Last Minute Gift Giving: Gifts That Won't Break The Bank

As we quickly approach the holiday weekend, many of us (myself included) are scrambling to find that last minute gift for a friend of family member.  It's easy to get caught up in the frenzy of it all.  Yesterday I went to Target for scotch tape and left with about $100 worth of additional purchases that I didn't know I needed when I walked in the store.  The holiday shopping can easily spin out of control.

This year my husband an I decided to make an effort to buy at least a portion of the gifts used or refurbished.  We decided to do this for a variety of reasons.  One being that BrickSmarts is based on the concept of taking used Lego sets and refurbishing them to "like new" condition.  We wanted to personally test this concept in other products and see how feasible it is when it comes to gift giving.  I think there is generally a stigma with giving a gift that is used or refurbished.  Refurbished, or Up-Cycled gifts are great because they usually save you money, and they are great for the environment.  Unfortunately, I think most people expect that a gift should be shiny, sparkly, and packaged neatly in a factory sealed box.  Well, I believe that isn't always the case.  So I came up with a list of 5 used or refurbished gift ideas to help last minute shoppers save their wallets and the planet!

1. Technology:  Big brand technology companies sell many of their products refurbished at deeply discounted prices.  I recently purchased a refurbished Nikon SLR camera refurbished for $200 less then the retail price.  It came with a 1 year parts warranty and included a case, lens, and wifi adapter.  I purchased it at http://www.buydig.com.  It arrived in a timely manner and was as described on the site.  

2. Brand name small appliances:  I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes so my husband knows that he can always score big points by buying me a high quality appliance.  Last year he bought me a refurbished Vitamix blender.  I had wanted one for a long time, but couldn't stomach the $500 price tag.  After scouring the Vitamix website, my hubby stumbled across the refurbished section.  https://www.vitamix.com/browse/s_refurb/ He was able to buy this industrial grade blender for hundreds of dollars off the original price.  It still works greats event though it's a refurb! 

3. Luxury handbags: I LOVE handbags...I think most women do.  I HATE paying astronomical prices for a beautiful bag.  Several years ago when living in Scottsdale, Arizona, I was a regular at the popular Women's Designer Consignment Store, http://www.mysisterscloset.com.  They had an amazing variety of luxury purses (as well as other clothing and accessories).  It's a great way to get or give the designer brands you love for a fraction of the price.

4. Toys: Many toys can have more then one life!  For example, my kids are ages 7 and 5.  This year my 7 year old was asking for a Nintendo 3DS.  They really haven't had much exposure to any type of gaming system so we had a Wii packed away from before my husband an I had kids.  We decided to unpack it and set it up for the kids to try out.  They LOVED it!  And because it's an older system we were able to buy popular used games online for around $7-$10.  I bought 4 games at www.half.com and used them as stocking stuffers!

And...of course Legos!  What I've realized when refurbishing our BrickSmarts sets, it's truly what is inside that counts.  The Lego bricks work just as well the first time they are used, as the 101st time they are used.  The magic of building still happens every time the Lego bricks are put together.  My kids love building and rebuilding their BrickSmarts sets.  Their favorite parts are the mini-figures and accessories.  Our goal is to restore each set so it can have many more lives, and bring as much joy to as many kids as possible!  Check out all of our Refurbished Lego Sets at www.BrickSmarts.com!

Building A BrickSmarts Online Community One Brick At A Time

After being in business for a little over a month, one of the biggest challenges of building an online business is social media.  I think as a new business owner, in your mind you think that if you build a website and post it, that people will see it.  Well...not exactly.  If you think of the internet as the universe, your website is basically one little speck of dust that is just floating out there waiting for someone to notice it.  Sounds depressing right?  Well if you are willing to put in the leg work and time of connecting to an online community, the chances of people (ideally your target customers) seeing your site, or something connected to your site, improve!

Several weeks before we launched BrickSmarts, I started gearing my social media sites, FB, Instagram, Twitter to reflect anything Parenting or Lego related.  My goal was to connect with readers that would be interested in my website and/or be potential customers.  Along the way I was able to connect with mom bloggers and parents that were sharing some really exciting and insightful content on the web.  I realized that there are so many moms out there who are interconnected though their blogs and social media and it serves as a virtual support system for their readers.

