Registering as a Trading Assistant can be beneficial to your business as well as to your clients.  But as with any business, it's important to know what you're getting into prior to "diving in".  Here are some of the things we've learned over the past few years:

BE AVAILABLE - Always be there for your clients.  You are the professional and need to realize that it's your expertise they are counting on.  If they have questions, return the phone calls.  Let them know what's going on every step of the way. 

HAVE A CONTRACT - You are dealing with people's possessions on a "trust" system.  You may be highly ethical, but not everyone is.  A contract stating exactly what you are doing for them, what items of theirs you have, etc, can be a protection for both of you.

KEEP ITEMS IN YOUR POSSESSION - Remember, there will be potential buyers with LOTS of questions.  Everything from dimensions to colors to condition will be asked.  If the item is still in your client's possession, you could waste time and potentially money going back and forth to the item in order to answer questions.

STATE ALL FEES UP FRONT - Don't make your clients guess how much it's going to cost them.  They will be more likely to do business with you if they know how much money they will make upfront.

REMEMBER THAT YOU'RE RUNNING A BUSINESS - People are willing to pay for your service.  Don't undercut yourself to be "friendly" or do "favors".  Have all of your fees in place and don't be afraid to ask for commitment from the customer at your set prices.  They will respect you for it and in the long run, will refer clients to you.

ADVERTISE - We found that by running a small advertisement in our local paper we received more than enough business to pay for it and then some!  Try running a "Spring Cleaning" ad or a "Need Cash for Christmas?" ad.  Both have done well for us.  We don't put expensive ads in the major local newspaper, but a 6X9 in a weekly or free newspaper is more than enough to generate traffic.

Hopefully we've been helpful.

Ryan and Victoria

RAV Industries