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Report itemSince 1998: Make and Sell This Amazing 3-in-1 Baby Bag
If you can sew a straight line you CAN make money! 
<<NEWSFLASH:
Check out recent glowing feedback from women just like you. Watch our
five minute video on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/user/easysew2sell>> Why is this Easy to Sew Baby Product Easy to Sell? Because babies are ALWAYS being born, and mothers are ALWAYS on the look-out for a clever, helpful product. This product has been a proven winner since 1998! The My Place® 3-in-1 Handy Bag has an amazing story that actually goes back to 1991 when my oldest was a baby (she just started university last week!), but I began selling this as a unique home-business sewing kit in 1998 when I was expecting my second child (my son who is now in Yr 5). But back to the beginning: when my daughter was born I quickly discovered as a first time mum that you instantly become a pack horse. There's your baby's gear (bottles, nappies, wipes, etc), then wherever you go, your baby is going to want to play. And when all the fun is over, its time to have a sleep - no matter where you are. Well, if you were keeping count, that's three products just to leave the house - a bag, a playmat and a sleeping bag. Either you've got to become a seaside donkey or get a few more shoulders to carry all this stuff. OR?? What if ONE product could be all of three of those things? Bag, playmat AND sleeping bag? The My Place® Handy Bag is exactly that - the most clever 3-in-1 baby product you'll ever see. And guess what? Its so easy to sew, you can have one made in just one hour. No zips, no fiddly stitches. Just straight stitch, a handful of buttons and button holes and a few Velcro tabs! That's right, you can make and sell this product whether you are a beginner or a seasoned seamstress. And everyone knows that to make money from sewing, the product needs to be quick and easy to make with cheap and easy to obtain materials. The My Place® Handy Bag ticks all of those boxes. So what makes it so clever? I designed this amazing product (it is copyright and trade mark protected) so that the shape and placement of the buttons are the magic behind this product, allowing you to have a handy bag for baby's stuff, or lay out a safe, cushy playmat for baby to play on no matter where you are, or instantly create a cosy, perfect sleeping bag for baby to sleep peacefully. But what makes it an exciting "mini-business" for you to make extra money from? What you win with this auction is not just a pattern, but everything you need to start your own home business - whether you decide to do this occasionally, part-time or full time, is entirely up to you. So what comes in the kit when you win this auction: 1. Durable, FULL SIZE and professional pattern 2. Easy, step-by-step Sewing Guide for you to whiz through your very first bag with confidence 3. A handy Marketing Guide, including marketing flyers, mini posters, classified ads and more to help you sell with confidence 4. An illustrated instructions sheet to photocopy and include with each bag for your customers' convenience 5. 6 beautiful large and graphic labels featuring the My Place® Handy Bag logo to sew on to every bag (see photo above) to give it that finished, retail presentation 6. 6 sturdy, professionally printed tags displaying the My Place® Handy Bag logo to attach to each bag for retail presentation But, as they say on television: "But wait! There's more!" This auction not only includes everything you need to get started making money from the My Place® Handy Bag, it also includes everything you need to make money from a 2nd easy to sew product, the classic My Place® Quillow, the quilt that's a pillow too, or the pillow that hides a quilt! Either way, I call it your new best friend because everyone needs a quillow in their life, and that's what makes it such a wonderful product to sew and sell. Its the perfect gift for every occasion - graduations, house warming gift, retirement, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas, Chanukah, birthdays, going away, and just because you care. The My Place® Quillow kit is just as easy to sew as the My Place® Handy Bag and this auction not only includes everything in the list above, but all of the following too: 1. Universal, EASY formula so you can make quillows of ANY size - doll size to king bed size 2. Easy, step-by-step Sewing Guide for you to whiz through your very first quillow with confidence 3. A handy Marketing Guide, including pricing, marketing flyers, mini posters, classified ads and more to help you sell with confidence 4. An illustrated instructions sheet to photocopy and include with each bag for your customers' convenience 5. 6 beautiful large and graphic labels featuring the My Place® Quillow logo to sew on to every bag (see photo above) to give it that finished, retail presentation 6. 