Money making idea: Authors sign their books, you sell them on eBay for a nasty profit

July 3, 2006 | Filed Under rich on eBay, Entrepreneurship, Practical tips, Business Opportunities 

We know that books that famous people have signed fetch good prices on eBay. They know that if you come to their book signing with more than 2-3 books, something fishy is going on and they will be unwilling to sign it. Or, a more common hurdle, the book shop are restricting the amount of books you can buy. For example: “Max 2 signed copies per person.”

Here are the 4 steps you need to go through to cash in on the demand for signed books.

Step 1: A celebrity is visiting

Read the local papers and ask the local book stores about upcoming “book signing events.” When a famous writer/person is coming to town to sign copies of his/her latest book or autobiography, you better be prepared.

Step 2: Buy 100 copies of the book

Buy the book in advance through various stores in your community or online.

Step 3: Recruit 100 teenagers/children

Oh, the delight of using child labour. Recruit young people through your local school or sports club. Give them one copy each and tell them to go to the local shopping mall at the time of the book signing to get it signed.

Agree to give them $10 when they return to you with the book signed.

Step 4: Cash in

Now is the time to go to eBay and start selling the product. If you indeed did this with 100 books it will be wise to not put everything up for sale at the same time, slowly milk the cow to limit supply. 

This scheme should have the potential to give you several 100% ROI. I have only tested it myself on a limited scale(4 books!). Add your comments, I am happy to receive input from others on the feasibility of the idea. 

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