What sells during a Recession

[knmrwarrior]

Products related to Birth, Marriage and Death. They don't stop happening during a recession.

Also job hunting products, for obvious reasons, however, it can be a tough market to sell to unless the product is solid as a rock.

[Michael Lee]

1) How to Find a Job (as much as they hate it, but they need it)
2) FOREX
3) Health and Fitness (stress relief, insomnia cure, etc.)
4) Law of Attraction

[Simon74]

During recession time produts that helps people make money will always sell well. I am selling those in UK and doing well.

[braver55b]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Everything sells during a recession, because the rich will keep buying what the rich always buy. If they have money, they will keep spending.

A rich person won't suddenly be looking to spend $2 on a meal if they normally spend $200 on a meal. They might compromise and spend $150 but they will not be going cheap.

You're so right Bev,

People will keep buying what they need to buy even in a recession, not just the rich, people still need to eat and they have activities that they might scale back on e.g high end video gamers; but they will still buy what they need.

[DeniseLorraine]

Has anyone mentioned debt consolidation and debt relief products yet? Maybe I missed that one. Collection agencies are hiring...not firing so you know it's getting worse and if you can provide an answer...you might help someone else while helping yourself.

Denise Lorraine

[largedogfan]

Perfect answer! It is always about the money: Saving/Making/Investing!

Well put.

[Noah Fleming]

I'm going to try and compete with a product in the fitness/weight loss niche...

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by tiger325

helping people make money

Exactly. Especially if your product is affordable, yet will help people make tremendous amounts of money. That will sell quite well during a recession.

[Mo Goulet]

No matter what the economic condition the following will always thrive.

Tobacco, Alcohol, Cosmetics, Personal Entertainment.

[sam520]

Look for things that are causing people a lot of discomfort - and then help them with their problem. The more discomfort – the more likely they are to do something about it now. Problems... Home Foreclosures, Bad Credit, School Loans, Past Due Loans and the list goes on. Worth noting: Guns and ammo sales are up 40% - so maybe people want protection devices?

[bizideas]

Here are a few that I can think of in about 5 minutes.

1. God / Spirituality concepts
2. Self Help or Inspirational media
3. Physical products that stretch like canned goods, dry goods.
4. Recession prompts investors to buy Real Estate, Stocks
5. Silver
6. Used Cars
7. Money Making Seminars
8. DIY manuals, tutorials, media. For Example: "How to Care for Ill Family
Members". or "How to Fix your Own Transmission". Big Cost Cutters.
9. Dollar stores and Thrift stores rise to the occasion.
10. Garage or Estate sales "sell" really well during economic downturns.
11. Answers to questions like, "What sells during a Recession?" tend to
do really well.

[BigRedNotebook]

Toothpaste. Pepsodent, actually.

Here's the deal... Studs Terkel once did an interview with a guy who worked on the Pepsodent account at an ad firm during the Great Depression.

One night, this guy was walking down the street and he noticed how few people were out and about. As he walked, he could hear radios in house after house all tuned to the same station, listening to the same program.

Apparently, people were too broke to go out and were staying at home with the radio, instead.

The next day, he got started on transitioning Pepsodent's marketing strategy to take advantage of the increasing popularity of radio.

Next thing you know, Pepsodent is gaining market share and the ad guy is actually doing better during the Great Depression than he as during the Roaring Twenties.

One lesson from that tale might be to stick with marketing something people need, like toothpaste, regardless of the economy.

The more interesting lesson might be that how you sell something can be just as important as what you're selling.

[dlinden]

To warriors who do both cpa mkt as well as affiliate/clickbank type mkt, which mkt method did better for you over the last two months.My thinking is that a person would fill out a free trial /quote before they would purchase the product out right.Do you guys think this theory holds true especially during a recession.Thanks

[sr51mth]

The Internet allows you to sell anything to anyone at anytime and at anywhere around the world. Apart from that, it also allows you to work anywhere, as long as an Internet connection is available.

This sales channel has turned into a meal ticket for many people, while others have made their fortune through dot com start ups. Self-made millionaires are turning younger and younger, courtesy of the Internet. The speed of growth that was not possible before is today a reality.