6 sturdy, professionally printed tags displaying the My Place® Quillow logo to attach to each bag for retail presentation So winning this auction is like setting yourself up with your own mini business. Here are five ways we make SELLING our products EASY! 1. These products actually amaze people! I have sold these products myself so I know that they literally make people's eyes light up; they amaze and interest people instantly. I have heard so many stories from the women who have bought my kits about how the moment they showed someone how the product worked, the person was 'sold' immediately. I remember taking the Handy Bag in to show my bank manager many years ago to explain to her why I needed a small loan. As I began demonstrating how it worked, a small crowd of bank staff and customers formed. Before I knew it, I had several orders. My bank manager was so impressed that she approved my loan on the spot! A woman who bought the kit to sell the bag at her local craft market, was shocked and delighted when she sold out of her stock of bags before mid day to other stall holders! One had seen her preparing her stall with this mystery product and asked her how it worked as she had a daughter having a baby. The woman promptly demonstrated the bag, and next thing she knew, everyone wanted one. Even people who didn't know anyone having a baby, but felt that the product was special enough to have on stand by! I'll never forget standing in line at the fabric shop with fabric and ribbons for my special ribbon quillow, when I got to talking to the lady in front of me who had already chosen her materials for another project. When she asked me what I was making and I explained the quillow to her, she dropped her idea and decided to make one too! 2. I have used my professional skills to create powerful marketing tools. Because of my own extensive experience, I have been able to develop selling tools that focus on the products' wonderful, unique features. I am also, as you may have gathered by now, a professional writer and a successful marketer. I have used these skills to create tools for your kit that are compelling and very, very different so that they get immediate attention from the reader. They are also beautiful so that you will feel good about putting them up on bulletin boards in professional settings, like doctors' offices and hospitals, or in child care centres, schools and at work. 3.. These are 'proven' products. I know from my own experience in selling them. I have sold these products over and over again. I know they sell and sell and sell, and not just for me. There are women around the world who are having their own success and making extra cash from these products right now! This means that you can do the same thing, just as easily. 4.. These products can be sold in a number of ways. I also know from experience and from feedback from women who have bought the kits that there are a number of ways to sell these products. Some women buy the kit expressly to sell at a craft market. Some already have their own stall and others can see the enormous opportunity at markets in their area. Many women sell solely and simply by word-of-mouth. This means that they may sell one or two bags, and then go on to receive orders from people they have never met, but who have seen the bag somewhere. Other women use the marketing tools to create interest by placing them where the right people are likely to see them, and telephone for more information. And then some women prefer to sell purely my mail order, and use the small ads I have created to generate inquiries and then sales. 5. People love products that are handmade in their area. Like a lot of people, you may also prefer to purchase beautiful handmade items for yourself, your home, for your family and friends. The trend has turned from mass-market items, to lovely hand-made treasures. It's wonderful to know that you are supporting a local craftsperson and it's just as nice to know that what you have bought was carefully made by hand. And not in an enormous factory somewhere overseas where the workers get paid a pittance and the quality is often bad. Now you can be a part of this powerful trend toward supporting locally made goods, by making The My Place® Handy Bags or My Place® Quillows! Here's what other women have said from the very beginning: "From my home town, my bags have gone to Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and even to Brisbane!" Eileen H., Victoria, 17 June, 1999 "Each time I demonstrate this product to grandmothers, they are amazed it took so long to invent!" Kim H., WA, 4 May, 1999 "I have a daughter and a daughter-in-law having babies. I thought the handy bag would make a great gift. But now I am selling bags because word has gotten around that I make them." Lynne D., NSW, 3 September, 1998 "I just received my kit. I am so excited!" Bobbie C., Washington, USA, 19 April, 1999 "Please send me three dozen more tags and labels. Every bag I make is already sold!" June M., VIC, 