🎯 The concrete business: buying used 3-axis CNC mills, lathes and industrial woodworking machines at U.S. auctions, and selling them to job shops and furniture factories in Mexico, Colombia and Peru — a short ship away, hungry for exactly the machines U.S. shops upgrade out of.
Weeks 1–2: LLC/EIN/bank. Choose ONE category you can learn deep (say Haas/Fadal 3-axis mills, 2005–2015).
Weeks 3–6: learn prices: follow BidSpotter, GovDeals, IronPlanet and two live machinery auctions; log 50 sold prices with condition notes. Meet one rigger (machine mover) and get standing rates. Build a Spanish/English landing page + WhatsApp Business; list inventory (or brokered units) on Machinio and Surplus Record (~$100–300/mo).
Weeks 7–12: first deal, broker-style: shop asks for a machine → you find it at auction/dealer → quote landed-at-port with your margin → they prepay by wire → rigger + freight forwarder execute. Video every machine running before purchase.
| LLC + insurance | $1,200 |
| Listings + site + WhatsApp tools (6 mo) | $1,200 |
| Auction deposits/travel | $1,500 |
| First machine (inventory model) | $8,000–15,000 |
| Total: broker ≈ $4,000 · inventory ≈ $15,000–20,000 |
1) LLC/EIN → 2) EAR check: general machine tools are EAR99; high-precision (5-axis, ultra-precision) machines have real export controls — one BIS call per model number, always → 3) screening-list check per buyer → 4) commercial invoice + packing list; forwarder files AES → 5) certificate of origin (chamber, ~$50) — Latin American trade agreements can cut the buyer’s import duty, a selling point → 6) some countries want a pre-shipment inspection (SGS/Bureau Veritas — buyer pays, you schedule).
1–4: Machinio/Surplus Record inquiries (Latin American shops search there in English). 5–6: Mexican industrial-district Facebook/WhatsApp groups (machinists live there). 7–8: USEAC intros via the U.S. Commercial Service offices in Mexico City/Bogotá. 9–10: FABTECH Mexico show — STEP grant can cover the booth.
Typical deal: buy $12,000 at auction + $1,500 rigging/inland freight → sell FOB port $19,000 → ≈ $5,000/deal. One to two deals/month is a living; add tooling/parts resale (30%+ margins) between machine deals.
Month 3: 50 logged prices, listings live, instant freight quotes. Month 6: 3 completed deals, one repeat buyer. Month 12: small warehouse + 3–4 machines in stock; a commissioned agent in Monterrey or Bogotá. Change-course rule: inquiries but no wires → your landed price loses to local dealers; shift to categories with thinner local supply (specialty woodworking, packaging lines).
① Buying junk → never buy a machine you haven’t seen run (video or in person); budget the rigger’s inspection. ② Freight kills the deal → quote freight FIRST. ③ “As-is” disputes → honest video documentation + written as-is terms + optional SGS inspection. ④ Precision-machine export controls → the one-call rule, every model, every time.