice's eye.
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i like the idea, and i have a friend that restores cars for about a $10-15k profit, but the problem is i don't have anywhere to store them. i'm sure he is networked enough to get me started though.
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Originally Posted by P1et
How did the vending machines work out for you? Lot of work for little return or the opposite?
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40-55% profit margins and very easy, brainless work. a quick spreadsheet keeps basic track of inventory. i had a small operation (four machines, two locations). it would have been more ideal to have around 10-15 machines, but i didn't want to invest more money to cultivate it. taxes sucked. i tried to do it the right way, and after being cgratuitously bent over non-business friendly california, i got sick of that part of it.
it can be a very lucrative business though, make no mistake. there are multi-millionaires that made their money $0.50 at a time. my top grossing machine made around $800 a month (~$400 profit).
if i had high school age children, i would give them each a few machines to own and maintain. it would teach them all the fundamentals of running a business on a very small scale.
i got out of it to help fund a real estate purchase.
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Originally Posted by bimmerfrk
Open a pawn shop. You have no idea how much gold comes in. People steal gold and go to pawn shops to sell it and fuel their drug habits. A buddy of mine has one on LI and on good weeks clears 4-6K in gold, plus other jewelry like luxury watches. Im sure places in NYC clear much more. Just make sure you know how to test gold for its level of purity very accurately because thats were the profit comes from.
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no time for that.