| This Month
This is
the second newsletter
that I did for you this month! The first
copy was 80% complete, then I saved
it twice! I am not kidding; I had a
total of three copies and my computer
would not open any of them! The
worse part is that I don't recall
anything that I said! It must have been
something that the Lord didn't want
me to write!
Something that I must cover
is what you should expect this month.
This December we are continuing on
with our popular Christmas meeting
theme of 'Buy, Swap, and Sell.' What
interesting goodies are you looking
for or, perhaps, ready to part with?
Here are
a few items that
were on the sales tables at our last
Christmas meeting: metal detectors,
treasure hunting gear, coins, gold
rings, magic tricks, wet suits, old
bottles, tokens, crafts, and much
more!
If you
are an old member,
you may have noticed something
different. There was no mention of
"SHOW" in the discription. We are
saving the 'show' part for another
month. I can recall, when a few years
back, we had a hobby night. On that
occasion, we invited people to bring
in a sample of what they collect as a
hobby --- that was really neat! Well,
that part is not in our December
meeting-- it will be later.
Now, for
the 'sell' part of
the Christmas meeting. I actually
purchased some neat old books and
some art work in the past. They all
made great Christmas gifts! You'd
better bring your wallets, friends!
Do you
have any
treasure-related equipment to sell?
Actually, your items don't have to be
treasure-related, but they must be "G"
rated.
How
about some 'found'
treasures to sell or trade? How about
some craft items that you made to
sell? Well, we would love to see what
you want to sell or swap! We are
hoping that this will be our biggest
and best Buy, Sell, Swap night ever!
The
meetings usually end
with our great door prize drawings.
Listen up, folks! Our board members
have loaded lots of goodies on their
sleigh --- but they won't let me say
more! Trust me, for December we
have some great surprises in store!
Don't forget we will be
giving two more turkeys away at
the Christmas meeting!
Way back
at our 2005
Christmas meeting, I purchased a bag
of silver rings and was given a bonus
bag of silver Catholic medals. I paid
$60.00 or so for it. Well, between the December meeting and Christmas,
I
sold a small amount of the Catholic
medals--- 31 to be exact. I posted
them on e-Bay and when the 31
auctions were over, I had $750.00!
Now that is what this great hobby is
all about!
So bring
your wallet and
expect to find some real treasures!
SILENT AUCTION
Once again this year we are
planning a silent auction. This silent
auction is a club fund raiser and it
relies on your donations. Do you have
something that you would like to
donate to the club? Perhaps it is
something that you are tired of
dusting?
My
favorite memory from
our past silent auctions was the year
that the Sampsell's donated a
beautiful quilt that Francis made! I
was the lucky high bidder on that one
and we really treasure it!
Recently
my step father sold
his home to my brother. For the last
few years it was being used as a
storage place for all of his treasures. Now the time had come to move
everything out, so my brother could
move in. Howard turned the whole
job over to an auction service and he
told me that it was such a relief to get
rid of all that stuff!
If you
want to be free from
some of your stuff--- donate!
DUES--- LAST CALL!
Some of
you old time club
members probably recognize that
most of this newsletter is recycled
from past newsletters. The mailing of
this December 2009 letter makes my
15th year of doing this job. Frankly, it
is getting harder for me to be creative.
Well,
friends, I wish this
newsletter could be filled with
nothing but Christmas cheer, but
sadly the board wanted me to share a
few selected threats with you.
Yeah!
That's it! This is all the
board's fault! Ebenezer Board!
Just
kidding, they are a great
bunch!
First,
we all know that this is the
time of year when it seems as if
everyone has his hand out, trying to
take all of our money-- right? Well,
sadly the club treasurer wants to get
his hand into your wallet, too! It's a
dirty job, but someone has to do it!
We
absolutely need your dues in
this month, please!
Hey!
Cheer up! Remember, the
dues are still only $20.00 per family
or single! Now that's what I call a
'family value!'
Please
pay your 2010 dues at this
meeting or mail check or money order
for $20.00 per family or single to:
John Dudley
55344 C.R. 384
Grand Junction, MI
49056
Here is what you will
need to send with your check.
We need your name, names of
family members who will be
involved, (spouse and
children under 18 who live
with you.) Also, your phone
number and e-mail address.
Remember, anyone who has
not paid his or her dues before the
January 2010 meeting will not have
member privileges, like competing in
Find of the Month or our massive
door prize drawings!
It's not
that we are trying to
be mean, it's just that it makes a big
job a whole lot easier for everyone if
we get the dues in on time.
PERFECT
ATTENDANCE
If you
signed the attendance
sheet at every meeting, for 2009, you
will win a U.S. Silver Eagle! So far
we have no winners and that is
because you need to sign that sheet
one more time! As I write this on
November 29, 2009, there are many
potential winners! Remember January
is a clean start; make it your goal to
have a perfect 2010!
What's it worth?
Unfortunately, when you
have people involved in a contest of
any type, you must have rules. For
me, the club has been all about having
fun, but some folks take everything
too seriously! The board has spent
hours (it seems like) grappling with a
way to make Find of the Month more
fair. If you find something, you
cannot state its value unless you have
a legal professional appraisal. You
cannot have a value scribbled on the
back of a business card if it is a
jewelry item, but, for some reason,
that is OK for a coin???? No, I don't
quite understand it, but let me tell you
what I learned. You could find a nice
ring that is in some upscale catalog
for $2,000.00, yet at the same time, K-Mart has a ring that looks just
like it
for $20.00. So there is the problem. I
would suggest just avoiding any
dollar value suggestions. If it is a
coin, like an 1877 Indian Head, you
could write on your slip, "It is the
second rarest Indian Head!"