11 November, 1998 "I have a small market stall and make a lot of baby items so this sounds perfect ." Robyne M., NSW, 18 May, 1999 "On one day I showed the bag to nine people and seven bought one!" Marilyn G., WA, 4 October, 1999 "I've spent the last 20 years at home raising children and now they tell me I don't have the experience to get a job. But I've always sewn for my children, so I do have the experience for this!" Gwen S., NSW, 17 December, 1998 "I already sew from home, and this product would be a great seller!" Sharon H., VIC, 10 October, 1998 "I took the bags to the markets and I sold out before noon, mainly because the other stall holders kept buying them from me!" Maria F., QLD, 14 June,1999 This is a genuine opportunity to make extra money with proven products that are truly clever and loved by all. I wish you the best of luck and hope you win this auction so that I can send you your very own MY PLACE Home Sewing Business Kit. If you have more questions, check our 15 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers below...Happy Bidding! Alicia Beverley Founder Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Here are the answers to 15 of the most frequently asked questions: 1. After I win the auction, are there any other on-going charges I should know about? Your only on-going charge is the purchase of more labels and tags as you need them. They are priced very reasonably at only $20 for 12 labels and 12 tags (24 pieces in total). So a tag and label set adds under $2.00 to each Handy Bag you make but adds substantially in the finished article, appearance and appeal. 2. Why do you want people who order your Mini Business Kit to use your tags and labels? Aside from the professional finish that a tag and label set adds to each Handy Bag, and with the My Place® Handy Bag you are producing a product from my copyrighted pattern, the consistent use of tags and labels means that we can easily recognise someone who has stolen the design and has no right to produce or sell it. I will deal swiftly with such a person or business via my lawyer. 3. I have my own label can I also apply it to your product? Absolutely, so long as you do not place your label where I have specified that the My Place® labels are to be positioned. 4. What if someone buys or has already bought a My Place® Kit in my area? It is possible that someone has or will buy one of these Kits in your area. However, this is not the problem it appears to be. For one, not everyone buys the Kit for selling purposes, they may buy it to make My Place® Handy Bags and My Place® Quillows for gifts. Not everyone follows through with making and marketing the products. As well, a person may buy a Kit in your area but not market through the same venues or networks as you do. For instance you may sell through craft markets and the other person sells through word-of-mouth only. And finally, remember that competition actually creates more interest in the products within the marketplace. Also, for this price, I can not offer exclusive territories and this would defeat my philosophy of helping women to make money from home. 5. How long will it take me to make a My Place® Handy Bag or a My Place® Quillow? As with any new sewing project, your first My Place® Handy Bag or My Place® Quillow will take longer than normal. After that, most women report that each product takes roughly 1 - 1.5 hours depending on how elaborate they are or if there are any extras involved. 6. I don't have a commercial sewing machine or an overlocker, can I still make these products? Yes! All you need is a domestic sewing machine that can straight stitch and for the Handy Bag, one that can also do button holes. I made several dozen Handy Bags and umpteen quilts with my ancient Necchi (now retired, thankfully!). 7. How much material and what notions are involved with the Handy Bag? Just over a metre (or a yard) of two types of fabric and one layer of wadding. You will need a handful of buttons and a few cms or inches of velcro strips. NO Zippers! 8. How much material and what notions are involved with the My Place® Quillow? In the Kit, I provide you with several different measurements that you can choose from to make different size My Place® Quillows so this is a hard question to answer, but roughly 2 metres (or 2 yards) of two kinds of fabric and wadding. The most common quillow has a 46 cm (or 18 inch) panel for the pillow component, and this is made of two layers of fabric and one layer of wadding. No notions are required 9. What fabrics do you recommend? There are so many ways to make a My Place® Handy Bag or My Place® Quillow look great that I couldn't possibly interfere with your creative process. Sure a lot of women tend to use plain and print cotton combinations, but I have also heard of Handy Bags being made with a fake lambswool liner and a twill outer fabric. Handy Bags can also be made with a denim outer and softer, cotton liner. Or a tartan outer with a