Starting a buisness (with MDing)what do you think?

Rob66

Rob66

Bronze Member
Jun 30, 2006
1,800
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California
Detector(s) used
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I have been wondering for a long time, living close to a beach with millions of people coming through each year I should try to start a small business just for fun on the side.I'm gonna call it "lost and found." You lose something, stay right where you're at! then give me a call and I will recover for a small fee.

$50 to come down Whether I find it or not.And $100 if found.

What ya think? will it work?

RD
 

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Be prepared to starve.. I don't think folks KNOW where they loose stuff, just that it got lost.

Would you pay back the fifty bucks if you did NOT find the item? Do you come with a guarantee?
 

No.... I quess that would be a problem! I knew there was a draw back.
 

I've done this and you will starve.......I've spread cards at resorts and hotels, given them to lifeguard and beach patrols. When called I charge $50.00 to show up and that is for one hour detecting, paid in advance. I've stayed as long as 4 hours with no extra pay if the people were nice. I have given the fee back when I didn't find it too. Most won't except the money back, but I usually find it and others once in awhile. You have to get paid in advance to keep the wise crackers from calling you to watch the nerd look for the Rolex out near the buoy. Sometimes they want a receipt to show the insurance agent when they make the claim for lost jewelry when you don't find it. It is interesting, but your time is not your own anymore. But you do get called to some private beaches too. You try your best to please but some people demand that you find it and don't understand why it takes so long..
 

Yep..... not for me.I already deal with oceanfront homes and resort for work.I won't quit my day job ;)

Thanks!
 

...it would be a neat side job...

HH
-GC
 

You can work with the insurance companies though. I did it for years in Denver. I even wrote a two part article for Treasure Facts magazine back in 1995 explaining it.

If someone looses an item of value, they WILL call their insurance company. I was then called from the company to go search for the item. If I found it, I was paid a percentage as my fee. If I did not find it, then I wasn't paid. I only found about 20% of what I searched for. But ... the pay was enough to make it worth doing.

I would sometimes go two months with no calls, and then maybe get three calls in 24 hours. Also, when a tornado struck Limon, CO, I was called by 3 different insurance agencies, and worked with all of them as the ONLY detectorist working an otherwise restricted area WHILE the clean up was still going on. (By the way. The jewelry store lost a LOT of jewelry that was taken up into the funnel and NEVER found. But that's a different story. LOL)

ANyway, YES you can do it. Don't quit your day job, but be available, make the contacts, and you can get calls from time to time to conduct searches. And that's always exciting, even if you don't find what you are sent to find that day. :-)

Good luck to you.

JOhn
 

jrf30 said:
You can work with the insurance companies though. I did it for years in Denver. I even wrote a two part article for Treasure Facts magazine back in 1995 explaining it.

If someone looses an item of value, they WILL call their insurance company. I was then called from the company to go search for the item. If I found it, I was paid a percentage as my fee. If I did not find it, then I wasn't paid. I only found about 20% of what I searched for. But ... the pay was enough to make it worth doing.

I would sometimes go two months with no calls, and then maybe get three calls in 24 hours. Also, when a tornado struck Limon, CO, I was called by 3 different insurance agencies, and worked with all of them as the ONLY detectorist working an otherwise restricted area WHILE the clean up was still going on. (By the way. The jewelry store lost a LOT of jewelry that was taken up into the funnel and NEVER found. But that's a different story. LOL)

ANyway, YES you can do it. Don't quit your day job, but be available, make the contacts, and you can get calls from time to time to conduct searches. And that's always exciting, even if you don't find what you are sent to find that day. :-)

Good luck to you.

JOhn
Click to expand...
Intresting.How about law inforcement maybe a contract with them.That would be fun and exciting too (I think)
 

You did say for FUN right? Then go for it!

Any business can be called that and made to work on some level. In essence you are starting a niche business and will have the market to yourself! Getting the word out to a transient customer base is going to be your biggest problem. You gotta hit em when and where they hurt, so they can't have a chance to grow accustomed to the loss.

The best way to do this in your case is with bird dogs. Say what? Bird dogs??

It's easy and goes like this. The more people you can get that WANT to help YOU, the more you will succeed. So get to know the lifeguards, beachpatrol, beach concessions people, hotel managers and desk staff, store clerks, surf pirates and beach "locals" - and any others that you know for sure meet your target customers on a regular basis. Let them keep the word circulating and finding people for you like "bird dogs," thus the name.

The best way to do that? Offer them $20 if they can put a paying customer on to you, plus a percentage of your reward, when you get one. $20 is the minimum that keeps people motivated - less tells them you are insincere.

Also use fliers, cards and other print media posted up at restaurants, hotels, nearby bars and so on Your terms are fair, but make it a $50 retainer fee, regardless of time spent searching, like Sandman says. Rewards can be paid when items are found and should be agreed upon at the outset. And let me share a tip we Realtors(R) abide by:

Get peoples home addresses, phone, email etc. If you don't find their item today, you now have a treasure lead and may find it tomorrow or the day after. When you find it, you can then work out payment of rewards since you know how to contact them. I am currently waiting on the weather to cool so I can look for a ring that was lost YEARS ago. I'm told it is worth THOUSANDS.
 

dunn1866 said:
Intresting.How about law inforcement maybe a contract with them.That would be fun and exciting too (I think)
Click to expand...

Don't expect it to be fun and exciting. Be prepared to do the following: 1) If you find a signal-no digging- a detective will do it and seal it in an evidence bag and sign it. It's called chain of custody. 2) Be prepared to spend a large part of your time in court testifying as to where you found the item, when, and all kinds of questions from the defense such as what is a metal detector? What makes it work? What was your discrimination set at? What was your battery level? What was your sensitivity? How long have you been detecting? Did you find all the evidence or just enough to try and convict "my client"?

I could go on and on. They'd want you to be qualified as an expert in the field of metal detecting and prove you know everything about the machine you use and some semi-scientific aspects of what causes a metal detector to work.

I did get paid $300 for about 2 hr of intense detecting by a defense atty. on an apparent murder case. We found several pieces of evidence although not the bullet or casing we were searching for. They drove me to the scene (1 1/2 hr each way) plus bought me lunch. They wouldn't tell me what I was looking for at 1st, so I had to load up all the detectors and a couple of different coils.

Just a bit of advise to think about.
 

Nope to many problems....I already don't have enough time it seems to hunt when I want.Need a vacation.......!!!!!!!

Thanks for the inputs.

Still looking for that super nugget!!!!!

Happy hunting and luck to all.
RD
 

Don't get MJ, Sandman, jrf30, and dahut wrong--it can be both fun and profitable, but very doubtful that it in itself would be something to pay a mortgage and take care of a family. Most start out that way wanting to be full-time detectorists and make a living at it and then find that the income isn't what they thought it'd be so they diversified and ran a sideline or main business such as opening a MD shop or becoming a coin dealer, etc. Some even started writing and trying to get their books published. It takes strength, stamina, and perseverance to do what you're wanting to do and I hope you are able to achieve your goal. Best of luck and HH!
 

Like I said, this is something youre planning to do for fun. dont plan to pay the bills with it.

On the other hand, no sense going at it half assed. If youre gonna do it, do it like a pro!
 

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