Baskets

I once put a longaberger basket onto Ebay for a friend of mine.  Truth be told, I knew nothing about them and really did not show any interest in learning about them.  What surprised me was the demand for the brand since they tend to be on the pricey side.  Nonetheless, the auction closed with a lot of bidders and a lot of interest.  I was amazed at how popular the auction was and how many questions it generated.  Anything custom or crafty is the rage
nowadays online.  People love attention to detail.

Offering baskets that are custom made can be a very lucrative business.  Taking it one step further and offering the baskets filled with items that are useful is a great example of a niche market.  There are tons of online (former mail order) companies out there that offer gift baskets for sale.  For some reason to me, as a man, they really do not do much for me.  I cannot get excited about crackers or cheese, not that there is anything wrong with that.

But how about someone who makes specialty baskets?  For example, no one makes baskets for kids.  Fill a basket with stuff that a boy or girl would like and you would definitely have a winner.  I think about what my 10 year old son would like.  If you could find the ability to have a video game (drop ship and let the customer choose between games), throw in a t-shirt that a kid would like (something about his sister or school) and you would have something niche.  Niche is where it’s at.

Taking it one step further, make a Man basket.  Include some things like tools, gift certificates, custom cards (redeemable massage etc) man food (junk) and the like.  You would not even have to make the basket because a guy will probably not care, it’s just a vessel.

What it takes to get started:

This is probably one of the easier projects to get started.  Start by assembling five units and use them to gather sales data.  You will need to make or buy the baskets and all the contents.  You can easily start to market them on Ebay for start and then move to building a web page.