Business Description
Most vintage items get thrown away. When people are ready to downsize or families are faced with quickly liquidating an estate, they assume nobody would want Dad’s old desk accessories, Mom’s vintage glass Christmas decorations, or Aunt’s set of mid century ceramic bowls. We’ve made a career of changing that. We tell people what their vintage items are worth by accurating appraising based on current market rates. Instead of losing money while cleaning out their parent’s estate, our clients find value. After appraising their items we then either help identify the best place to sell them, or else we sell these items on consignment for them to customers around the world. Many of our clients are often living entirely on social security. By selling their items for them, we’re able to provide them with a vital source of income. We are committed to reducing our impact on the planet. Recycle vintage and reuse it is one of our values. Our shoppers love vintage. They are web savvy and often buy through their mobile phones. Not only do they appreciate older things for their long lasting quality, they also appreciate the retro looks and colors. Our customers want unique decor, not a cookie cutter items from a box store. Our goal is to hire two people to help us list more vintage items on the Internet. This will allow us to take on new clients and help more people. We also want to educate the public about saving vintage and not throwing things out through a social media campaign. We can do this with your help. Barn Owl Vintage is a woman-owned and run business. We are passionate about historical preservation and think people deserve a fair and honest appraisal.
What is the purpose of this loan?
Our success in our community has been solely based on word of mouth. We have a long list of people waiting for our services. Hiring 2 part time people would allow us to meet the needs of those potential clients. Two computers will cost $500 each. Each person we hire will be computer savvy and list vintage items on our websites and social media for 20 hours a week. Each person will be paid $13.50 a hour. This will cost us $1040 a month for each person. Each person can list between 5-8 items an hour with an average selling price of $75. Our data shows that 1/2 of all listed items sell in the first two weeks. With each employee listing 100 items a week, then 50 will sell for a $75 ASP, equalling a $3750 boost in sales for each employee.
This will allow us to help more clients that are asking for our services, expand our website store offerings with many more products, boost our website rankings with Google, and increase our social media reach. In addition to the social media links already listed, we also are active on Wanelo.com (a shopping portal), Pinterest.com (a shopping portal), Instagram.com (A photo essay and shopping portal), and Tumblr.com (a photo portal).