If you have decided to get into the profitable drop shipping business, your best bet is to sell what you know and love. Offer a product or line for which you have a deep passion. There is a never-ending list of merchandise available for you to market in your online store. Yet, here you are, fishing around for ideas for your new virtual store. Since the list is so vast, I am going to outline five things that I think you should avoid selling.

The first line of products I suggest you should steer clear of is books. Amazon already has the corner on the mainstream online market. Half offers books at major discount, and numerous sites make used books available for pennies. So, just don't go there.

My second, third and fourth bad ideas are tobacco, alcohol and guns. Anything that involves the ATF, shipping laws and import taxes that vary from country to country and state to state will create much more hassle and work than it is worth in the long run. If you have your own vineyard or brewery, that is a different story, but I am just offering my two cents here.

The fifth and final no-no in the home based drop shipping business list of ideas is information, specifically blackmail or State secrets. My reasoning on this is that their value is decreasing so quickly that you could not possibly hope to recoup the money you would spend on setting up your website and making contacts in third world countries or hanging out in Georgetown bars. 

Anything goes these days and there just are not any secrets left worth keeping, or selling, for that matter. Between loose morals and loose talk on Facebook and Twitter, the dirty laundry is already airing in the wind.

The lesson to be learned here, my friends, is get back to the basics and focus on your favorite things. The hobby or pastime that you always wished could be your day job really can be if you market it right and find a good wholesale supplier. In fact, if it truly is books you love, and you can offer them in some amazing new-fangled way, here's to you! Now get out there and chase your dreams.