Shopsmith Forums

It's a longshot, but put an ad up on Craigslist saying you want a PowerPro with link and cost, and what your skills are. You guys are all good at woodworking, so its not inconcievable that someone in your area wants custom cabinetry, etc. and would pay you with a Power Pro. You get exactly what you want, they save some money, and everyone wins.

I did that a year ago, fixed a guy's 4-wheeler and he went to the store and bought me a climbing tree stand. I had put a want-to-buy ad up for a stand but also said if they bartered for my services they would get a lot more value, then listed my skills. That wasn't the only *good* offer I received, just the best one.

For whatever reason, non-crazy people respond fairly well to that sort of proposition, especially knowing you're not some drifter looking for sidejobs to pay the bills.

It's a longshot, but put an ad up on Craigslist saying you want a PowerPro with link and cost, and what your skills are. You guys are all good at woodworking, so its not inconcievable that someone in your area wants custom cabinetry, etc. and would pay you with a Power Pro. You get exactly what you want, they save some money, and everyone wins.

I did that a year ago, fixed a guy's 4-wheeler and he went to the store and bought me a climbing tree stand. I had put a want-to-buy ad up for a stand but also said if they bartered for my services they would get a lot more value, then listed my skills. That wasn't the only *good* offer I received, just the best one.

For whatever reason, non-crazy people respond fairly well to that sort of proposition, especially knowing you're not some drifter looking for sidejobs to pay the bills.

terrydowning wrote:They don't even go to the effort of attempting to clean the windshield with dirty water and a dirty rag any more, They just stand in the center island with a sign asking for money.

A couple years ago up in KC, I saw a panhandler sitting in a lawn chair in the center island, playing on an iPhone with a posterboard propped up asking for money.

frank81 wrote:A couple years ago up in KC, I saw a panhandler sitting in a lawn chair in the center island, playing on an iPhone with a posterboard propped up asking for money.

You do know that your Government provides free cell phones, right? The fact that this panhandler has an iPhone means very little.

You just aren't making me feel any better Dusty.

dusty wrote:You do know that your Government provides free cell phones, right? The fact that this panhandler has an iPhone means very little.

Next time you open your bill, look for the "Universal Service Charge" and know that you just paid for someone else's phone

This government mandated tax was set into place in 1997 to meet requirements put into place in 1934 and expanded in 1996.


One good thing is that last year the FCC decided it is better to spend the money on upgrading our broadband infrastructure by 2018. The US is sadly behind global standards for speed and price.

frank81 wrote:It's a longshot, but put an ad up on Craigslist saying you want a PowerPro with link and cost, and what your skills are. You guys are all good at woodworking, so its not inconcievable that someone in your area wants custom cabinetry, etc. and would pay you with a Power Pro. You get exactly what you want, they save some money, and everyone wins.

I did that a year ago, fixed a guy's 4-wheeler and he went to the store and bought me a climbing tree stand. I had put a want-to-buy ad up for a stand but also said if they bartered for my services they would get a lot more value, then listed my skills. That wasn't the only *good* offer I received, just the best one.

For whatever reason, non-crazy people respond fairly well to that sort of proposition, especially knowing you're not some drifter looking for sidejobs to pay the bills.

Now that's a great example of doing something you enjoy, and getting good economic value in return! I've gotta believe that the key to this feat was your communication and marketing skills. You chose an appropriate medium (Craigslist) to reach your prospects, described what you had to offer, and explained the benefit of doing business with you to your to prospects. Hey, if it's a good deal, and the word gets out, someone will want to take that deal!

Personally, I'm looking for a good way to teach my kids the basics of business. The younger two have a great gig pet-sitting the retired neighbors' cats when they vacation, which is quite often. Too great, actually. The neighbors pay so well that Dad's minimum-wage job offerings are no longer attractive. Nice work, if you can get it.

Most recently, my son has been tasked with selling over-priced mulch to raise money for Boy Scout activities. This nets him $0.75 per bag to help pay for summer camp, etc. Last weekend, he added about $75 to the summer-camp fund in a mere two hours. Gotta love that Boy Scout brand. Try doing that as an ordinary citizen!

So I started wondering .. if Boy Scouts can sell garden-variety commodity shredded wood at a handsome profit, what might they be able to do with nice hand-crafted wooden birdhouses and such? (Handcrafted is just a marketing term here, I really mean simple designs that can be easily knocked out in quantity on power tools with the aid of simple jigs and fixtures.). The kids could do the final assembly and painting, and have good fun doing it.

Does anyone here have any insight or experiences to share about using woodcrafts for group fundraising?

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Now that's a great example of doing something you enjoy, and getting good economic value in return! I've gotta believe that the key to this feat was your communication and marketing skills. You chose an appropriate medium (Craigslist) to reach your prospects, described what you had to offer, and explained the benefit of doing business with you to your to prospects. Hey, if it's a good deal, and the word gets out, someone will want to take that deal!

Personally, I'm looking for a good way to teach my kids the basics of business. The younger two have a great gig pet-sitting the retired neighbors' cats when they vacation, which is quite often. Too great, actually. The neighbors pay so well that Dad's minimum-wage job offerings are no longer attractive. Nice work, if you can get it.

Most recently, my son has been tasked with selling over-priced mulch to raise money for Boy Scout activities. This nets him $0.75 per bag to help pay for summer camp, etc. Last weekend, he added about $75 to the summer-camp fund in a mere two hours. Gotta love that Boy Scout brand. Try doing that as an ordinary citizen!

So I started wondering .. if Boy Scouts can sell garden-variety commodity shredded wood at a handsome profit, what might they be able to do with nice hand-crafted wooden birdhouses and such? (Handcrafted is just a marketing term here, I really mean simple designs that can be easily knocked out in quantity on power tools with the aid of simple jigs and fixtures.). The kids could do the final assembly and painting, and have good fun doing it.

Does anyone here have any insight or experiences to share about using woodcrafts for group fundraising?

Think pine wood derby etc.

letterk wrote:... If you are in CA, clean windshields of cars at stoplights.
....

GEEmineee No, no, no. no. no!!
Especially not in CA, or at least not in LA, CA. I tried that onct.
Got me a big ol spray bottle of Windex and an old rag, went down to a busy intersection at Ventura and something (memory hasn't been too good since then) and started wipin cars.
Doin pretty good, cleanin windows, makin some coin, got a real rhythm goin, hoppin back and froth across the pedestrians and whatever, then after one light change I weaved thru the walkers and got my spray goin, reached out and started wipin with the rag, something didn't feel right-- looked up and sheesh, about 20 or 30 Hell's Angels had rolled up to the red light, and there I was with my wet amonia rag doin the face of, of all things, the leader!
Don't know which was worse, that he had no sunglasses on or that my rag was an old old pair of my underwear, but he was a tad annoyed.
Long story short, he turned out to not so bad a guy after all, since after he kicked my asp he left me in the gutter instead of out into the middle of the intersection. Whew!

Anaway, I gotta tell yas, if you're gonna go into the Service Industry like I did you better be a heck of a lot more careful.