As a fifth grader, this was my first year participating in TREP$. I went to prior Marketplaces at my school and that gave me the idea to design my product. In the summer, I began making my good luck stones and clay dishes. I thought this was a good time to start because I had enough time to plan. It made sense to make clay dishes because people may need a place to put their money and jewelry. Then I started to make my good luck stones. The stone idea was taken from Pinterest. The stones were free from my front lawn so I saved lots of money. I hand-painted different designs on each stone. I knew the stones would make great decorations for any space. I made sixty stones and seventy-five clay dishes. My company’s name was “Delicate Designs.”
Finally, it was the evening of the Marketplace. Before I even started selling, people were saying they would definitely come and buy something. The first ten minutes no one bought anything, but they did come and look. Ten minutes later, I sold my first item! By the end of the night I sold a good percentage of my product. When I came home I had $131.00. Then, I had to pay my mom for the supplies and my dad back the money I owed him for making change. After I paid back all my expenses, I ended up making a profit of a very small amount. What I realized was that I could have made more money, if I would have made less of the product. Hopefully, I can sell them next year with other items and still make a profit.
Even though I did not make a lot of money, I will definitely participate in TREP$ next year. It was fun making the two products, selling them, meeting people, making change, and hearing compliments about my creations. My hard work definitely paid off!
