WE ARE OPEN!
We have been working diligently on the storefront site. I would like to announce that it is ready for sellers and buyers! I would like to thank Quinto for their brave move to be the first storefront on the site. To open your store, go to www.secondhandgreen.com , click on Sellers at the top of the page and click on Registration at the bottom of the page to begin the process. Also, whenever you access your storefront thereafter, you will click on Sellers at the top of the page and then click on Seller Login located at the bottom right side of the page. The first one hundred storefront owners on the site will receive three months free during their second year.
There are several preparation steps you must take when opening your store. First, open a Paypal account. Make sure you remember the email address associated with your Paypal account. You will need to enter that information during registration. Additional preparation includes taking photos of the items that you intend to sell and storing them in your files to be ready for download. It is helpful to take pictures of your items from different angles so that buyers have a good view of what you are selling. You want to weigh and measure the length, width / height of your merchandise. The weight is most important. It will be needed for shipping cost calculations. All of the spaces for measurements will have to be filled in to proceed to the next steps. Having your descriptions ready as well will be helpful. Completing these preparation steps will save you time when you sit down to actually register and download photos of your items onto your storefront. Last but not least, think of a great name for your business! At some point we will all have the opportunity to vote for the best and most unique business name.
When beginning your storefront, remember that you can enter as many items as you like. You can start your store as a family, with your best friends or as a community group. You may want your own store. You may have an existing brick and mortar store that sells antiques, collectibles /or secondhand items. Open a store on the site to gain support and exposure for your existing store / items. Brick and mortar store owners can also shop on the site to purchase inventory for their stores. Parents or a parent support group can sell items that their children have out grown. Garage sale hoppers, second-hand store bargain hunters and flea market shoppers can sell their finds at their own stores. Street craft persons can sell their crafts or repurposed items on the site.
John Reinstra, Jr.
Now, let me introduce you to John Reinstra Jr., a wonderful Driftwood Carver who sells whimsical, wonderful and well-crafted one of a kind marine animal carvings at Pillar Point Harbor at the Johnson Pier parking lot at Princeton by the Sea. Princeton by the Sea is 5 miles north of Half Moon Bay, California. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) from Mavericks – a famous surfing location in Northern California. See a you tube video done by Nancy Donaldson at www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4PD48tyRhg and view some of Johns work. John sells his one of kind carvings every Saturday and Sunday until dusk. He is indicative of a solo business owner that is worth our supportive efforts. So if you are ever in Northern California, go and check him out. Some of the local restaurants and nearby buildings display his art. Pillar Point is also a place where you can support the welcoming local fisherman and buy the catch of the day right off their boats.
We often pass entrepreneurs like these on the street. Some examples include guys selling CDs of their original music, craftsmen and craftswomen hashing it out alone trying to make ends meet. But many of us turn a blind eye and stand in line all night, even days to buy the latest technology from companies that may have some of the worst human rights violations. Some of these companies continue to bank their money off shores to keep from paying taxes while we bear the burden. We complain that the economy is bad and our jobs continue to stretch the limits of work / life balance. But, we continue to feed the beast and become sacrificial lambs for their greed.
Small businesses are definitely the engines of job creation. The Obama administration has passed at least 18 tax cuts for small businesses. We have to take it a step further and begin to be more creative in supporting ourselves as well. While buying fish from the local fisherman’s boat and watching John Reinstra, Jr. standing diligently at his post at Pillar Point, I realized that they are indicative of many small businesses everywhere where a solo entrepreneur is selling their wares in the shadows of Goliath. We can emerge from the shadows by creating a community of hope by assisting each other at events, openings, with moving, business ideas, clearance sales, walking each other’s dogs – whatever it takes to keep each other afloat.
Our storefronts will grow as the community grows. It will have more bells and whistles, including a forum, auction and bartering capabilities. I have so much to share with you and will communicate soon. While you are waiting for the next posting and registering your storefront at www.secondhandgreen.com , watch the movie “We’re Not Broke” – www.werenotbrokemovie.com . It is an amazing movie that may also be found on Netflix and Hulu or maybe someone has bought the dvd and can sell it on their site. Feel free to let me know what you think of the movie or if you have any problems navigating the storefront. Thank-you for your support!
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