Once in a Blue Moon Online Thrift and Consignment Store

How to make extra money!

Do you remember a couple of years ago when copper wiring was being brazenly ripped out of the ground or stolen from construction job sites? How funny was that? One minute you're talking on the phone to your mom and the next minute your talking to dead air, which in my experience could still be mom. Apparently without underground copper phone lines you can't talk on a land line.

So just why was it that copper was in such high demand that it had to be stolen? It's simple enough; the price of copper was off the charts and our local thugs were cashing in - the easy way. Actually, I'm not so sure the method they used was all that 'easy'.

The price of copper is still high, but I'm not hearing about major thefts anymore. Maybe the thieves figured out there was a much easier way to make money instead of having to rip copper wiring out of the ground. In any event, it's Gold that is getting all of the attention now.

If you recall, we first started seeing commercials on TV a while back harping at you to mail in your gold and receive a check the next day. I'm sorry, but there is no way I'm going to mail all of my gold anywhere. The company may be a legitimate enterprise and I might actually receive a check the next day, but the odds are more in favor of me never seeing my gold again, yet alone any money and if for no other reason than it's lost in the mail.

Still the question lingered; how can we take advantage of the record high gold prices without running the risk of being ripped off? After doing some research, I think I found the simple answer: Host a Gold Party.

If you search the Internet using the term 'Host a Gold Party', the most prominent company to appear is My Gold Party. (I do not endorse this company or any other one and can't advise you on which company to use.)

After making arrangements with one of the gold companies, all you do is ask your friends, co-workers, family, neighbors or how about just everyone you know, to clean out their jewelry boxes of old and unwanted gold jewelry and then invite them to your gold party. Don't forget to clean out your own jewelry box too because the great thing about hosting a party is not only can you sell your own unwanted gold jewelry to earn some extra money, but you will also earn a commission based on the overall sales at the party! The commission is generally 10% of the sales, but I've also seen it listed as high as 12% with an additional 5% for each party booked by any of your guests.

I'd better get back on track:

The day of the party, a representative of the gold party company will arrive equipped with a gold tester, and scale. They work with each person's cache of gold separately; first testing, weighing and then arriving at the price they'll pay you, which is generally in cash.

So you'll be more savvy before attending a party, I've put together some information here that I hope you'll find useful on how to weigh and price your own gold:

Gold is weighed in grams, but they also refer to gold weight in troy ounces and in pennyweight. I'm going to simplify things and use only troy weight.

The approach I used was to first separate the gold between the different carats. I then weighed each group on a postage scale. (You can also take your gold to the grocery store and use their scale if you're daring. Or you could even use a diet scale.) The postage scale gave me the avoirdupois ounces, which I multiplied by the conversion rate for a troy ounce of .912. The Avoirdupois ounce is 28.35 grams and the Troy ounce is 31.1 grams.

When you buy a piece of gold jewelry, it's usually made of 14K and as you can see from the chart below, 14K is only 58.5% pure gold. This fact comes into play in a minute.

10K gold = 41.7% gold.
14K gold = 58.5% gold.
18K gold = 75.0% gold

Now that you know the weight and the content, it should be fairly easy to estimate how much you should receive from selling your gold. Just take the troy ounces of gold, times the current price of gold. (You can find the price on the Internet by typing a search of "Current gold price.") For this example let's say gold is at $1,080. Multiply the ounces by the price of gold, then multiply that answer by the percentage of gold content. The final answer is the approximate amount you should receive for your gold. For example:

Your gold weighs 3.03 ounces. 3.03 x .912=2.76 Troy Weight.

2.76 Troy weight x $1,080.00 gold price =$2,980.80

The next step assumes your gold is all 14K:

$2,980.80 x 58.5=$1,743.77. The estimated amount you should receive for approximately 3 ounces of gold.

Remember these are estimates, so don't get your hopes up that you'll make a $1,743.77 from your junk jewelry. For one thing the representative may not pay in Troy ounces. They're calculations may be in grams and even though you'll be close, close may still only be good for horseshoes. The next thing you have to consider is that the representative is there to make a profit, as is the hostess of the party, so in the end that $1,743.77 you came up with may only give you $1,000 by the time the representative smiles and says your earnings are...... Still, it's a $1,000 more than you had when you walked in the door and it's probably about $900 more than when gold prices were still in the tank.

You won't find any of these calculations or formulas on any gold party web site. At least on the sites I visited, and I can see why. They do not want you to have an expectation when you walk in the door. It's just better to go to a gold party armed with enough information to keep everyone honest, but without any expectations of what the money will be. If that's possible.

