The LEAD Products LLC (Life-cycle Extension and Distribution) started many years ago as a experiment for me; would I be able to buy stuff on sale and sell it to my friends at a great price and still make money? I wanted to make it easy to identify a good deal so I focused on items I already knew something about. When my friends were not interested in the products I purchased I started looking to the various internet marketplaces to sell. It was then I realized I could make more money selling on the internet, sometimes earning retail prices.

The endeavor quickly turned into a hobby where I could earn money, instead of just spending it. I also didn’t have a lot of time to go “deal” searching because I was working 6 days a week. Sunday was the only day I had free, I was busy doing all the normal domestic activities that needed to be accomplished, like shopping for food and other goods. One day I noticed the clearance shelf at a big box store and a light switch flipped in my head. I could hardly contain myself while I explained the idea to a few close friends. Though my excitement was overwhelming, my explanation sounded like a bad idea.

All week I thought about it and could not wait for my Sunday shopping trip, an activity that I despised until now. When I walked into the store on this day, I walked, really, really fast to the clearance shelf to see what I could find. I found what I thought were pretty good deals that I could make some money on and they went into the cart. I had no idea what Retail Arbitrage was, but I had set a goal of making enough money to pay my phone bill every month and thought this might be a way to do that.

This happened and then that happened, life changed, and I made time to pursue other sources for the products I would sell. I bought storage lockers, went to estate sales and auctions, and the local thrift stores looking for good deals. I was enjoying myself and was able to make some pretty good money even though I had more bills now, like storage fees for until I could sell the things I bought. I also had a lot more stuff to get rid of and the big stuff is hard to ship when you don’t do it often. So, I started to spend my weekends at the flea markets and yard sales, and my weekdays finding good deals.

My phone bill goal has been accomplished and I am making my living buying and selling, but I do not see a way to grow this into a business and let others do the work for me. I rented some work space and hired some friends and started doing my own auctions. I quickly outgrew my small 1,000 square foot rented space and moved into a bigger place with a dock and hired some more friends and did even more auctions. That space didn’t last long, and my friends needed to make more money (work more hours) so we moved into a bigger building and hired more friends and did more auctions.

We developed a great reputation with the local auction scene and grew our online marketplace enough to hire friends to help with that while maintain great customer feedback and reviews.

We now have a goal of paying our friends a good wage while they grow with us and providing a good work environment. We have also been able to identify some tasks along the way that we enjoy doing that other people despise. Stay tuned, that is the next chapter of LEAD Products LLC.