The recession is real and is just around the corner. Businesses and financial systems are shutting down. Many are losing their jobs and their houses. Is there still a place for online business?

I think there is. I think exploring online businesses and online income is one way to prepare for the worst. After all, low start up costs, a huge international market as well as the reality of passive income make this a viable option for many people. Your success truly depends on the creativity in your ideas, and your sheer determination to reach your goals. Your objective is to provide value to your customer and have them pay you for your services or products.

[Successpass]

Anything that can help people in all industries to get more customers will sell well. I Buzz Pro voice broadcasting software is going well for me because everyone wants more customers, and anything that you can market to people offline is good, for instance I can market I Buzz Pro to realtors, mortgage brokers, doctors, Network Marketers you name it! Having something you can sell to lots of different people is going to give you more freedom.

[bizideas]

Recession or no recession. Sex Always Sells.

[reed]

Number 8 A.L.W.A.Y.S

[-seomaster-]

Information on niches which make money during recession :P

No kidding: something like "Get out of Debt" should work extremely well if priced correctly

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by dlinden

Hello Fellow Warriors. I have been trying to research what consumers continue to purchase even through a recession.I try to think of things that I will still buy no matter how bad the economy is.Here are some of the things I came up with.

1.Health/ weight loss
2.Good information
3.Ways to make more money
4.Cheaper forms of entertainment
5.Clothes
6.Household goods
7.Cheap travel
8.Things to keep the wife happy

If you guys have anything to add to this list please do so.Thanks

David

GOLD - Can't miss and food, the next best choice.

[doublee]

Don't forget pets! Still have to feed Fido and Sylvester. People love their pets, so I imagine they'll still get a lot, if not more, attention. Might be a good niche or 2 here.

[Tron2k]

ammunition

[Dennis-White]

Weight Loss and Fitness Niches

[DerrickLamont]

everyone right now is looking for a way to make money and stay happy so either one of those i say.

[Sam Mlambo]

Nice quality information in this thread. A lot of things I did not think about. Thanks for sharing!

[Agung Prabowo]

During recession time i usually using "Goolge Hot Trend" to find good product to sell.. but unfortunately just for usa market

but i think it's cool using google hot trend because in google hot trend it's provide all keywords
it's depend on us how to monetized it

hope help's

[Tron2k]

Id never accept ammunition money.

[Kalidasa]

Cheap jewelry. A friend of mine is in the jewelry business, and a wholesaler is here now, she says business is booming. And, this is in Bali.

[RevenueRabbi]

This is not necessarily true...

people eat more fast food when there is no money...

people buy "non organic" foods...

soda is cheaper then Juice.....

and people eat as comfort food when they are nervous (job loss, no money, etc.)

so people GAIN wait during a recession.

[tommen]

Food sells always.

[techno]

great thread and very useful and informative

[betaentrepreneur]

Originally Posted by doublee

Don't forget pets! Still have to feed Fido and Sylvester. People love their pets, so I imagine they'll still get a lot, if not more, attention. Might be a good niche or 2 here.

Hi everyone! Very useful thread, thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts! I am jobless right now due to my own decision. I just hate being employee. I am now on my way to build internet business and dedicating quite a lot of time to research what sells during recession. I am considering to make pet product related business. Do you think people will cut back on pet clothing, accessories, insurance as well? I understand that pets will need to eat but the rest doesn't seem essential for survival. What actions pet store owners which participate in online sales would take in recession? Would they look for new ways of selling products? Although I have my own answers, I'd like to know yours too. Thanks a lot, Kaspars.

[billbarrett]

I would buy credible information about "How to overcome recession and secure your lifestyle - 101 crisis proof strategies and tactics". ))

[Matt Maiden]

Originally Posted by VegasVince

...or try and figure out what broke people can't afford to buy...so I can try and sell it to them anyway. UGGGGG!

Exactly.

This answers one of the other problems that comes up in this place too.
There is usually two big reasons why some people don't make any money.

1. They don't take action on anything except thinking the next big thing will solve their problems.

2. They try to sell stuff to broke people.

Marlon Sanders taught me a long time ago, "Find the river of money and jump in".