Something else you may want to consider when deciding to host a gold party, is combining your gold party with other merchandise for sale. If you have the room in your home, you could actually host several parties at once. For example; you could have someone selling new clothing, new jewelry, purses, hand crafted items, kitchen gadgets, or even Avon or other cosmetics. Your options are endless and you'll make money from all sides.

The next step if you choose to take it, is to become a gold party representative. It seems you need to have money to back you up for this position though and if you do, it could be quite a lucrative home based business.

From what I can tell, there are different approaches as to how the representative business pays. In one case, you have to buy your kit for roughly $700 and you pay out of your own pocket for the gold jewelry at each party. You can expect to pay out about $3,000 at a party with 10 people in attendance, according to one web site. After the party you mail the gold to the company and your 'results' are emailed to you the day after the gold is received prepared and smelted. They will then wire transfer your funds, or will mail you a check. It wasn't said at what rate you would be paid; however after the smelting process I think they're now dealing with pure gold so the rate should be at the current price of gold.

Another company charges $295 for training, they offer you leads and they pay you 10% of the party sales. No mention of buying the testing equipment.

I'm sure there are a dozen more companies with just as many pay scales out there for you to choose from. Just do your due diligence before deciding!

Disclaimer: Caveat Emptor.

Once in a Blue Moon Online Thrift and Consignment Store

Like it or not

On a personal level I would give anything to do away with the holidays this year. For one thing, it doesn't seem as though enough time has past since last year and maybe that's only because I'm just not ready for all the commotion yet.
Besides, I think it's far more important to recognize what is going on with the economy with so many people out of work. I mean who really wants to celebrate the holidays knowing that perhaps our neighbors can't?

Ironically, I used to love Christmas. It was so much fun for me to decorate each room in the house and then wait for everyone to see it all and to have them feel the magic like I did. I also loved the spirit of gift giving and especially attending the company Christmas party. At one company I worked, the executives always had way too much to drink and had to face us the next day wondering what they did the night before. Of course I wouldn't tell. It was much more fun seeing them squirm without knowing what the sober people knew.

Back on subject: I'll decorate this year, but not with the same enthusiasm as in years gone by.

And like it or not, the holidays will be here soon and there's no stopping them. That being said, and putting my business hat back on; boy have we got some great stuff for you! We have new Christmas decorations, great new gift items, hand crafted gift items (which are always the most well received) and even a couple of brand new wedding dresses! It may take some time, but you should really browse through our categories because you never know when a great deal will pop-up. For example how about this hand crafted Christmas Sampler quilt? What a great gift for the couple celebrating their first Christmas together. Or the Cute as a Button earrings would make a 'cute' gift for your child's teacher. And of course we have the Bug-o-Doodles, which are designed and hand crafted by Deborah. Again, I think if you take some time to browse our categories you will be surprised to find out how many great items we actually have that would make fabulous and unusual gifts.

How gorgeous is this? If you know of anyone who is looking for a deal on a wedding gown, you should really tell them about the gorgeous Demetrios Illusions gown we just listed. It's new, elegant, has the original tags still in place and is priced under retail and with no sales tax.

The Details: Style No. 3049 - Size 12, Ivory, Crushed French taffeta strapless gown with ruching and mermaid-style cut. The bodice is hand-embellished with Swarovski crystals and beading. The straight skirt is decorated with fabric flowers and ends in a sweep train. Never worn - tags still on. International size. Use measurements to be accurate: bust 35, waist 30, hips 42.

You can save enough money from the reduction the bride is giving and not having to pay sales tax, to perhaps stay another day or two on your honeymoon. Or just be creative and think about how you could spend the money you saved on buying this beautiful dress versus one from a retail store. I know which way I'd go.

Sometime next week we'll be adding a couple of Christmas ornament assortments that were originally purchased through QVC. These ornaments are similar to what you'd find in a Radko collection, but without the Radko price tag. Each set of 15 ornaments are housed inside a wooden box with a fully lined slot made especially for a specific ornament. The price for a set is an absolute steal at $35.00. That's like $2.33 for each ornament with a free wood box to protect them throughout the rest of the year.

This past week we had a large addition of merchandise consisting of Chanel pants, a Dooney Bourke wristlet bag, Streets Ahead belts, and more. Actually there are still more items waiting for their chance to be added to the site. Hmmm...Maybe tomorrow. Or should I say; "Afterall, tomorrow's another day?"

If you need a delicious pie recipe for Thanksgiving this year, check out the one we have on our newsletter this time. Yummy!

I think you're now armed with enough information to make your shopping experience on Once in a Blue Moon Online Thrift and Consignment Store pleasant.