Essentials for a small shop by the reception

Here is an excerpt from another thread about ideas for making extra money in your hostel:

You can make good cash with extras, but the amount of revenue that hostels actually generate with supplemental sales could also be negligible. Frequently hostels just sell things for the convenience of the guests without making much profit.

Here are some of the things that I hear people mention the most:

Commission-based sales

• Tours
• Museum tickets
• Airport transfers
• Taxi service
• Car rental
• Bicycle rental
• Metro and bus tickets
• Pub crawls

Laundry service
Beach/bath towel rental
Internet terminals
Phone cards
Bottled drinks

• Beer
• Wine
• Soda
• Juice
• Water

Padlocks
Key chains
T-shirts and other apparel
Electrical adapters
Personal hygiene products

• Soap
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Toothbrushes and toothpaste
• Razors and shaving cream
• Tampons
• Condoms

Snacks

• Potato chips
• Popcorn
• Cookies
• Pasta and sauce
• Microwave dinners
• Chocolate
• Ice cream

In my experience drinks are in much higher demand than other products. Many of the guests I have seen are perfectly happy to use toiletries that were left behind by other guests rather than buying their own.