I'm looking at making a small side income copying BPCs, but I don't have the capacity to manufacture the finished T2 good, so would it be better to sell the BPC or invent with it, and sell the T2 BPC?
I mainly do small items like ammunition and laser crystals.
The answer to this depends on several factors including market fluctuations so you can get different answers for different items and different answers for the same item over a period of time if the market changes or as you train relevant skills. There's no way around doing the maths for each item. Remember that when it comes to inventing, you'll also need to know what your chance of a successful invention job is. Inventions are hit and miss and you can go through good spells and bad spells but if you're doing large numbers, it should eventually even out to your predicted invention chance. To work this out, you can use either the formula or the online calculator here... http://games.chruker.dk/eve_online/invention_chance.php
If you're going to try to make money from inventions, train all of the relevant skills up to 4 to begin with then consider taking them to 5 to increase your profit margins.
I would suggest rather than trying to sell them on the open market, to try and find a T2 Manufacturer, and work out a supply deal. Even better if he is in the same area/system so that you don't have to haul the BPCs very far. This way you'll have a more reliable demand, and you'll know exactly what he wants.
Mind you, often the easiest way to do this is to start with putting up your BPCs (T1 or T2) for sale, and see who buys them. Then convo/mail that person and see if they want to set up a regular supply and you can tailor your production of BPCs to exactly what they want.
It is difficult to give you a definitive answer as to which one will be more profitable. It can be a bit subjective, depending on personal preference and how the market is at any given moment.
As with any industry process, if you are really interested in trying to profit you need to do the math. Watch the market to track the demand and going prices of the items or BPCs, and then calculate the cost for your time and materials to produce those products. Whichever one gives you the biggest return for the expense is how you make a profit. Keep in mind that sometimes these values change depending on the market (supply and demand), so what is more profitable may fluctuate.
