Business Idea: Selling Expired Products

One of the best ways to build capital is to find a way to sell goods that are in high demand and have a low cost. It may seem like finding such a niche in business is a pipe dream. However, if you look around carefully, you can find plenty of raw materials or products that were previously considered unfit for profit. One bright example from the past is the use of unwanted sawmill waste for making chipboard. And recently, the global community was astonished by another successful business idea - selling expired food products.

One of the brightest examples in this field is the staggering success of a British entrepreneur who quickly built his business on reselling products past their expiration date. In our country, such a business is currently unrealistic due to legislative peculiarities. Nevertheless, it makes sense to consider such a business model. Firstly, it can be applied to non-food items. And secondly, it can be expected that within social programs, the sale of expired long-shelf-life products to low-income populations may be permitted.

Even wealthy people prefer to budget and seek the most affordable purchases. What about those segments of the population with low income levels or living on welfare... In such cases, one must economize even on essential items like food.

Meanwhile, a huge amount of expired products that are still safe for consumption are disposed of or thrown into landfills. However, this situation mainly applies to developed countries overseas.

In our country, large retail chains are reluctant to lose their profits and resort to numerous illegal tactics: falsifying expiration dates, using expired goods to prepare various dishes in culinary departments. If such acts are revealed, store administrations face fines or bad publicity. However, the measures against violators are not serious enough to compel retail chain management to write off expired products. If retail chains had the option to at least partially offset losses from unsold products or shift responsibility for disposal to a third party, resorting to such tactics would be unnecessary.

An successful business scheme for selling expired products was implemented by Dan Calder, and in a short period, this entrepreneur became a millionaire.

Business Model for Selling Expired Products

The trade is conducted through the online store "ApprovedFood," which literally means "Quality Assured Food." Of course, the focus is not on perishable products such as dairy, meat, or baked goods. On the website, you can buy long-shelf-life carbonated drinks, confectionery, canned goods, granola, chips, and more. Moreover, the cost of these products is on average 50% lower.

The site owner insists that the expiration dates on such products do not indicate the date when the product becomes dangerous but rather the day when its taste and smell may deteriorate. Therefore, such food can be consumed for quite some time after the indicated date. Allegedly, expiration dates are created for sellers, not buyers, which is why tons of good food end up in landfills daily.

For storage and shipment of products, a large modern AAA class warehouse in Sheffield is used. The store employs 50 staff members who manage around 600 orders per day. The store is not only focused on making a profit but also on addressing social issues. Therefore, to ensure affordable food for all interested parties, the website limits orders to no more than 12 units of the same product per person. The popularity of affordable food products is so high that orders are not only coming from the UK but also from most European countries and even the United States. Thanks to this expansion of the customer base, the business owner is seriously considering opening several new warehouses in neighboring countries.

Now, let's talk about the numbers. One of the best indicators of the popularity of online stores is the percentage of direct user visits to the site. At "ApprovedFood," this number is simply astounding: 42%. This indicates that all these users come to the store not through advertisements but through direct links to make purchases. Even the largest online stores in the Russian-speaking sector of the internet do not come close to this record.

Only the Australian store "Kogan.com" has a higher percentage of direct visits - 49%. The policy of this site is to offer the lowest prices for every product. This illustrates how popular inexpensive goods are even in developed countries. What about our country with all its social problems.

Establishing a Similar Business in Our Realities

It is not possible to fully replicate such a scheme in our country as legislation prohibits the sale of any expired products. However, considering the potential of this type of trade, it makes sense to legalize such trading at least at the regional level. The business idea can be presented as a social program for low-income segments of the population. By conducting inspections of product batches that prove their quality, it would be possible to organize sales in the future. If agreements are reached with large stores regarding the disposal or purchase of their expired products, this can apply not only to food products but also to household chemicals, toilet paper, napkins, and other essential goods that are barely perishable but have expiration dates according to the law.

As you can see, money can be made not only from original startups but also from products/raw materials that typically end up in landfills. Be bold in generating your business ideas, and success will inevitably come to you.