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 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 - 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 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 - 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 - 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.

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 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 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 ??!!!!

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 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

Double Your Way To A Million - Christmas Sales are booming !

Double Your Way To A Million - Christmas Sales are booming !

In the past 2 days I've sold 4 of my LM Montgomery CD-ROMS so after fees my total is now

$192 !!

It's amazing how quickly they add up ! These are a great present for anyone...
$320 here I come !!

Rachel.

Double Your Way To A Million - Christmas Sales are booming !