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| This is where it ends. Quite a come down from having an actual shop of my own. |
Trying to find a way to cut costs I moved my inventory out of the shop into -------- a public storage space. But not just any tiny storage space, a 10 ft. by 30 ft. space. I moved all the parts racks that I had built along with my metal shelving and organized it all into a most useful arrangement.
Costs were now much lower, if only for the storage. Only around two hundred and fifty dollars a month. The time and cost of transport and selling had not.
I was still doing the swap meet circuit. I kept this up for another year and a half.
I was even selling on Craig's list. I would offer a particular part and state there were more items available. If the buyer wanted to see more, they could meet me at the yard.
I would meet the buyer outside the storage yard and we would ride in together.
That's because the yard had prohibited renters from running a business from inside the units.
You just couldn't have buyers showing up at the gate expecting to get in.
I found that there were actually quite a few people running different businesses from their storage units. It usually just provided them with a place to securely store their tools and equipment. There were gardeners and construction contractors. Handymen, flea market vendors, even a guy who kept coin operated washing machines and driers for his laundromat there.
If you were running a little business and were living in an apartment, where else could you store your tools and equipment?
I had a lot of respect for guys who were hustling so hard to make a buck.
Working out of a storage unit has some advantages, but you have limited access to the unit. At the last yard where my Wife and I kept her stuff, hours were cut back to 6:00 pm. on weekends. This was quite a change from when the closing time was 9:00. That would make it hard for swap meet vendors to make it back in time to unload their truck. Maybe that was the intention.
If you are lucky enough to have access to garage at your house, or someone else's then you have a great spot to start building a business. You have the convenience of constant access to your stuff. You can work on your inventory at your convenience, which makes it easier to keep your day job running smoothly.
Eventually I reached the point where I stopped going to swap meets. I just didn't have any new inventory and had frankly just started to burn out. I just wasn't making enough money to make it worth my while. Especially considering how much time was involved.
I brought what was left of my inventory home and just started selling through CL. Generally I would meet the buyer at a nearby "neutral spot." Usually not too far from a freeway exit. I know that you have heard some horror stories of CL sellers being victimized by criminals. Luckily, I never had that experience, although I stopped meeting people at my house. No need to tempt Fate.
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| photo source: alcometals.com This is where my Datsun parts ended up. Sad. |
I also went through a ruthless purge. Any broken plastic interior parts, or rusted or tweaked metal was brutally discarded. Well actually it went to the metal recycling yard. I discarded almost a ton of sheet metal. It netted me very little return.
It was sad, but I had been holding onto many parts for years. Truthfully, the inventory had been picked over pretty well. All the gems were gone. Buyers were getting to be quite picky. All the local parts hoards had been exhausted, mostly purchased by me! I wasn't going to be parting out any cars at my house.
I've sold a few parts since then. I advertise them at a pretty low price, since I really want to get rid of them and I like to pass a bargain on to someone who can use it. For example, I was clearing out some early Z tail lamps. I was pricing them at around thirty five dollars apiece. The seller bought all three. He mentioned that these could have been sold for quite a bit more. I acknowledged that was true, but would he have contacted me and bought all three? The seller admitted that he probably wouldn't have, since he really didn't need them.
I still have several crates of parts stored in a little garden shed. As well as some hats and t shirts tucked away in my garage. I've been thinking of posting on CL again. Maybe even hit another swap meet and set everything at blow out prices. I could certainly use a few extra bucks. Time will tell.
To reference a line from the poet, from T.S. Eliot, "That this is the way the World ends, Not with a bang, but a whimper."
Or maybe it just fades away slowly from disinterest!
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