However, if you are used to working nine till five and like to have routine in your life then perhaps you should reconsider. A few cold, caffeine-fuelled nights staking out a target on behalf of your client and maybe that office cubicle doesn't look so bad after all.
Still interested? Then you are going to need specific training at a private investigator school as the profession is no place for amateurs and many US states require investigators to be licensed.
Don’t let the word "school" frighten you off – unlike studying at high school a private investigator course will involve studying a narrow field of expertise that is going to be of some interest to you.
Attending private investigator school will enable you to pick up years of hard-won experience in a short time as you learn the techniques of private investigation. Think that all it takes is a camera and a telephoto lens to become a private investigator? Think again.
There are methods of surveillance to learn, techniques on how to follow your subject, how to disguise yourself without causing suspicion, how to use modern bugging technology, online investigation and much more. You will also need to know how to gather evidence and what evidence will stand up in court.
There's also the fine line between legal and illegal surveillance and on a private investigator course you'll learn the difference. There’s no point invading your subject's privacy to gather evidence when your client cannot later use it in court because you obtained it illegally. Your client could lose the court case due to insufficient evidence, it would certainly damage your reputation and could even lead to you being sued so these are vital lessons to learn.
On the other hand, the rewards are good. Private investigators are well paid and the job is different every day. But what private investigators really do is solve their client's problems – and they can make a difference to peoples lives.
How about re-uniting a divorced mother with her young daughter after the father has run off with the child during his day of access? Locating the birth parent for an adopted client who has always dreamed of finding his real mother? Or running a background check and discovering that the nanny employed by your client to look after their children has a violent history?
Sure, the money's good, but you can't buy that kind of job satisfaction.
What they don't always tell you in the success stories is that becoming a full-time eBay seller is not for everyone. You really should try it part-time before you consider taking it up full-time, and even then, caution is recommended. Before you go and burn your suit, here's a list of questions you should ask yourself.
How Much Am I Earning From eBay Now?
Calculate how many hours a week you spend working on eBay related things (be honest here), then divide this by the average profit you make in a week. If you were doing full-time hours, would you earn as much as you earn now?
Do I Have a Good Job?
Consider what you might lose if you quit your job to focus on eBay. If you're in a well paid job with good promotion prospects then it's well worth reconsidering: you might get a few years down the line and wish you'd stayed in your traditional job, as you'd probably be the CEO by now.
Can I Really Make Much More Money?
Unless you're selling a large quantity of small goods, most of what you do on eBay will be waiting for auctions to end and you can wait at work just as easily as you can at home. Whether you would make more money on eBay really depends on what kinds of items you're selling ? for low value items, going full-time could be a good move. For high-value ones, the chances are you'll hit the limits of how much money you have to invest in inventory long before you hit the limits on your time.
Can I Handle Working At Home?
Apart from anything else, you might find that your dream of working at home is more of a nightmare in reality. Your family can start to depend on you to get things done during the day. If you have a wife and children then they can resent the fact that you're in the house but refuse to have anything to do with them for large parts of the day. Giving in to them and stopping work for a while will cause your profits to slide.
Would I Survive if it All Went Wrong?
Could you get by if you had a month or two where you sold nothing? Or would you be desperately looking around for a job and cursing the day you ever discovered eBay? That's the real test.
If you are not phased by these questions, then I guess you could be cut out for the eBay lifestyle ? and even if you were phased, you'd be surprised just how far you can get part-time.
Both Mark Davies & Darren Yates are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mark Davies has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dog Care, belly fat and Bathroom Home Improvement. Mark Davies is convinced he’s being followed but that could just be his natural paranoia. Mark invites you to visit his site