Dan Boyce found opportunity in his junk mail. Or at least a decent place to set his drink.
Boyce is a self-employed computer and network consultant. And like almost anybody in computing, his mail bulges with free CDs that are good for little more than clutter. They grow obsolete quickly, but can’t be thrown out without hurting the environment.
So Boyce decided to think outside the jewel box. Three months ago, he took some cork backing, a few stickers and began turning his junk pile into drink coasters. A new online business was born.
“I went from two hits to over 1,600 hits on my Web site (for the coasters) in one day,” Boyce said.
It’s subsided since. But his site, thecdcoaster.com is still in business. A kit with the materials for six coasters runs $14.99 plus shipping, while a 12-piece kit goes for $24.98. If a company has more than 100 CDs to convert into coasters — say, an old annual report — Boyce will assemble them into coasters himself for an extra fee and additional shipping costs.
And please, don’t mail him your old discs just for the heck of it.
“There is a Frequently Asked Question on our Web site that goes ‘I don’t want to buy any of your products, but can I send you my discs?’” Boyce said with a sardonic grin. “Gee, let me think about it — No.”
The coasters take about 30 seconds to assemble, just peel off a cork backing and stick it on the back of the disc. Then stick a much smaller cork backing in the CD’s hole and cover it over with a label. All done. And for large orders, Boyce will even create customized labels.
When he first thought up the idea, Boyce wondered if it was even worth selling. Then he saw a list of the 10 dumbest online business ideas. One company on the list sold plastic wishbones ... and had sold 30,000 of them.
“I saw that and I said, ‘This may be a dumb idea, but it works, so it’s not a dumb idea,’” Boyce said.
Some of the early sales went to Los Angeles and Phoenix.
“I’m just nerdy enough to like these,” one customer e-mailed Boyce. “So I’m going to buy them for all my friends at the office.”
Business has been a little quiet lately, Boyce said. Still, there’s always the chance of someone looking for a high-tech stocking stuffer.
“I got a lot of enthusiastic feedback but the sales are rather slow,” Boyce said. “But it’s fine, I don’t care. They say if you don’t try, you’ll never know.”
the_ather_one_and_only (anonymous) says...
How stupid.....why couldn't you just take the stupid pieces of cork and use them.......boy, it must be a slow day in the news office....
December 17, 2006 at 5:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )