The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Small Business Deep Dives with Entrepreneurs She Turned $1 Into $5,000 With This Overlooked Side Hustle⏐Ep. #257
22 snips
Dec 16, 2025 
In this conversation, Mindi Reinke, a savvy reseller and entrepreneur focused on homeschooling, shares her journey of turning $1 into $5,000 through book arbitrage. She discusses sourcing pallets of school books from GovDeals, emphasizing the profitability of curriculum items. Mindi explains how she uses AI tools like ChatGPT to identify and list her inventory efficiently. With insights on managing time while homeschooling her kids and her successful pivot to live selling on platforms like Whatnot, Mindi reveals accessible strategies for anyone looking to enter the resale market.
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AI Made Book Arbitrage Practical
- Book arbitrage works because institutions liquidate large volumes and AI makes identification scalable.
- ChatGPT reduced tedious item identification, turning a slow hobby into a profitable micro-business.
A $1 Pallet Turned Into A Big Sale
- Mindi found pallets of school books on GovDeals and bid $1 on two pallets mostly as a curiosity.
- After bringing them home she discovered curriculum sets that sold for hundreds on eBay and listed one for $350 which sold in five days.
Curriculum Is The Hidden Gold
- Curriculum is the high-value segment inside mixed book pallets and often underrepresented on marketplaces.
- Few sellers list these niche sets, so demand and margins can be unexpectedly high.