Branching Out and Other Ideas for income

[emsbronco]

An interesting one I saw a local computer/IT shop do for extra income was to host a digital fingerprinting machine in their store. Drives new people into their store who need to get their fingerprints taken for some sort of work related security screening, and they make a few extra bucks from it. I thought it was a novel idea.

I saw another one who was a UPS drop-off point / photocopy shop.

I recently got a cold call from one of the digital fingerprinting services. They refused to tell me what they payout would be unless I agreed to meet with them, but because I don't have a second person in my shop right now, they decided I wasn't a good match. They required a guaranteed minimum 6 hour window for 5 days a week where the store is staffed. If I still had my bench tech here, I would have pushed for a meeting.

As far as the UPS service. A drop off point is risky for the client. If you are not an authorized UPS reseller or commercial counter, they can deny any service delay or damaged package claims.
We used to run a UPS/FedEx/USPS store alongside my computer shop. They were separate LLCs, with separate POS systems but shared the space. It was profitable for a while, especially when offering packaging services and doing fragile items. We also resold freight and palleting services. One of the larger regular packing jobs we did was custom glassware by freight going to a gallery in Alaska. Profit on packing one pallet and shipping/insurance was usually in the area of $400 and that one customer was good for 4-8 pallets a year.
At the time, UPS required $350 in sales per week and FedEx required a minimum of 30 ground and 30 express packages a month shipped on account - these volume numbers didn't include drop off packages. Drop off packages for both services, when a reseller, gets you between 50 cents and 90 cents a package depending on the type of service. Commercial counters do not get paid from UPS for drop offs.

Back in 2011, UPS closed our account because we weren't meeting volume requirements and in, 2012, FedEx closed our account because we couldn't meet the Express packages (despite doing over 90 ground packages a month). In this region, several other pack/ship stores also went out, including the closest UPS store. Starting in 2010, we started seeing a shift from people shipping in store to drop-offs with prepaid labels, which was the driving force in not meeting shipping requirements. From talking to people I still know in that field, the retail pack/ship industry is scrambling to find other revenue streams to keep their businesses alive. If you are in a large community, big college town, or have a large population of recent immigrants, you may be able to make money on pack/ship services.

 

[NviGate Systems]

We are a UPS Access Point, which has no minimum, and we get 50¢ per package dropped off or picked up. This seems to be the new shift, as although sales have dropped for instore shipping, customers still need a pickup place.

It's more a traffic solution, as stores who would like extra traffic can go this route.

One word of warning though is that being an access point can suck your time away. You get phone calls from clients who were told by UPS that a package will be ready after 1PM next day and it isn't there, also folks who are too lazy to look up online to see a package status. Then there are always those who don't have ID or it's a package not for them etc. So expect an extra 1-2 hours of your time gone depending on how many packages you get. If you run a lean shop this might not be the best.

 

[emsbronco]

We are a UPS Access Point, which has no minimum, and we get 50¢ per package dropped off or picked up. This seems to be the new shift, as although sales have dropped for instore shipping, customers still need a pickup place.

Interesting. What are the requirements? Space allotted, hours, etc?

 

[NviGate Systems]

Not sure as the boss handles that. It does require some space, ours is kinda ghetto. Anyways, you can always inquire, I don't think UPS has high standards lol.

 

[FremontPC]

I branched out into insurance claims on electronics, big money, takes a while to get paid put in price sheets with fire/flood restore companies in your area.

There are construction contractors that work exclusively with insurance companies. I gather they don't get paid a lot, but the work is always there. Didn't see much of a downturn during the recession....

 

[CheddarPCsKP]

We do basic watch repairs - new batteries and strap replacements/adjustments. Doesn't bring in much, around £25 a week at best, but it helps.

 

[Rocco]

I decided to see if small appliance repair was a thing people were interested in. I was surprised to learn it nets me an additional $300-600 a month. I guess people are really attached to their blender.

 

[mrbadgolf]

I have never thought about the insurance part. that is very interesting.