



     When You're Out Of Work


                                        By Gary Bryant


           Being laid off,  fired or just plain unemployed 
    for any reason can be  very stressful even on the most 
    resilient of  individuals.  Not only because you're 
    confronted with a  loss of income, but because of the 
    resulting emotional stress unemployment can have on a 
    family.  
    
          One way to ease the burden somewhat is to start a 
    2nd-hand resale business through classified ads. Lucky 
    for you, most newspapers and weekly shopper  papers are 
    either free or of minimal cost.  Go down to 7-11 or your 
    favorite 79 cents-a-barrel pop store and pick up one or 
    two papers.  Now look at the ads.  Why are these ads here?
      
         People are always trying to do one thing. Get rid of 
    something they don't need and recoup a little cash in the 
    process. So here's your chance.

         Spend a few days looking at ads for bicycles,  computers, 
    pianos, guitars or video cameras, Soon  you'll be able to 
    recognize brand names and at the same  time develop a sense 
    of worth.  Start marking ads where the prices seem unusually low. 
    
         There are three  reasons why prices might be low on 
    an individual item.

     1) This is an honest seller and knows he has a piece of
        useless junk. 

     2) The seller is unaware of the current  market value.  

     3) The seller might have other reasons for selling not 
        necessarily related to the item.  (Moving to the arctic
        ...can't keep pet Python). 

         So what do you do? Purchase the items in categories 
     two and three,  clean them up, do minor repair if needed 
     and resell at five percent less than the average price you 
     seen in  the paper. 

         And if you need cash to get started? Check your local 
     'free column' and have a garage sale.  It does work!  

