BeastBoppers are a Little Bit Like Hobbits

We recently enjoyed looking at the National Geographic 2014 photos of the year. We love the winner for this year 'Node' by Brian Yen.
Seeing this photo reminded us of our visit to Hong Kong. BeastBoppers are not entirely unlike Hobbits being short with hairy toes. We are used to walking around in the land of tall people and so on the rare ooccasion when we are at least average or perhaps above average height, we almost feel like we stand out even more somehow. I guess it is the one time when we can empathise with tall people who complain about being tall.
In Hong Kong, we still probably wouldn't be what is considered tall but we were probably average. We will never forget the image of a tall white man getting on to the subway train and having to stoop not only to get in through the door but the whole trip. We were glad we were not tall.
We never travelled on a Hong Kong train like the picture above. As tourists we must have been lucky to have only travelled outside of peak hour. However, we definitely think the addition of some of our great UV Glow in the Dark face & body paints, hair colouring gels & streaks, Professional glitter, LED light up gloves and LED Light balloons from beastbop.com would very much be a welcome addition to the above scene. Might cheer these commuters up a bit. Especially that dude in the bottom right. He doesn't look very happy at all. Someone give that man permission to have fun.
Speaking of Hong Kong, BeastBop is seriously considering heading that way at some point in 2015 to visit the Trade Fairs. We are especially interested in visiting the Canton Trade Fair which we understand in the largest in China. It's on twice a year so we'll aim to go over in either April or October.
With any luck we'll meet some new people, spark some new relationships and find some fantastic new fun products to add to our all ready wonderfully cheap UV Glow in the dark face & body paints, hair colour gels & streaks, LED party light up gloves, balloons and UV torches.
Don't forget, we offer free shipping within Australia and competitive shipping worldwide. Buy now to be good to glow.

Let it Glow... Let it Go

The first product we looked at sourcing to sell were Glow Sticks. We registered beastbop.com with an account on Alibaba and began searching for a good price on glow in the dark sticks and bracelets.
Finding a good price on glow sticks wasn't as hard as we thought as pretty soon we had negotiated a price of 0.017 USD per stick for 50,000 or $1.70 US for 100 which was the more relevant way of looking at them considering they shipped in tubes of this quantity. Working out the exchange to Australian dollar and factoring in shipping we determined they would come out to just over $2 per tube. Not bad considering we could see our competitors were selling them for upwards of $12. The only problem and one that to this day, seems insurmountable, is that the tubes weigh in at 600 grams each! That's right, those thin light little tubes in packs of 100 add up. I guess when you say one tube weighs six grams it doesn't sound like much but times it by 100.... This meant that we would need to send them in a 3kg parcel which means that when you factor in transaction costs and postage we would be struggling to break even on them.
We still don't know how our competitors can turn a profit on these things. If anyone knows we would be happy to hear. So strike number one. BeastBop.com was not to be in the market for Glow in the dark sticks.
Nonetheless, this had begun a desire for ourselves to look for something fun that we would enjoy to sell to people and make our future customers happy. We still love glow sticks and think they are a wonderful invention.
We recently came across this article about the invention of glow sticks. Highly recommended reading.

To see what wonderful UV Glow & LED Lighting party products we did end up sourcing please visit our website. We have the cheapest prices for UV Glow in the dark face & body paints, LED Light up Gloves, LED Party Balloons, UV LED Torches and professional glitter face & body paint. Not to mention our fantastic UV Hair colouring products. Free shipping in Australia. Ships worldwide. Buy now.

BeastBop.com on YouTube

BeastBop.com has its own YouTube channel.
First video: Crazy Tent Bounce. BeastBop.com gives YOU permission to have FUN.

Check out all of our Fun Products here. Perfect for UV Glow Runs, Dance Parties, Raves, Festivals, Children's Birthday Parties.

You Know You WANT It.

Get your Glow On!

The Beast as to the Bop - A Modern Fairytale set in the Misty Hills of the Yarra Ranges

So after a few weeks of this we began to realise that maybe, just maybe, we could make some money out of this. Perhaps not a lot. Maybe just some pocket money. But this was definitely turning into a legitimate side hustle. Mr G suggested to Ms P that before we start running afoul of the revenue office perhaps we better go full legit and get ourselves a registered business name. But what to call ourselves and more importantly, what's a good name that we can register a domain for that hasn't all ready been taken?

Coming up with an original business name wasn't too hard and if we were content to settle for a com.au domain only again the choices were quite varied. However whilst we suspect that the bulk of our business will come from Australia we decided it would be best to have a universal .com address. Mr G had recently read an article on successful businesses, and one of the key points was to pick a business name that doesn't tie you down to selling one thing or to be stuck trading in one key area. The article had claimed this had been what had made Apple so successful. Mr G's eyes lit up when he read that. For he had been an unrepentant die hard Apple fanboy since he was, well, a boy playing snake on his dad's Apple II in the 80's. However neither of us expected ourselves to ever achieve such illustriousness and would really be quite happy if one day, some time in the distant future, this side hustle could become the main gig, the bread and butter of the beastbopper family and Mr G and Mz P could quit their jobs and Fly Solo on the armored wings of the implausible and entirely fictional Beast of the Bop.

