Earn Slacker Money With Bottled Water

Posted by Jacques - May 9, 2009

water-and-money Every Saturday is money day here at The Slacker Method, and this time, I’m putting my money where my mouth is by working my own idea.

You see, remembering to bring bottled water with you saves you one dollar. Remembering that a hundred people will forget to bring water to the community garage sale this weekend, will save you one hundred dollars.

My good friend Lily @ purechocolateliving.com reminded me of this good fact as I prepared to sell many of my unneeded trinkets and gadgets (by the way, the chocolate stuff is fantastic!).

So without hesitation I thought of us slackers, needing another way to make money without actually doing anything at all. I bought some water at a wholesale club about $10 for 70 bottles, and then marked them for sale @ one dollar each. I nearly sold out after selling water for only a couple hours. It’s certainly a healthy alternative to selling your body fluids.

Here’s a few things I learned about this method of making cash:

1. It must be hot.
It should obviously be a warm day with no rain, check the forecast. I didn’t sell my first bottle of water until it started getting hot, even though I was selling plenty of other things.

2. Location, location, location.
You need a lot of foot traffic, so community garage sales are perfect for that sort of thing. Just check out your local craigslist site. If you’re uncomfortable not being part of that community, just ask to share some of the proceeds with a nearby vendor. You can also do other types of events that are not large or organized enough to have official vendors.

3. Advertise… loudly.
Unless you wear a bottle water costume, nobody will know you’re selling water. This isn’t something you mail out flyers for in advance, this just good old fashioned yelling at the top of your longs, (GET YOUR COLD WATER, COOOOOOOLD WATER!) will get you the best result. Don’t forget to offer free water to little children or dehydrated dogs to guilt them into buying water.

4. Keep your expenses in check.
I started with 70 bottles at a cost of $10, but the ice cost me almost as much! Try to freeze a few bottles of water the night before and some icepacks, they’ll last all day long. If you must buy some ice, don’t take more than half out of the bag as it will extend the life. You can also pack the warm water on top of the cold to keep it insulated.

5. Be reasonable.
Don’t try to scam people. I wouldn’t charge more than $1.50 even in California. Also, try discounting your water in the last hour or so, especially if you’ve long passed your break even point. 50 cent water sells really fast!

6. Don’t be afraid to keep it.
Water is great because it doesn’t go out of style and it has an extremely good shelf life.

7. Choose your inventory wisely.
You could also go with flavored water, but the margins are smaller and the flavors appeal to less people. Also, don’t get the cheapest stuff, some people really only like name-brand water.

Anything you like? Please share!

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