The Doubling Challenge - Finally above $1500 :)

In the last week I sold one of my vending machines, a few watches and some CD-ROMs.

Apart from that I am working 4 mornings a week, getting the garden ready for spring, running my other business, painting and working out my next doubling purchase !
Busy times !!

I've already decided on a course of action when I get to $2500 and it will be perfect timing for Xmas (hopefully !!).
Lately I've actually been checking out all the great online closeout sources in the USA. People over there are so lucky ! Many of them offer free shipping to the contig. 48 states and you can sell the items on eBay at lower than retail and still make an excellent profit !
It baffles me as to why most people aren't doing this, but I guess everyone has a different path :D
Found another nice little niche product the other day... I actually got it off an ebay seller who made a nice profit on a case of 12, but I can still make more than double by reselling them in NZ... so many profit opportunities, so little time !!!

Later,
Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Auto Pilot !

I just checked and it's been almost 1 month since I posted !!

Just wanted to update here.
I've brought in some more watches, developed a few more products and now my sales are pretty much on auto pilot :D

After I reached $1300, I spent some on more CD roms (another 100) and more watches. This brought my total down to $800 but my assets went up to a minimum of $2250 (remember, this step I am aiming to have $2500).

Since then My sales went kinda' crazy !!
My cash total to date is $1113.25

The most popular product has to be the Anne of Green Gables Audio book I have.
I didn't count my artworks in the assets total, but I have managed to do the $0.01 Australian and am doing the 2c now. When a few more are completed, they will be released :D

Later...
Rachel.

Double To A Million - Tag Those Humans...

8 Random Facts About Me

I have been 'tagged' by Rachel and am now required to give some random facts about myself...

Phew... Here goes.

1. I have 3 brothers & 2 Sisters All older than me
2. I collect 1980's Glo Friend figures
3. My pets are 1 Bullmastiff, 4 Black Moor Goldfish and 2 Celestial Goldfish
4. I grew up in Australia so now I have to fake support for the All Blacks...
5. I'm a compulsive Learner
6. I spent 6 years at Uni studying Graphic Design, Law/Psychology & Genetics
7. I've found the local dump is an endless source of firewood
8. I don't believe Pink is the new Black.

Now you know more about me than most humans !!

My tags are :

1. The Doublers' Den - A Place for all Doublers
2. Another NZ Artist Tracey McDonald
3. FireDocs Remote Viewing Info
4. Blondies' Doubling To Millions
5. Fyonnas Penny Project

And in doubling News....

I have just bought another lot of watches as the NZ dollar is up to 80c against the US dollar :D
Thats 10% more profit for me !

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - More Sold

Uggghh !
Stupid winter and it's stupid flu... Is it even possible to catch 2 strains of the Flu that are not covered by the Flu injection ?? Perhaps I'm just super lucky ;)

Anyway, I've sold 2 more torches which adds another $20 to my total so I'm at...$1302 I think !

I'll be advertising the vending machine/s this week and we'll see how that goes. If I were to sell all of them at my asking price, I would have $1900 pretty soon....

OK, more later... Need coffee & drugs......

Rachel.

Double To A Million - Update

Ok, finally an update !!

I have had 3 viruses in a row, the first for 9 years !!
The worst of it is, that I have a flu shot every year (my dad needs to be protected from the Flu....) and it has worked at keeping it at bay.
This year, I have had 2 bouts of the flu and one throat virus.

Doubling-wise.... I have sold quite a few goods that operate on auto-pilot, such as the CD-roms & torches.
I spent $216 on the 3 vending machines and have made up $220 with the machines yet to be listed for sale.

My total is then $1284
I've been painting the Aussie Coins for my Coin Art, so we will see how that goes...

Rachel.

Double To A Million - New Assets ect..

Double To A Million - New Assets ect..

So, what have I been up to ?
Well, this has been an exhausting week :) After reaching the $1280 mark, I decided I would have to make both larger investments and passive investments.

After checking up on Trademe for how my painting was doing, I noticed an ad for a vending machine.
I spent a day or so going around the forums and getting opinions on ROI and profit margin from these machines.
It seems that people have to pay between 0-40% to the business or place where they are placed.
Most seem to earn between 40-80% profit on the items sold.

So to me,I figure if you get a machine cheap enough, pay only a smaller percentageto the business owner and sell high profit margin items you may do a lot better than putting your stake in the bank.

I currently have $300 of my doubling stake in RaboPlus. On the first 20 odd days I earnt $1.31 in intrest which is pretty good ! I thought I might look into investing $300 into vending.

After having a very good look around, I used buy now for a mechanical machine which holds 20 lines for $100.
The guy, Andrew, called me the next night and offered me a couple more....
I ended up getting 3 machines plus spares for $216.30 !! There was $30 odd in one of the machines, so it brought the price down from $250.

So, I thought if I placed 2 machines and sold one, for $0 investment, I may get a turnover that turns out pretty well. I'll give it until the end of summer (Feb 2008) until reveiwing how they do. At that point I will either decide to keep them, or sell them as sited, profit earning machines.

I also sold my 20c NZ Pukaki painting so the total was $1300 ! Now it's back down to $1083.70.

My new set of canvas' are coming soon so the Aussie coins will be featured both on my Coin Art blog and at www.RachelHammond.net

I'll update again later....

Rachel.

Double to a Million - STEP 19 REACHED !!!!!!

That's Right !!

