A similar service - http://www.gazelle.com/
Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
41–50 of 116 posts
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the best suggestion so far, as other suggestions (like 'box') are neutral (emotionally), whereas 'clutter' lets the customer know that what you're doing is HELPING them remove things that are negative (emotionally speaking) in their house. If you added in a positive effect to this (think along the lines of cash4gold), so clutter4cash or something (it has some rhyming to it too, which has been proven to improv…
This is not a serious suggestion, but you could do a play-on-words for "Put your junk in my trunk"...
It's UK based. Both 'junk' and 'trunk' are rarely used words in the UK.
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 ] 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 fee…
This sounds partly similar to businesses who clear out deceased people's houses. Perhaps you can learn from them?
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.
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the best suggestion so far, as other suggestions (like 'box') are neutral (emotionally), whereas 'clutter' lets the customer know that what you're doing is HELPING them remove things that are negative (emotionally speaking) in their house. If you added in a positive effect to this (think along the lines of cash4gold), so clutter4cash or something (it has some rhyming to it too, which has been proven to improv…
This is not a serious suggestion, but you could do a play-on-words for "Put your junk in my trunk"...
Yeah, put your junk in my trunk would be a very sensible name here, and wouldn't raise any eyebrows at all! I guess junk is tits?
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#45byebuybox.com and buybyebox.com are available.
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#46I really like this idea. I'm curious on how you avoid the scenario of people thinking you're underselling how much you made on eBay? Or do you not see that as an issue because it's really unwanted stuff anyway, so any money made is a profit? That and you could potentially link them to the auction listing(s) for their items to see the progress. Maybe have policies that all auctions are $1 starts with no reserve and th…
That's the plan - we'll link their boxes with ebay listings so they can follow it themselves if they want. It's totally transparent.
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#47clutterbin.com Think about what you're doing for people and maybe you'll get more ideas. You're helping people by making it easy to clean up their unwanted clutter and then magically, they get money and peace of mind because they're not surrounded by stuff they don't want :-)
I don't love this to be honest. I don't want to be seen as an alternative to the bin - if it's ready for the bin I'm not going to be able to sell it. I want people to feel comfortable putting an old laptop in there, perhaps a 19" TFT screen etc. For me clutter and bin are two negative words.
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Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#48Reminds me of cash4gold. I think a better business model would be to pay them directly for the box. The drawback is that you have to become good at evaluating the market value of what's inside the boxes.
It's a trust issue. This way, our interests are aligned, and people aren't going to think 'Hey, this might be worth something - I'll hang onto it'. I'm going to get the best price for their stuff, and they can see it. Cash4gold pay as little as they can get away with - I don't want to be 'exposed' in the scams section of the paper.
Cash4gold is not a scam and they make a shit load of money.
The trust issue in my opinion will lie in you walking away with people's stuff with no real incentive in getting the best price out of it since every sale is profit for you. Also, what will you do when an item doesn't sell after some time? Do you ship it back to its owner?
Just think carefully about your business model because profit-sharing might not be the best way to go.
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#49clutterbin.com Think about what you're doing for people and maybe you'll get more ideas. You're helping people by making it easy to clean up their unwanted clutter and then magically, they get money and peace of mind because they're not surrounded by stuff they don't want :-)
I don't love this to be honest. I don't want to be seen as an alternative to the bin - if it's ready for the bin I'm not going to be able to sell it. I want people to feel comfortable putting an old laptop in there, perhaps a 19" TFT screen etc. For me clutter and bin are two negative words.
Start with a benefit you provide for your users. That would be 'cash' or 'hassle free' or 'clutter ridance' or so. Then combine a benefit with a quality that sets your business apart from alternatives. That would something like 'easy' because it's easier than ebay and so on.
cash-out-easy.co.uk easy-out-cash.co.uk
Re: Ask HN: Simple little business - what should I call it?
#50I 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 min…
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 ] 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 fee…
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.