Sayfu, I have done the math, and I've run similar sorts of business deals in the past. I'm NOT trying to make a living by doing this; I'm tying flies during my lunch break because it's relaxing, and I'll target flies that aren't being tied overseas. My opportunity cost for my time is $0, so all I have to do is cover the cost of materials: I bought out two online fly retailers last spring when they sold out.

I understand what you're saying, but the price and supply of hooks and the most common fly-tying materials are already stocked up in large boxes, sitting in storage ... lonely. I've spent nearly two years on eBay, looking for bargains--living overseas I can't shop in person--so I have a pretty good grasp of what's out there, and what's being charged.

If you think that I'm going to only make $.50/hour, you should make a point of ordering some flies when I bring them online so that you can get some bargains before I go broke.

Thanks for the feedback, but I'm already quite plugged into what's available on eBay, from China, etc. I'm talking about specific things that I want that are usually not available. Let me give some examples, and I'll bet you can add to my list:
1. High quality hooks: Daiichi, Gamakatsu, etc.--Chinese flies don't even touch this area because the hooks are too expensive to sell the flies for the pennies that they charge;
2. Alternative materials in standard patterns: arctic fox hair instead of zonker strips (casts easier) or Clouser minnows with something other than bucktail;
3. Alternative tying styles in standard patterns: I like my weighted streamers to ride point-up, even without hour-glass eyes--ever see woolly buggers or black-nosed dace for sale with hooks pointing up? online?
4. Newer patterns: I really liked the Clown-shoe Caddis that was featured on F&S awhile back, but try to find some online;
5. Specialty patterns: I recently took a trip to Tahoe, CA, and all of the streams and lakes in the area are heavily populated by red-sided shiners; anyone know of a red-sided shiner pattern? available online?
6. (This one is going to upset Sayfu, so, sorry, Sayfu) Fly patterns adopted for spin fishermen: I often use Clouser patterns (or similar) with my spinning rod, and I suspect that many other spin fishermen would like to use go-to fly patterns ... if they were/are available. Think of all of the heavily weighted fly patterns that are hard to cast: those are easily changed into spinning rod flies.
7. Specialty/fad items: I saw some Gateway hooks advertised in association with the Tightlines videos for fly tiers, and I thought that it would be great to try some out--you have to buy the hooks and tie them for yourself, but I'll bet that there are people who would like to try some standard patterns with Gateway hooks without having to buy the hooks and tie them for themselves.
8. Standard patterns in non-standard configurations: I love woolly buggers, and I think that most people will agree that black, olive, and brown are the most productive colors, but what if you'd like a black tail, olive body, and black hackle? Can you find it? How about online?
9. Saltwater flies (especially with high quality hooks): I'm flirting with doing some saltwater flies because the high cost of the hooks seems to have kept the overseas producers from making them.
10. Starter packages, etc.: Whenever I see F&S or Midcurrent or whoever run a list of their favorite or most recommended flies, I mentally add up how much it costs for a newby to assemble a collection like that. To get the cheap prices on eBay, you have to buy by the dozen, and that means buying one dozen of one style/color/size. Covering something standard, like a parachute Adams in standard sizes, is going to cost $1.50-2.00 per fly if purchased individually, but it's going to cost A LOT more than that if the flies are bought in bulk to get a better per-unit price.

These are the sorts of things I was thinking of. I have a business background (including a business degree, for whatever clout that carries), and I have no plans to quit my day job. I enjoy tying flies, but I already have more flies than I could probably use in a long lifetime, so I was thinking that it would be a nice break from the day to spend my lunchtime (I'm a teacher) tying flies for sale. Five flies per day equals about a thousand at the end of the year, and I can sell them during breaks. Since all of the above would be hand-tied by an American with premium materials, and probably none of them would otherwise be available online, I think that I can expect to sell them for a reasonable profit. I've bought thousands of flies on eBay, so I know what's out there ... and I know what isn't.

Now, back to what I originally asked: What are some flies that you've tried to purchase, but couldn't?

My wife is due to have our second baby this week, and I'm in the middle of moving for the summer and preparing for a new job at a new school this fall, so I have no plans to sell flies this summer. I intend to tie up a stock of flies--like those described above--over the winter and start to sell them in June of 2013 on eBay.

WV Boy, if you remove the spaces and turn the two words into their symbols, here's how you can reach me: Jan J Mudder at hot mail dot com