Nearly two weeks into the New Year and here is to the first blog entry.  It has taken a little time to get the momentum started on all of my endevours as I took about two weeks off and getting going again is easier said than done.  I have gotten my own eBaying stuff off to a good start and now to get going on the blog in earnest.

I have some items currently up on eBay and I am happy about that and yesterday I sold the first full bike, part of the haul from the last bike show.  I paid $50 for the bike, took some parts off that are currently on eBay, added some generic parts and new innertubes and sold it for $140.  Tubes were $2 each, replacement shifter was $3 from a bike show, pedals were $6 and grips were $3. So into it for a total of $66 and have parts on eBay and I am $74 up on the deal so far!  Now if I can get going on everything else and have it all sold by month end I will be a happy boy.

I also have to work out and double check my math for last year for accounting purposes and my goal is to get that done by the end of the month.

The content and the work that I need to get done for the website is a slow process, I am not enjoying it that much so it is taking some time.  Other than that I guess all is good!

‘Tis the Season!  I am looking to spend a little time on some of my projects and to get some content written for the new web site and found just the encouragement, well more like rationale why it might be a good time to take a break.  I was at the post office last week and it was a nightmare.  I don’t do well with long lines and the wait time was driving me mad.  Yes, I know it is the Holiday Season and all of that good stuff but I am at the Post Office 3-4 times a week usually and although managing to deal with the Holiday rush on all previous occasions I was wondering what would be the worst case scenario if I pulled the plug on all of my selling until the New Year.  Two to three weeks of being able to do my own stuff and no money coming in for those same two to three weeks.  I can deal with that and so have pulled the plug on all selling, including the blog.  Oh, I was at the post office to ship off some fenders off the Frejus and had sold them for $145 including shipping which was $10.  I’ll update all new totals and other stuff later but just wanted to get it out there that I am on Holiday   Back in the New Year.

Not much been happening as far as progress on getting the recent purchases to market.  I did strip one bike down and so far have only listed 4 parts from it.  The good news is that 3 of the parts sold tonight for a gross total of $191.28 with plenty more parts and the frame to come.  I should do quite nicely off that $100 investment when all said and done.  I am going to try and get the rest of that bike and another bike broken down and listed by the end of the week.

At the moment though most of my energies are still being focused on the new website and writing content for it.  I am also looking at sourcing and having some reproduction pieces made and am just excited about the opportunity ahead.  This is because it will provide me with an income stream from launch, hopefully and will help with the day to day bills and keeping the wolf from the door.  The idea of the blog is to provide me with financial security but I won’t be there until I am and I can’t draw any profits from it to help me with the day to day expenses.  I am so psyched with where I am with it though that I will not let it slip back off the radar and can’t wait to get some more stuff moving and see where it goes.

Well, where does the time go?  I’ve no idea either.  Last Sunday (Nov 25th) I went to a bicycle show and ended up spending $645 for eight bikes.  A Frejus $100, another Italian bike $100, a Raleigh Superbe $150, a Raleigh Sports $150, a Dunelt $25, a Raleigh Sports for parts $20 and a Raleigh LTD and a Peugeot for $100.  I did not intend to spend the limit as I was also chasing a couple of bikes on various auctions this week.  If you read the entry for October 8th “The Good, The Bad and The Unbelieveable” I had mentioned buying a BSA folding paratrooper bike from WWII.  These things are very much sought after at the moment and two were available.  In addition, I had just sold mine for $975, more than twice what I had paid for it but it had issues, including the wrong wheels and the wrong brakes, both pretty expensive parts.  Anyway, my hope was to purchase both, a more complete example for myself and the other for the blog to immediately flip.  I did succeed in getting the one off eBay which mentioned nowhere the word paratrooper or WWII so went somewhat under the radar of a few people and was pretty much complete.  I got it for $775, and that included it being shipped to me.  Yesterday was auction number two and this was going to be a bit tougher as the auction was for bicycles coming from a bicycle museum.  In the end it sold for $2,600 which was beyond my reach and so having only one I will keep it for myself for the time being.  Here’s my thought process, I bought the first one for $450, sold it for $975 and after fees I believe I netted around $875.  I have bought a more complete bike for $775 and so theoretically I am into this one for $350, my initial $450 purchase minus the $100 I pocketed for selling and buying a better one.  This one I will sell at some point and hopefully will make enough to buy me a tidy complete one which will stand me at $0!!