I just got home from my once a week chef job, and Sally (The Best Boss Ever...) Traded me some old coins that could only be cashed at the reserve bank.
I got lots of coins and a cool old New Zealand Five Dollar note ! That brought me up to $1282 and I'm taking the $2 out as the rules state !!

I keep a DYWTAM list on my wall and tick off each step as I go.
I was just updating it and I noticed the difference between the last step and the first ones.

For steps 10 through 15 I sold a few CD Roms, some seconhand stuff, but mainly 1-5 items per step.
I've just realised that in this step I used the following income sources;

• Watches
• CD Roms
• eBooks
• Audio CDs
• New Goods that were sold on for between 2-5 times what I paid
• Secondhand goods
• Dump goods
• Donation
• Found money
• Advertising

Quite a list !!
And for this step I get to add art works as well !

Later,
Rachel.

Double To A Million - Update

It been a busy couple of days !

My "20 Cent NZ" painting sold for $51 and the buyer of the 2c decided he wanted 2 more !

After buying the 10 canvas' and auction costs ect... I am 76.95 in profit !
I'm not going to add that to my stake (although it is awfully tempting !), instead I'm buying the next 10 canvas' with it so I can start on the Aussie coins and everything from there will be profit !

The buyer of the 20 cent painting decided she wants the Kiwi one, so The Pukaki is listed on trademe here;
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=102454427

I'm also going to be putting in another watch order in a week or so.
And the "$2 NZ" has been submitted to an art comp ! (The pic is so crappy, it will be a miracle if it gets accepted...)

SOOO BUSY.......

Hopefully by next week I'll have the Aussie coins started.
I have also sold another watch which will take me to the next step, but I want to make sure it's paid for before I announce the next step :)

Later,

Rachel.

Double A Penny To A Million - Passive Income

The value of passive income has always been apparent to me, but now having my doubling project almost up to step 19 I'm seriously thinking more about this.

Apart from interest and property (which are out of the question at this level...) the other thing I know that works is digital products sold by affiliates.
After agreeing to auction some goods for someone for a commision, they mentioned that they had written and self published a couple of books.
Now these books are in an interesting and highly popular niche area...which got me thinking !

I'm considering digitising these books and submitting them to clickbank.
The author is happy to do this as she wasn't sure how to proceed. If they are successful, I can take a percentage commision... hence, passive income.

Obviously this depends on the market and the affiliates who sell the product.

My second auction for a painting based around this concept is due to finish on Wednesday, and hopefully this will allow me to buy some more canvas to start the Aussie coins.

I've also started another art project, but That's for me :D

Rachel.

Doubling Challenge - Sponsor ; NationalPayday.com !

Recently I was contacted by someone who expressed interest in buying
some ad space on The Doubling challenge.

Naturally I checked out the site and something just hit me !
Another lightning bolt.

The site was www.nationalpayday.com
Basically what they offer is money to tide you over until your pay
comes in.
While I realise this can be dangerous to some who have issues with
debt, it can be an incredible thing if you have a very tight budget.

For example, a family who have just had to pay for school camps, have a
dog who gets run over.
The dog needs a pin in the leg and the family doesn’t have pet
insurance. They have just spent their liquid income for that month and
need to wait 3 weeks to pay the vet.
Vet says ...No Deal !
What do you do ?

www.nationalpayday.com allows you to borrow this money right now from
them and simply pay it back on your payday !
The advantage of this service is that you pay just a small fee rather
than putting it on a credit card which you may forget to pay off
immediately or pay off slowly, accruing 14% ++ interest for months.

It also made me consider an application for the Doublers.
Consider if you take an amount of your doubling stake and put it into a
month long (or so) fixed term account.
You see a great deal and don't have access to your stake money. You
could borrow it from these guys, take fees into account and simply pay
the bill with your doubling stake.
You make money from the deal, you keep interest from the doubling stake.
Again, I would only advocate this to those who are disciplined enough
to pay their bills on time !

Uniquely, this service is based online and is pretty good about terms
and conditions.
Even if you’re not considering this, it makes interesting reading !

Check it out HERE.

More later,
Rachel.

PS; If you are interested in articles on Money Management, credit and income I would suggest you head over there, they have some great resources.

Double To A Million - Totals Adding up...

Wow, I've had a good day !

I've sold another CD-ROM and a watch and best of all.... I've had the payment from a company who approached me to write about them and have 6 months worth of advertising on this blog :D

My total is now; $1195.20 !!!!!!!!!
Not too long until I'm at the next step. I thought I would never pass the $1,000.

So much thanks goes to Melissa at www.nationalpayday.com
This advertising revenue has really helped and I have a post coming about their company... quite an interesting read over at their website. Includes lots of articles on money management ect...

I'll be adding my post soon about them :D

Later,
Rachel.

Double To A Million - Small Update

Ok, I've sold a couple more things which brings my total up to.....

$998 !!

I may have more to add today though :)

Rachel.

Double Your Way to a Million - Progress

Double Your Way to a Million total is now $970 and with a little luck, I should be over the step step very soon !

I did sell my first coin painting, but haven't included it as I wanted to make sure costs were taken care of first...

I'm concentrating on putting together a few more CD-Roms so I can have a catalogue of them for sale. Now I've conquered the "burning for all platforms" thing, they should go well.
All three of the cake moulds sold and the experiment goods will get their own post later. I've just been a little busy lately.

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - Another week, Another Idea !

Double Your Way To A Million - Another week, Another Idea !

