CompuServe Messages

>>> I like the idea of a trading network for bulk quantities of cheap fossils (or minerals, for that matter). I like the idea also. There are some pragmatic problems. 1. Finding participants. It the moment, we have one probably — a small museum in Vermont that doesn't seem to have much in the way of suitable fossile sites nearby. (Might be some OK mineral sites up in the Green Mtns). 2. Packaging. I use 3×1.25 in zip lock bags with labels I print up on the HP-IIP. Do we ship the fossils packaged and labelled, or does the recipient do their own packaging and labelling? 3. Pricing. I price the fossils on the labels, and I price them cheap — maybe half their commercial value. That's fine with the local museum, but it may not be fine with other museums who may fear that having very inexpensive items in the store may cut into sales of more expensive items. 4. The fossils (/minerals) are in direct competition with mineral specimens already available from commercial sources and sold by many museums. The whole issue may require some special handling and constraints to coexist with them. 5. What sort of volumes are required? We're selling fossils at the rate of a few hundred a year, but our traffic flow at the museum is small by the standards of most museums, and we haven't taken the fossils to a fair or other special event yet (probably will this Autumn). In the meantime, I sure could use a few pounds of common fossils.