How Does a Small, Home-Based Business Do Market Research in ...

I'm thinking about selling stuff (let's call them Widgets) on the internet as a one-person business (plus any free help I can get on the side). Since I'm expecting this business to rather investment heavy, I need to do some budgeting/planning before I take the plunge.

However, I'm stuck on trying to figure out how much I could expect to make, on average. The particular type of Widget that I'm planning to sell doesn't seem to have a lot of hard data--it tends to be either sold in bulks far larger than I'm capable of producing, or be lumped under other similar products. I've tried emailing a couple of web-based sellers, but I have no idea if I'll ever hear back from them or if my email has just been dismissed as spam before it even got opened.

I really, really don't want to spend a couple thousand dollars setting up a small business and then have a room full of product that I can't move because I didn't do the research. I know there's no fool-proof magic ball I can look into, but if I could have a rough neighborhood estimate, then I at least would be able to figure out whether or not I could ever be in the black.

Source: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=623658

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