Broke folks ain't in that river.

Like Bev said, the rich keep spending.

Get between the rich and what they are buying.

That has been the successful business model for thousands of years. Not just since the Internet.

[imasong]

Originally Posted by bizideas

Here are a few that I can think of in about 5 minutes.

1. God / Spirituality concepts
2. Self Help or Inspirational media
3. Physical products that stretch like canned goods, dry goods.
4. Recession prompts investors to buy Real Estate, Stocks
5. Silver
6. Used Cars
7. Money Making Seminars
8. DIY manuals, tutorials, media. For Example: "How to Care for Ill Family
Members". or "How to Fix your Own Transmission". Big Cost Cutters.
9. Dollar stores and Thrift stores rise to the occasion.
10. Garage or Estate sales "sell" really well during economic downturns.
11. Answers to questions like, "What sells during a Recession?" tend to
do really well.

I agree with number 4 - now is the time to be buying up stocks

[Daret]

Just about anything "recession-proof" will sell.

[wordsmith101]

Cheap travel. I'm actually targeting this one.

[dave147]

cutting expenses, saving energy(home) , self sufficiency, water fuelled cars, educational courses, discounts/bargains/coupons

[Chris Kent]

Lingerie sales are up. Supermarkets are reporting good sales - I reckon people are eating more food for comfort. This is why McDonalds is doing so well.

Personally, I don't aim for products that sell well in a recession. When we start to recover, sales will go down.

I'd rather go for middle of the road products that should slowly increase as people's discretionary spending goes up, rather than a trending or cyclical type product.

[koolwarrior]

What still sells during a recession?

Alcohol, tobacco, narcotics, guns and other pharmaceuticals. They all EASE the pain of the recession.

Look at what businesses survived during and PAST the Great Depression? Breweries, Big Tobacco, drugs, firearm makers and healthcare.

People didn't stop at ANY cost to stop getting drunk, getting high, getting treatment, or simply sucking on a cancer stick to shut them the hell up from cryin' and complaining about tough times.

I look in my own neighborhood. Just about everyone is piss poor, yet they still buy 40's, hard liquor, menthol cigarettes, marijuana, crack, coke, heroin, guns, ammo, hookers, and they're proud of their state-issued welfare version of health insurance.


No matter what happens, people will still blow their last dollar on smoking, drinking, killing and staying alive.

[tmdassc]

I recently wrote an article at a well known site that adresses 4 types of home based businesses that do well in recession times and beyond. It basically identifies 4 businesses which have done good before, during, and after bad economic times. Even though, once you put your thinking caps on, I'm sure you can identify many more, the 4 I identified are as follows.

1. Utilities: Telephone services have been deregulated nationwide, and electricity services have been deregulated in many, if not most states. As you can see by the radio, newspapers, TV, and direct mail advertisemants, telephone and electricity services are doing very well. As a matter of fact, there is currently a report on AOL listing Verizon as being one of the top companies that will not be laying off or firing anyone and is still showing great growth.

I'm sure many of you, like me, have been bombarded with direct mail pieces from various telephone and electricity providers offering great deals for you to switch over to their service. They are making profits and growing. Many folks do not like or care for network marking programs, but that's the only way that I know of regular folks being able to cheaply get in on a piece of the great recurring monthly income being produced by the utility industry.

2. Vitamins: yes, I said it in spite of so many knocking it by denouncing it as the pills, lotions, and potions gimmicks that is a waste of time and money... vitamins have always been, are, and will continue to be hot sellers no matter the state of the economy. Many Warriors right here may denounce and knock the idea of selling vitamins, but they in fact buy and take them daily themselves.

However, I'm not talking about just any vitamins, but a vitamin which holds a niche of it's own within the vitamin and supplement field... liquid vitamins. As more and more people are unable to afford health care, more and more people are forced to do what they can afford to do to optimize their health as inexpensively as possible. As more and more people read and learn about how pills and caplets are made, and how studies show the human body only absorbs up to 25% of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements in pills and caplets form, they are turning to the 95% absorption rate of liquid vitamins and preventing flushing 75% of their money down the toilets in the form of pills and caplets. There are also network marketing and affiliate programs for liquid vitamins to cash in on this nice recurring monthly income stream.

