7 Random Facts

I've been "tagged" to share 7 random facts about myself and since this is an entrepreneurial blog, I will stay thematic.

1) In 1993 I began writing and publishing a newsletter entitled, "BIG Ideas/Small Budget." I think Vegetales stole my BIG Idea and they should pay me some money. Do you agree?
2) One time a subscriber gave a gift subscription to my newsletter to a friend for her birthday. This friend didn't quite "get" the gift and when she called to tell the giver about the subscription she said, "The folks from Vegetales just sent me the coolest newsletter." I think that was a compliment.
3) My friend, Bethany, joined me as co-editor. One year we were writing an article about thrifty shopping that was going in a national homeschool magazine so we dressed our families and went to the park for a picture. At the time I had 8 of my nine children and Bethany had 6 of her 7 so altogether there were 18 of us and we were totally dressed for less than $100, including shoes. At the time we thought we looked fashionable. Looking back at the picture now, I'm not so sure!
4) Before thrift shopping became easier than saving hand-me-downs I would keep my children's clothes in buckets labled by ages, gender, and season. One time someone said to Kelley, who was about 5 at the time, "You are always dressed so nice. Where does your mom get your clothes?" and she replied, "The attic." Nowadays, unless there is something memorable about the outfit (bought by a certain person or handmade), I rarely save clothes to pass down to younger children.
5) Our family designed, made and sold garnet and gold jewelry and hair products to Seminole fans (Go noles!). We learned early on that if it's garnet and gold, no matter what it is, someone will buy it. I created a headband that was made by weaving ribbon, adding beads and feathers. It fit all the way around the head and was adjustable. The ends of the ribbon hung down with garnet and gold feathers dangling from the end of the ribbon. I was quite proud of this creation. A local store in the mall bought them from me (The Garnet and Gold store) and sold them at several locations. One evening I went to an FSU pep rally type event and set up my products to sell, next to another vendor. I looked over at her table and there was my headband, only it wasn't made nearly as well (really, it wasn't). I picked it up and the vendor said, "I had to buy one of those for $25 at the mall just so I could take it apart and figure out how to make it." Another vendor told me I was lucky to have enjoyed being the sole maker of my design while it lasted. Then she said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." I was flattered.
6) Since it's Valentine's day I will admit that I buy candy for my children, the day AFTER Valentine's day. They know they'll get more and I feel much better about paying less.
7) I won a Starbucks Gift card for $5 just by doing my searches online through Swagbucks. I already have enough credits to get another one, but I might hold out for something else. Sign up using this link and I'll get credit! http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=283240

I don't know how to tag so I won't. I'm sure many of my friends are relieved!

Reviving the blog

We began with a bang and quickly fizzled -- in part due to the fact that our hopes, dreams and aspirations for an Ebay business were not panning out and, in part due to the fact that the summer schedule for the Wesos became pretty intense. Then, between September and December, I drove well over 7,000 miles for worldview seminars, trips to TN and to Orlando to visit family, pick up a daughter from the airport, deliver a daughter back to the airport etc. In December our #2 son (4th child) got married. All the kids and grands were here and it was grand. Now that the new year has begun, we've revived the Weso entrepreneurial business, partly inspired by the newly married son who has moved here and who is accomplishing great success with buying, selling, and trading. We'll be posting more about our experiences in the days to come.

Not so good results . . .

At my oldest daughter's advice we decided to post a few items on Ebay with a "buy it now price." That would have been great had folks not been able to bid and purchase said items for a mere .99c. Ooops. We did something wrong and ended up selling a new pair of Lacrosse hunting boots (which retail for around $90) and a pair of Heelys for 99c. Live and learn.

We are thinking that unless we have really high ticket items that generate multiple bids, that we should sell on Craigslist.

Even better, I'm thinking that collecting books for McKays and trading for cash might be more profitable.

We have a stack of about 20 games that we are trying how best to sell. Any thoughts?

Books

Books to resell . . . hm . . . this is confusing. We found a 1938 edition of "Gone With the Wind" in my parent's attic. Go to Abebooks.com and you'll find the same exact book costing anywhere from $10 to $5000. Go to Ebay and you'll see a copy going for $1.99. If you have a first print edition with a dust jacket you'll see it priced for TENS of thousands (up to $80,000) at Abe books, but going for $124 on Ebay. I'm assuming one must know their books well in order to know when to buy and how to sell in such a way that you get the most for your investment. It's easier for me to buy the books I know McKays will take for trade (my favorite used bookstore in Tennessee) and not worry about finding antique books worth hundreds of dollars, although if I stumble upon one now and then, I'll certainly take advantage of the opportunity!

So many books . . . so many diverse prices on the same book!

Sale

YES! One of the 50c items (McDavid Cowboy Collar) sold for $20. It was listed on Craigslist and a man came and bought it. That's a profit of almost 400% (is that right?) minus time, energy and gas. Now, if we only had 200 more of those babies!

On another note, I helped my sister clean out my parent's attic and found boxes of hard back, old classics (some first editions). Thinking they would be worth some money I brought them on and checked on-line only to discover most were not worth more than $10. With the exception of "Gone With the Wind" (which may be worth as much as $100) we'll keep the books and pass them on to our children and grandchildren.

In the attic we also found old printing blocks that are mostly metal (brass and copper) and wood. They are very heavy and antique but they are not worth much either. Might be worth more as scrap metal.

Finding a niche will be important to ensuring less risk and more profit.

Two treasures

While Kimmy was busy posting the items on Craigslist today Courtney and I went to the Good Cents store and found 2 baby items -- each costing only 50c. Both have sold on Ebay for a minimum of $20!! I returned for the 2nd opening of the store and came away with only books -- books to keep (Survey of the New Testament) and books to sell (set of 4 Janet Oake books for only $1 -- Canadian series). I also bought a working, rechargeable Norelco shaver for $3. I bought it because my husband lost a piece off of his and it looked identical. I thought I'd fix his shaver but have discovered that the one I bought works just fine!

We've already sold a couple of "buy it now" items on Ebay and now we need to figure out the best way to ship! I opened a USPS assistant program on the computer. I've heard that the USPS will deliver boxes and labels to you if you request them, saving you from actually going to the post office!

Back to business . . .

We began posting on Ebay and Craigslist. We've had some interest, but nothing to get excited about. We took yesterday off to prepare for Kimmy's evening surprise party which was a success -- she was surprised! Instead of posting, we sent Kimmy off with friends and spent the day preparing food. We did have one inquiry into our Gucci purse wanting to know if it was "real." We don't know if it's real -- how does one tell a "real" from a "fake"?

We have a ton of games that we are sure homeschoolers will love, but we're not sure the best way to resell them. Any ideas? Are there sites for used games? We'll have to do our research today.

My daughter suggests we find our niche. I'm beginning to agree. We'll have to do more research in order to discover the best use of our time if we are to continue this endeavor!

Off to the Good Cents store . . . .