“Travel. As much as you can. As far as you can. As long as you can. Life’s not meant to be lived in one place.”
Most of you know by now that one of my passions is traveling and I must confess it comes naturally. My folks moved a lot when I was a youngster; I went to 9 different schools while growing up. That might freak out a lot of people, but I looked at each one as a new adventure. After high school, I joined the U.S. Air Force and had the good fortune to travel to many different countries around the world. After my Air Force commitment was completed, I entered the corporate world and had the good fortune to again, travel internationally. When I retired from the corporate world and then my own business, I continued my love of travel and made several trips to South America.
I also have purchased and converted a van into a camper and am also traveling in the good old USA. No calendar, no clock, no schedules and no worries! The only thing for certain is I’ll be following the sun as I wander around this great country searching out state and National Parks and other things and places of interest. Even driving to Alaska is on my radar. Hey, I’ve got a bucket-list to complete.
Some of my friends have asked me how one funds such an undertaking. In addition to my retirement funds, I buy and sell goods on eBay and Amazon plus, I have my own Shopify Store. In the last few years, I’ve done a lot of research and learned a lot about making money on these platforms. I also hear, “you’re traveling, how do you find goods to sell while traveling?” “How do you ship what you buy?” “How do you get paid?” Good questions all.
Flea Markets: Most people go to flea markets to look for a needed item or just while away time while browsing. I go to flea markets to see what I can pick up for a couple of bucks and then flip it on eBay or Amazon for 80-100 bucks.
Retail Arbitrage: Another excellent way to make money which is quite easy and takes very little time to see the money coming in. With all the research I’ve done, I could probably write a book on this subject. Now there’s an idea for yet another stream of income! In fact I have one book on Amazon’s Kindle now, but it’s related to my former profession as a Private Investigator.
UPS Stores: Are an online seller’s best friend. Look around; you’ll find UPS Stores in every town and city across this great country. UPS is a major shipping partner of Amazon and being a PRO Seller on Amazon, I get to take advantage of Amazon’s UPS rates which are very cheap compared to other logistic companies such as FedEx, DHL or the US Postal Service. I can buy items, box them up, take them to a UPS Store and ship directly to Amazon using Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) program.
Amazon FBA: Amazon receives my packages; lists my items on their platform, sells them, ships them, and handles all the customer service including any returns. They then deduct their fees and electronically deposit proceeds directly to my bank account. All this makes selling on Amazon’s platform while traveling a breeze.
Walmart: Now has a program similar to Amazon’s FBA Program wherein Walmart is now letting individuals sell goods on their platform.
eBay: It works differently with eBay than Amazon. With eBay, the seller has to take photos of their items, upload them and then list and describe items on eBay’s website. When a sale is made, payment is made directly to seller’s PayPal account. So, a PayPal account is necessary. Seller then packages items and ships to buyer. Selling on eBay while traveling can be somewhat of a pain. eBay requires that seller ships sold items in a timely manner, usually within 2-3 days. Obviously, if traveling and selling on eBay, you would have to carry listed items with you or have someone perform this task for you. Otherwise, you would have to shut your account down while away from your home or office. I have met several people that are retired and travel the country in large motor homes which have ample space to carry items with them and find a local US Post Office, FedEx or UPS store from which to ship your items.
Merch by Amazon: Another stream of income (and becoming a favorite) is Amazon’s program called – Merch by Amazon.
Merch by Amazon affords one the opportunity to sell “print on demand” T-Shirts on their platform. This is an awesome program where one can sell T-Shirts with no upfront money. You could easily start a business with this model. You simply upload a T-Shirt design and Amazon does the rest. No cost at all to the seller. Your shirt will be printed and shipped usually within a day or so of receiving an order. Not only that, but Prime shipping is free! Amazon has made a significant investment in printing machines which cost something like $500K each and they have several. And, Amazon lets us use their machines at no cost to print and sell T-Shirts. You set your own price as to what you want to sell the shirts for. The only stipulation to pricing is that you make at least 1 cent profit. Therefore, if you were so inclined, you could design and sell shirts to groups such as Little League, churches, organizations, companies, fund raisers, etc. for just a penny over cost. This can be a single shirt or multiple shirts. What a great way this is to design and sell shirts.
Because of my love of “wandering”, camping and traveling, I have taken advantage of this program and have recently begun selling T-Shirts on Amazon’s Merch by Amazon platform. The designs I have submitted thus far are based on a theme of wandering, traveling, vans, van dwelling and camping.
If any of the below links are not working, simply copy and paste them into your browser.
I would be thrilled if you would visit my Shopify Store and “Like & Share” it. Here’s the link: www.hiellie.com
And, while we’re at it, I would also greatly appreciate a “Like and Share” on my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/hiellieoutdoors
By the way, I am in the process of setting up a YouTube Channel for uploading videos to while traveling. Once it’s up and I’m on the road, I’ll alert you as to how to check out my videos. And of course, I’ll be posting on my blog as well at: www.wanderingwithbill.com
Now that you know a little about me, I would like to ask this: Have you ever undertaken such an adventure? If so, please feel free to pass along any comments, I'd love to hear from you.
Until next time...