So Mr G & Mz P set down to the task of coming up with an original and inspiring name. A steady flow of unexciting names spewed forth and we won't deign to bore you with them now. Anytime any remotely interesting name came to mind, alas, it was all ready taken. One night, Mr G was reading a bedtime story to Baby Beast. The story was the classic fairy-tale story 'Beauty and the Beast'. Mz P happened to be passing by the bedroom when she heard it and it reminded her of how different her and Mr G could often be. Mz P likes to listen to music and constantly dance, she loves the rockabilly style and can be a real bopper. Mr G, on the other hand, is more akin to the beast in the story, preferring to spend quiet nights at home, reading a good book or losing himself staring into the flickering flames of a warm hearth. Suffice to say, the similarities in regards to looks were also relevant but the less said about that the better...

And so with the sprinkling of a great idea in her mind, Mz P fluttered to her laptop and searched for the domain www.beastbop.com

She couldn't believe what she found....

Undercover Shopper. Beast Bopper

Now if we were running an Op Shop, a business who's main goal is to raise funds for whatever worthwhile charity we happen to be named after, we probably wouldn't mind who or what is buying our stuff nor what they were buying it for. The important thing being that items were sold, money raised, and goats were air dropped by tiny parachute to drought stricken villages.
And you know what, this is a logical stance and probably how most op shop volunteers feel. Nonetheless, knowing this doesn't stop us from coming over all coy every time we set foot inside one of these places and for us to construct unnecessarily elaborate ruses as to the true reason why we are purchasing these goods.
We'll ummm, and ahhh, over something that is clearly not for us, 'oh yes, my mum would look good in this' (no she won't, it really isn't her style) or 'your sister could get this as part of that baby shower' (she's not pregnant, just has solid bones).

One time Mr G was Op Shopping it solo style. An overly friendly volunteer exclaimed when he proffered the fashionably vintage threads to the front counter, 'oh no, they possible couldn't be for you, they're way too big for you'. Mr G mutters something about taking them in. What follows is a painful charade as the volunteer demonstrated to Mr G how you can tell if something will fit you without actually trying it on. The verdict: Too big. Mr G then says something about it being for his partner.

'Oh yes, well, he will like it' she says, admiring the material whilst calculating how much to charge for them. 'Sorry, he?' Mr G asks. 'Oh, she says, I don't mean to pry but I just assumed you were gay'.
Mr G does a quick mental arithmetic in his head to work out whether he can get a better price if she thinks he is gay or not and decides it can't hurt.
When Mr G returns home he says to Mz P, you know, perhaps it really would be easier if we just told them what we are buying these things for, I'm sure they wouldn't mind'.
Mz P appraises him with a worldy air and says, no, the grandmas, the minute they think you might be going to make a profit from it they'll jack up the price. Besides, my parents assumed you were gay when they first met you. Something to do with your long, groomed fingernails.
Mz P begins to examine the day's catch. Mr G contemplates whether wearing nail polish might help next time as he sits down to work on his website.

In the Beginning.... There was Hard Rubbish.

Every great story must have its genesis. Ours began with the annual hard rubbish collection in our neighbourhood and a certain little unloved object of the two wheeled variety.

We spotted it whilst driving one day and did the typical hard rubbish stop in the middle of the road forgetting that there might be people needing to get to their super urgent important destinations behind us.

Unfortunately, because we show an unnerving lack of foresight, our one and only household car is a sedan and so Mz.P sprung out and claimed the little beauty whilst Gerard headed home in the car.
Mz.P wasn't far behind as luckily our new precious was only just down the street and soon the Le Tour de Wunderbar (apologies to any French or Germans checking in as we bastardise both of your languages) was sitting in our shed.



A bit of a polish and she was soon ready to be put up for sale online. She wasn't sitting there for very long when we had some interest and a sale. A nice little profit and any banker in the room want to tell us the ROI on something you get for free?
We looked at each other and said, you know, I wonder if we can make a habit of this?

And so the first seeds, the sprout of an idea and an adventure was born. Hard rubbish, alas, only lasts but a few short, joyful weeks, but hey, there are a plethora of Op Shops around these parts. Maybe it's time to give them a visit...

Mr.G & Mz.P aka BeastBopper.
www.beastbop.com

Hello My Very Special Friend Is Usually Not a Greeting We'd Want to Hear.

Hello.

        Welcome.

If you're reading this, then that makes you a very unique person. For you, yes you, are reading the very first blog, a blog that in this moment most likely has and has had (apart from our mother) no readers other than that of yourself. And what is this blog that you are reading that you have somehow stumbled upon as you surf the interweb at some unusual hours of the morning (you really should go to bed, that's what our mother would tell you)? Why this is the first unread blog for our brand new site that also no one actually at this point knows about. But, wait, soon that may all change! Read on, if you wish to learn the tales of our new start up adventure. As we share our experiences conversing with suppliers who only know English as their fifth or sixth language. Fear not, this will not be some xenophobic rant, for we find it a marvel of our modern wonderfully interconnected world that for the price of a free email or an Alibaba inquiry we can converse with a friendly helpful person in the middle of China about their latest products. But despite our admiration for their language and merciless negotiating skills it always brings an unironic smile to our dials when we receive these overtly friendly emails that go something along the lines of 

Hello Dearest Friend

How are you ?We are looking for long term business ,As we have received your buying request ,and we are pofessional seller of electronics.

Nice to offer best quality with my best service to you !

So as our brothers and sisters in China would say as they try to get an extra cent per piece on their whizz bang gizmo, "Hello my very special friend". We hope you will come back to read more about our exploits and perhaps take a look over at our website. You may see something you like. Happy Style Huntin' Adventures to Ye All.

Mr.G & Mz.P aka BeastBopper.

www.beastbop.com