Thanks for all the replies, I actually wasn't expecting so much of a response - maybe there are a lot more people out there in a similar situation. I like the medical transcriptionist suggestion, as well as the ebay & craigslist buy & resell though I'm not sure she or I know the best type of items to focus on. As for a niche site selling x-type of items... that sounds alright and one I've thought of - but what's a good niche market where the google ad words prices aren't astronomical? Anyone?
If she's going to dip her toes into ecommerce there is no point in developing a site and trying to build up traffic. Thats a losing battle. Start with a platform that has a built in network where the marketplace and infrastructure is already there for you like eBay stores or Etsy. If she nails it on eBay then you build a site and drive sales to her site.
If she's willing to put in the work and knows a market pretty well it shouldn't be hard to acquire things for below their value, pretty them up and flip them on eBay. My girlfriend made a few bucks buying shoes at sample sales and selling them on eBay, but she knows the market pretty well.
Back in the day I used to snipe music gear auctions with bad listings on eBay for below value, clean them up and take some nice photos and flip it back on eBay. Bigger ticket items mean good margins.
I would also have her take a look at some of the types of gigs on ODesk or one of the personal assistant micro task sites (FancyHands, TaskRabbit, Zaarly etc), she might be able to build up a skillset out of random virtual gigs
Usborne Books is a major distributor of childrn's books. Sales are robust, it's big enough to have real influence & support but individual sellers can make good in their own region. Pretty much a "make as much as you want to" (with proportial effort). Worth looking into. http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/opportunity.asp?sid=H3967...
