In the spirit of the £20 challenge...

In the spirit of the £20 challenge...

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PH lurker

Original Poster:

1,301 posts

156 months

Thursday 6th September 2012
quotequote all
... I aim to become rich starting with £20.

I am probably going to bend/ break the rules, but I have set rules anyway:
1.) Start with £20, £5 emergency cash.
2.) Only use tools and equipment open to your typical DIY-ist , unless bought/ rented with stake. Camera etc. is fine.
3.) Not too much begging/ free help.
4.) Reasonable use of household resources (for example electricity and internet).
May add to rules or alter.

I would love to double my money by Christmas.

So as of 8pm I had 20 quid. Now I have a fiver plus stock.
I went on ebay wanting to buy a key-ring last week and decided I could earn from buying about five car type key-rings and selling individually. Well, I went on today and there was nothing that looked lucrative so I had a look at job lots. After musing over various lots, I decided that selling books or maybe magazines would be do-able with a £40 stake. But I have £20 so that was out.

I've settled on, and purchased, 100 notebooks, of the cheap school exercise type. I aim to split the majority into packs of three books (maybe...) and sell on ebay. Then sell the rest by other means, I might even speak to a newsagent.





My current to do list:
Try to buy packaging (cheap!!!) before they arrive and make wording for the advert.
As I've already spent a lot of my stake, buy stamps as needed to leave as much of my funds in place. Make sure I have money for stamps.

I already regret buying these because even if it works it will be a slow seller not earning much money at all. I wish I had gone for something more exciting perhaps with little outlay. I will have a think - perhaps I will sell them as fast as possible ignoring maximising profit on this lot but still within rules and minimising loss. Then get something interesting in order to make the game fun and get me thinking. After all, it's not a serious money making thing, just a bit of fun.

Feel free to do similar smile.
smile

PH lurker

Original Poster:

1,301 posts

156 months

Thursday 6th September 2012
quotequote all
Anyone after exercise books?

3 for £1 plus packaging and postage (not sure on cost) to PHers.
While stocks last. hehe

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Friday 7th September 2012
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Don't kids use iPads these days? You could donate them to a worthy charity for use in Africa and do real good with your £20?

bulldog5046

1,495 posts

177 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
Sounds interesting.

I guess you may have trouble trying to sell something kids get given for 'free' at school but i'm interested to see if any sell...

PH lurker

Original Poster:

1,301 posts

156 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
bulldog5046 said:
Sounds interesting.

I guess you may have trouble trying to sell something kids get given for 'free' at school but i'm interested to see if any sell...
Just been in Aldi and they are selling 5 for 89p!

Paper shops up in the grim north (where I am) sell them.

Anyway, I went into Wilkinson’s to buy some cheap packaging. I found a good value pack of 25 bubble envelopes about the right size. Then I went to find a ruler to check (handy- they are stocked just across from envelopes), and they are a perfect length but 1 inch too narrow frown. The only ones which were big enough were the Post Office brand and 50p each. I bought four before realising that this was silly, I could easily have made a trip to Poundland etc. Another mistake. frown

In Wilkinson's I was offered stamps but apparently they only sell second class in books of 12. It would have taken me into the red - not allowed in this game. One day this enterprise will be carrying £30, 000 petty cash, not the £3 it currently is doing. smile

I was in Aldi earlier as a PHer had advised that they were selling aluminium tape. They had tons of bargain low value stock; I should have gone there instead of buying these I should have also had a look in the indoor market - perfect for this in the town I was in (Not my preferred local town). Not been good at this so far.

Current affairs:
>Waiting on delivery for a billion unwanted, un-ruled exercise books/ jot pads.
>Four overpriced bubble wrap envelopes.
>A free Wilkinson's carrier bag.
>3 quid.

smile

Frimley111R

15,537 posts

233 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
Good stuff, keep going... (need others to do this - iirc the last one ofthese threads just became a betting thread).

