coachjwb
Well-Known Member
As a lot of you know, I do wristband systems for teams. It's really just a hobby more than anything for me. It will be 2 years ago in September when I started doing them after we started seeing such systems more and more in D1 softball. There's a couple of companies out there that sell systems/software to teams but by the time you'd pay for the wristbands and such, they could easily cost $300-500. I developed a way to do it on my own, and found a source where I could buy inexpensive wristbands pretty cheaply in bulk quantity. So I offered to start doing customized systems for teams, and have sold 140 such systems during this time, with most teams spending $100-125, making it affordable for most travel and school programs if they want to go this route. By the time I pay for the wristbands and shipping and printer ink, etc., I make about $35 a system not counting the time I spend on doing the systems, talking to coaches to make sure I can provide what they want, running to the post office, etc. But it's kind of fun for me ... keeping me involved talking to coaches, coming up with new ideas, and getting some nice feedback from time to time from the coaches. Plus I give a small % of my proceeds to Stay in Softball, which I think is a great organization which I really want to support as much as I can.
So anyhow, this is a low budget operation for me ... I didn't set up to do Paypal or anything, and 90% of the time the coaches/organizations send me a check, and I have their system ready to send out as soon as I get the check. So here's my rant, just more than anything a real disappointment. Sometimes if I talk to a coach on the phone and they're in real bind time-wise, I have shipped out the systems before receiving their checks. I did this several times here in late May when travel season was getting started, including to 3 teams here in Ohio who have yet to pay me ... two of them I shipped 6 weeks ago, and one 4 weeks ago, and I have got multiple "stories" from them that the check is in the mail, and I trust them and I wait, and no check. It's obvious at this point in time that at least 2 of the 3 have no intention to pay me, and the chances of me recovering anything once their seasons are over soon is close to nothing. Shame on me for trusting these coaches and organizations, and not setting up Paypal, trying to save a little hassle and cost. If I don't receive anything for the 3 of these, I will have to sell like the next 10 systems just to recover my cost. To be honest, I am thinking about quitting doing them altogether because I can't afford to take a loss on them, and I'm just so disappointed that Ohio coaches would do this to me.
Anyhow, just a rant ...
So anyhow, this is a low budget operation for me ... I didn't set up to do Paypal or anything, and 90% of the time the coaches/organizations send me a check, and I have their system ready to send out as soon as I get the check. So here's my rant, just more than anything a real disappointment. Sometimes if I talk to a coach on the phone and they're in real bind time-wise, I have shipped out the systems before receiving their checks. I did this several times here in late May when travel season was getting started, including to 3 teams here in Ohio who have yet to pay me ... two of them I shipped 6 weeks ago, and one 4 weeks ago, and I have got multiple "stories" from them that the check is in the mail, and I trust them and I wait, and no check. It's obvious at this point in time that at least 2 of the 3 have no intention to pay me, and the chances of me recovering anything once their seasons are over soon is close to nothing. Shame on me for trusting these coaches and organizations, and not setting up Paypal, trying to save a little hassle and cost. If I don't receive anything for the 3 of these, I will have to sell like the next 10 systems just to recover my cost. To be honest, I am thinking about quitting doing them altogether because I can't afford to take a loss on them, and I'm just so disappointed that Ohio coaches would do this to me.
Anyhow, just a rant ...