Down and Dirty - How to Make some cash this week

For those of you wishing you had an extra few bucks here is something you can do to make a little cash today. It starts online but is really an online / offline method of making money.

1. Go to Craigslist in your area and surrounding areas
2. Go to the For Sale / Free section

Your job is to find something being given away free that you can resell. You have to be fast because the good stuff will be snapped up very quickly.

As an example I just went to the Atlanta Craigslist and found this:

Do you think that might be worth $200, $500, even $1,000 to someone? Perhaps so. The point is there is plenty of Free stuff that people just want someone to take and they advertise it.

Sure this is more of a "junk" type of business, but it's not exactly Sanford and Son.

Once you have found and have secured something of value, auction it off on eBay. If you have only your time involved you can start the bidding at $1.00 and get some good competition going. Several studies have shown that starting low gets a higher ending price than starting higher. I've that seen it happen. Once I bought a DVD course, full retail, for $135 and once I was done with it sold it with an action starting at $1.00. I got $150 for it because of the competition. Wow. I would have been happy to get $25 because I did get good information from the course.

Selling should be easy. You could even offer the same stuff back on Craigslist at a set price if you want. Those looking in the free section are not the same as those looking for something specific like a boat.

The hardest part is not finding good stuff, but in being the first to claim it. Here are some tips so that you can be the first person to get these goodies.

1. Set up an alert on Alertpedia: Free Email Alerts on Craigslist, Youtube videos, Jobs, House Prices, Local Events, Recalls, Airfares, RSS Feeds, Health, News, Traffic, Weather, Quakes for specific items of value. Set up as many as you can think of

2. Make it a routine to scan the free section daily. Heck if you are home just keep it up and refresh all the time. Get a child to do it for you if you have one

3. As soon as you see the items reply via email, but call as well if there is a phone number in the ad. Not everyone will respond to email quickly but usually will take the call. You have a double shot of claiming the item first that way.

4. Once you said "I'll take it", get your butt over there and get it right away. Too many people say they will pick something up and never do. If the person giving it away has someone show up, because they have several items or because someone was bold enough to go there, it might be gone. I can't stress this enough. You must be willing to run out the door as soon as you are told "its yours"

How much can you make? No idea. It really depends on your area, how fast you are, and what kind of stuff people are getting rid of.

The ideal internet business? Hardly, but it can put some cash in your pocket today if you are in need.

Some twists:

You don't have to wait until someone advertises stuff to find free stuff. Why not put your own ad on Craigslist such as: Free Hauling. I will take away most junk for free.

You have to be careful with that one because you might get real junk. Much better to place multiple ads such as:

Cars towed free. We take away your old car free.

Get rid of that old computer. We will come pick up any old computer equipment that you wish to get rid of.