FactoryBacked

245 posts

231 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
This is a great idea, well done. If they don't already then schools and colleges should make this exercise part of any business studies courses they offer.

Can you think of a way to customise or modify the note books you have bought? Or find a different use for them? Are the notebooks made from recycled paper? Are they signed by John Lennon? Does the fourth page of each book contain the secret recipe for KFC?

If you can add value to them then you can sell them for a higher price.


Pickled

2,051 posts

142 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
FactoryBacked said:
This is a great idea, well done. If they don't already then schools and colleges should make this exercise part of any business studies courses they offer
We had to setup and run a fictional widget making factory as part of our o level (that ages me!) geography syllabus.

PH lurker

Original Poster:

1,301 posts

156 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
FactoryBacked said:
This is a great idea, well done. If they don't already then schools and colleges should make this exercise part of any business studies courses they offer.

Can you think of a way to customise or modify the note books you have bought? Or find a different use for them? Are the notebooks made from recycled paper? Are they signed by John Lennon? Does the fourth page of each book contain the secret recipe for KFC?

If you can add value to them then you can sell them for a higher price.
Typically my best ideas are designs, or concepts, usually an item (like a car, storage system, or at the small end filofax type thing) or improvement, whereas I think to get more money out of these it would need to be art stenciled on perhaps (?) or labels etc. Not my forte and TBH, from the notebooks I saw in Wilkinson's today, it would be uncompetitive at this end of the market. However plastic cover fitment may be a consideration. Another consideration is once a few are sold, using the cash to buy other cheap stationary, making a set. Maybe two ballpoints, two HB pencils, an eraser and pencil sharpenor besides a ruler and three or five exercise books.

By the way, they are quite a useful size and personally I prefer having no lines for drawing ideas, idea noting etc. I could easily imagine a tradesman having one in his toolbox.

xaby82

87 posts

139 months

Friday 7th September 2012
quotequote all
Are you including ebay fees in your initial outlay? I had thought about doing something similar (iphone headphones was one in fact) then I realised the cost of individual listings would be crippling to my profit margin.

I may have to give this a go though just to test my business acumen.

I think you should add to the rules, no hedged betting techniques allowed!!!! There's already a thread for that...

PH lurker

Original Poster:

1,301 posts

156 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
quotequote all
I am aiming to list when it's free, if there is such a time. I've never sold anything on ebay before.

I'm not even sure what hedged betting is. I will look it up. ETA: I have 'googled' it and now think it's up to individuals to decide. It's not something I intend to do as far as I know.

The enterprise has just gained an empty glass marmalade jar; this was free of charge. Onto a winner with this. smile

Edited by PH lurker on Saturday 8th September 09:18

madmover

1,725 posts

183 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
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It's free listings still I believe :-)

B4rker

201 posts

150 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
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I like the idea of this I'm in.thumbup

Nothing like a bit of friendly competition.

I will update when I have made my first purchase.

I'm doing a Car Boot sale tomorrow so will see what I come home with. (as long as the wife does not catch me buying a load of crap when we are ment to be getting rid of it).

PH lurker

Original Poster:

1,301 posts

156 months

Saturday 8th September 2012
quotequote all
B4rker said:
I like the idea of this I'm in.thumbup

Nothing like a bit of friendly competition.

I will update when I have made my first purchase.

I'm doing a Car Boot sale tomorrow so will see what I come home with. (as long as the wife does not catch me buying a load of crap when we are ment to be getting rid of it).
Good luck.

