Having a small business has always been a little dream of mine. From having garage sales with my mom when I was younger, to selling rocks and fools gold to neighbors. I also sold my artwork door to door...got in trouble for that one. In high school I was the president of our Junior Achievement small business club and an active member of DECA (a Marketing Association). I was even an International top 10 winner for DECA my senior year with two other partners. I love business and Marketing and everything that has to do with it. After college I taught Marketing for 4 years and resigned when we started a family.
Because I was really bored while having 4 kids in 5 years...ok only joking on the boredom part....I have had several little money making ventures. I started off by handing painting signs with popular sayings. I sold quiet a few on ebay and Etsy. While doing that I also made baby burp rags, hair bows, and decorative onesies for babies. I was also an Uppercase Living consultant for a few years.
Since Facebook has become popular I have resorted to selling household items, clothes, kids things...anything you can think of on different buy & sell pages. It is easy money...even though I still love having garage sales...you can price your items a bit higher by selling on facebook.
Anyways, I have a new business venture of selling American Girl items. I started back in October and so far it has been doing quiet well. There will be slow periods over the course of the year, as with any business. Christmas time will obviously be the busiest time.
Relatives who have given the girls AG items, do no worry, I am not selling my girls' items. They would be pretty upset if I started doing that...but I am buying new AG items and reselling them on ebay or through facebook. I never pay full price except for a few limited girl of the year items. Girl of the year is a special doll that they only have for one year and then no longer sell. With the exception of the girl of the year items I almost always sell below retail value in the store...passing on great savings to others!
As I have been studying my new business over the past few months, American girl is a fascinating business. They have quiet a few different new items come out each year and then retire most and then come out a whole set of new items. If you can hold on to these items and keep them in good shape...you can resell them for more than they are worth when they were available in the store. Same goes for the dolls. If you buy a girl of the year, keep her brand new in the box and hold on to her...or play with her and resell her a few years later...whoola you have made money! Patience is the key...which sometimes I do not have...but I am learning. :)
I am not going to reveal everything that I do, but to give you an example, I received a small shipment of three very small new items and sold them in around an hour and made $21 profit. I still sold for less than retail..therefore a win..win!
While studying about this business I am learning about doll care. Many people bulk at how much an AG doll costs. Just think of it as an investment. It really is if you can take care of them. They are fixable. Their hair may get snarly...but it is fixable. We have had to send one to the hospital to get a new head...thank you very much 4 year old little boy with scissors. My girls love, love, love playing with their dolls. We plan to keep them to pass on to future grandkids.
Here is a little snippit of our last weekends project:
Here is my next weeks project...just waiting for it to arrive. It will be Katelyn's. She paid for part of it and then is doing "special" jobs, beyond her normal jobs to earn this. Isn't she a beauty:). Her name is Felicity. Now to find Jocelyn something similar...
I can not wait to see how the next year goes with my new little venture!
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