kajoz
Stuck doing your day job thinking about the many different ways you could be making money? Well, why not quit now, set up your business and start working for yourself instead of making someone else rich? The answer is – because it’s not as easy as you may think.
It is not easy starting from scratch and not having the security of a fixed paycheque for working a set amount of hours. There is nothing wrong with working for someone else, it all depends on what you want. If you are satisfied with your salary and don’t want the hassle of running your own business, then great! If you want to be your own boss, then go ahead! But if you want something in between, then it could be time to get yourself a side-hustle.
There are endless opportunities for a side hustle. Any business that you don’t do full time could be considered one, whether it be buying and selling on eBay, painting on commission or even driving an Uber, there are endless ways to make money on the side after you finish your day at work.
One interesting side hustle opportunity is grey-market exporting. This involves purchasing products in one country for a cheaper price and selling it in another for a greater profit than you would locally. Examples may be buying tech or beauty products in the US where they are relatively cheap and sending them to countries in South America, Africa or Asia, to be sold for a higher price, but lower than the local price. Although these are usually not authorised distribution channels, this is not usually illegal unless the import/export tax is not paid.
Grey-marketing exporting can be a profitable venture and not as time-consuming as others if you pick the right products and have the right connections. For example, an immigrant in the US could send a box back to their family in the Philippines filled with items that are much more expensive there. They could send some Apple Macbooks and iPads, or even a dozen Montblanc Explorer perfumes bought on sale and then sold at a price above what they were purchased for but below what they cost locally. This is an interesting way of making money as there is not so much competition and products that aren’t perishable can be accumulated over the period of a few months or so and then shipped out – perfect for a busy person with a full-time job.
While this could be a profitable side hustle, you would likely need a trusted network of people such as family members to receive the goods and sell them. Or you could even offer the service of purchasing the items on behalf of someone abroad and sending it out to them. This is buying and selling but with an extra hurdle that enables you to charge a higher price.
So if you are looking for an interesting side hustle, consider grey-marketing exporting. Do your research and find out what items you could get your hands on for cheap and sell for much higher abroad.