This week I've been working on a more long term project to bring in money to the Doubling Challenge.
I realise that when creating artwork, you can only do so much for your time to be worthwhile so I have gone with an idea I've been thinking about.
After doing extensive "research" (a day of checking out art sites on the web !), I don't think my particular idea has been done in this way.

On 12"x 12" stretched canvas I am painting, in oils..... The coins that so many overlook.
It occurred to me that so often when you ask someone what picture is on each coin that many can only answer a few correctly.

The first coin is the NZ One Cent (before being pulled from circulation it was copperish with a fern on it. This one is completed but not for sale :D

The second is the now also extinct Two Cent Coin. It has Kowhai flowers on it. These are a yellow bell type flower on a large tree. It is for sale !

The Five Cent is a work in progress (stupid detailed Tuatara.....) but the Ten Cent is done.
I'll actually start another blog linking here to display these.

I'll also be writing about something interesting in the next day or so that had never occurred to me !

Later,

Rachel.

OK, I haven't signed it or cleaned it up totally... but here's a sneak preveiw of the 10c !
All Coin Series ©RA Hammond 2007, All rights reserved।



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Double Your Way To A Million - Selling, Ideas and Stitches ...

Double Your Way To A Million - Selling, Ideas and Stitches...

The last 2 weeks have been very interesting.
Remember how my dog cut herself and got 6 (not 5 !) stitches ? So far she has managed to pull 5 of the 6 just by being a crazed Bullmastiff. She is going to have a nasty scar but luckily I've never been into showing dogs !!

Everystep I reach on this doubling journey, I reveal a little more about myself. The last step I put a pic up which is very frightening :D
I'm going to break that now and tell you that I'm also a closet artist.

My Grandmother was a fairly prolific artist here between the 60's and 80's... Pearl Daniels

(If any NZers have a Pearl Daniels painting that I don't have already I would be interested )

Well anyway, I was a self taught artist until I did 2 years at high school and then studied a bachelor of Graphic Arts.
At The Doublers Den people were chatting about selling sketches for their doubling stake and Arkad mentioned 1,000 paintings. This guy put blue numbers on a white canvas and sold them. I also noticed another similar guy in Australia doing a money series. He paints dollar amounts on canvas and sells them for the pictured amount (The one dollars must have killed him....).
Well, all this pop art gave me an art related idea. But more about that tomorrow :D

My sales are going exceptionally well this week. About 12 UV Torches and 6 CD-ROMS.
I've also gotten a sponsorship possibility - Very Exciting !

Bye Now,
Rachel.



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Double To A Million - It All Ads Up :)

It's true, it all ads up !
I've sold another few torches and cd-roms and I'm creeping up to $800.

It occurred to me when I looked at my feedback on Trademe that it's taken about 100 transactions to get to this level.
If I were to keep this up, I would have to do 125,000 transactions to get to a million !
Ideally, I would like to source a product or information item that will consistantly sell for around $100..... The more profit margin the better !

This brings me to my next project.

What is worth less than it's worth. Is tossed aside, but creates joy when it's found ?

I've always thought the simple coin was highly under-rated. My next item for sale will feature this much loved item :D

Oh, and before I forget... Just wanted to mention a great place to get your Website names/addresses from.

They only cost $4.95 USD (for a year) and come with free hosting.
Check it out by clicking the little red sign !!


Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - Dog Related Setback...

Three days ago I was quietly answering auction questions and counting my gold...(kidding !) when I noticed my Bullmastiff pup doing something odd.

She was quiet !
I turned around and she was in a pool of blood and was happily licking her paw.
On closer inspection it looked more like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre so I got something to stop the bleeding.
After about 15mins and the bleeding not stopping, I called the vet who just happened to be in town right then !

He wrapped it, but I had to run her into the surgery (1/2 hour away) to get 5 stiches put in her foot, just above the pad.

After having a good look around, I realised the little monster had tried to "dig" a broken bonsai pot. The glaze would have sliced right through her paw.

It turned out to be a pretty deep cut and now we are just trying to keep her busy so she doesn't chew on the bandages.

Poor Chloe.
She, of course, milked it for all she's worth :D

On the plus side, I found 80c and sold another CD-ROM.
OK, there's a pic up now...Pathetic, huh ??!!

Rachel.

Double To A Million - How To's...

My stake is gradually creeping up by $10-$20 per day now which is nice.
If you look at my total sometimes, it looks as if I'm lower than the level I say I'm at.
This is due to me investing some of my Stake money into goods that will sell, to bring me to the next level.

I just wanted to clarify this for the uninitiated :)

Reading a reveiw that was done on this site, I also thought I should clear up a few things also.

Even though I'm in New Zealand, most if not all of the things I have done to reach this level are do-able in any country.

You may notice that the bulk of my funds come through selling on TradeMe (The New Zealand version of eBay).
What I don't mention is that everytime I consider buying something, I search through all the live listings and then all the expired auctions to get a good idea of whether the item will sell.

• I'll get the number of closed auctions for the item I am considering selling.
• The number of goods that have sold above or at reserve and the amount of times they were re-listed until sold.
• Run the numbers to see the probability of easy sales
• Check current selling prices against RRP in shops and determine if I can undercut the market.
• Put yourself in the Buyers shoes. Wouldn't you prefer the same item for a huge discount ?!
  

These are things that anyone in any country can do.
Considering that America is my primary buying country, I think all you US people could get far better deals...I have to pay for international shipping !!

This concept also applies with things like my mosaic plate lots and beach china.
My advice is simply read the market and give it what it wants.

