Becoming An Anime Merchant

So, lately I've been selling my possessions on Amazon and (much less) on eBay. I'm beginning to learn how things work, and I enjoy the process of listing, shipping, answering questions, and packaging. It's fun. Now, I don't have a full time job or school this summer, but I will be a full-time college student in the fall. I know a lot of my peers either have jobs or have their own small business. I've been to enough cons to get a limited idea on how the fans buy items, but not necessarily how dealers sell them. It seems that if you play your cards right and not buy a mass supply of merchandise at the beginning, there is room for profit. I'm looking for a job where I get to work at home (I like being my own boss) and selling things online. I also like going to cons. So, can anyone tell me how to be a merchant at a con or sell things online. I know it (usually) involves getting a license from your state, touching base with the IRS, and (suggesting) create a separate bank account for business. I also read you have to register for the con you play to sell months in advance. So that's what I do know, but I do not know what merchandise to buy. Should I go for collectibles and target otaku who have extra money to spend? Or should I go for things that the thrifty will spend? Please let me know your thoughts.

I know nothing about selling. But I am a frequent buyer of anime goods. I'll give you my thoughts (that probably won't help) If you plan on targeting the collectible collectors, or those with money to splurge, you might have a hard time finding buyers depending on what you sell. For example, Good Smile products (nendoroids and stuff) sell well, but there is a large amount of fake Good Smile products that savvy purchasers usually avoid newer sellers with no reputation. There are just better places to buy those. If you do sell collectibles, perhaps try to find a niche market with little competition. However, acquiring those products might be expensive and your profit margin may be low. But there are people who will purchase those collectors items if you are selling them for a decent price. I myself look through all the sellers on amazon on a particular item when purchasing to get the best deal on price and shipping. But I also take into account the feedback those sellers have. I suggest starting out on thrifty items to build your name as a seller. You will probably acquire goods a lot cheaper and be able to sell more frequently instead of waiting on that one collector deciding if he wants to spend a large amount of money. Once you get your reputation up, I'm sure you can move up to collector's stuff and not worry so much of not selling your merchandise if it is supplemented with the thrifty goods. But like I said, I know nothing of being a seller.

I've been selling figures and other anime related goods on ebay for the past few years now. It's very slow goings, hasn't made me very much money at all, and can be a real hassle sometimes do to horrible policies on ebay that make it easy for buyers to screw over sellers.