Chris Koerner on The Koerner Office Podcast

The Best Side Hustle for Beginners (Any Age)

⏱ 57 min video · 4 min read24 May 2026Worth watching

TL;DR

Two friends, Lucas and John, built a reselling business starting at age 15-16 by flipping electronics on eBay, eventually scaling to six-figure monthly revenue by sourcing bulk untested electronics from overseas suppliers. The video is a detailed, practical breakdown of how they did it, the mistakes they made, and the playbook anyone can follow.

Key points

Start by selling items around your house (Legos, old electronics, etc.), then reinvest into thrift stores and yard sales, then scale into bulk lots once you know a category deeply (100+ items sold minimum).

You can buy bulk lots on eBay and resell items individually back on eBay profitably — asymmetric information makes this possible even on the same platform.

Their first bulk deal: 500 units of mixed consumer electronics at ~$10 each ($5k total) from a European supplier, sold mostly to a NYC flea market vendor at near-eBay prices, yielding ~$8-10k in revenue with only ~15 combined hours of work.

Electronics have a high return rate but also the highest sell-through rate on eBay (~100%), making it the best category by volume despite the headaches competitors avoid.

Their biggest setback was a bad batch in September (approx. 2025) from a supplier who had shifted from buying e-waste to buying from other resellers — losing ~$4-5k and hours of processing time, teaching them to diversify suppliers.

Actionable insights

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Follow the three-stage sourcing ladder: sell household items first, then thrift stores and yard sales, then bulk lots — only move to bulk after selling 100+ items in a category so you can spot bad lots.

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Find bulk suppliers by messaging high-volume eBay sellers directly to negotiate off-platform deals, saving both parties eBay fees (typically ~12%) — many will respond to a simple WhatsApp message.

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Target overlooked electronics at thrift stores: Dell docking stations (buy for $1, sell for $60), point-and-shoot cameras (buy for $1-5, sell for $25-200), Jabra conference units, and camcorders — staff misprice these constantly.

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When listing, always check eBay sold listings (not active) to price accurately. Factor in a 5-10% defect/return rate and eBay fees (~12%) before buying any lot.

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Cold outreach to domestic e-waste companies, junk removal services, and schools is more reliable than overseas suppliers — faster shipping (3-4 days vs. 1 month), no tariffs, and typically higher working rates.

Notable quotes

“I bought my first like five or six items and I texted him. I was like, 'Man, like I got into this finally and just threw them up on eBay and one sold the next day and after that I was hooked.'”

“It's kind of crazy that we would buy bulk lots off of eBay and then resell the stuff back on eBay. Like most people don't think you can do that because it's the same platform but we would do that.”

“There's no more supply, so the demand goes up. Same with camcorders. Nobody makes them anymore. Same with digital cameras. I literally sell them today for $300.”

Worth watching?

✅

Worth watching the full video?

Watch if you want the unfiltered story with real numbers and supplier drama — the key tactics are all captured here, but the candid back-and-forth between Lucas and John adds credibility you may want to hear firsthand.

Topics

Business eBay

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