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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 4, 2012 5:59:56 GMT -5
I have been thinking that a wooden treasure chest would be a cool way to display the kids tumbled stones. Well my son reminded me that a box he and I built last year might work good enough for now. We mounted a couple quick brass brackets that hold the lid open 90 degrees. We have a sale coming up in a few weeks so he posted his prices inside of the lid. how are his prices? I think over the winter I will build each of my boys a more authentic version but here's what we did this weekend. Thanks for looking, Chuck and Andrew
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Post by johnjsgems on Sept 4, 2012 7:35:19 GMT -5
I would separate the different prices. All together there is too much time wasted discussing prices. When I sold tumbled stones I sold them at "four for a dollar", "two for a dollar", etc. I didn't want to deal with dimes, etc. I like the treasure chest idea. I used some old metal gold pans to display mine. I always had a one free for kids sign too. While they spent the what sometimes seemed forever picking out their one free rock the parents were captive at the booth.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 4, 2012 7:41:55 GMT -5
I like the idea of (1) free for kids. Might have a seperate dish just for that.
I was thinking of making a quick wooden template that had (3) holes in it for small medium and large to help price them. It's just a club sale so probably not too busy this time.
thanks, chuck
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Post by johnjsgems on Sept 4, 2012 8:33:33 GMT -5
I have friends that sell at outdoor rock shows. They were invited to sell at a juried art/craft show but could only sell things they made themselves. She wire wraps and he cabs and does silver. They filled the empty spaces with containers of stones they tumbled. They sold all the tumbled stones. The artsy folks and walk in non rock hounds just went crazy for the "purty rocks". Good luck to you at your sale.
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Sept 4, 2012 8:59:40 GMT -5
Looking good! I like cigar boxes and have thought that if I lined one with something soft it would make a nice gift case or display case. Plus there is that nice cedar smell.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Sept 4, 2012 11:31:33 GMT -5
The box is beautiful. The prices are terrible. You'll spend all your time arguing about what's x-small and what's not x-small -- I've sold at enough rock shows to be sick of the hustlers who will argue with a newbie about 15 cents but there's a LOT of them out there. When I have all of my stones in a basket or box like that, it's 4 for $1, size doesn't matter. No discount for tinies, no increase for a larger one. Some people want tiny, some want big, and 4 for $1 or whatever is not an unfair price for any size. I can see the advantage of letting the kid figure this out for himself, but since he looks pretty young, I would hate him to have a bad experience the first time he's out there selling something. When you're starting out, it's pretty important to have a success.
The way it's set up, all the kids are going to say the stones they chose are x-small and everybody's going to pay a dime instead of a quarter, and it's a BIG hassle. Don't price anything less than a quarter to begin with. It's a hassle just making the change. But I stopped accepting even quarters -- even at garage sales. If they don't have a dollar, be gone from my booth or my yard! The kids I sell to don't have a problem with that policy. You just tell them the price, and that's the price. It's the adults who want something for nothing.
My humble opinion anyway. But I vote to change that sign to a simple 3 for $1 or 4 for $1 and if someone gets a bigger stone than somebody else, so what? It's first come, first serve with a treasure chest. :-)
Also I'll mention I've had problems with petty theft, so you need to be able to carry all your money including the change in a fanny pack. If you set it on the table, sometime it walks off. That's another reason not to deal with making change with coins. Too heavy. I don't know why people think it isn't stealing if it's a yard sale or a rock sale but probably because they know we're not going to call the cops and run 'em down over a roll of quarters. Still, something like that can wipe out the kid's entire profit.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 4, 2012 12:59:22 GMT -5
I like the idea of nothing less then .25 cents to deal with less change. I don't think we can make them all one price because if they wipe out all his nice big stuff and all he has to take home is the little leftovers he wouldn't be happy, plus he has bought all that stuff by the pound from the rockshed so he knows he paid more for those big ones. The only sales we do are ones that pretty much are just members from our rock club so its a very good bunch of people and have never heard of any problems and everyone treats the kids real well. We will look into simplifying it some though.
Thanks chuck
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
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Member since August 2011
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Sept 4, 2012 18:09:52 GMT -5
Price them individually if you want 50 cents or more each, start all the rest at 4/$. If you reach a time when the rocks you have left aren't really worth 4/$ anymore, just increase the #/$. Lower the price again if or when you need to, so that you sell them all by the time the show ends.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Sept 4, 2012 19:10:29 GMT -5
Yeah, I like Daniel's suggestion. You can start out 4 for $1 and then when it's been high-graded some or more toward the end of the sale, put up a new sign that's 8 for $1 or what have you. That's nice and simple. I'm all about simplicity!!!
It's good you're starting slow w. a smaller group of people. A good opportunity for your son to have a good experience in sales. If you have confidence with sales, you can go anywhere in life. I wish I had more confidence. I give all the advice I wish I had back in the day... :-) I'm sure I give too much advice sometimes!
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Post by johnjsgems on Sept 4, 2012 19:18:22 GMT -5
What Daniel said is what we do with small fossils, individual beads, etc. We set a price and if it turns out everyone buys a certain size we just lower the price on the remainder. We had our little granddaughter on a show trip one summer. We let her help us with some pricing. She wisely told us to price higher, you can always lower it if it doesn't sell. Hard to raise it if it seems to sell too fast. Many times it isn't the larger pieces that sell first. Sometimes it is the pretty little ones. I had a funny conversation with a neighbor at Desert Gardens this year. He was selling slabs and had some reduced to four for a dollar. Somebody picked out only one and he told him "that will be a dollar". The customer said "sign says four for a dollar". Dealer said "it is up to you, you want one, two, three or four, price is $1". I also like to tell people that try to get a discount because something is smaller that "it is harder to make the smaller ones". I get strange looks when it is a fossil.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Sept 4, 2012 19:34:04 GMT -5
if they wipe out all his nice big stuff and all he has to take home is the little leftovers he wouldn't be happy He'll be happy, he'll have money and probably won't think twice about the rocks. Before he prices them, figure out what he has invested. There's gotta be a profit.
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Sept 4, 2012 21:56:03 GMT -5
Thanks, John, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does this. There came a day when I realized that I was wasting my precious time on this earth arguing about 25 cents and it just doesn't make sense. If they don't have a dollar, they shouldn't be shopping for stones anyway. They should be out somewhere trying to get a job! I simply tell people I am a hobbyist, not a business, and I don't have coins to make small change. Life is too short.
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Post by mohs on Sept 4, 2012 22:02:46 GMT -5
That a really fine way to display and I could see some wanting to buy all treasure box included ! Ed
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Sabre52
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Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 5, 2012 20:26:23 GMT -5
Great looking treasure chest! The Ventura gem club I used to belong to uses a treasure chest of free rocks at the entrance to their gem show and it's always a very popular feature of the show....Mel
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