Post: #1

As someone who is always looking for a way to make a couple bucks, I recently came across an idea that sounds promising. I don't smoke, but I know a shitload of people who do. I stumbled across a supplier who sells pipes dirt cheap where I could mark it up 500-600% and still undercut the head shops in the area. I would prefer to do it under the table, but if the opportunity arose I would gladly file a "for tobacco use only" company and sell online instead of word of mouth.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions on making this project work please let me know.

Post: #2

What about E-Cigs? Those seem to be getting increasing popularity.

Post: #3

1. have car
2. buy folding table, 10-20 pipes, poster board, fabric
3. park car in front of club
4. take out folding table, put on sheet over it, lay out pipes, put price on placard

See if you can sell pipes to strangers.

If you can't, if it takes too long, if you realize that there are things that you'd rather be doing - then the idea won't work.

WIA.

Post: #4

That is not surprising at all. how about cellphone cases and film protectors? its markup is huge.

You need to have Retail Location. That's where your most markups will go to pay for the rent.

You can sell it online but who's going to find it and buy online??

There is a reason why markup is so high. I am pretty sure they don't sell it in volume either.

Maybe you can try to supply to local smoke shops but I bet they are getting at the same price.

Trust me, it won't be worth it.

Post: #5

I think a great business would be to sell cases, protectors, chargers, any phone accesories really. You can buy them for super cheap online(especially bulk), and considering people pay a lot in store and usually need something NOW, then you can get a nice business going if you get a nice network or a way to deliver it to people(think big college campuses) + big cities.

If there is a way for you to get it the same day delivered straight to them, and you can make it profitable logistics wise, it can be lucrative.

Post: #6

(04-27-2013 07:17 AM)wi30 Wrote:  As someone who is always looking for a way to make a couple bucks, I recently came across an idea that sounds promising. I don't smoke, but I know a shitload of people who do. I stumbled across a supplier who sells pipes dirt cheap where I could mark it up 500-600% and still undercut the head shops in the area. I would prefer to do it under the table, but if the opportunity arose I would gladly file a "for tobacco use only" company and sell online instead of word of mouth.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions on making this project work please let me know.

I've done this before and I think it's a good hustle. I had the luck of living in an area with a lot of glass blowers, so I was able to buy a handful of glass bubblers (water pipes) for cheap, and then take them back to the east coast and sell them for double or triple the cost.

A lot of places, especially in the south, midwest and east coast, you can't find glass pipes, or it's at least difficult and everything is expensive. So this could be a good thing where you can capitalize on supply and demand, if you can buy cheap and sell high.

I think your chances of getting busted are pretty low, but if you want to be extra safe, just explicitly say it's for tobacco use only when you sell it, and if you are dealing with dumb high school kids, maybe use a fake name, which sounds kind of paranoid, but it never hurts to be anonymous.

I would mostly just sell them to people you know and friends of friends, but you could also try to get grimy and hustle hard at concerts and events, especially anything like reggae concerts, or big outdoor festivals where people want to smoke weed or are into that lifestyle.

Post: #7

lol. This guy is talking about selling pipes. Why are other business models being mentioned? Another thread should be started (cellphone accessories do benefit from the existence of a significant market and high margins, so it is worth discussing).

There obviously is a significant demand for pipes and smoking paraphernalia, so I do think it's worth going to. I don't have much experience with the buying habits of smokers, but why don't you talk to some stoner friends? That's basic market research right there: figuring out the buying habits of the customers in the target market. If this seems promising, then perhaps you can sell to such friends and if they like the stuff you source, then the word'll get out (if you want to sell under the table, then I presume word-of-mouth will be the practical way to gain momentum).

Selling online... well... again, figure out the online buying habits of your target demographic. If a significant market exists, then it all comes down to marketing (anyone have experience marketing to stoners?). Do you have experience with sales/marketing, online marketing, article marketing, video marketing, SEO, selling products online (fulfillment, customer service, legal aspects, accepting payment, etc.), etc.? This will all come in handy.

Also, one more thing: high margins is a SIGNIFICANT advantage. You can concentrate on offering great customer service without worrying about returns affecting your bottom line. Overhead costs will also worry you much less, and you can expand at a much quicker rate. Of course, do your due diligence.

Post: #8

Try and see if you can get into any festivals in your area to sell. Most of them you'll probably have to pay a little bit for a spot. Obviously reggae and jam bands will be your best bet. I don't know where you live, but there are probably lots of different events you could set up. I've gone with a native american friend of mine who sells jewelry. He didn't make a ton, but the jewelry was cheap and I think pipes would be much easier to sell. A lot of the less popular events he wouldn't even have to pay or pay very littleto set up.

Post: #9

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to do more research and if I like what I find, I'll buy a couple hundred bucks of inventory. I'm not trying to get rich off of this, just make enough to invest in a bigger project a buddy and I are working on. And with the low break even point I'm not too worried about losing any cash.

Post: #10

Don't forget to sell some pipe tobacco starter kits so they can smoke up right when they leave.

Post: #11

That's actually a good idea, smoke shops tend to be expensive for no reason; I remember buying a nice Sherlock back in '12 and that bitch was $60, a small ass pipe for $60, but I had no choice.

The thing is you have to find a way to let a lot of people know that you are selling otherwise you'll miss on a lot of clients.

For example I just bought a bong from Grasscity, I got pissed off because i had to pay 15$ for regular shipping that will take 7-21 days to get to me; that's fucking ridiculous.

That same bong at a regular head-shop cost probably 70-80$ while it is only 20$ on Grasscity; head shops have ridiculous price because pipes/bongs aren't really available on the streets, if I knew a guy that was selling clean/unused bongs/pipe dirt cheap I would be glad to be one of his client.