© Copyright Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.
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! :-)
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