I love your ad. Totally cool.

One thing about being in Canda is that you've somewhat limited yourself geographically. Many American buyers won't buy outside the U.S. due to costly shipping. And I would much rather buy a vintage kit ready to go with shiny new heads. That's the only 2 things that came to mind. Good luck and stick with it if you can.

Thanks larryz. It keeps getting more and more discouraging, the longer I wait - always seems to be new charges or rules every time I approach ebay. Haven't even bought off there lately, due to exchange rate, shipping costs, and now this 'import charge' thingy. Seems like people are doing it though...?

Hey - and to top it off, I've just officially become a VDF, 'Vintage Drum Guru'. Yay!

Don't be afraid of Ebay, you are losing the potential of good money by being afraid of Ebay. Just don't bite off more than you can chew, try selling some other items too as that will generate the working capital that you will need to sustain your drum business.

I have been doing Ebay since 1998 and my success story is that I have not paid for a snare drum out of pocket since I started Ebay...and I buy a lot of snare drums.

"OPM" as we call it, "Other People's Money"... I say that with respect not arrogance, I have had thousands of pleasurable experiences on and "off" of Ebay. Like anything else you will occasionally come across a few putzerellas here and there but that's a small part in the bigger picture of Ebay. Ebay is by far not perfect but the potential for some decent to big money is there, start out light and go from there.

I collect vintage snare drums from the 1900s to the 1940s with a few other exceptions so feel free to contact me if you have anything that I may be interested in... mike@curottodrums.com

Now go sign up at Ebay and start making some more money!

Mike Curotto

First of all, I like the work that I have seen you do on this site. I think you have some unique skills paired with a love of drums. I especially love the Stenciland kit and I believe I said as much when I first saw it.

I would not be afraid of eBay as it does provide you with the widest net possible. There are fees involved, but imagine what it would cost you to advertise to the number of people that are constantly searching eBay. They are in business to make money just like everyone else.

I think you will find it very difficult to be successful dealing with lower end drums. If you pick up a $50 MIJ kit, spend $150 plus your time to get it up to snuff, you would have to sell it for $400 to turn a realistic profit. $300 if you are blowing it out the door. Add shipping to that if someone is not buying locally. Now you have to compete with the big box stores selling really attractive Tiawanese kits from $300-$600 brand new. They look great and Mom and Dad can walk in with their son or daughter and pick it up. It's tough to beat a brand new, shiny kit, especially when the logo on the kit says Gretsch, Pearl, Yamaha, etc. That is a really tough sell for you.

Coming up with spectacular finds like a 60's keystone kit for $50 can get some momentum financially for you, but the odds of finding those deals with any sort of regularity is nil.

I would suggest contacting local school music directors and explain what your services are (and that should include repair, customization and restoration work for others) and see if that helps getting you some traction for the short term. Along with that, any additional services you could provide will be helpful. See about becoming a dealer for a distributor such as KMC. You would get upper tier dealer pricing which is not as good as the big box stores but a lot better than purchasing retail and that would give you the possibility to not only purchase your parts cheaper, but also allow you to do some retail as well which would be helpful if you can generate any school interest.

If you really want some success, you will have to end up in the higher eschelon of the drum market. Your profit margins may be the same but the profit will be much higher. You mark up a kit 50% that you have $200 invested in and it sells for $300. You mark up a kit 50% that costs you $1,500 and you sell it for $2,250. Now who knows what the actual percentages would be, but you get the idea. On top if that, when you do find that pristine Top Hat and Cane kit for $150 you will have the established market to move it and make a tidy profit. You probably will not be able to retire on that kind of business, but you never know. You have to develop name recognition.

Any additional items or services you can develop to drive traffic such as your bass drum logos (really nice by the way) will only help build that recognition. If you opt to create an eBay store, make it look good. You have graphic skills so bring those to bear. Perhaps offer some special freebie with purchases over _____. Also, stock up on some hard candies or mints or something similar to include with any of your sales. Anything you can do to make the purchasing "out of the box experience" memorable will be a huge benefit to you.

One of these days I am going to buy an MIJ kit for the sole purpose of getting the opportunity to buy one of your custom logos. Good luck sir.

Thanks a lot guys - okay, now that summer's over, with a long cold winter ahead, I've really got to take the plunge, and start selling on ebay. Been wondering though; I've got a modest, but positive rating for purchases I've made under the name, DaddyNowhere - just wondering if there is any advantage to selling from there, or should I perhaps start a new 'seller's' account, and start fresh? Anyone?