bottle green liner and gold buttons. Some people prefer to work nursery prints and novelty buttons, and other's like a hipper, more urban look. The sky's the limit!! With My Place® Quillows you can be even more adventurous. In fact, not only do I recommend this, but I hope you will feel free to put the traditional looks aside and aim for really unique styling. Not only will you interest more people than just the country-patchwork set, but you may also find that you can command higher prices. Have you ever heard of a quillow that features a fake fluoro fur panel for the pillow! No, but if you were pretty trendy, or a hip, happening teenager, it would certainly be more appealing than patchwork. Have you ever seen a quillow that feaures a pillow panel of interlaced ribbons of purple, red, orange and gold? No, but if you were looking for a really stunning, stylish gift for the lady that has everything, then it's perfect! What about a quillow pillow panel that features one lone red love heart on a white background? No? Wouldn't that be the perfect gift for just about anyone you care for? So go for it! 10. Once I make a My Place® Handy Bag or a My Place® Quillow, how much can I expect to sell them for? My Place® Handy Bag tends to sell in Australia for roughly $60 - $80. Of course, your fabric and button choices will greatly impact on the Handy Bag's overall appeal and price level. You will also find that you can command a higher price in certain circumstances or venues, like craft markets. Quillows sell for anywhere from $55-$150, possibly even more depending on the style and venue. I have sold a ribbon woven My Place® Quillow (see pictures of My Place® Quillows in this site) for $98. It cost me roughly $35 to make and 2 hours of work. The fake fluorescent fur My Place® Quillow sold for $65 and cost me $20 to make and a couple of hours once again. Quirkier My Place® Quillows will definitely command a higher price. And my marketing materials are designed to help you ask for the higher price. 11. I've never sold anything before, how should I approach selling these products? As I have sold these products myself, I have been able to produce the best possible promotional and marketing materials. I have prepared marketing tools that you can spread around your community to help get your phone ringing. These tools can also help you should you have or decide to have a market stall. There are professional order forms so that you can approach the owners of baby boutiques, pharmacies, gift shops and so on. I have also created a series of powerful ads in case you would like your own mini mail order business, or simply want to use this method to create interest for your market stall. 12. Can I make part-payment? Sorry, you need to make payment in full when you win the auction. I've always recommended to women who have approached me to make part-payment to just put the money aside in a safe place at home or leave it in your savings account and let it build up until its all there. Then pay the Buy It Now price to make sure you win the item at the budget you set. 13. What if I decide to make my own promotional materials, say for a show or fair? You must ALWAYS show me any proposed promotional materials for my approval. Generally I am quite happy to agree and in fact, may decide to order stock from you if it's worth including in subsequent kits. However, it is vital that I make the final decision. 14. Does the Handy Bag comply with federal design standards? In Australia, there is no federal standard that applies to this product. There is a standard that applies to baby sleepbags, but these are the kind that a baby wears to bed with sleeves and a closed bottom. As the baby could potentially be mobile in this form of garment, there is an applicable fire safety standard as there are in most countries for all baby and child sleepwear. However, the sleepingbag component of the Handy Bag is not a garment, so the fire safety rule does not need to apply. You will need to check the situation in your own country. Aside from this, the photocopyable instruction sheet that you should provide to each person who buys a My Place® Handy Bag, clearly explains the importance of keeping the Handy Bag's handles away from the baby by velcroing them underneath the playmat or gently, but firmly tying them above the sleepingbag. There are also instructions in the Sewing Guide that explain how to make handles detachable should you wish to do this. 15. How do you monitor the quality of the My Place® Handy Bags people make? I have found that women who have bought this Kit since 1998 pride themselves on their craftwomanship and creative ability. As well, by and large, most women sell the products within their own community, so must stand by their product. 