Turn $200 into $1000 or more??

[uncle_scott]

Alright, here is the deal. A friend of mine and I made a bet that we each can make more money in a year starting from the fixed amount of $200. I have been fixing broken cars, or selling parts that I find for good deals for the past few years, and in the last two years I turned a $500 investment into about $3500...this took time, and dealing with selling things online, and everything that goes into parting out junk cars...but in the end I have always been able to recoup my money, and usually I make a decent profit if I am patient.

My question for you all is what other options do I have? Is there a way to turn my $200 into $5000, or $10000 at the end of the year if I really focus on it? Anyone doing penny stocks, or playing poker, or doing anything out of the ordinary that I could consider??

Mostly I just want to beat my friend, which I really fueling this competition. I just figured that of any forum, or any community, the Porsche ownership community could come up with some Financial Lounge ideas for me to pursue and really put a chunk of change away in a year.

All I have to lose is $200. I have everything to gain, and I would love to try something new to make a few dollars.

Any ideas?

[Hugh R]

25x to 50x ROI, I'm all ears.

[uncle_scott]

Just to give an idea of what I have done in the past...I found a great deal on a 944 for $500. It had BBS RS wheels, and a good motor, but the interior had sunrot to almost nothing, and the body was full of bondo. I parted the car out and turned it into nearly $2500. I then took that money and bought a 1996 VW Golf for $600 that needed a starter. I had one in the garage, fixed the car, shampooed the carpets and sold it for $1200 4 weeks later...

That is usually how I have done it. It seems to work, but it is time intensive...maybe just being frugal and shopping craigslist like a hawk is my best bet.

[tabs]

U ain't gona be doing it by playing Poker in a Casino...In home games it might be a different story. But there is a DEFINATE SKILL SET INVOLVED., which takes time and lots of patience to learn.

Penny Stocks are ILLIQUID, and one never knows their true value????? Some might call it gambling and others might call it Russian Roulette.

Dumpster Diving and by that I mean Thrift Stores, Yard Sales, Estate Sales and Auctions can be very profitable and if you get lucky it can mean big money.

ART, ART, ART..there is more money left lying around in Art than just about anything else. You can turn $10 into $9000...Just ask Jeff Moran of Moran's Auctions about the little Granville Redmond that was found at a yard sale in San Gabriel CA.

[dad911]

Buy a $200 lawnmower and mow alot of lawns........

[RWebb]

send it to me and I will send you $2,000 !!! in Confederate dollars

[Hugh R]

So how much are you making per hour of labor to make this money? And I don't mean just the wrenching time.

[uncle_scott]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

So how much are you making per hour of labor to make this money? And I don't mean just the wrenching time.

That is a question that I haven't ventured to ask before, lol. Sometimes it is simple, and not time intensive at all. Maybe finding a car for the right price and knowing what it is really worth...other sales take me hours, days, and months to get rid of like the 944 that I poured over pinching every last bit of profit I could...

I figure for every easy one, I get stuck with a hard one. It isn't as much about the dollars/hour for me...mostly I just want to stick my profits in the face of my friend at the end of the year and gain some bragging rights, lol.

We are both known locally to be people who will buy about anything that we know we can turn around and sell...everything I own is in a constant state of "for-sale" too. I just can't help myself, haha.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by uncle_scott

Just to give an idea of what I have done in the past...I found a great deal on a 944 for $500. It had BBS RS wheels, and a good motor, but the interior had sunrot to almost nothing, and the body was full of bondo. I parted the car out and turned it into nearly $2500. I then took that money and bought a 1996 VW Golf for $600 that needed a starter. I had one in the garage, fixed the car, shampooed the carpets and sold it for $1200 4 weeks later...

That is usually how I have done it. It seems to work, but it is time intensive...maybe just being frugal and shopping craigslist like a hawk is my best bet.

That's a lot of work.

