Kelley Bromley

So I’ve gotten it into my head that I want to start an online scrapbook business (see previous posts). So I go onto the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) website and try to find some books which would go into more detail on Canadian import laws, customs clearance, and tax handling. I reserve about 8 books, and get an email that one is ready to be picked up. I must say that the library has a great selection - the catalogue looks very similar to Amazon and they have like 20 branches and you can get 50 books a year delivered to a branch near you, which for us is about 3 minutes away. Anyway, we go to the library, have a terrible time parallel parking on a Broadway with 4pm traffic, and then find out that UBC isn’t considered a part of Vancouver :? I have to go get a Community Services card on campus to be eligible for VPL access…. yet I was able to get an electronic PIN and order books for myself. Ugh!

The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) had a news conference today and invited all the winners of the 2006 competition to attend. They had a nice selection of fruits available to snack on in the waiting room while the speeches were played over the speakers, but mostly everyone just chatted while we waited for our big debut. I stuck around with Tiffany and Andrew from the Rankin lab. We tried a dragon fruit, which can be seen on the picture to the left. Tiffany and I tried it on the count of three, and it kind of tasted like a weakly flavoured kiwi, but was slimier, like a soft cantaloupe. I wouldn’t pay the $8 they want for them at Safeway, but at least we could try it for free :)

Our big debut came at the end of the speech, at which we entered the tiered classroom from above and from both sides, and we met an applause. That was about it. Then we left. Very odd indeed, but we did get free MSFHR travel mugs, LOL.

On the way to the bus with Andrew and Tiffany I found out that the BRC was training for a 10k run - I thought this was a great idea! While I won’t be fit enough to compete in the one in May, there is a 10k in July to raise funds for Prostate Cancer, so Lionel and I are going to start training for it :D

Ok, well I tried to buy a load of stamps on eBay from a seller which I had bought from before. The first time I bought from them was in November and I bought a 20 set lot of clear stamps but it “got lost in the mail” and never showed up and she “resent” them. I eventually did get them, but I had to call her house to get anything out of her. Personally I think she was just slow. Anyway, despite the fact that she didn’t answer any of my emails and had horrible communication, I gave a neutral feedback because I did receive them eventually. So I find another huge stamp lot on eBay by another seller which joined eBay in January and I try to bid but it says the seller has blocked me from their auctions. This is a bit odd considering I hadn’t even had business with the person - then I checked the email address, and while different from the “first seller” the initials were the first sellers initials! plus the location was the same. So, what this sneaky little bleep was doing was ditching her old account cause she was getting a lot of negative feedback at the end, and starting up with a new username and email address and blocking anyone who had previous business with her from bidding on the auctions under her new name! UGH! So this other lady in Canada keeps buying up all her auctions at prices way lower than I would pay and keeps reselling them as individual lots! SOOOOOO frustrating!

The good news of all this is that I realized there’s a hell of a lot of money to be making :D The big lots sell the stamps for $3.50 USD a set, and they sell individually for anywhere between $5 and $15 depending on the size - that’s a huge profit margin. Now I’m thinking the first seller would never let these things go below wholesale, so by buying wholesale I can get as many sets as I want for my collection at wholesale prices, but sell for a good profit to pay for my addiction :D That lead to looking into how to get a business license, then how to do your taxes as a sole proprietor, then going to the BC government website and reading the bulletins on handling and remitting PST, then on the available tax deductions and quarterly tax estimates… anyway, I ended up doing my taxes in the process to figure out if I’d need to pay tax in installments, which I won’t more than likely, so if the only byproduct of all this is a greater understanding of tax laws and exemptions and having my taxes in on time, I’m still ahead of the game, lol.

So anyway, I’m starting to get quite excited about this, but the start up costs are high. An import license from the federal government is free, but the business name registration costs $30 and to get my retail license in Vancouver is $156. But then I can buy wholesale. Now the cheapest thing would be to import direct from the US manufacture, but ten you have customs and have to know about tariffs and stuff… plus I have to use courier cause I can’t go to a border customs office to receive the shipments… things were starting to look like this wasn’t the best course of action. But then I found some Canadian wholesalers! Two are located in Alberta in Edmonton and Calgary, and one only has a $100 minimum order quantity and will ship regular post! Of course you can’t see any of the prices until you get an account with them, which is free but you need that $200 business registration and license… so to even know if I could make a profit I have to first risk $200.

I was thinking to myself that stamps aren’t gonna cut it, but I could also get the new Basic Grey paper collections which would really sell like hot cakes, plus other cutting edge products. I don’t have the space to really have enough stock to have a good selection for an online store, then Lionel was saying I could do like a weekly special kind of thing. If I just offer one type of product in a certain time period, but at a really great price, I could make a small profit and clear stock. I don’t really have any fees besides the license since it will be a home-based business, so it would be ok to sell lower than the MSRP and still get enough profit to continue on. I know the Scrapjazzers would really go for something like this, especially if it’s the products which are in demand. And believe me I know the market! I’m a true addict, through and through :D

So yeh, I’m really considering doing this. Now all I need is a cool name 8)

…I emerge unscathed! Exams are over, and freedom has come! Sort of, LOL. I have to start working on a review with Xiulian, and with the lab work that most likely means in the evenings, and I’m still not quite ready to do school-like work just yet. My exam finished on April 7th, and the CIHR was due April 3rd, which meant 2 weeks before that were pretty much constant work. Now just the thought of researching that heavily again is gut wrenching, heh. I think I had something like 115 references. Just looking at PubMed right now makes me shiver, lol. I’m going to go back and fill in some entries I’ve been meaning to write up, and hopefully I’ll keep things semi-updated from now on :)

The exam is OVER!! OVERRRR!!!! I have no more courses EVER AGAIN!!! And the best thing is, it actually went WELL!

After the exam about 2/3 of the class met up at Koerners for a chat. While it’s great that classes are over, it means everyone goes off to their labs and we really don’t socialize anymore. Blair, Kasandra, Shannon, Alina and I exchanged numbers and talked about getting together for a game of pool sometime, so hopefully that works out. They’re great conversationalists :)

I’ve got Blair hooked on the Wheel of Time now - mwah ha ha! She’s on book two already!

(This post added Apr 18, 2006)

Well, my CIHR assignment started out to be about the effects of methylphenidate (ritalin) on memory, but then it turned into a new treatment for ADHD! I must say it came out really cool… I’m pleased with the amount of supporting evidence I found for my idea, but I’m not used to writing about human experiments, so I don’t feel as strong in my approach, but I think the logic is solid. I’m just glad it’s over :)

(This post added Apr 18, 2006)