16. If you've been selling this since 1998, why don't you have heaps of feedback? We have moved this auction to "peacefulsmile" just this year, and we haven't been selling it for a while. Previous lister was amazing_results with 249 feedback, a rating of 100% and a member for over 7 years. Its all good! STILL WANT MORE INFO? READ MY STORY BELOW! Who is Alicia Beverley? "I like to think that I am just like the women who buy my Mini Business Kits: devoted to my family, creative, positive, busy, keen to be my own boss, and aiming for financial success," says Alicia from her home office in Queensland's Gold Coast on Australia's eastern seaboard. Alicia Beverley, was born in 1966 on the island of Crete, Greece to young, traveling Americans, who eventually made their way back to the US a few months after her birth. She was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and found a love for sewing at a young age. "My best friend, Jolyne and I lived on Marquette Street. One day when we were 8 or so, we decided to have a beauty pageant, and the winner would be crowned "Miss Marquette". There were only two contestants, Jolyne and I, and only one judge, Jolyne's older sister eleven year old Jennifer, the show's host was Jolyne's dog, Oscar who kept wandering away from the action," recalls Alicia. "I wanted to make myself an elegant gown like the ones I had seen on TV, but all I had was this hideous stretchy, bright orange fabric. I straight-stitched a tube which, when slipped over my head, promptly fell down to my ankles. So I held it in place with one of my mother's garish 1970s scarves." "It was not exactly the sequined gold lame gown I had envisaged, but I was 'crowned' Miss Marquette much to Jolyne's complete shock and annoyance. She thought she was a shoo-in considering the only judge was her sister and the compere was her dog. This is my first sewing memory and it still cracks me up to this day!" At nineteen, Alicia went to the Big Apple, New York City, to find fame and fortune. In fact, she found an Australian husband, and moved at 22 to Australia. At 25 in 1991, Alicia had her first child. "The amount of stuff a baby needs and the preparation involved in just leaving the house for a short to visit to a friend's place or the park was really quite a shock. I felt like a pack horse," says Alicia. Ever the clever sewer, Alicia began playing with the concept of an all in one quilted bag that would hold baby paraphenalia, plus provide a safe and comfy place for her little daughter to play no matter where they were. "I designed round quilts, square quilts, rectangular quilts, you name it. Then one day I was sitting on the floor 'playing' with my latest quilt, a rectangle, and found that depending on how I folded it, I could also create a baby size sleepingbag," says Alicia. "My jaw dropped. Suddenly I realised I had an amazing baby product that was actually three things in one: bag, playmat and sleepingbag. I let out a big whoop of excitement, which so startled my little daughter who had been playing quietly nearby, that she started to cry - poor thing!" Feedback about the product from family and friends was so positive that Alicia was sure, My Place "The Handy Bag that's a playmat and sleepingbag too!" would be a run-away commercial success. "I was working part-time in public relations for the Australian government. I wasn't happy with my job, no one else had kids and so they weren't very sensitive about the demands of having a young child. I desperately wanted to get out, so was already moonlighting as a freelance writer. At night I would lay awake seeing the Handy Bag sold across the nation, exported to a dozen countries. I could see myself lying on a beach with a brightly coloured cocktail with one of those little paper umbrellas and plastic monkeys on the edge." Though she quite quickly found an Australian company to take on her product and pay her a royalty per unit sold, the reality was very different from what Alicia imagined. After months and months of hard work, the company simply could not overcome quality control problems with their Chinese manufacturer, and the tough decision to drop the product was made. At the same time, Alicia was very successful at gaining recognition for her efforts and the product itself, with My Place featured regularly in Australian parenting and retail industry magazines. These articles would create enormous interest and letters would flood in from mothers around Australia hoping to buy a bag. "This was so deeply frustrating, because I had orders flowing in, and no stock, other than what I could make myself, but demand was too great. However, this press coverage and especially the letters from real mothers, confirmed that I had designed a very unique and wonderful product," says Alicia. Then a well-known American bag company took on the product, and Alicia could see light at the end of the tunnel. In the same year, 1994, Alicia also won two awards from the higly regarded Canberra Region Inventor's Association: Invention of the Year (Consumer Category) and overall Inventor of the Year. Once again media coverage was fantastic, with many TV news, radio and