@ Mike - That's the sort of thing I was hoping to hear. Still don't think it'd be too practical to try and sell full kits, especially cross border, but I do run across other drums, and related treasures in my dealings that would be a little more manageable, (and I do have boxes) - agree also, that this is a great way to pick up related merch for yourself without losing any money. Have scored several useful, vintage parts, and even drums that I've kept for myself along the way, and still made some $, even just dealing locally.

@ tnsquint - now THAT is a load of useful information. Much appreciated, as are the compliments. It's great being a part of this forum, and sharing info with so many friendly, and knowledgable folks like yourself. As you suggested, it has been my plan to start out small, and work my way towards the higher end, vintage drums. This has been working, (gradually) but it seems I've been battling between a soft local, (seller's) market, and the public being just too aware of what they have to sell. Getting harder to find a really good score, but they do happen, if you are diligent, and ready to pounce. Just trying to get to a place where I've got the funds readily available to jump on a higher end kit when it does present itself, and have the confidence, and financial stability, (and space) to hang onto them until the time, and the price is right to sell, I think, (hmmm, maybe I could hone these skills, and work my way up to the stock market... nah). I must say however, that starting small, and gaining some practical, hands-on experience, and experimentation with some of my earlier, cheaper/expendable kits, has really helped me to be much more confident working with more precious drums. Hey - liking the idea of the 'box candy' for shipping. Getting a package in the mail is always cool, but getting a little extra bonus can be pretty sweet.

Thanks again guys. I should probably bookmark this thread, and keep it for future reference.

It's great to see someone with space issues like me. "When/where did you get that one?" is a common phrase heard in our house.

I think you've done all of the right steps and have put a lot of thought into your next phase. Starting with MIJ kits was a great way to hone your skills and in the long run really saved you money. Especially, when you avoided making any mistakes on a Gretsch Round Badge, Ludwig Keystone or Rogers Cleveland kit. My first resto/detailing experience was with a 60's Gretsch 20/12/14 Burgundy Sparkle kit, which wasn't even mine. Eye Ball

I think you might want to take some time a figure out your labor costs, otherwise you'll have no idea how much you're really making on a kit. I put together an Excel spreadsheet that breaks down the different tasks for each type of work for each type of drum and the amount of time required. You'll be surprised at how low your hourly rate can get, if a lot of work is needed. For example, I calculated about 12 hours of labor for a Rogers 20/12/16 w/ matching snare that I'm currently working on. This is just labor on the drums and not searching for parts and buying materials. At $20 an hour, it's ~$225 labor profit for the kit. Keeping track of your time is going to really tell you how much profit your making. All of the other costs can be measured easily.

Good luck with your decision and I love your stave snares.

-Tim

2 things...........

Heads can be sort of a personal choice. Chances are most of us swap on heads we like and are used too. So using used heads on your gear should not be a issue. You can contact D'Addarrio and see what it takes to become a dealer. The carry Evans, Puresound, Promark brands. Should not take much and orders $150 and over get free shipping normally. So you might get at least discount to Canada possibly. You can always offer new heads for a slight upcharge and buyers choice.

Next.... boxes!!! Break them down and keep them flat. Takes far less space and use a couple for packing material. Just tape them up when you need to ship something. Cool1

I say follow your dream. My son started his own bizz over 10 years ago and hasn't looked back. There's good times and bad but treat your customers well. There' s a lot to be said about that. Grow slowly as you can and most of all have fun!

Great comments guys. Certainly tracking your time is critical. Any business manager will tell you that people do not value their own time particularly well. I am 50 years old and have been self employed my entire life and still have issues with that.

Flat boxes? Absolutely.

As to drum heads, I have found that Evans G2 coated heads are pretty durable, the finish holds up well and the fact that they are a "bluer" shade of white makes them look new longer. The reason I say this is that a used G2 coated head has a tendency to look new longer than a clear head and longer than Remo heads. I cannot say anything about Aquarian or Attack heads as I have not really used them. I end up with a lot of heads that get replaced after one evening's performance as customers always want (and pay for) new heads on their rentals. So, I generally have a lot of fairly decent heads lying about. I use those on personal drums or refurbishments when I have the time. Just something to consider when purchasing your personal heads.

Check out this link:

http://jamminsam.com/drum-heads/

Also, Adams percussion offers heads that are VERY cheap. I have not found an online source for them, but I can get them. They are extremely generic and have no stamp whatsoever. I bought a set to use as resonant heads on a gift kit and they seemed OK. They come in white, black and clear. I am assuming the white heads are not coated, but I do not know that. Just guessing I could probably get a 14" head to you for about $6.00. At that rate it would be better to support Sam as he is actually in business to do that sort of thing though.