One day this
past summer, while vacationing at a cottage in the Okanagan
Valley, my favorite watch went missing. By the time I remembered
that I'd left it by the swimming pool, it was gone.
This wasn't just any watch. It was the first watch in years that
caught my eye and kept it. Moreover, it also kept time! Most
of you probably don't consider 'keeping time' a special feature,
but I have a box full of watches that stopped working almost
immediately after being put on my hyper-magnetic wrist.
This very special watch was a piece of signed and numbered wearable
art by Eduardo Melies of Watchcraft? Inc. studio in New York
City.
As soon as I got home from my vacation, I phoned Watchcraft?
to have the watch replaced. It was good to speak with people
who fully comprehended and sympathized with my loss. Unfortunately,
they couldn't do anything about it. As the manufacturer, they
had to point me to their distributors, of which there
was only one in Canada.
I phoned the owner of the shop recommended by Watchcraft. She
told me that although they carried the line, she didn't have
the specific piece I was looking for. She estimated that shipping
from New York to Toronto and then out west would take between
a few weeks to a month. Although that was disappointing news,
hearing the high price of Watchcraft in Canada was decidedly
worse.
After speaking with her, I puzzled over the issue, knowing there
had to be a better way to handle the problem. I then phoned
Watchcraft back to beg and plead. Strangely enough, that worked,
but not the way you might be thinking.
Alex, the Watchcraft representative, and I had traded pleasantries
during our first conversation. One fact I'd shared with him
was that I make my living marketing various products on the
'Net. Knowing that, Alex suggested that while he couldn't sell
me the product as a member of the public, he could if I wanted
to become a distributor.
I didn't have to think long about that offer. High quality and
demand are my first two criteria when choosing products and
services to offer my online customers. I personally loved the
product. It was attractive, unique and of ultra high quality.
Regarding demand, I knew that many of Melies customers are
repeat buyers. In a newspaper article about Eduardo's work, I
read about a woman who owns six of them. I also knew that an
older Watchcraft timepiece had recently traded for more than
$1700 on eBay, indicating high interest in the product.
The icing on the cake was being offered a drop-ship arrangement.
All I had to do was forward the completed orders, and Watchcraft
would take care of shipping. This fit very well with my 'Work
Less - Automate More!' motto.
The site was easy to set up,
as Watchcraft sent me a CD with all the watch pictures on
disc, and a list of their wholesale prices. All I had to
do was research the retail price of Watchcraft online, (and
make mine lower), advertise the site and start selling watches.
The only hard part is trying not to buy too many for myself!
:-)
|
