The BIG Show Email Ladder

Axiom #7 states that coin collecting is a journey of personal development.  To best explain the email ladder, I think it best to take you on my journey these last few years.  Bear with me, there are some disconnected parts to the story but they all come together later.

I've mentioned in some livestreams that I conduct most of my business over email.  It's a substantial

percentage of my volume and the reason why I must protect my paypal account and not accept Friends and Family payments.   I've been doing this for years, have developed long term relations with several knowledgable and dependable collectors, several of whom I have watched develop from casual collector to serious investor.  As you know (or will find out eventually), coin collecting is a lifetime hobby.  Part of it is forming those relationships that last for years.  Earlier this month I lost one of my coin buddies.  He had been buying from me for nearly 20 years.  One of his goals was to build a complete set of Lincoln Cents for his grandson's high school graduation, which we barely completed in time.  I understand the grandson is finishing his junior year at the University of Florida.  Ave et wale.

After closing the diner I focused my attention on my coin enterprise.  I have done some piece work for an industrial contractor from time to time.  I worked there full time for a couple decades but the years have caught up with me.  Climbing through manways and crawling through pipes to inspect vessels is proving to be too much for my worn out back and knees.  For the past two years I have relied more and more on my coin enterprise as my primary source of income and it's working out well.  The loss of Mr Parker will slow things down but I'm sure I can recover.  Perhaps his grandson will find motivation from his set of Lincolns to continue the hobby.

In addition to this blog, I produce coin videos.  Early last fall I started broadcasting livesteam shows.  You'll find Coin Class is quite popular, seen most Saturdays at 3 PM Eastern time.  I pick a subject and explore it in depth, explaining it as best I can in order that coin collectors can gain a better understanding of the hobby.  Friday Night Madness is a live coin sale in which viewers can interact in chat and ask question about the items being offered.  My favorite is The BIG Show: a viewer supported giveaway that puts old, rare, valueable, and collectible coins in the hands of people who will appreciate them and become better collectors as a result.

The BIG Show started as a raffle.  Donations to the show would earn the person more chances to win the whole lot.  This did not last as it was completely illegal (a First Class Misdemeanor in Florida) and a violation of youtube policies.  The remedy was to separate the donations from the reward.  Now, anyone can win but since there is no direct incentive for the supporters, the donations (and hence the size of the prize) have experienced more shrinkage than George Castanza in the cold Atlantic.  I've been looking for a means of rewarding those people who make the show possible.
Wednesday Wheats is another BIG Show, but with wheat cents as the dominant coin in the prize.  This show has also been suffering from a lack of incentive for the supporters.  Contributions have fallen so low than continuing the show has come into question.
There is more that I want to do with this coin hobby of mine.  With all the shows my time has been in great demand.  I need to free some up for other pursuits.  Changes need to be made lest I stagnate.

Here's whats going on...
I've made some contacts over the years.  From time to time I come across some pretty good deals.  In particular, there are a couple of new opportunities that have come to my attention as my business volume has grown.  I'm at a point where I can take advantage of these.  What's more, I think I can bring together several parts to make a greater whole.

First, I need to rearrange my schedule amd find time.
Wednesday Wheats has to be put on the back burner for now, possible from now on.  It's a lot of work to produce the show and I have no gain for the effort.
Friday Night Madness is hit or miss.  If I could free up those two blocks of time, I release the entire week. Coin Class works well on Saturday Afternoons but 24 hours before the next show sometimes is not enough.  It was Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon.  Three shows in 42 hours?  Effective immediately The BIG Show will be moved to Sunday evening at 9:30.  I'll be able to go to my brother's house for Sunday Dinner.

Next, bring the incentive back to supporters of The BIG Show
I can't change youtube policy or Florida statue, but I can offer a perk to those who support the show.  Those pretty good deals?...I can offer them to the people who support the show.   Using those new opportunities to which I alluded, I'm sure I can come up with more of those offers.

Go with what works
I've been using email to offer coins to a few select people.  What I should have been doing is expanding that system.  If the stick ain't broke, don't fix it, and if there is one stick that has proven to work well for me, that's it.  I've been selling coins on facebook...the stuff my power buyers did not need or want.  Facebook has outlawed coin sales.  It is becoming increasingly problematic.  MeWe has been set up as a back up plan but until facebook shuts down the whole show people will resist making the change to a new platform.  Email is personal.  Its tough to form a personal or professional relationship with 8000 people.

The system I've develop over the years is pretty simple:  I offer the best stuff to the people who spend the most and work my way down.  It's a ladder.
Seems to make good sense to me to include people who support The BIG Show in this ladder.  From my point of view I have to add a single column on a spreadsheet and it only takes a moment to keep it up to date.  I can get more stuff to offer more people, thats no problem at all, and I can offer it at pretty reasonable prices, especially if there are a bunch of people involved.  It won't be instant.  It will take some time to put all the pieces together and make the changes in my setup behind the scenes, but with the extra time freed up it should be a piece of cake.  I've already started to order more shipping and printing supplies

Here's the plan:

• To Qualify to get on the list you have to donate to The BIG Show at least once, or several times to reach a total of $50 or more.  
• To Be Added to the list and get offers from me by email, you have to ask: kpeavey@live.com  I'm not going to send out email offers to people who don't ask because that's called spam.  Spam drives people away and it's not a good way to treat people anyway.
• If you want to get of the email list, all you have to do is reply to the email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
• When I send out an offer, you have 24 hours to respond.  Take all, some or none.  If you wait, the offer goes to the next on the list and they have dibs for 24 hours.  You might still be able to get it.  If not, I'm sure to have something in a few days.  
• If you know you won't be buying for a while, you can help me out by replying to the email with TAKE A BREAK.  This keeps you in the list but I can move on to the next person immediately.  When you are ready, just let me know.
• To move up the ladder, keep supporting the show.  It's a simple matter to add a donation to the existing total in your column.  Those on the bottom may not receive as many offers as those at the top.  The best stuff goes fast.  
• Coins submitted to be included in the show will count towards ladder rank at their retail value.
• Purchases will also count towards ladder rank.   
• There won't be 1000s of people on this ladder.  I'm just one man.  As the list grows I may or may not be able to extend offers to everyone.  It may be I will need to bring in help, but that bridge will be crossed when reached.

The ladder is not a popularity contest.  I wont be fielding questions in regards to a persons ranking.  If you dont think you are getting enough offers or the offers are not so great, support the show more so you move up.  It may simply be that I have reached my limit of ability.

Terms Of Sale
Same as they've always been
-Payment due within 30 days of first item on the invoice.  The purpose here is to let you build a large order to save on shipping.  You can always pay earlier.  At $100 or more it would help me out if you went ahead and paid.
-Paypal is the prefered method.  I'll send you an invoice.  Pay the invoice.  This gets you buyer protection and I get seller protection.
-14 day return window gives you plenty of time to think about it.  You are responsible for shipping costs.