press interviews. Finally, things seemed to be looking up. But once again mass production of the Handy Bag suffered from Chinese manufacturing problems. Nevertheless, a few shipments of correctly made bags did make it to the shop shelves of US department stores and up-market baby boutiques, where the bag was an instant hit. "I used this stock in Australia too and sold bags left, right and centre to baby boutiques, local pharmacies, direct to friends and other people," says Alicia. Then the unthinkable happened. Alicia invested in a much larger shipment to help meet sales, but when the shipment arrived, she was shocked to find that roughly 85% of all bags were faulty. Boxes littered her garage, and suddenly she was back to square one. When the American company's contract ended it was not renewed. Feeling depressed and defeated and owing a lot of money to her bank, Alicia put the Handy Bag in a box high up on a shelf in her closet and tried to forget the whole exhausting experience. Nearly four years later, very pregnant with her second child, Alicia began to consider reviving the Handy Bag, but was certain she wouldn't do it the same way. "One evening, like a lightening bolt, I realised that the way to make My Place a success was for other women to make the product with their own home sewing machines, and sell them within their own community. This way I could meet my own goals of financial success and at the same time, help other women do the same. It is the perfect idea, and the feedback I receive from women who have now bought the My Place mini-business kit has been fantastic!" Says Alicia, "I launched the business in this form in 1998 a few weeks before my son was born on the 31st of August. I remember returning calls from women interested in purchasing a kit from my hospital room!" Not only have inquiries and sales come in from around Australia, America, Canada, Ireland, PNG, Malaysia and New Zealand, but many women have asked Alicia if she had any other brillant home sewing ideas to bring in extra cash. "I really didn't. And also, I couldn't imagine finding a product, or creating another product, that was as amazing as the Handy Bag. With two kids, another baby on the way, a small business, not to mention a house and a husband (not in that order!), I was definitely searching for inspiration," she says. Inspiration came in the form of a traditional favourite, the versatile quillow - the pillow that transforms into a cosy quilt. Alicia has now created another money-making kit from this wonderful, easy to make product, and expects it to be just as successful for women who choose it. "Shortly after deciding on the quillow as my next kit, I was at a fabric shop and got to talking with the woman who was standing next to me in line to get her fabric cut to size. She asked me what I was making with the brightly coloured fabrics and ribbons I was holding, and I told her I was making a quillow. I had to laugh when she promptly decided to scrap what she was going to make and do a quillow instead. She started telling me what wonderful gifts they made and how a quillow was simply perfect for everyone!" recalls Alicia. Then Alicia and her husband discovered they were expecting another son in November, 1999. Says, Alicia "It was hard work having two babies at home because the boys were only 14 months apart and business was booming. Thankfully my daughter was such a help!" At around the same time as Alicia launched the My Place® Home Sewing Business Kit, she was finishing her first book for Australia's leading independent publisher, Allen & Unwin. Make It Big! How to Make Money from Your Million-Dollar Idea, was launched in February of 2000, and is a step-by-step guide to commercialising new products. The book calls on Alicia's own experience, as well as that of 14 other successful inventors and experts in the field. Now, with her oldest child in university, the baby who inspired the My Place® Handy Bag, and her two sons who inspired her desire to make money from home with the home sewing business kit in years 4 and 5 at school, Alicia is thrilled that her kit has become a classic way for women around the world to make money from their sewing skills quickly and easily. "After 11 years, its safe to say that hundreds of women have given the unique My Place® Handy Bag a go, and yet magically there's always room for more women to take up this wonderful opportunity in their area!" says Alicia. 
_gsrx_vers_277 (GS 5.2 (277))
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Postage and handling Item location: Gold Coast, Australia Posting to: Australia, N. and S. America, United Kingdom, New Zealand
*The estimated delivery time is based on the seller's handling time, the shipping service selected, and when the seller receives cleared payment. Sellers are not responsible for postage service transit times. Transit times may vary, particularly during peak periods.
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