Flashermac Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 There was a fellow on Nanaplaza in the early days who paid for his annual trips to LOS by loading up on Buddhist amulets and selling them in eBay. Problem with that is that as soon as others see what you are doing, they copy it and ruin the market for everyone. He got about 3 or 4 years out of it before eBay was absolutely glutted with Buddhist amulets. I remember another poster who said he bought large quantities of ordinary fish hooks in LOS for next to nothing. He divided them up into plastic packets of 5 hooks each and flogged them to the local shops. Took him awhile to unload them all, but he said he more than paid for his trip that year - including airfare. Money can be made in the short run. Beyond that rots o' ruck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 One of the girls I knew from Nana gave up her job in the pool hall - must have been a tough decision - for eBay. She goes to the markets, buys shirts (mainly) and puts them on eBay. I cant imagine how many shirts she would need to sell to make enough to live off, but she claims its easy and that there are enough suckers, er, customers in the US and Europe to make it work. I guess if anyone would know how to make money from the combination of the net and Farang, its a Thai girl with English skills .... Ms CP, of course, wasnt quite bright enough to work any of this out. When I asked her how N was making money from the Net, she replied that 'she sell shirt to Chinese man'. I suspect that the Chinese already have a pretty good line on cheap shirts .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted May 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 The chinese are now more into branded clothes than cheap shirts. Big global brands...look at Emporium, Gaysorn, Paragon etc. Many shoppers from China! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Makes sense - they sure as hell aren't whoring it up in Patts. Doesn't seem to stop the Indians though - randy little buggers. The Indians who live in Pattaya must look at these guys with a mixture of horror and bemusement - they are also in plague proportions in KL. Mostly harmless though - havent seen them brawling like my beloved countrymen, the Brits and various other Farang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 The chinese are now more into branded clothes than cheap shirts. Big global brands...look at Emporium, Gaysorn, Paragon etc. Many shoppers from China! And for all this international online deals of course there is the problem of customs. As soon as German customs thinks that a parcel contains purchased goods they want the see the original invoice and ask you to go to customs office personally where they will open the parcel in front of you for the check the value of the goods. This happened to me several times with books from Japan as well as from the USA. And if you want to ship cheap items, usually you have to ship larger quantities which will catch the eye of customs even more. I think for to make money with "ethno" goods you'll need a develop your own very much exclusive niche in a crowded market (including to learn about all the pitfalls which come with dealing with locals, with the shipments, customs and taxes). I think the time of easy money might have been form the 70s to the 90s before the boom of international tourism and the before the internet. Now in the times of internet almost everything is everywhere available. PS: my sister had shop with African goods and closed it just before she would have went bankrupt. The market was too small, there were many competitors, selling at festivals (Folk music, e.g.) was very unreliable (you just needed a rainy weekend to make losses instead earning money), e.g. Either you do it big or it's more like a hobby... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave32 Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Money can be made in the short run. Beyond that rots o' ruck. Ahhh, the eternal question. If one shows up in LoS, isn't retired, isn't on an Expat package, doesn't want to teach English - how can one generate income (legally). btw - One of the fellas I go to LoS with lost a shitload of money in 2001, was laid off, and in a bad way. He and another guy started selling sunglasses at high end flea markets in San Diego and Pasadena. They'd buy them bulk for 2 or 3 dollars a piece then resell for 10. Didn't get rich but did alright. I actually went with them once and it was a pain in the ass. Up at 5am, load up the truck, drive to location - set it up - then sit there all day making sales and dealing with twits. Long day. Did it for about 6 months and made enough to get him back on his feet. One of the nurses I work with quit a couple years ago, she goes to Bali to meet her boyfriend and stays 6 weeks a few times a year, picks up up decorative vases and art for the home on the cheap, then travels to a couple shows in the States and sells it at a significant mark up, the rest she sells at local festivals. Doesn't make a whole lot but enough to cover her travel and still have about 30k yr profit (according to her). Once again though, she actually does a lot of work to make this happen, just likes the autonomy. I'm looking for something more along the lines of high-paid Farang food critic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 There is another new one opened up, Crystal Park out on Lat Phrao, another waste of space. White elephant IMHO Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place with a cool ambience but in the wrong location, most Thai's in Lat Phrao are pretentious rich living beyond their means and are currently struggling to put food on the table let alone spend 220 THB on a pint of Stella (buy 1 get one free happy hour) ? There is also City Viva on Narathiwat another new venture a plaything for Khun Chareon's kids, he should have stuck to whisky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 There is another new one opened up, Crystal Park out on Lat Phrao, another waste of space. White elephant IMHO Can someone explain to me the White Elephant stuff. Who is making on money this and this and how? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Can someone explain to me the White Elephant stuff. Who is making on money this and this and how? If only I knew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Can someone explain to me the White Elephant stuff. Who is making on money this and this and how? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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