Monetize Your Hobbies: E-Commerce and Community Impact

Turn your technical skills and passion for repurposing technology into a community-focused business. This guide explores how to fund educational initiatives by selling recycled electronics through eBay or your own online store, covering everything from basic setup to business registration and merchant accounts.

E-Commerce and Community

Objective Statement

Positive change in community through educational contributions,
funded by commercial application of domain experience and repurposing discarded/recycled technology.

But What Does that Mean?

In General, the project aims to document how one technology enthusiast was able to help the local community.

Projects are funded by marketing technical skills, and repurposing recycled technology.

Requirements

Software Used

Hardware Used

  1. B/W Laser printer
  2. Thermal label printer (Optional)
  3. Smartphone with Camera, or digital camera
  4. Solid colored sheet
  5. 9x6x2 cardboard boxes
  6. Product to be sold (in our case: VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, or CDs)

Option 1: Ebay Store Setup

  1. Create Ebay account.
  2. Setup paypal account.

Option 2: Small Business Bootstrapping

  1. Registering Business
  2. Applying for tax id/tax number
  3. Setting up merchant account / credit card processing

Online Store Set-up