Image attributed to flickr.com user liewcf.

Hi everyone,

I’ve got a really cool idea to share today that could have you earning some extra dough within just a few hours.  This is a business idea I’ve been researching for a number of months and I can now safely say it works for me and will also work for you too!

After officially launching at the start of December, my little eBay business is now consistently earning me money on a daily basis from only a couple of hours work a day and best of all the products I sell, I download completely freely (and legally!) from the internet.

Now I’m not saying this is going to turn into a six figure business anytime soon, but it’s definitely a great little income stream (and don’t forget, many streams make a river!)

It also takes very little outlay to get started.

Infact as long as you have a computer with a CD/DVD burner, your only initial outlay will be for a few blank CDs and DVDs.

Here’s how it works in simple terms…

1. Download some open source software or public domain audiobooks.
2. List them on eBay.
3. When they sell, burn them onto disc and ship them out to your customer. (Or use a service such as Kunaki to do it for you!)
4. Enjoy the profits!

The savvy amongst you may be wondering why anyone would buy something from me that they can download for free…

A fair question.  There are a number of reasons and here are a few…

1. They don’t want to spend hours trawling the internet to find the same product.  You’ve already done the work for them so they’d rather just pay you a few bucks and get it sent straight out!
2. They have a slow internet connection that takes a long time to download large files.
3. In the case of the software, they may want a hard copy to use on computers that aren’t connected to the internet.
4. They know that when they buy from me, I’ll also provide them with personal support should they need it.  Something they wouldn’t always get if they just downloaded the free version from the net.

So is it ethical to sell products that I download for free?

Absolutely, Yes!  I’m completely open and honest about where I source my products and I put a lot of effort into making the CDs very high quality.  I also providing exceptional customer service and support.

I know that some of my customers still don’t realise that my products are freely available, but as long as I’ve been honest with them, my conscience is clear.  (Plus if they’re not happy for what ever reason, I’ll always refund them.)

So, down to the nitty gritty…

What to sell and where to get it!

(Before you read on, a quick word of warning:  the laws relating to intellectual property can be very confusing and can differ from country to country so make sure you do your own research to ensure you stay within the law!  I’ve provided some links to further reading below)

1. Open Source Software

This is software that has been developed by the open source community and commercial companies who wish to promote their products and services.  Although it is free, it is often made by developers who have also helped to develop popular paid for software, so it is very high quality.  This type of software is usually free from the usual copyright restrictions which means anyone is free to copy, change and redistribute it as long as they include the source code.

You can learn more about open source software at Wikipedia.

You can search for and download software at SourceForge.

2. Public Domain Materials. (eg. Audiobooks)

Similar to open source software, public domain items aren’t covered by the usual copyright restrictions and a lot are freely available to copy and redistribute.

You can learn more about Public Domain at Wikipedia.

You can search for and download public domain audiobooks at Librivox.

3. Resell Rights Ebooks.

If you already have an interest in Internet Marketing, then I’d put money on it that you have a hard drive full of resell rights eBooks just gathering dust.  Why not start burn them onto CDs and start making some money from them?

Admittedly, these don’t sell as well as they used to on eBay due to there being so much competition and a lot of the eBooks being out of date.  (This is why I diversified into os software and public domain audiobooks)

Having said that, you can breathe new life into your eBooks by creating new stand out listings and updated graphics.

Alternatively, you can get new, fresh eBooks which will sell a lot better from from websites such Resell Rights Fortune.

You can also increase your products’ perceived value by adding an autorun menu interface.  (I highly recommend Dave Nicholson’s, Digital Media Solution to do this)

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This is such a quick and easy way to make money on eBay that you could get started and even make some sales within a few hours!

To make your new business even more professional and further increase the perceived value of your CDs and DVDs it’s worth creating professional looking, printed CDs and include pictures of them in your eBay listings.  This is fairly easy to do using Photoshop (or the opensource alternative Gimp!)

If you’re not confident creating your own CD graphics, then just keep it simple for now.  You can always add graphics later to increase your sales.

Later this year I’ll be releasing a product that gives step by step instructions on setting this up.  It will include videos, manuals, CD graphics, listing templates and everything else you need to duplicate my business model.

Places will be limited and all of my loyal subscribers will be given early access and a special discount so don’t miss out.

You can still sell eBooks on eBay either by listing them in Classified Ads, or by turning them into physical products that you ship out to your customers – ie, burn them onto CD ROMs

As Classified Ads are very expensive, it can be difficult to make a profit selling your $2.00 eBooks using this kind of listing – you’d need to sell a lot just to recoup your fees.

The alternative method of turning them into physical products is much more profitable if done correctly and although you probably won’t become rich with this product, it can bring in a nice little side income.  I’m currently selling a few a day on eBay, and because they are so cheap to produce, it’s a very high profit margin.

Ok, so how do you do it then?

Well, the 2 best ways I’ve found are either to use a fulfillment company such as Kunaki or Lulu who ship the CD directly to your customer, or to make and ship the CD yourself.

Personally I prefer to be in complete control of my business so I make and ship my own products, however, both have their own pros and cons so test both to see which works best for you.

Kunaki/Lulu – Pros

– Professional, consistent, well packaged products.

- Easy to set up automate.

- You don’t have to buy/hold any stock up front so it’s cheap to start up.

- Once you make a sale, the product can be drop shipped directly to your customer and they think it’s come directly from you.

Kunaki/Lulu – Cons

- You aren’t in control of how quickly your products are shipped.

- Items are shipped without any branding so you may miss opportunities to cross promote your other products as you can’t include leaflets, bonus items etc.

- Profit margins may not be great

Creating CD ROMS yourself – Pros

– Professional, well packaged products (if done correctly!)

- You’re in complete control of your business so you can ensure fast shipping/quality product every time.

- CD-Rs and the other tools required are very cheap to buy so it’s cheap to get started and profit margins tend to be high.

- You can ship the product with your branding and promotional material such as leaflets to drive people to your websites etc

Creating CD ROMS yourself – Cons

- It can be time consuming creating the product, burning the CD, packaging it and shipping it.

- If you don’t create a quality product, it either won’t sell, or it will jeopardise your positive feedback.

As I mentioned earlier, I prefer to create my own products so if you’d like to copy my business model, I suggest you take a look at the product I use; Digital Media Solution.  It includes some great looking templates to give your CDs a really slick, professional finish and best of all, it shows you exactly how to do it.

Hope you’ve found this post useful. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback, and hopefully success stories so feel free to post your comments below… Good Luck!