One of the Mom Bloggers that I crossed paths with was Amy Webb, PhD from The Thoughtful Parent.  Her site is a wealth of information related to parenting, family, and child development.  She brings a fresh perspective to her site.  She was so kind as to add BrickSmarts.com to her holiday gift guide and write a glowing review of a BrickSmarts building set.  We LOVE that her kiddos loved their BrickSmarts set and hope that her readers will check out BrickSmarts for themselves.

http://www.thoughtfulparent.com/2016/11/holiday-gift-guide-for-raising-unselfie.html

http://www.thoughtfulparent.com/2016/12/blocks-childs-holiday-list-lego.html

If You Build It...They Will Come

Well we made it to the finish line...or the starting line, however you want to look at it.  Yesterday marked the first day of business at www.BrickSmarts.com.  The days leading up to our launch were spent reviewing the website, double checking the sets in preparation for sale, and working on a marketing plan so that we could get BrickSmarts in front as many eyes as possible on our first day.  I have to admit that I was pretty nervous about the public's response to the website.  Thankfully the feedback was AMAZING!  We had lots of views on our site and much love on social media.  Especially from Borm & Co.  Mom Blogger and Marketing Expert, Julie Borm gave us a real boost on Facebook with her blog post about Family Owned Businesses.  You can check out the link here!
And I have to give a special shout out to my hubby, who is always super supportive, and has put up with all of the added demands of starting a new business.  

So with the first day behind us, we look towards the next couple of months which seems like the most insane time to start an online store.  We are hoping for LOTs of customers looking for reasonable gifts for their LEGO® loving kiddos.  We want to offer an economical alternative to astronomical retail prices.  And the best thing about LEGOs is, they are just as fun USED as they are NEW!  We want to connect and reach out to customers who want to be mindful of cost, but may also be looking for an environmentally friendly alternative to their holiday shopping.  BrickSmarts offers just that!  We clean, refurbish, and hand package each of our LEGO® building sets, so it's not like the typical used LEGOs that you would buy at a garage sale.  We take care of all that!  We promise that your little LEGO® lovers will not miss the original packaging or box.  It's what's inside that counts!

www.BrickSmarts.com

We Hand Package Each Set In A Resealable Zipper Pouch!

OUR GRAND OPENING IS SO CLOSE ...IT'S SCARY!!!

Today is a super exciting day, because we are busy getting ready for the GRAND OPENING of our online marketplace tomorrow!  

TUES, NOV 1, 2016

BUY REFURBISHED LEGO® BUILDING SETS AT www.BrickSmarts.com

At BrickSmarts, we take USED, unwanted LEGO® sets and replace pieces, manuals, and mini-figures, to give our sets a new life.  We double check each building set for completeness, and hand package them in a RESEALABLE ZIPPER POUCH!  We ship them to you without the mess and clutter of the original packaging.  We offer all of your favorite sets, at a FRACTION of the cost!  Buy USED sets for 40-60% off retail prices!  We add NEW sets everyday, so follow us on social media to see new listings and special offers. 

KIDS LOVE LEGOS®, AND YOU WILL LOVE OUR PRICES!

BrickSmarts.com GRAND OPENING 11/1/16

www.BrickSmarts.com

Tuesday November 1, 2016 is the BIG day!  

Several months ago, I had this crazy idea of selling refurbished LEGO® sets online.  Well...fast forward 9 months, and we are so close to launching BrickSmarts.com.  

We have had a few set backs along the way, but the big day is fast approaching!  We are busy working out the kinks in the website, making sure our sets are complete and ready to ship, and crafting our social media and marketing campaign.

We will be up and running just in time to start your holiday shopping!  At BrickSmarts, our refurbished LEGO® building sets are double checked for completeness, then hand packaged in a resealable zipper pouch.  Our sets provide ALL the fun, for a fraction of the cost!  

I can not wait until we go live on Tuesday 11/1/16.  We definitely have something for EVERYONE!  LEGO® Chima, LEGO® Friends, LEGO® Ninjago, Creator, City, Superheroes...the list goes on and on.  

The most exciting part is that we are getting in NEW building sets EVERYDAY!  That means that you will want to check in with us regularly.  You can also stay up to date on new arrivals through Facebook and Instagram!  We are so excited to share our products with you.  Spread the word and visit us on Tuesday!

Arm and a Leg-O

This is a Sample of My New Marketing Material for www.BrickSmarts.com 

The last several months have been busy with getting the online portion of our business up and running.  There are so many hoops to jump through when starting a small business.  But with a little persistence and a lot of luck all the documents have been filed, EIN obtained, tax info registered and we are ready for business!  The most time consuming part of my day is web design.  I compared GoDaddy web builder to Shopify's marketplace and personally found that the Shopify was better suited to meet my needs as an Ecommerce site.  