Later...
Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - New Assets

A few days ago I tracked down something that i thought might sell well.
I was right.

As you can see from my accounting on the side, this was quite a windfall !!

While I'd love to share all the impressive details with the world....You'll all just have to wait for the book :D

On this journey you learn a lot of things, but one I'm just hitting now is "the trade secret". My father defines this as something you find out due to dumb luck and keep it secret for fear of losing the advantage. I concur !

With a little "luck" and some aggressive marketing I could reach the next level in a few weeks.
Good Luck everyone !

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - Easter Update

So, yesterday I spent $23.50 of the stake money on the goods in the previous post. It would have been less, but I decided not to interfere (I didn't haggle when I normally would have...very difficult :D).
The reason for not haggling was simply to prove that anyone can make a profit by selling anything.
You don't have to be hugely creative or innovative...Just buy something that will somehow make a return on investment.

I've already sold the digital phone for $8 which puts me ahead a few dollars as I also sold one of the silicone cake moulds.

I'm also thinking of having a $1 RESERVE week on my auctions to bump my stake up a bit.
I want to be at the next level soon !

Later,
Rachel.

Doubling Strategy - Just Double It !

Today was our annual Lions market day in my town.

Basically, the Lions club collects stuff from people and sells it or auctions it on Easter weekend.
What I wanted to do was get a bunch of things...quite a random selection... and simply see how easy it is for absolutely anyone to make double their money.
I'm giving myself a week !!

So what did I get ?

• 1 Fax/Copier
• 1 digital cordless phone
• 1 Atari System with 2 joysticks & 2 games
• 5-6 sets of plates to be cut into mosaic tile pieces
• 2 CDs
• 1 bag of knitting needles
• 7 Woods & Soms plates
• 3 photo albums

An unusual mix of things, but I figured if I could double my money on these, then there would be no excuse for anyone !

Funnily enough, as one pair of women walked past me they said, "Oh, a tent full of junk we can't use" I had to laugh to myself.

Anyway, I'll update this little experiment in a week including prices ect...

Stay Tuned,
Rachel.

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Double Your Way To A Million ! Sales

Well, I've sold a couple more watches which brings my total up to $722.

I went into town yesterday (We travel 75km to the nearest
city to do food shopping) and came accross a few things that I knew were popular on Trademe. I've listed a couple of Audio Books and a couple of other things....

If you want to check out my auctions my personal ID is Abeyance and the auctions are HERE

I've also gotten some great ideas to lead me into the next step.

More later...

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - Help From The Universe

I kinda' want to share something that happened 2+ weeks ago so that if anyone reading this is in the same position, they can have hope !

About 20 days ago, due to my doing a small course, I realised I had to pay off my debts and become totally debt free...and quickly. (If you've read the same course, you'll know what I'm talking about !)
I made that decision vocal, I told my Father and went straight about making it happen.
9am the next morning I got a call from one of our local cafes and they asked me if I could work for them for 4 weeks or so as they needed a fill in Chef.

Due to my decision, I wasn't about to say no to an extra 20 hrs a week so I said Yes !
The next day I got a call from a market research company who were coming out to my town and wanted to pay me $50 for an hour & a half of opinions.
Again, I said yes.

Some of you will have seen the doc/film The Secret, and the past 3 weeks have really made me think more about this law of attraction.
The strange thing is, this kind of "co-incidence' has happened all my life ! It's just now I'm really starting to realise what can be done with this.

So now, after my second week working 4 hrs a day x 5 days, let me just say
"I am Jacks' aching feet...." But it's worth it, all the money goes to paying off any debts I have in order to become debt free.

I know this is a little off the doubling track, but if one person gets something from this, then good :D

Must go rest now and plan on a delicious sleep in :)

Rachel.

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Step 18 REACHED !!!!

Step 18 REACHED !!!!

That's right :) Last night I sold 2 more watches and that took me to a total of;
$644.85

So I'll take out the $4.85 and now my target is $1280.

In celebration, I'm making an offer to other doublers...
I have $5.83 USD balance in my paypal account. The first person who can tell me how to code my page so I have a table to the left that I can put things in...gets it !!
I want to keep the same page layout, but have the opportunity to put things down the side like ads or whatever :)
My page just uses the basic html coding, not the fancy new blogger layout.

I could work this out in Dreamweaver, but the simple fact is I'm just too lazy !

So, who can help ??

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Weeks End Acounting

Hi All,

The end of the first week of watch sales is coming to an end.
I have sold;
2 x Baby G
1x Gold Timex
1x Data-link
1x Purple Minnie
1x Musical Mickey
Plus
3x CD-ROMs

That's a total of $173 this week, bringing my total when the cash is collected, to $558.44 I'll up date the total on the right as the money comes in.

So far it seems that my risk of buying more goods has paid off, I'm almost back up to the level I was a few weeks ago and I'm hoping to hit Step 18 soon... Then it's only 10 more (long) steps !!

Rachel.

Double To A Million - More Assets to Report

OK,

I have sold 2 of the new shipment of watches ( A data-link and a Baby G).
I also saw a chance to get 3 silicone cake baking moulds for a good price that others may be interested in. I'll add a special CD-ROM filled with cooking recipes to sweeten the deal !
I noticed that these have been seling from $40-$50 on Trademe and I can offer them at half price !

We'll see how that goes.....

I'm keeping my dollar total up to date on the right so you can see my progress at any time :)

A couple more ideas.....

