Products and Services
Product Line-Up
Talk about what your Community ReUse Center will be selling and doing in the community. Make a list of what the CRC will sell, what kinds of donations it will take, what programs and services it will provide.
This could be everything from offering classes or workshops on reuse-related topics (making picture frames from reclaimed materials, or composting, or replacing a broken phone screen), to reuse services (building deconstruction, computer repair, or donation pickups), to the types of reusable items you'll make available to the community (clothing, electronics, or household appliances). The possibilities are endless!
Questions
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What services or items will your Community ReUse Center provide?
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Will you sell reusable items, refurbish electronics, etc?
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What types of items will you carry and accept for donation?
Tips
Many Community ReUse Centers start out by specializing in a particular type or set of types of materials or services, and then branch out as they get more established. It helps to start out your offerings with products and services that will make money for the Community ReUse Center.
Go back to the survey information you collected in Get Started to review the kinds of products and services your community would like the CRC to offer -- and what goods and services they could potentially provide.
Finger Lakes ReUse's Story
Finger Lakes ReUse operates two retail stores where people can buy used furniture, computers and other electronics, housewares, and construction supplies. We offer pickup and delivery services, and sell some items online through eBay. We also have a donation center where people can donate their unwanted reusable items, and an eCenter where we repair and refurbish computers and other electronics. We host community events, such as meetings of the Ithaca Fixer's Collective, and offer volunteer opportunities for groups and individuals on one-time as well as long-term bases. We have a deconstruction program where we advise customers on taking apart buildings and salvaging the materials for reuse. We also run a job skills training program for low-income and unemployed people to help them gain marketable skills and make connections with employers in the area.
Future Offerings
There is no end to the ways a Community ReUse Center can make a difference in your community, and you may already have more ideas than you can realistically make happen right from the start. Think about which programs and services your Community ReUse Center might be able to offer after it's been in operation for some time. This might be an after-school program, a furniture repair service, donation pick-ups, or anything else you can think of!
Questions
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What would you like your Community ReUse Center to do in a year or two? What about in five years?
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What barriers currently stand in the way of accomplishing these goals now, and how will you be more able to remove those barriers in time?
Finger Lakes ReUse's Story
Finger Lakes ReUse began with our retail store and donation center, and began offering pickup and delivery services three months after the store opened. As we began to generate more income through sales and services, and demonstrated our growing impact on the community, we were able to secure more funds for additional programs.
Pricing
An extremely important part of planning any business is figuring out your pricing strategies. For example, in the retail setting, cheaper products are more likely to sell quickly. Since you'll be selling donated used items, you should be able to set your prices quite low in comparison to how much those items would cost to buy new. This should help ensure a quick turnaround on inventory, allowing you to serve more customers and handle a larger volume of materials. However, you'll be counting on the income you generate from sales to help cover the cost of processing and storing these items: there is such a thing as too cheap!
Questions
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Who is the market you are trying to reach with each of your goods and services? What can they afford to pay for what you're offering?
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Are there services you will offer for free?
Tips
Whatever you decide in terms of pricing, be sure to be consistent: items of similar value should be priced similarly. Customers will notice inconsistencies!
Finger Lakes ReUse's Story
Finger Lakes ReUse offers the majority of our retail items at 50-90 percent below retail price. Since our educational programs serve people from low-to-moderate income backgrounds, they are offered free to our participants.