I’ve been busy since the last time I checked in. Of my ten ideas for growing the business, I’ve tried two. Instead of turning my car in for a van, I got a tow hitch installed. And I’ve tried selling things myself and putting them up for consignment, so I can get a bigger share of the profit.
When I was in Denmark last year, there were trailers lying around all over the place and most cars had tow hitches. That’s how Europeans get away with having such tiny, fuel efficient cars – all of them are expandable by adding a trailer.
Trailers are great, compared to vans or pickup trucks. You can throw any awful thing in them without concern about upholstery or scratching paint. I decided to get one last week when I realized that this table, found in Parksville for an incredible price with matching chairs that didn’t even need upholstering, would not fit in my tiny hatchback.
I hit up Kahla for her truck, but she couldn’t let me have it that weekend, which is fair enough. I had to come up with something else, and it turns out that you can rent a big covered U-haul trailer for like 20 bucks a day. Compared to the price of renting a truck for the trip up to Parksville – more like $300 – it was an easy choice.
Unfortunately, the trailer hitch guys are hardworking, busy guys who could not drop everything and install my hitch between Thursday when I saw the ad, and Saturday when I could drive up there. I had to wait until the following weekend, and by then the table was sold. Ah! Pain! Suffering! But at least now I have a hitch.
Though I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to be car-free or at least car-lite, now that I have a reason to own a car, I’m discovering how much more effective it makes me. Even without the hitch, I can deliver awkwardly shaped items to people who live downtown and don’t own cars. There’s only so much high-end Danish furniture on the island, but there’s plenty of cheap drawers and bookshelves, and plenty of people who need them.
Offering free delivery for small items like that has allowed me to flip $20 items and fill in the cashflow gaps while I wait for larger items – like this incredible Frem Røjle table that I refinished – to sell. It’s standing on consignment at the Fabulous Find downtown.
Technically I’m down by about $700 at the moment, but I have high hopes for the two dressers that I have in the basement now. One is cheap and small, and I can easily make $40 on it by delivering it. The other is a great big teaky thing that needs refinishing, but it will be a beautiful statement piece once it’s done.
I’m sure glad I don’t have to make a profit on this yet! But at least this is a cheaper hobby than motorcycles.