• If you have fish, read up on them and take notice when they spawn... You can sell the babies instead of letting the parents eat them.
• If there is a button or badge maker in your house, spend a couple of dollars on badges and offer to make your friends a badge with anything they want on it...for a small fee :D

More later !

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million ! Sales

My first sale from this lot of watches was one of the cool Data Link ones. It comes with software and everything !!

My total should start to creep back up again now :D

Thanks to everyone who said "get well" ! I still can't beleive I caught the Flu in Summer...Smacks a bit of "The Stand" :D
Anyway, with the help of nice drugs all I have now is a raucous cough and a husky voice !

I was going over my watch sales figures and I'm really quite happy with the percentage I get on them, but would like to impart a few words of wisdom;

1. Always make sure you can afford to undercut the competition
2. Look for well known brands that are not copied or "Faked"
3. Always factor shipping into the price of the goods
4. Make sure there is actually a market for what you want to sell.
5. Price so that people are TRULY getting a great deal...People want bargains !!

I know this all sounds elementary, but missing even one of these things tends to bring your sales into trouble.

OK, well I'm off to worry over my auction descriptions now....

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million ! Sales

Doubling To A Million - Watches Arrived...

Woke up this morning feeling terrible....
Who gets the Flu in Summer ??!

Anyway, The watches arrived around lunchtime and thanks to the miracle of Sudafed, I have all of them listed.

I'm expecting another slow start for selling them, so I have been working on a few "Mail Order" type ideas.

More later !
Rachel.

BTW, My Auctions Are HERE

Double To A Million - More Assets to Report !

OK,

I did the scary thing again and put $400 of my $595 stake into wholesale goods. (That includes shipping ect...)
If I keep to my sales projection, my Return On Investment should be 84%.
I've made the sale prices low for my new shipment, which is why it is down on my usual 100%, but I'm hoping to sell these fast... And I'm hoping that people will enjoy getting wholesale goods !!
I've already done all the auction descriptions and have basic photos which I will make nicer. Should be ready to go in a couple of days.

What did I get ?
Watches !

While last time I was a little scared that they wouldn't sell, I found I just needed to find the right pricing level...and undercut the competition :D

I have some neat ideas to reach the $1280 mark although the watches should take me most of the way.

I forgot to mention, I sold the typewriter and the radio and a few other mosaics lots which took me up to the $595 mark.
I've found about 20 pieces of really nice beach china and will look for some more.

Interestingly enough, I'm also working hard to pay money off my debts every day so that I can become debt free before the end of this year. This morning out of the blue I got a phone call asking if I would like to fill in for a chef for a month (I put myself through Uni as a cook/chef). All that money will go towards paying my debt and I'll be 1/3 of the way there :)

Definately a good week !

Rachel.

Doubling Challenge - Double To A Million

Double Your Way To A Million - More Ideas...

Hi All !

Today is Chloe's first birthday and to celebrate, she's sleeping. No shocks there.....
Thought I'd add a pic of her in her very favourite sleeping position ;
What a weirdo :D

So, my stake is up to $575 now and I've been throwing around a few other ideas.
I'd like to get more watches simply due to the return on investment (Double).
The beauty of small things like watches and jewellery is they are small, light and can be sent relatively cheaply from the supplier.
My supplier is in the US and for $40-50 postage they are trackable and arrive in 3 days in New Zealand.
One thing I have to keep in mind is taxes.
If your shipment goes over $400 NZD you have to pay GST and tax on the items and the tax ! NZ really should be renamed taxland :D

The CD's are a great return on investment due to the low production cost. That seems to have been my version of mail order and I'm now working on some more products which I can sell through Trademe.

I had thought about traditional mail order (sending out hardcopy offers). I may get into that later, but at the moment it costs approx $0.60 to do one mailing. One mailing might reach one person if I get everything right and they read the offer.
If I put the same offer up on TradeMe it costs $0.25 for gallery and a small fee for a sale.
While it might come out at a similar cost for one sale, the offer online is veiwed by 60-200 people per week.
Even if only 50 people click the auction, that equates to $30 of hardcopy mailings !

I'm going to place another watch order with a slightly lower ROI so they sell very quickly. I'd rather have a quick sale than goods sitting around forever !

OK, I'm off to order !

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - More Ideas...

Double To A Million - It's Free eBooks Time !

Double To A Million - It's Free eBooks Time !

Remember when I hit the $320 mark and I said there would be free eBooks ??
Well, here they are;

I've included-
eBay marketing secrets
Affiliate Secrets
eBook Compiler
Affiliate masker

I figured this would be a good mix for you doublers. Only the Affiliate secrets is in pdf format. The rest are readable by PCs only ::grumble:: ...

You can download them by clicking on each link (or right clicking and save as).
You can find them underneath the ads on the Right. This way you know how to show appreciation if you like them :D

Feel free to use or re-sell. I have the rights to all of these items.

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Watches

Double From A Penny To A Million - Watches

Looks like another watch has sold adding another $20 to the stake which takes me up to around $537 now !

As the weather is a bit cooler today I thought I might go do a beach china hunt. When the tide is low you come accross some really nice pieces that normally wouldnt wash up.
My last lot got $21 and the buyer loved them. Some of the pieces were nice enough to put into jewellry or other things and sell on.
So, less chance of this redhead-skin getting burnt today means another china hunt !!

We also had some new additions to our family today, now there is myself, Dad, Chloe and a small group of Blackmoors and celestial fishies.
Chloe is jealous....

