Building the Future From the Past
Where can you find treasures?Searching for Little Treasures
Kasey is searching high and low.Thrift stores and estate sales are great places to search for treasures. There are plenty of antique stores, but you’ll pay more money because they know what they have.
The thrift stores and estate sales will have cheaper finds. Look for a company name or symbol on the bottom of an item. Try to make sure the item is in its original condition, not painted over or too rusty.
You’ll also find things that have been set by the curb to be thrown away. These are even cheaper…they’re free! It's amazing to me how a tarnished piece of metal can turn into an awesome, shiny treasure with just a little tender, loving care.
CloseFrom Trash to Cash
Over the summer, I decided to turn my hobby into something more. I was flipping through the channels on the television when I came across “Antiques Roadshow.”
Antiques Roadshow“Antiques Roadshow” gives people the opportunity to bring in things that are old and may be expensive.
They have experts look at what they brought in and tell them how much the items are worth.
CloseThe show caught my attention right away because people were walking in with old things, some of which looked like trash—like the stuff I had.
Appraisers were telling these people their items were worth big bucks!
I’m talking about mucho dinero!
That’s when the idea hit me. “Antiques Roadshow” made me realize that I could start taking the treasures I found from the past and begin selling them to help build my future. The only question was how to do it.
How?
Starting a business isn’t easy and I didn’t have an actual store that people could come and visit, so my mom and I came up with the idea of starting my own website.
My Own Website
Mom helped me market my business.Papa made this sign for me. I save it for when I am able to expand my antique business to include a big showroom! Right now it sits in my room, reminding me to keep working hard toward my dream.
My mom always encourages me to follow through with my ideas. She works in marketing so she helped me come up with the design for my website and even my own business cards.
The site, Red Barn Treasures, was free to make, and we only had to pay a little money for the business cards. A little less than $10 and I was on my way!
CloseI keep all of my antiques in a little red barn in the backyard, so the name of my site came pretty easy. You guessed it: Red Barn Treasures.
Name one thing you can do on Kasey's website.
14% Drive a car.
86% Ask him to find you something particular.
0% Poke your friends.
To advertise, I ask permission to leave my business cards in local stores. I also pass them out to everyone I know so that they can tell people. I plan to talk about it on Facebook, too.
Facebook Fan Page?I haven’t set up a Facebook fan page for Red Barn Treasures yet, but I plan to.
Watch for it and become a fan!
CloseMy mom works in marketing, which is all about advertising, so she has been teaching me the ropes. That’s where I get the ideas of how to spread the word about my business. She told me how important it is to talk about my business whenever I get the opportunity.
Can I find you an antique?I Take Special Requests!
I'll work hard for you!People who visit my website can:
- Look at my antiques.
- Make an offer to buy something.
- Send me a special request to look for a particular antique.
Once I find the item at a good price, I clean it up, and then sell it for a little more than what I paid for it. I charge a flat rate for shipping, which depends on the size of the item.
The whole transaction is done over the Internet. Then, I visit the post office to send off the treasures to their new owners.
CloseMy very first customer was looking for an old wood-framed shaving mirror to put on her dresser. It took me a couple months, but I finally found one at a little thrift store.
I bought it for $3, and sold it to her for $21! I framed that first dollar for good luck!
Come on by!
I’m building my future from the past by taking three steps:
- I search for old things that look interesting to me, or that people ask me to find.
- I look up the history of each item and determine its value.
- I sell it to customers to make a profit.
That’s how I’m building my future from the past. I hope that you’ll visit Red Barn Treasures soon!
True or False: Andrew Jackson was the first President to be born west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Click Andrew's head for the answer.
FALSE: He was born in Waxhaw, South Carolina on March 15, 1767. Waxhaw is now part of North Carolina, and is surrounded by the Appalacian's.
contributed by
Kasey
Age 11
Lithia, FL
12/29/10
12/17/10
12/13/10
12/07/10
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