posted on February 16, 2006 10:22:48 PM
In most instances, a partner will eventually try to steal 100% of the profits from the business for himself. If you REALLY want a partner, choose your wife. She'll only take 75%.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on February 16, 2006 11:19:23 PM
The only way that a partnership will work is if you write it all down on paper, as a contract and list what each will put into it as far as time, money and vehichle use and gasoline etc. and how the procedes/profits from sales will be split. It's important to note that work duties do not have to be equal. One person may have better skills on the computer while the other may have better skills at merchandise picking or some such other task that needs to be done. The split of profits doesn't have to be equal either, it is whatever you decide and agree upon. It probably wouldn't hurt to even file limited partnership incorporation papers with your state corporation department and your agreement has to be filed along with those papers. This would keep it all legal and if a disagreement should arise, say for example, if one person decided to keep some great and valuable find for themself and not share it then you would have legal recourse to prevent that from happening.
Otherwise if you are just a couple of people that have this great partnership idea and if you think things will work out with a verbal agreement then you are asking to have your cake and a tall glass of cold milk too and carry them both with one hand while dancing the Tango. It won't work.
posted on February 17, 2006 06:31:14 AM
I am now selling for a retired antique dealer,she has been scammed and I have to listen to all those tales of how she was scammed.
At first she treats me as another potential scammer who would lie and steal from her.
Now we are working together to sell her stuff which would take years to dispose,she is trying hard to accept Ebay as a fleamarket,a place to liquidate ,not to make a killing or recover what she paid for years ago.
She has many high end stuff I doubt she would want to liquidate on Ebay,but there are still many low and medium end stuff under the bed,in the garage,in cabinets she could sell on ebay,stuff under the bed,inside the garage is not going to earn her interest income or pay her bills.
Whether she likes it or not,Ebay may just be her only venue to raise cash fast.
We dont have to go to any garage sale,all we have to do is wander from room to room and pick out some items to sell.
So far so good,she gets the hard cash in 10 days and I get to stay away from the fridge.
/ lets all stop whining !! /
posted on February 17, 2006 06:36:23 AM
A good team is when each partner brings something to the partnership that other partners are lacking in. A bad team is when partners have the same skills and trade-off jobs. The potential benefit: saving gas and car wear seems minimal compared to the potential risk: your friendship, investment, income. Sounds like a bad idea.
posted on February 17, 2006 06:45:37 AM
hwahwa a conglomeration of grad students? Now that would make sense! I have to admit that I thought you might be a tippler.
Where IS Jack? Come out come out wherever you are!
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posted on February 17, 2006 08:30:40 AM
I hope he is doing well selling on Craigslist.
I looked at some items like micro wave ovens etc and it is just not worth the efforts to drive for miles to get the stuff,it is cheaper to go to Walmart and buy it new with a return policy.
/ lets all stop whining !! /
posted on February 17, 2006 08:35:56 AM
Most business partners scrutinise each other closely-his marriage,his networth,his skills ,his family background etc.
No one is 100% honest,you just have to pick the best and hope for the best.
It is okay to have similar skills,overlapping skills are fine and may even makes life easier for both.
If he is going to need the Ebay proceeds to pay his mortgage or put gas in his car or food on the table and he has no savings or anything else to fall back on,he is a poor candidate.
/ lets all stop whining !! /
posted on February 17, 2006 08:54:55 AM
Hwahwa: You have my sympathy, dealing with an antiques person. About three years I faced the fact that, for selling collectibles and antiques, eBay is a wholesale venue, not retail. This is the toughest lesson consignors have to learn when they call me and have dollar signs dancing over their heads. I have to actually show them comparables on eBay before they believe me.
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posted on February 17, 2006 09:22:02 AM
Partership can definitely work - I have a business where I have a partner in Canada. We communicated a lot in the ancient early 1990's online, and we met in person one time to set things up. He is a lot more tech oriented than I am, I basically had an idea to commercialize the business, so I do marketing and billing, he does the tech work - This works great, not a single problem and we are going on 10 years now.
That being said, I just don't see it working with going to garage sales and selling on ebay. It is a cash business, nothing on the purchasing end can be traced or verified - Just too many opportunties for temptation, and then once you've gotten away with it, it will be easy to do again and again and again...
posted on February 17, 2006 09:35:08 AM
You know, musing over all the replies in this thread, I think we're pretty much agreed on the viability of partnering up for garage sales.
But there has to be a better way to garage-sale than just driving around in your truck all morning hitting each sale in series.
How can one optimize their expenditure of time and gas?
I had one idea. After doing it for years, I always wondered when I'd be at a sale, browsing, and some guy or gal would dash out of their car and demand of the seller, "Got any golf clubs?" "Any jewelry?" "Any military stuff?" and on receiving a negative, dash on to the next sale.
With business cards as cheap as they are now, what harm could there be in leaving one with the seller, who after all does have friends and relatives who may actually have the things you're interested in? If you really want to motivate, offer a referral fee.
posted on February 17, 2006 09:40:38 AM
I actually have a couple of people in the area who do garage sale for me in areas I don't get to. Their goal is to pay x amount and sell to me for Y - With these two people, I am pretty sure they are not online because otherwise I would not get as many good things.
The other part about the business card is a good idea. Cards are actually free at vistaprint. I created a card, if someone is selling a lot or collection I want and they want too much for it (hard to talk them down when the sale just starts sometimes) I will leave a card behind, tell them what I will pay, and they can call if they change their mind, my cel phone is on the card.
posted on February 17, 2006 10:08:30 AM
Yeah, you are right, you do pay for shipping and of course they try to get you to upgrade so be careful if you order. I actually have a phone number to nowhere for uses like this, from companies I never want to call me. It's sad that it is necessary, but it is!
posted on February 18, 2006 06:10:49 AM
There was a case in the news (well, the antique trade papers) here in Massachusetts a few years ago. Apparently these two guys formed an informal team to do this sort of thing. Then at an auction preview, they both saw a painting. One "partner" looked at it and told the other it wasn't worthwhile - then bought it himself and flipped it for a goodly amount. The case wound up in court, and even though there was no formal arrangement, the judge recognized that there was in fact a partnership, and they had to settle. I would guess that they are no longer speaking to each other.
In spite of the claims that this type of operation is a "business", it is more akin to beachcombing, and if you have a partner, you should also have a marriage certificate.
Not quite the same as large corporations (which as we now know, have their own ethical problems). And you might be interested to read about the sleazeball tricks Henry Ford used to eliminate his original partners/investors when he realized it would be to his advantage.
posted on February 18, 2006 07:13:48 AM
yes,also read 'My years with General Motors' by Alfred Sloan on how profitable divisions hid their cash from the corporate office.The treasurer has to go from division to division hitting them with cash demands so he can pay office rent,dividend and payroll.
/ lets all stop whining !! /