Anyway, I digress but I was holding around $1,000 for the second bike for the blog but that did not happen.  So here I sit with 8 bikes and ideally would like to shift them all before the end of the year, possibly not going to happen but you never know.  The Frejus I mentioned is an Italian bike that I have stripped down to a frame set and parts.  I have cleaned the original parts on there and will begin listing those tonight and tomorrow.  The other bikes have a mix of probable dispositions and I will update this as and when they are happening.  I should double my money with relative ease and that should see me heading into the new year with over $2,000 and that would be nice.  Correction, that would be great.

In other news, motivated to get going again because one of my blog readers was wondering what was going on.  Here is the kicker, I kept this quiet from family until late in the year and told my mum about it who has shared it with other family.  I think it may have been given a quick look over by others but has been read by my mum.  Anyway, mum just got back from holiday and was wondering what was happening, talk about pressure!

I am moving ahead with the website and have been sent an outline of the site and it looks good.  I am meeting with the developer for coffee on Tuesday and am looking forward to moving ahead.

I have been selling some new items under my business eBay account and although not setting the world alight I am happy about it and working smarter not harder.  The hourly rate of return is better than cleaning and listing vintage parts but not there in sufficient volume as yet to make a significant difference as yet but again, I am moving in the right direction.

I am thankful for the continued progress I am making this year and am mindful that I need to keep focused and appreciative of all that I am given.  I am not a new age type but I will include something further about this probably in a yearly round up post or page.

Update: Kitty as of 11/20/2012 currently stands at $1,689.61!

I have not bought anything for well over a month, closer to two actually, ugh but there is hope on the horizon in the next couple of weeks.  As I have mentioned I have had some other things occupying my mind and have had to get moving on my own stuff.  This has not stopped me from relisting and selling stuff that had yet to sell.  Sometimes an item can take 3 or 4 auction cycles before it sells.  The strange thing is that even if I drop a price an item can still sell for more than what it was listed at the week before.  It all depends who is looking to buy an item at any given point in time.  An example of this would be the Weinmann brakes with Carlton hoods, I could not get a buyer at $25 when first ended on 10/11/2012, or at $19 when ended 10/24/2012, or at $14.95 when it ended on 11/5/2012, yet it sold with 3 bids for $42.79 on 11/17/2012.  Can you work that one out? I’m sure I can’t and it happens on a somewhat regular basis.

Nothing new to report as far as buying.  I just had about 10 auctions finish tonight for items that had previously gone unsold.  It is just a case of clicking “Relist”, costs nothing and runs them through the auction again.  I sold 4 items for another $80 or so, since my last update on “How Am I doing” by the look of it I have sold a total of $174.  Now I have nothing running I’ll add everything up, do the math and subtract all the fees and see exactly where I stand.

Other than that am busy trying to sell my own stuff to help pay for the latest endevour, it is going OK and I am slowly but surely getting to where I need to be.  It was also a great day today, the sun came out and my Eldest had a great mini football (soccer) tournament today that his side won.  He scored in the first game and it is all good!   I even refereed a game, a little lax on calling offenses such as foul throws but kept the ball and the game moving.  A fun day!

I have just added a new page, “Thoughts From The Half Way Mark“, worth a read.

Well, no update on the blog, actually 2 of the items that have yet to sell have bids on eBay but only to be expected given time.

The reason that things have been a little quiet in blog land is that I have been working on something else that I have been thinking about for way too long and today I finally pulled the trigger to get it going.  Giddy Up! I’m psyched and the next couple of months will be tough as I have a ton of work ahead of me but if I do this right the first time I will only have to do it the once and then from there on in it will be a passive or somewhat passive income.  Yes, hardly exciting and not enough to turn my wildest dreams into reality but hopefully enough to help keep the wolf from the door and give me some breathing room.  The thing is that this could very well last for years and that is alright by me.  No this is not blog related but it is conceptually the same.  Define a goal/want and plan a course of action, directions, recipe or whatever you want to call the instructions you need to follow to achieve it.  If you plan appropriately and accordingly and follow the steps then all things are possible. I more firmly believe this than I did at the beginning of the year and I knew deep down that this was the case then.