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - More sales this week

Double From A Penny To A Million - More sales this week

Hi All !!

OK, I have been selling, but not recording so I am doing an audit while posting;
Watches sold;
2 gold Timex $31.68
1 raised dial Tigger $19.80
2 leather strap Tigger $44.88
2 Disney Princess $25.08

Mosaics china $9.00
Beach China $20.00

Total to add $150.44
These totals are after fees and I have taken 2 CD-Rom sales out for time and extra fees incurred just to be accurate :)

Grand Total at Fri 02/03/07
$517.77

Looks like step 17 is around the corner :)

Rachel.


____________________________________________________________
PS; I also forgot, A day or two after I reached Step 17, I found a 5c coin ! Now I know it is no longer legal tender :( :( but it was also an Australian coin and it had been hit several times by the mower.
I'm going to keep it.
Perhaps WHEN I hit the million I can auction this famous (or soon to be...) coin off. What do you think ??!!!!

Double From A Penny To A Million - More sales this week

Well, I've managed to sell 2 more CD-ROMs and 3 watches.

At this point, I'm only going to add the amount paid for which is $33.33 so my total is now

$353.33

With the next 2 watches that should push the total close to $400.
Now, as promised, I will be putting a bunch of free stuff here to celebrate reaching step 17 !

You'll just have to wait a little longer....

Rachel. :)

Double Your Way To A Million ! STEP 17 FINALLY !!!!

Double Your Way To A Million ! STEP 17 FINALLY !!!!

Including another $6 in profit from the mosaics auctions that finished yesterday......

I now have

$320 !!

Now here comes another long step ! I still have quite a few watches, mosaic lots, beach china, beach glass and household stuff.
I'll try to get that all listed this weekend.

I must say how lucky New Zealanders are to have TradeMe.
For those uninitiated souls, TradeMe is the New eBay (well, in NZ anyway !). The good thing about it is that we don't have an overfilled market and NZers have been used to paying ridiculous amounts for foreign goods for so long, that a few bargains are a welcome change !!

Anyway, I have to credit trademe with a lot of my success.

BTW, My Personal and Doubling auctions are here

More in the morning :D
Plus...tomorrow there will be a party at my blog and everyone gets free stuff !!!!

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Another Sale

Wow, OK the camera just sold.

I listed the buy now amount at half the price a similar one sold for on eBay so I'm confident the person got a fairly good deal. Plus... It's a cool colour !

So that added $35.10 to my stake after fees and tomorrow another watch will sell which will put me up to $290 odd.

$320 here I come....

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million .... Slowly

Double Your Way To A Million .... Slowly

::Sigh::
I am sooo over this step !!! (sorry, just had to be dramatic there).

This whole step 16 feels like it's dragging forever.
I did sell some more mosaic lots and 2 more CD and another eBook so my total cash is at $238.90 now.

I've also gotten a bid on another watch (another $21 to the stake) and both the coffee mugs and the auto vac have reached reserve (another $6).

I took the Chloe Monster down to the beach and I seemed to find lots of beach china so I will list another lot of that this week.
There are a few more lots of mosaics china to list and some more dump goods.

Stay tuned....

Rachel.

Doubling To A Million - More to List

Doubling To A Million - More to List

I sold a few more masaic lots which after fees came to $13.
Another CD-rom is bid on, but I won't add it yet.

I'll list most of the goods I have today & tomorrow so hopefully my total will increase :)

Just a few more ideas for the artists/auctioneers amongst us.

1. Create a small painting a day (or week) and sell it.
2. Make concrete & pebble mosaics (They sell for about $35 here !)
3. Paint or draw pics of deceased pets or children (live ones...) for people.
4. Make website templates or graphics and sell them.
5. Offer to create auctions for people,
6. Offer your services to others for selling their goods on eBay. Take a small commision.

More soon,

Rachel.

Double To A Million - More Assets to Report !

Double To A Million - More Assets to Report !

I know I'm sorta' getting obsessed, but I'm in the zone !!!

I was walking the Chloe Monster (11 mo Bullmastiff for those who've forgotten) and found a bottle cap. It gave me ideas !
I won't go into the bottle cap ideas yet but to further this I popped out to our local dump to see our "Dump Dude" Lester.
There were 5 boxes of things from a deceased estate and he said I could take what I wanted !

Amongst other things, I got;

• Many patterned plates for mosaic lots
• A Heat saver Coffee jug "Grand Hotel Wellington NZ" and a coffee maker
• A New Auto Car vacum cleaner & light
• An unused set of Stowaway International Staffordshire Retro Coffee Mugs (1975)
• A Polaroid Supercolor 635 CL "Redback" camera. It is a less usual red & black model that I dubbed The "Redback" :)
• Some old English plate hangers
• 2 pieces of sheffield steel cutlery
• 1 old tow ball
  

I'm going to pop them all on auction sites and see what I get !

The things thast don't sell, will get re-donated and the ones that do will be added to the doubling stake !

If anyone could tell me more about the camera I'd be grateful ! It works, takes 600 film which is still made, but I can't find another in this colour.....

Anyway, I'll get listing !

Rachel.

Double To A Million - More Assets to Report !

Doubling To A Million - Back to where I Was :D

Doubling To A Million - Back to where I Was :D

Phew ! That was a harsh week or so ! This coming Monday I will have had the watches for 2 weeks.
I have made more in 2 weeks than I did in the preceeding 4 months !

