Some people don’t have the resources or the discipline to hustle online. No worries, because hustling in the real world can yield results faster and be just as satisfying in the long run. Of course street hustling ain’t easy because there is plenty of competition and even more hustlers trying to get one over on you. Either way, I’m going to lay down a basic hustle that I used to do (still do if it’s worthwhile) that can make you some extra paper on the side, while keeping your dignity intact.

The basis of this hustle is the fact that many people do not know the value of their own things.

This hustle is all about knowledge because if you don’t KNOW you can’t assess the value of whatever you’re trying to flip. It starts with choosing your niche. Let’s say we’re looking to sell DSLR Cameras for example. There are plenty of different models of DSLR’s available to you. You need to go and see which models are still worth buying and for what price they’re selling for. Check eBay – check Craigslist – check Gumtree (for my UK people) – local classifieds and more. This should give you an idea what they’re going for new and used.

The next thing you do is find a website which will let you know how to assess if the used product is still in good condition. In this case: A Guide To Buying A Used DSLR. This will give you an idea of what to look for, and what to avoid when buying used goods.

Now return to Craiglist and Gumtree etc for whatever product you’re looking for and begin buying and selling. A god way to get first pickings at new items is to make a thread about what you will buy and how much you’ll buy it for (works great especially if you’re hustling phones). You can normally sell things on eBay for more than you would in person, but then you have to factor in Paypal and Seller fees at the end of the month (they creep up on you). If you do this with a number of different products, and you keep your head in the game – you could make some good spare change in a short amount of time.

Obviously this is a short term hustle and not meant to have you set for life. Just keep in mind not everyone is honest – deal with people in daylight and public places, and make that paper. Hope this helped someone out there.

I learned how to do everything through iClarified.com – they have great tutorials there.

Save all these links because these are most of possible scenarios you might have to deal with

iPhone 2G Unlock/Jailbreak on 3.0 -

• Mac – http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4304
• PC - http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4302

iPhone 3G Jailbreak on OS 3.0 -

• Mac - http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4303
• PC - http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4301

iPhone 3G Software Unlock on OS 3.0 – http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4253

Once you’ve gotten all the files and made separate folders for each scenario. Get on Craigslist in your city and in the electronics section put up an advertisement not identical but similar to this one –  http://houston.craigslist.org/ele/1247601303.html – if you want get more creative.

Once you’ve done all of that sit back and let the calls and texts roll in. Treat people professionally! You need WiFi if they don’t have AT&T and most people feel more comfortable dealing in a public place. There’s money to be made. Get it.

Holla at me.

I’m about my online and my offline hustles. You gotta do what it takes to make that money. In one of my other posts I mentioned how people don’t know the value of their own goods – and some people don’t know or are just too lazy to do some basic tech stuff to their iPhones. Well this is where Craigslist and getting on your local hustle comes in.

I recently got an iPhone 3G 16GB off of Craigslist for $375 . Do you know how much they’re going for on eBay? Around $500 to $600 if you jailbreak and unlock it. Thats anywhere from $100 to $200 profit. If you haven’t figured out what I’m getting at already then I don’t know what to tell you. There are many people who don’t know or just want to get rid of their stuff quickly. I know the general concern is - what if somethings wrong with it?

This is just where you have to be smart when you buy. Ask questions (is it still under warranty? How old is it?) – don’t get too excited when you see an unbelieveably low price – and don’t get jumped or jacked either. Heard about the Craigslist killer in Boston yet?

All you need is a little start up capital to buy them, the software to jailbreakand unlock  it, and then the ingenuity to sell them and you’re on your way.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Go to Craigslist.com and choose your City and State.
2. Use the search bar on the left and type in: iPhone
3. Look for steals/deals and give them a call.
4. Meet them up – inspect – and make your decision.

I’m not going to tell you how to jailbreak it here but Google will definitely hook you up with that knowledge or you can always send me an email.

The other hustle I was thinkin’ about getting on is the iPhone unlocking service. It’s really easy once you get the hang of it.

Make sure you know the difference between a 3G and a 2G an 8GB and a 16GB. Do all your research before you spend a dollar so you don’t waste any money.

Why am I so late? Because I had a G1 and wasn’t interested in iPhones at all. I have to admit though – I’m falling in love with them.

*Update – 3GS are also out now too. This hustle is still strong and with the new iPhones coming out this summer it will only pick up.

I had a spare Western Digital 500GB  hard drive laying around a couple weeks ago. I was going to run a contest here but you know with this economic crunch and all, times are hard! I decided I didn’t want to pay eBay their fees so I’d go through Craigslist AKA Cold Hard Cash. 

Put up the listing and within a day got a phone call from someone willing to buy it for full price. Met up with the guy – wham, bam, thank you man – I was $85 richer. So now I got that out of the way I hadn’t forgotten that my listing was still up. I didn’t bother to edit it and say it’s sold because I’m lazy and have things to do.

The next day I must have gotten two calls and a text asking about the hard drive. Told them I didn’t have it. Got a couple more calls the next day. And I’ve been getting a call at least once every 2 or 3 days asking for this external hard drive.

So how does this help you?

Forget supply and demand. How about demand and supply? You got a product that you can get cheap but not sure people will buy? List it on Craigslist, see how many responses you get, then decide if it’s worthwhile.

Places where you can get some cheap goods:

• Alibaba.com
• GlobalSources.com
• Liquidation.com 
• Local Liquidations (lots more now because of the recession)
• Craiglist and Ebay (People don’t know the value of their own goods)

Make sure you’re buying from Verified Suppliers on Global Sources and Alibaba. Just putting y’all up on something that I’ll be doing in my spare time. It’s all about having multiple income streams. I’ll let you all know how it goes once I get everything going.

When I first started my business, I was giving very personal service. I would talk to my clients, write all the articles myself etc..etc. But then I realized that it was all good and fun making a buck, but it was taking up quite a bit of my time. When I’m on the PC, I don’t want to be stuck on one hustle, I want to have multiple hustles as I learn about more hustles and how to get a larger amount of cash in my bank.

Business got bigger, and I started to feel bogged down. Yeah the money was good but the next thing I had to do was find somebody to work for me. My main issue with someone working for me was will they uphold the same quality as I do? Well to my surprise some people were even better. I logged onto Craigslist one day, put up an ad for what I was looking for, and low and behold, got too many responses! I had created a task force in no more than an hour. Now, I chill and learn, they work, my business stays running, I’m making profit, and everybody is happy.

Delegate tasks to free your mind. And to free your time.

Now that I’m done with finals, my hands are officially unbound for the next couple of weeks. Once I fulfill a couple of these orders from my business, I’ll be experimenting with new hustles that I’ve been thinking up. I’m ALWAYS thinking. You are as smart as any businessman out there, you just have to unleash your mind. Make a dollar, a million times.

I have a few ideas which seem ridiculous but I’m going to list out 2 ideas I thought of today for you and document my progress with them through this blog. And you can see if they work, or if I fail. I promise you I’ll make a couple bucks at least though.

Ideas:

I’ll let you know how it goes. And for the future – I’m going to put some basic information soon so you can set up your own blog so I can read about what YOU have to say.