Book Pallet Arbitrage on eBay
Buy pallets of school curriculum and textbooks for as low as $1 from GovDeals government liquidation auctions. Use ChatGPT ($20/month) to identify books, create manifests, bundle curriculum sets, and write SEO-optimized eBay listings. First two $1 pallets yielded ~$5,000 revenue in 2 months at ~$75/hour and 60% net margin, spending only 3 hours/week.
Startup Budget
$1 – $500
Difficulty
Beginner
Business Type
Hybrid
Location
Anywhere
Time Commitment
Part-time
Revenue Potential
$2500-$12500/month
Skills Needed
Watch the Full Breakdown
Watch on YouTube — Chris Koerner
Related Hybrid Beginner Ideas
Phone and iPad Flipping (Geographical Arbitrage)
Buy used phones and iPads in saturated urban markets where prices are low due to oversupply, then resell them in smaller towns or rural areas where supply is limited and prices are higher.
$1k-3k/month
Lawnmower Flipping
Buy broken or used riding lawnmowers on Facebook Marketplace, fix them up, and resell them for profit. Alternatively, buy in the US and export to countries where they sell for 2-3x the price.
$3k-50k/month
Driftwood LED Wall Art
Collect driftwood and branches, use a router to cut notches, install LED light strips, sand and stain the wood, and sell as backlit wall art for $300-$1,200 per piece on Etsy or your own website.
$5k-15k/month
Lawn Care Quote Generator App
Build a simple web app that generates instant lawn care quotes based on lot size, services needed, and frequency. The app serves as both a time-saving tool and a lead magnet, capturing customer contact info while providing transparent pricing. Can be built in under an hour with vibe coding tools like Emergent for about $10-20.
$2k-10k/month