I've been doing this project since September '06.
3 weeks ago I reached $200 and decided to buy some wholesale watches.
I sold one right away but no more. Luckily Scott from Double2mil gave me the great idea of Mosaic materials.

I went out to the dump and got some broken pieces free. With the money from that lot, I bought some more.... With the money from those I bought 2 bags full and everything went from there.
I also collected some Beach China, beach glass and cats-eyes from our local beaches.

I sold another watch tonight and have issued offers for 3 more, so we'll see.
My Total as of tonight is $200.90
I still have lots of Mosaic lots and watches.... and tons of ideas.

What a week !

All other speculation aside, having risked my entire stake on one thing and building it back up from Zero, I can see the value of keeping the Doubling Stake separate from your finances.
It gives you the freedom to take risks you normally wouldn't. It allows you to take chances with the money and learn from them.
Now, I guess I could have sat and waited for all the watches to sell, but the competitive spirit in me wants to reach my goal fast !!
And what did take me 4 months now only takes 2 weeks :D

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Another CD-ROM

Double From A Penny To A Million - Another CD-ROM

Woke up this morning and eBay had done 2 things for me.

First, they had stopped my 2 Poppy Seed listings citing infringement of Drugs act.
I replied that I would hope they would then remove the 100-400 odd auctions of the same type !
I changed the wording a little and relisted.
I checked the law and I'm within it. Even within the eBay rules ! Most buy my seeds simply for garden shows.

Second, I sold another CD-ROM which puts my total up to $176 !

I also have 4 other lots of mosaic tiles to listed and I have $4 worth of bids on the ones listed so far...

Bye now,

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million Speeds Up !

Double Your Way To A Million Speeds Up !

I've had a good day today !
Sold another CD-ROM overnight (That's six in the last week ! Just sold another, so that's 7 !) and I sold one of the plates I got in the lot I talked about a few posts ago.


This plate was cut into nice pieces ready for a mosaic project. I got $16 for it, but after fees, I'll claim $14
So I can add another $21 to my total

CashPublish

• $159 Edit $167
  

Assets

• $425 Watches
• 79 plates for mosaic
• 79 CD-ROMs

Now to list my Poppy seeds......

Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Another Tack...

Double From A Penny To A Million - Another Tack...

I should probably mention another tack i'm taking....

Every year I have an impressive display of Poppies. These are the deep red Papaver Somniferum L. (Yes, that is the Opium poppy...)
The Hammonds brought this with them in the last 1/2 of the 19th century when they came from England to NZ.
These poppies have been self seeding since 1870 !

Anyway, I usually gather the seed and sell it on TradeMe. I usually make around $500 a year from this. However, each year I have more and more seed !

This year, instead of just doubling the amount given to people or giving it away, I've decided to take the left over and sell it on the American eBay.

As I understand the law in both countries this is perfectly legal and my strain of Poppy is particularly unusual in that it gives off between 12-24 flowers/pods.

To clarify, this is seed I would normally do nothing with as I have so much of it ! I think that is then fair to say I wouldn't get money from it otherwise and so can use it for my doubling.

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - Couple More CD-ROMs to report

Double Your Way To A Million - Couple More CD-ROMs to report

Well, in the last few days I have sold 2 more CD-ROMs. That brings my total to $138 Cash & $425 Assets.

If you'd like to check on my progress, my auctions are here ; Abeyance on Trademe

I'm finding the watches to be selling slowly but luckily I had a contingency plan which is why I've almost made the entire stake up in the last few weeks.
It is definately all a learning curve - I would have been up to the next step by now.
I do however have assets, and they will sell so I'm still good !

I've listed some of my mosaic plates auctions and I have at least 4 more ready for tonight (Mon/Tues night are the busy ones in NZ).

Another idea; We have whistling Tree Frogs that lay their eggs in a bathtub pond at our house. They have hundreds of Tadpoles every year. I noticed that people are selling these !

These are things you could put an add in your local paper and sell, or even ship. To ship them, you need a solid plastic bag and an air pump. Just inflate the bag after putting the Tads & water in and seal it very tightly.
Pack them securely in a foam box and courier them !
They should last 3-4 days in this packaging.


Bye Now,
Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Weeks End

Double From A Penny To A Million - Weeks End

This week I've sold another lot of mosaic tessarae, another CD-ROM and I've spent $2 of my stake.
I believe that puts the total $121 Cash and $400+ assests.

I went into one of the big recycling depots and looked at the china they had....
Fill a bag for $2 !! Boy did I fill a bag, actually 2...

I filled 2 supermarket bags with patterned plates & cups. In total I got 100 pieces.
When I got to the checkout I was only charge $2 for them all !!

I've spent any TV time nipping the plates into Tessarae for mosaics work and will list them tomorrow night.
There is one which had a huge sunflower on the bottom of the plate so I nipped around the edges and am selling it in pieces as a large mosaic pieced focal (If that makes sense...) I'll add a pic soon.

Bye For Now,
Rachel.

Double From A Penny To A Million - Weeks End

Double Your Way To A Million - Sales

Double Your Way To A Million - Sales

I sold another 2 lots of mosaic pieces for $15.00 so after fees that is $13.00 and another 3 CD-ROMs which is $24.00 after fees.

Cash total is now $110.50

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - More To Add

Double Your Way To A Million - More To Add

Well, The Baby-G Casio watch sold immediately (no shock there...!)
So after fees and taking out the percentage of other investment (I put $200 out of the doubling stake into the $300 purchase).
So that is $35 toward my goal.

