‘Trash' That Turned into $9,645.34 in Gross Sales

A block of wood. In the early days of PickYourPlum I would often take pictures in 2 main spots.  The first place was on my old broken down deck at my house or in the back field of our small warehouse.  I used the free resources I had because I couldn't afford a photo studio yet alone a photographer.  I was a business owner who wore a ton of different hats and had to get creative.   On a very cold day,  I was hunched over with my camera that was pointed at the back end of an old rusty dump truck.  I had hunks of blocks stacked up in a set of 9 where  I would used the rusted orange step as my back drop so the grains of the wood blocks would pop out in the picture.   

I quickly moved to the next location of the broken down truck and found a perfect black rusted wheel cover and snap a couple shots.  I had a neighboring business owner walk up to me that day as I was taking pictures.   The business man walked up to me and said ‘seriously, you are selling hunks of wood now…that's trash?   You really can sell anything on-line'.  He laughed and helped me gather the blocks back up and walk them back into the warehouse shaking his head all along the way.

These blocks of wood had a million different takes.

My sweet neighbor saw hunks of wood that looked like trash at some building site.  He saw trash.  He saw nothing of value.

I saw more.  I saw a DIY picture puzzles that kids could put together that you could leave on your mantel.  Kids smiling faces attached with personality and memories adhered to them.

I saw count down to holiday blocks that kids could easily update each day as the anticipation of the holiday drawing closer.

I saw picture holders that you could place on your book shelf or gift to grandparents.

I saw ornaments.  Christmas ornaments that had meaning and could have the ability to  match any tree!

 

This is what I saw.  I saw a idea.  I saw the potential of these blocks and put emotion behind them.   Putting a vision, dream and/or emotion will take your products from junk and a zero dollar idea to a 9.6K idea.  ‘Seriously.'   Look at your product now or think about your future product.  It's time for you to take it to the next emotional level.   Create a vision for your product.   Get that dream into the eyes of your customers!  Take it from junk to excitement and make those sales!

SO let's talk numbers with this ‘hunk of block idea'.

Neighbors value of the blocks = $0

My value of the blocks:   $9,645.34 in sales.  Whoaaaaa!?!  Yes, that is someones trash turned into a great treasure.

These blocks were sold for $6.95 for a set of 9 with $3.99 for shipping.  I bought the blocks for $0.25.  The cost of one set was $2.25 ($0.25 x 9 = $2.25).  I was pretty happy with a $4.70 profit.

The shipping was break even for us so I won't include those numbers.

 

Here are a couple other companies who I think are killing it with their product vision.

Have you heard of Stance socks?  They don't sell socks.  They sell ‘cool'.

RadSwim sells confidence and fun in a swimsuit.

Rhonnafarrer sells creativity.

The list goes on.  Think about your brand.   What does it really sell?  Hint:  Don't let it be a product.  Let it be a vision.

 

Okay, now go kill it and I want to hear about it!

If you take this idea or any of the other ideas that are posted here on AJP.com, and sell it, I can’t guarantee you’ll make the same amount.  You could make a heck of a lot more or a heck of a lot less.  That seems pretty obvious, but just want to make sure it’s stated so every thing is super clear and I can sleep better at night knowing I’ve just laid this all out.   These eCommerce reports are a way to get you thinking about your products and what you can do to produce a product, source a product, and then sell a product.  This is not to brag or boast about sales.  This is simply to inspire you to get out there and live your dreams because dreams cost money.  Become a doer and make things happen.