During the summer I got some emails from people looking to sell mostly small collections. The other day I went through my inbox all the way back into April trying to make sure I haven't missed anything. By doing that I identified a dozen people that had contacted me when I was busy getting ready or at camp.
Vintage Scouting Memorabilia On eBay
This picture is kinda typical of the items I was offered. Mostly people's personal Scouting items not the accumulated collection of a true collector. These small collections can be very fun to purchase because they usually are affordable and almost always contain a few surprises. Hopefully my tardiness in engaging these folks doesn't mean I've lost out but at least now I'm getting organized.
So what I've done to keep track of these multiple conversations is go old school. I have an envelope with blank index cards in it. Every contact gets a new index card and I record our contact points and the status of the situation on the card so I can remember what I said or offered etc. I've heard back from some of them and hopefully have a few deals going down soon. I also am going to use the cards to keep track of what "should" be coming in the mail.
Another patch project I've got underway is to give two of my selling accounts a store makeover. In the spring I announced I was experimenting with 5dollarpatchstore and a new OA only account oapatch. Both of these are poised to grow so I have hired a graphic designer to help me create better branding for those stores as I invest time and patches into filling them up.
The other way that I am building out my stores is using remote employees to help build listings. I've got two former employees that live in Charlotte doing some work from home now helping me get stuff scanned and listed. I also have two other people that I've known for a long time helping with some things like creating spreadsheets and uploading images. Adding help is essential to growing the business and handling all the stuff I need to move.
So wrapping up the summer (it's hot ya'll!) and moving into the fall I hope to double my eBay presence while still moving stuff on Facebook. I just have to get the cash flow up to handle all this which is the classic dilemma of small business.
Keep Calm And Scout On,
Jason Spangler Hot Finds Newsletter
In Charlotte, North Carolina I have an antique mall booth that is filled with nothing but Scouting stuff. I call this location my clearance center because I've marked down everything to move. A lot of what you will find there are items that are too bulky to easily ship from an Internet store. The booth is located in The Sleepy Poet which is a well established antique mall on South Blvd in Charlotte. The mall is open 7-days/week year round. So the next time you are in the area come check it out.
