4 ms·

I upvoted my favorite TLD on the page (clutterbin.com) However, I'm curious about your business model. 1. How much revenue are you bringing in? 2. What is th

by bgraves 16y ago

I upvoted my favorite TLD on the page (clutterbin.com) However, I'm curious about your business model. 1. How much revenue are you bringing in? 2. What is the commission structure like? 3. How many customers do you have? 4. Where is your business located (generally, of course)? 5. Does this business model scale well? Thanks in advance, I know I'm prying but it seems very interesting. I've chatted with a friend of mine who tried the 'eBay drop-off center' business but it was difficult because people would drop off their junk and it took a lot of time to sort, research, post, and ship the items. If you've discovered a better way of making money from this process, I'd love to hear more about it.

AlexMuir 16y ago
I'm not started yet - I just used the present tense for brevity above. I'm going to test the market over the next couple of weeks with a sample dropoff. I founded a student storage business [http://www.thebigspace.co.uk http://www.thebigspace.co.uk] 7 years ago and so I've got a good grasp of the logistics of collecting and moving boxes. I also have lots of empty boxes. 1. Zero so far. 2. I'm going to start at 15% after selling costs (ebay fees and shipping) 3. I'll start by dropping boxes to 100 houses and see what I get back - if it works at that scale then I think it should scale up. 4. UK. 5. I hope so. I suspect it will because I can bulk up similar things and then ship them to the markets where they'll sell well. Eg. Old phones still fetch good money in Africa. XBox and Playstation games sell well in Eastern Europe. Likewise, DVDs are still in demand. I think the advantage over the dropshop model is: 1. Much more appealing for householders: I've got loads of stuff that just depreciating year by year. By the time I've found a box, boxed it up, found a dropshop, driven it there, and filled in the forms I could have sold it myself. This way you just pick the box up at your front door, walk round the house and fill it, write your email address on the box, and leave it back at the door. 2. Scalability: I can do this nationally by shipping inbound boxes for $7.50. I can also use a rep system, whereby local people (think Avon ladies) take on their area on a part time basis. 3. Low overhead: No premises. Centralised facility for sorting through things - ideally with the facility to simply enter a model number and condition for common items to generate a standard listing, without the need to write anything or photograph things. Drop me an email if you want - me@alexmuir.com
- limmeau 16y ago
  This sounds partly similar to businesses who clear out deceased people's houses. Perhaps you can learn from them?
  - AlexMuir 16y ago
    Those boys are all about the old furniture. They want real wood and the odd china figurine - they're also very old school. But it's an interesting business - I'd be up for house clearances too.
  - bigohms 16y ago
    In the U.S. estate sale providers make a killing and have first dibs on gold, silver and other precious, historical items.
- bgraves 16y ago
  Thanks for the thorough responses. With regard to advantages on the dropshop model: 1. I agree that it's more appealing for householders. Especially if you can get some traction with stay-at-home moms or dads. I suggest some advertising with the popular 'mommy blogs'. 2. I think scalability is going to be the largest hurdle. You will have to be selective on what you will take or people will just give you trash. Often times people would rather donate it than deal with selling it on eBay. I volunteer at a local thrift store and have seen this first hand. Try to figure out what's the very least that a box needs to sell for to make it worth your while. The rep idea is a good one: college or high school students would be perfect for this and would work for minimum wage, where as 'Avon ladies' would actually be looking to meet a higher standard of living. 3. Your overhead isn't going to be renting a warehouse (that would be a great problem to have) but the shipping and handling costs. I think streamlining the sorting and research part of your operation will be crucial. Best of luck! You should start a blog for this project. I'm always very curious to read about people's ideas and the actual execution steps. Even if it doesn't work out as expected, it will be a great learning process and could help someone else in your shoes.
- cosgroveb 16y ago
  Take 30%. Seriously.

by bgraves 16y ago

AlexMuir 16y ago

I'm not started yet - I just used the present tense for brevity above. I'm going to test the market over the next couple of weeks with a sample dropoff. I founded a student storage business [http://www.thebigspace.co.uk http://www.thebigspace.co.uk] 7 years ago and so I've got a good grasp of the logistics of collecting and moving boxes. I also have lots of empty boxes. 1. Zero so far. 2. I'm going to start at 15% after selling costs (ebay fees and shipping) 3. I'll start by dropping boxes to 100 houses and see what I get back - if it works at that scale then I think it should scale up. 4. UK. 5. I hope so. I suspect it will because I can bulk up similar things and then ship them to the markets where they'll sell well. Eg. Old phones still fetch good money in Africa. XBox and Playstation games sell well in Eastern Europe. Likewise, DVDs are still in demand. I think the advantage over the dropshop model is: 1. Much more appealing for householders: I've got loads of stuff that just depreciating year by year. By the time I've found a box, boxed it up, found a dropshop, driven it there, and filled in the forms I could have sold it myself. This way you just pick the box up at your front door, walk round the house and fill it, write your email address on the box, and leave it back at the door. 2. Scalability: I can do this nationally by shipping inbound boxes for $7.50. I can also use a rep system, whereby local people (think Avon ladies) take on their area on a part time basis. 3. Low overhead: No premises. Centralised facility for sorting through things - ideally with the facility to simply enter a model number and condition for common items to generate a standard listing, without the need to write anything or photograph things. Drop me an email if you want - me@alexmuir.com

limmeau 16y ago
This sounds partly similar to businesses who clear out deceased people's houses. Perhaps you can learn from them?
- AlexMuir 16y ago
  Those boys are all about the old furniture. They want real wood and the odd china figurine - they're also very old school. But it's an interesting business - I'd be up for house clearances too.
- bigohms 16y ago
  In the U.S. estate sale providers make a killing and have first dibs on gold, silver and other precious, historical items.
bgraves 16y ago
Thanks for the thorough responses. With regard to advantages on the dropshop model: 1. I agree that it's more appealing for householders. Especially if you can get some traction with stay-at-home moms or dads. I suggest some advertising with the popular 'mommy blogs'. 2. I think scalability is going to be the largest hurdle. You will have to be selective on what you will take or people will just give you trash. Often times people would rather donate it than deal with selling it on eBay. I volunteer at a local thrift store and have seen this first hand. Try to figure out what's the very least that a box needs to sell for to make it worth your while. The rep idea is a good one: college or high school students would be perfect for this and would work for minimum wage, where as 'Avon ladies' would actually be looking to meet a higher standard of living. 3. Your overhead isn't going to be renting a warehouse (that would be a great problem to have) but the shipping and handling costs. I think streamlining the sorting and research part of your operation will be crucial. Best of luck! You should start a blog for this project. I'm always very curious to read about people's ideas and the actual execution steps. Even if it doesn't work out as expected, it will be a great learning process and could help someone else in your shoes.
cosgroveb 16y ago
Take 30%. Seriously.