So, on the downside not much activity going on with the blog or purchases for it. Some more auction items sold and those that didn’t just got relisted again.  On the plus side I have had some opportunities but have ruled them out as they would involve too much work.  The more I think about it the more focused I have become on looking at opportunities.  I might reassess but I need an easy in and an easy out for the next deal(s).  This has also become true for the other stuff I am doing.  I am looking at return on money and time as I wrote about in the “Personally Starting to Buckle Down and Change Tack” post and I have plenty of stuff on hand to offer me small yields for my time so I don’t need to be buying any more.

I really have to write something up about the meeting I had with the person that has done well for themselves but to be honest, the more I think about the big picture of what they do, the more I think they might be suffering from a similar fate. Some stuff they have done has produced fantastic returns but the pure tonnage that they have and the number of individual and specific items yet (when and if ever to be gotten to) is of concern.  So I need to look hard at the specific deals that have yielded great returns as well as look at the day to day stuff that while providing nice returns might not be time/money well invested.  This is also for me and the way in which I do business, not just for the blog.  Anyway, a quiet week this week and purposely so, I will try and get a new section of thoughts and things that I think I have learned up to this point.

A final note, I bumped into a local property developer that I was briefly introduced to the other day, just by being on a street chatting to someone I know.  I saw them again today and went up and reintroduced myself, explained what I was looking to do with the blog and hopefully will be seeing them at some point to talk about models of development and their entrance and exit strategies.  Not sure if it will help but I am sure that it can’t hurt.  Again, it was a little bit of a tough nut to swallow since I am only at the $1,500 mark and they are dealing in excess of a million dollars per deal when all is said and done.  I have a strong belief in myself and what I am trying to achieve so I went for it.  It is not easy but if you believe in something you should not be afraid to ask.

Nothing new in blog land. I am excited though. I have moved a couple of ideas up off the back burners and talking to some people about them.  A web developer today who can hopefully deliver what he says he can and to be honest I am not asking for anything new or cutting edge.  Also someone impartial but whose advice I will appreciate and take on board. That is next week.  I think (more know, to be honest) that I am at a point where if given the green light I will pull the trigger and get one moving.  It has been a while since I took a calculated risk on something new and to be honest it has taken up most of my thoughts during my waking time over the last week or two.  It is maybe time for a change!   I say only one as the other will/may be lined up for the new year.  I am looking for a touch of moderation and  sense of level headedness, which will also be a change but thanks to a UK trip in March and some other stuff has caused some self reflection and has become apparent that it is an area I need to work on.  It is all good though as it has opened up other alternatives/avenues for me and allows me to smell the roses once in a while rather than being too full on.  Anyway, I digress. So nothing new as yet on the blog front but cash at the ready and waiting to go.  Wait, hold the press, got confirmation today that the eBay saddle I sold to someone in Germany finally arrived so that money $86 is not going to be clawed back. Also I still have stuff up on eBay and currently close to another $40 to come in with time to go.  Like I said, it is all good!

So, where was I? Yes, not enough hours in the day. Well guess what? It is still the case. On Friday the boys were off school, it was my youngest boys birthday yesterday, today was busy with not much and I just heard that they cancelled school for tomorrow due to the approaching storm. I am cleaning up in the basement.  I should take a picture to let you see the cramp conditions that I subject myself to. I will now continue to clean while I try and get some stuff listed on eBay. I’m not long for this night so I don’t think I will get more than a handful of things done.

Not much else to report. Other than my mind is racing thinking about other possible income streams. Shiny pennies everywhere and I don’t want to make the mistake of chasing the wrong ones. Still, it beats just watching TV for the night and if I Iist and sell a couple of items next week because of tonight it will be more than worthwhile.