Since the amount of labor doesn't seem to "count" in your contest, you could always use the $200 to buy a clean pair of pants, shirt and shoes, some gas money and a nice pen and use those things to drive to various fast food restaurants and fill out employment applications.

Commence working at one, and at the end of the year you'll have turned your $200 into $18-20K. That should win your bet.

[uncle_scott]

^^^Haha, I like your thinking. Problem is I have a very good full-time job as a County Planner, and I am currently a Graduate Student in a Public Administration weekend program. Perhaps a few nights a week at a restaurant would be possible. I don't think that fits into the spirit of what we are trying to acheive. But...I am not above a little rule bending in order to see the money roll in at the end of the year.

[on2wheels52]

Thats better than I can do.



Jim

[Embraer]

reminds of the kid on craigslist that started with a red paperclip...and kept trading up to things, until he had a house.

[Embraer]

buy a $200 gift certificate to pelican parts. raffle it off here for $5 a chance. you'll make money.

[speeder]

Go to the Hard Rock in Vegas. Walk over the the Roulette table closest to the bar and put the $200 on 17 black. If it hits, you'll then have $6800. Put the $6800 on red. If it hits, you'll have $13,600. If it doesn't, don't cry. You only lost $200.

[Bill Douglas]

It's a bit like a drunk guy who was bothering me for $10. To get rid of him I said "If you give ME $10, I'll see you back here in one hour with $200."

[Dantilla]

A big key is to stick with what you know.

A friend who is a real estate appraiser also checks every pawn shop around for guitars and amps. He makes sure they are up to snuff and resells them on craigslist or eBay. Always has a half-dozen or so guitars, has fun playing them, and makes extra money on the side.

I couldn't do this- I don't know a good deal on a guitar from an overpriced one (My Fender Strat came from one of his pawn shop acquisitions)

Another guy who knows I've made money with cars called me up one day, and asked why he couldn't sell the cars he "stole" at an auction. The problem? He bought boring cars. One of them was a Toyota Camry. Not exactly a hot commodity. With thousands of average cars for sale, that's no way to turn a profit.

So..... Stick with what you know. Or get burned.

[LakeCleElum]

If you can do mechanical work, become a "Flipper".....I once kept a spreadsheet for what I bought/sold for one year....I put over $10K in my pocket and was able to give my daughter 9 year old top of the line Honda Accord for her college graduation present.

Just keep your eyes/ears open....Check Ebay, Craigslist, etc daily...

[Bill Douglas]

My grandfather knew his Royal Doulton and Wedgewood china. He could look at the signatures of the handpainters and know exactly what it was worth. He loved looking through boxes of junk at estate auctions and finding these items which he typically bought for 50 cents or a dollar.

[LeeH]

Buy from garage sales and thrift stores, sell on Craigslist and/or Ebay. Used to be pretty easy, but Craigslist has more and more users. People will price items high at their garage sales and say that if the stuff doesn't sell that they'll just run ads on Craigslist.

I've had the best luck with bicycles and stereo equipment, but you just never know. An old man was sitting in a very cool 1940s barber chair in his garage when I pulled up to a garage sale. As I was leaving I jokingly asked if the chair was for sale. "Yep... can't take less than $50 though," was his answer. I sold it for $450 later that afternoon.

[Cobracarrera]

Go to some pawn shops....we have plenty here in Georiga...Look for things that catch your interest as it will sure catch someone elses interest when it comes time to sell...(usually)
Before buying the item; get as much info on it and take pictures of it to help you do a little research on it...Google is a great tool to have available....It usually leads you to the right decision if you will make a profit or not...

We had a lot of antique stores in NJ when I lived there...especially in New Hope, but they were very expensive. These are the places you would most likely not have as much luck...


I did used to buy Honda's and all the import type cars that the kids were into to make a nice profit....Especially when the movies were out glorifying the wannabe import hotrods....They still seem to be selling well as the younger generation are still not as much into the american muscle..