I also cut up a few broken or damaged plates that were in the house and sold them as mosaic shards. This brought $11.00 after fees
I sold another CD-ROM $8.50 after fees

Chloe (My Baby Bullmastiff) and I went down to the beaches and collected a bunch of Cats Eyes, beach glass and beach China.
This brought the most money !!
For 2 lots I got $19.00 after fees.

Total is $73.50 Cash and $425+ Assets.
On my way to $320 now !!

Later...
Rachel.

PS; Here is Chloe for you veiwing "Pleasure" She has drool issues...
And if you think it looks terrible, try being the one who she leans on.

Double Your Way To A Million - Even More Ideas...

Double Your Way To A Million - Even More Ideas...

I was doing my usual Blog Round yesterday (Sunday) and had a look at Scott's Mosaic Site through the Double to a Penny site and it gave me ideas !

I actually do a lot of Art (Art School does that to you...) and pebble mosaics is one of my favourite things.
Anyway, I also do Agateware stoneware and last year I had a few kiln breakages due to air bubbles...
But what I did was use the Tile Nippers and cut the Agateware plates into mosaic squares. Each little plate (in tiles) sold for upwards of $15 !

So I was looking around and I came accross some old broken plates and have cut them up. I'll list them this week to add to the Doubling Stake !
I've also gone down to the Harbour and picked up a lot of waterworn glass.
Do a search on eBay for Beach Glass...you may get a surprise :D

So thanks for the idea Scott !

Double Your Way To A Million - More Ideas...

Double Your Way To A Million - More Ideas...

Well, I've just checked online at USPS and my wholesale goods shipment is in NZ... I love express post !!
I should be getting them either Mon or Tues as there are no customs charges to pay ($400NZD and over have to pay tax and then tax on that tax.....)

So what did I buy ?
Well, I thought I would target the Back To School Market Here. It's Summer holidays in NZ, remember !
So I went for something I knew I could sell, and that I knew I could undercut other sellers while still making double what I paid. I know how that sounds, but it is just business :)
Watches. At closeout prices !

I'm setting the prices very low so I can turn them over quickly. There are actually 20 of them !
BTW, the seller is one I have dealt with in the past so I know the quality and names are authentic :)

The Auctions Are Here !

Bye now,
Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - More Ideas...

Double Your Way To A Million - Page Rank Love

Double Your Way To A Million - Page Rank Love

I've just been updating the Ransom Blog and flicked back here and all of a sudden my Page Rank is 3/10 !!
Now if I can do the same for The Ransom Site I'll be OK.

I have decided to hedge my bets and bought some wholesale merchandise with my stake.
I'll take a pic of everything when it gets here, but between both things I should be up to $320 soon.

Rachel.

For your entertainment;
The Ransom Blog

Double Your Way To A Million ! Goals ?

Double Your Way To A Million ! Goals ?

Well, I must admit I've spent a lot of Christmas and the New Year explaining to various family members about my new idea.

I'll let you all know now as I'm only a week from going live.

My next idea is basically setting up a website that allows people to submit their poor customer service or product stories. If you're a regular reader, you know about the iBook incident...Very poor service.

Well, what The Ransom Site © will be is a place where people can go to submit these stories and vent. But the best part ??? I will choose the best story or experience per month and " Ransom Off " This item on eBay.

Basically, I will promote it like crazy, have a professional do an animated auction geared to get people watching and have a reserve set.
The reserve will cover costs and the purchase of a new item for the person whoose story it is. Anything extra will go to this cause and the upkeep of the site.

Why would people pay me for these crappy consumer goods ? Well the front page of my site allows people to advertise, a bit like a pixel site.
They will buy not only the right to dispose of the item as they see fit (which could be VERY interesting !!) but they also get a large designated area on my homepage.
Still doesn't sound like a good deal ? Well, I will guarantee a certain amount of veiws in the first year, there will be a total of 3 direct links to their website and it will be there for 10 years.

They will also have the opportunity to change the link and/or picture 12 times a year, have a page feature on The Ransom Blog at least once and have the opportunity to win back their Entire purchase price*.

And for those who want something for nothing.... Everyone who hops onto my Newsletter list, gets a chance to win either a $5,000 computer or Gaming system or $5,000 in cash.

Where is this site ? you ask..... Here; The Ransom Site

It is not completely finished yet, but it is getting there.
Did I also mention there will be a forum and a free membership site with tons of free stuff for web entreprenuers.

Phew !
Now you all know whats going on, I'll get back to it.

Oh, and my DYWTAM goal for this year ?
To Get To Step 22 $10,000 - $20,000
Ambitious I know, but once it is said, I'll work hard to get there :)

Bye Now,
Rachel.

PS; If you'd like a free ad leading to anything, just get free pixels from my site. I am working hard to make it a high page rank, so It could definately help you. For those who do paid blogs, a higher page rank can make you eligible for more valuable articles.
If you don't know how to find your page rank, just download Googles firefox with toolbar :)

Double Your Way To A Million ! New Venture Almost Done

Double Your Way To A Million ! New Venture Almost Done

Well, happy new year everyone :)
I have sold a few more things over Christmas, but instead of putting them on my total, that will be part of the advertising for my next project (For the purists, I would now have $201...)

My next project is coming along very nicely, I have gotten my website and forum set up for free thanks to open source software and I'm about to launch in a week, so until then.....

"Will You Pay The Ransom ?"

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million ! New Venture Almost Done