I've discovered 'mailing' bags for sale on ebay. I think I will try to sell a few of the books in one of my bubble envelopes then purchase mailing bags for selling a few more.

missdiane

13,993 posts

248 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
Be careful with size of package, as soon as you go above 25mm the royal mail price goes from £1.20 to £2.70 or something stupid like that
I've just had to rearrange all my packaging to get it below 25mm to keep costs down (free postage)

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
Frimley111R said:
Good stuff, keep going... (need others to do this - iirc the last one ofthese threads just became a betting thread).
The problem is that apart from buying and selling stuff, what else can you do with £20? You can't use it to print business cards and then we yourself out because that's using something else in addition to the £20, is it not? (You'd have to include every cost to maintain yourself, including the clothes you wear, the gym membership, the food you eat.) Or on a more sensible level, say you printed the business cards to advertise your marketing services, that's perfectly fine providing you have no marketing training otherwise you'd have to include your CIM qualifications in that £20 budget.

The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
Frimley111R said:
Good stuff, keep going... (need others to do this - iirc the last one ofthese threads just became a betting thread).
The problem is that apart from buying and selling stuff, what else can you do with £20? You can't use it to print business cards and then we yourself out because that's using something else in addition to the £20, is it not? (You'd have to include every cost to maintain yourself, including the clothes you wear, the gym membership, the food you eat.) Or on a more sensible level, say you printed the business cards to advertise your marketing services, that's perfectly fine providing you have no marketing training otherwise you'd have to include your CIM qualifications in that £20 budget.
I don't think that's fair. Everything that each perso is today, is a summation of every experience they've had in their life so far. Does that mean you have to add up every cost?!

In someways, this makes it more interesting as everyone is different and has previous life experiences and will approach a problem in a different way.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
The Moose said:
Hoofy said:
Frimley111R said:
Good stuff, keep going... (need others to do this - iirc the last one ofthese threads just became a betting thread).
The problem is that apart from buying and selling stuff, what else can you do with £20? You can't use it to print business cards and then we yourself out because that's using something else in addition to the £20, is it not? (You'd have to include every cost to maintain yourself, including the clothes you wear, the gym membership, the food you eat.) Or on a more sensible level, say you printed the business cards to advertise your marketing services, that's perfectly fine providing you have no marketing training otherwise you'd have to include your CIM qualifications in that £20 budget.
I don't think that's fair. Everything that each perso is today, is a summation of every experience they've had in their life so far. Does that mean you have to add up every cost?!

In someways, this makes it more interesting as everyone is different and has previous life experiences and will approach a problem in a different way.
They were the rules of the original Challenge. That's why you had people buying and selling and others gambling.

Otherwise, a lawyer could set up an accident claims site for £20 (well, free, if you use Wordpress, Wix etc) and win the challenge. biggrin

The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
The Moose said:
Hoofy said:
Frimley111R said:
Good stuff, keep going... (need others to do this - iirc the last one ofthese threads just became a betting thread).
The problem is that apart from buying and selling stuff, what else can you do with £20? You can't use it to print business cards and then we yourself out because that's using something else in addition to the £20, is it not? (You'd have to include every cost to maintain yourself, including the clothes you wear, the gym membership, the food you eat.) Or on a more sensible level, say you printed the business cards to advertise your marketing services, that's perfectly fine providing you have no marketing training otherwise you'd have to include your CIM qualifications in that £20 budget.
I don't think that's fair. Everything that each perso is today, is a summation of every experience they've had in their life so far. Does that mean you have to add up every cost?!

In someways, this makes it more interesting as everyone is different and has previous life experiences and will approach a problem in a different way.
They were the rules of the original Challenge. That's why you had people buying and selling and others gambling.

Otherwise, a lawyer could set up an accident claims site for £20 (well, free, if you use Wordpress, Wix etc) and win the challenge. biggrin
So, does that mean I can't, say, start washing cars as I have previous car cleaning experience?!

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Sunday 9th September 2012
quotequote all
The Moose said:
So, does that mean I can't, say, start washing cars as I have previous car cleaning experience?!
Did you have to pay for training? Did you pay more than £20 for the bucket and sponge? See my example which mentioned CIM qualifications.

However, if this challenge permits your request, then I'm not running this so you may wash cars.

Edited by Hoofy on Sunday 9th September 15:23