The Shopify site had over 100+ website themes to choose from and 24/7 web support.  I have already used the web support several times.  Each time there was very little wait time, and the support person or "Guru" that they call themselves, was very helpful and knowledgable.  If you have a small web design budget there are plenty of FREE themes that are very effective.  Overall I have found that the layout I chose was functional, but didn't offer a ton of customization.  The "Guru" told me that my Shopify account allows for 1 hour of custom web design time...so I will be sure to take advantage of that as soon as I am up and running.  For those who need lot of customization assistance there is an option to hire one through the site, for an extra fee of course. 

As far as monthly service with Shopify, I chose the cheapest plan for now, which is actually way cheaper then what I was paying in fees on Ebay, so I felt it was justified.  The other plans seemed more comprehensive but as a fledgling business, I don't have the budget to allocate for upward of $50/month.

My absolute favorite part of Shopify is that they send email Blog posts almost daily regarding small business advice and recommendations.  There is everything from podcasts to articles written by seasoned business persons.  It has been surprisingly helpful and most of the articles are short (4-5 minutes) each.  If you are thinking of building a website and have little to no web design experience, I would definitely check out Shopify.  The design platform is pretty intuitive and within a day or so it's pretty easy to navigate between their admin page and customization tool.  

See it to Believe It

One of my biggest challenges with moving forward on this idea was quite frankly, the fear of failure...which is still not outside the realm of possibility.  They say that about 50% of all new small businesses fail within the first 5 years.  Not great odds for me, but I will say that there is something magical about having an idea in your mind and then seeing it become something tangible.

One of the first hurtles was to choose a name, oddly I felt a similar pressure when choosing a name for a business, as my husband an I felt when naming our kids...lol.  In my mind, I needed something that people would notice and remember.  I wanted it to portray a Lego theme, while highlighting the "up-cycled" concept of my business.  The name went though several phases of change...but I finally settled on BrickSmarts.  I felt that was fitting, seeing that recycling is always a smart idea, and the brick part was pretty self explanatory.  The tag line "The Smart Way to Play" seemed appealing to parents who may be environmentally and/or financially conscious.

The next phase of creating an identity for this business was to take the name and create a logo.  I'm not sure if from a Business 101 standpoint that needed to be the next step, but for me it helped me to have something real that represented my idea.

This process took several weeks.  I got about 4 quotes on logo design.  They ranged anywhere from $50 to $800, and later I found out that they can cost even way more than that.  I stumbled across a website called DesignCrowd.  They are a freelance logo design company based out of Australia.  That have been around since 2008 and have more than 500,000 designers in over 160 countries.  I researched their website and it got good reviews.  The most appealing thing to me was that, if I didn't select any of the proposed designs, I would get my money back.

So here is how it worked.  You select a package that fits your needs.  The price was based on how many design submissions you wanted to receive.  I chose the 60+ designs option for about $200.  I received a coupon code in an email, a few days after first visiting the site.  I filled out an online worksheet with my info and what I needed.  I uploaded a few of my own logo ideas that I had just scratched on some scrap paper, I gave color and shape, theme preferences, and Viola...shipped it off to cyberspace.

Within 14 days I truly had over 40 different designs, and many variations on each design.  The designers were from all over the world.  I received a few designs that I really liked and honestly it was hard to choose.  One nice feature was that once your submission timeframe ended, you could poll your family and friends via email on the one they liked the best.  How about that for your "market research."  After that surprisingly painless process I requested a few color changes and selected my favorite design which is below.

There was something about seeing it that made it seem real.

Wonder Woman in the Brick Yard

I'm a mom of two energetic boys who LOVE Legos.  At one point last year we had Legos in every room in our house.  It seemed like everywhere I turned I was either stepping on Legos or stepping over Legos.  It was at that time I said, "Enough is Enough!"  The Lego sets that we had either were missing pieces or collecting dust.  It was ridiculous.  I was sick of spending an arm and a leg for sets that were put together once and then forgotten about.  I finally convinced the kids to help me sort and repack the sets they didn't want.  We posted them online and that was the start of our Lego adventure!  I knew after a couple of weeks that I wanted to start my own online "up-cycled" Lego business.  

I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit and when I started selling online I was hooked.  The problem was that I have no business background.  This blog is designed to highlight the ups and downs of starting an online business.  And hopefully it can serve as a what to do...or more-likely what NOT to do guide to starting an online business.