3. Household Cleaning Products: Virtually everyone needs, wants, and uses them. The state of the economy does not affect their sales or use. Everyone will always need to clean their bathrooms, clothes, stoves/ovens, appliances, etc... However, there is also a niche which is growing rapidly within the cleaning products field which is even more profitable... environmentally friendly and/or green products. We have an abundance of people with money that are very adamant about environmental concerns, and they will, and are spending big money on products addressing this concern. Again, there are network marketing and affiliate programs to sell these products to generate you a nice monthly recurring income during the recession and beyond.

4. Print Brokering: I save this for last because it's my favorite, and what I have been doing for 17 years now. Every business and business person needs printing to operate. It can be anything from business cards, to menus, to estimates or invoices, or any other printed forms needed in the daily operation of business.

Businesses and business people need printing, and they have always needed it, still need it, and will continue to need it no matter what. However, as a print broker, you are able to offer businesses and business people this needed service/product at a discount much lower than they are paying locally... and you make some nice recurring profits to boot because they order over and over again month after month, year after year.

Everyone is going crazy over offline profits and trying to get businesses to change their way of doing business or trying something new, and very few are having much luck with it. However, if you offer businesses and business people something they are already using and need at a discount... they all become easy shoo-in customers for other offline services which increase their profits.

As a print broker, you're already saving them hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars monthly, so you're their friend and you have established credibility with them. Now offer them services/ways to increase profits, lead generation, and/or customers... you're nothing less than a local hero in the business world. Also, as a print broker, businesses and business people will not only pay you good for printing services, but they will also pay you to advertise your services, business, and/or online offers and affiliate products for free. Imagine that, getting paid to advertise your services and online offers for free. On the negative side, there is no affiliate or network marketing program to become a print broker... there is only one source that I know of which supplies the print broker's course/business... but it's less than sixty bucks.

So there's my two cents worth of input for 4 sensible home based businesses selling services and products which people will buy during the recession and beyond that generates a nice monthly recurring income for you.

[Chris Monty]

Career coaching and resume writing blogs / forums always do well in a recession.

[phish3rz]

Try aim for the No Thrills approach, give them what they want with no B.S involved, just get to the point at times like these!

[IMDimWit]

Some good suggestions in this thread. I'll add diy home improvement products.

[BigBenForCanton]

Be creative and people will buy not matter what the economy is. The majority of people hawking stuff online have hung around IM forums way too long and sell nothing more than recycled trash.

[BigBenForCanton]

Fear. That's all you ever need to know. Fear knows no boundary. It knows no economic down turns or prosperity. Why? Because people are perpetually scared. Afraid of crime, afraid of preservatives in wine, afraid of smoke, and afraid of being broke, afraid for their kids,and afraid of leaving them no wills, afraid to take a leap, and afraid to follow the sheep.

Fear. It's a marketer's best friend.

[duranfly]

Ways to make money is selling. People are looking for something to get involved in to get the money flowing

[pluto1]

Think about basic needs, what people cannot stop using in their day to day life. Food, coupons, education, money, travelling, healthcare, skincare, weightloss etc come to mind.

[GavinLively]

Booze and Beauty Products....

Research the companies that made millions during the Great Depression and it will reveal some clues

Gavin

[thadley]

What usually sells in any type of consumable need, the basics (that includes cosmetics). But, people will always want to be entertained, especially if it provides some form of escapism. Otherwise, it's
how to make money
how to survive and thrive in a recession
guns and security
what to do as a citizen to turn the economy around

[GavinLively]

Here is a list I compiled that is in my "Market reasearch" post at my blog

• How To Make more money
• How To Lose weight
• How To Look better
• How To Feel Better
• How To Find Love
• How To Have more or better sex
• How To Gain more confidence with the opposite sex
• How To Live longer
• How To Get along better with people
• How To Be Entertained/ Find Good Entertainment or Entertainment products (Not necessarily a “How to info product”)

Gavin