I for
one like to see the best
find win! With treasure that is usually
determined by dollar value or "What
is it worth?"
For
example I remember one
meeting. I think we had it out at the
Latterner's house. I don't recall why it
was there, but it was. This had to be
many, many years back! Anyway, the
winner in the coin catagory was the
most common Indian Head penny that
there is, which I think was an 1865,
worth maybe a buck. However, one
guy, whom I don't think even got any
votes, entered a key date Jefferson
nickel worth a couple hundred bucks!
So, no matter how hard you try, you
just cannot please everyone!
Winners!
Our Fishbowl Silver
Cache winner was Billy Knapp!
Our silver dollar winners were
Rick Seymour and Charlie Turner!
Our 50/50 winners were Rick
Burch and John Corbin!
Our
Turkey winners were Bob
MacDougal and Keith Payne!
Good to see Bob MacDougal
at
the meeting. He came all the way
from Newaygo! That turkey
almost made the trip worth it!
Good job, everyone!
The
way it
goes!
Every year, near the end
of October, and for the first half of
November, my business drops like
a lead ball! On some days I feel
like I could not even give stuff
away. During times like these, it
would be better dollar- wise if I
stayed home! That is especially
true since it is a 20 mile trip to
work..
This year is different in
some ways! That is because I
have some buyers coming out of
the woodwork, yet nothing to sell
them! Let me explain. It seems
that somewhere in the Sahara
Desert, someone located some
gold with a metal detector. They
tell me that the unexpected part to
this story is that the government is
allowing it.
It just so happens that the
people in this area are not the real
brilliant folks to begin with, and
the gold wasn't found with just
any metal detector. The detector
the finder was using was a very
expensive (some might say
overpriced) Minelab GPX 4500.
Minelab is the only brand
of detector that I sell that is not
American made. The headquarters
for Minelab is in Australia, but
most of their detectors are made in
Ireland. The GPX 4500 has a
suggested retail of about
$6,000.00! And as of right now, if
you have one in this Muslim part
of the world, you can name your
price! It is really amazing! The
factory has not been able to
produce these detectors fast
enough! The local European
supply of these detectors has dried
up and now they all have family
and friends looking for them
throughout the world.
If I place an order for this
model, I can expect a two month
wait. Also, if I want to get a GPX
4500 I am only allowed two and I
need to prove that it will be used
by an American in America! I am
not kidding! I get e-mails and
phone call everyday wanting to
know my price on the GPX-4500!
If I had 100 I could ship them all
out today! How many have I sold?
Zero! How many can I get? Zero!
All of these callers have a
strong middle eastern accent and,
if you were to guess what a
terrorist would sound like, that
would be what you hear. One day
I answered the phone and it
sounded like the same old story
and I was getting a little tired of it
by now! By now, I needed a real
sale! But this time there was a
difference. The caller wanted to
know if I had a Teknetics T-2?
This is a very good little known
detector, and also a very good
American brand.
Let me back up for a
second. I forgot to tell you
that preceeding all of this, there
was an industry-wide scam taking
place with stolen credit card
numbers. The scam is rampant and
it never ever changes. The caller
or e-mailer wants some Garrett
weapon scan wand- type metal
detectors and they usually want 20
or more. What happens is, you
take the order, shipping address,
credit information and then
process the sale. It is only after the
items have been shipped that you
find out it was a scam and you are
out a lot of money! Also, in each
of these calls, the caller almost
always has a strong middle eastern
accent. So far they didn't get me,
but I heard another local dealer
got burned.
So, here is this guy who
wanted my Teknetics T-2 and
Lord knows I needed the sale. I
quoted him my sale price of
$799.00 which is a discount of
$100.00, but a good deal for both
of us. However, his accent sent up
red flags for me. Also, he seemed
too eager to make the deal, which
also sent up red flags! I took down
the shipping address, credit card
information, and the man's phone
number.
First I started checking it
all out. I called my bank and, with
the first four digits of the card
number, I was able to find the card
holder's bank. Then, I called that
bank and told them that I felt like I
had someone using one of their
cardholder's credit cards. Well,
the name I had matched the card
holder, as did the account numbers
and address and expiration number
and security code! It all panned
out! Even the phone number was
correct and it also matched the
number on my caller ID!
All that was left to do was
ship the detector and I had a sale!
After dropping off the package at
the post office, I was back in time
to call in an order to my
distrubtor. "Hello Geiger,
this is Al. I need another Teknetics
T-2."
"Don't we all!" he
replied! "How much did you sell
yours for?" he asked.
I told him how much it
sold for, only to find out that
someone found some gold in this
same area with a Teknetics T-2!
So now it to is also on the most
wanted list with the GPX 4500!
As I write this the Fisher F-75 is
another one they are looking for.
Geiger told me that I could have
doubled ot tripled my money on e-Bay! You just cannot win!
The Teknetics T2 buyer
called me back to see if his credit
information checked out, and to
get a tracking number. That is
when he told me that he would
take all the T-2's that I could get!
Sales are at a all time low, at the
same time they are at an all time
high! Sadly I forgot how to work
this cash register! I'm not
complaining, any sales are better
than none.
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