Search the forum,

Discuss Something else i thought i'd try - improvement ideas welcome! in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Status
Not open for further replies.

armyash

Plumbers Arms member
Plumber
Gas Engineer
Messages
2,653
If you have read any of my threads before you will probably know i am still serving in the army but am looking to get a start in plumbing any way i can. I know the competition is tough out there but i am lucky that i am in full time employment so can take my time and hopefully things will gradually pick up within the trade.

I have offered my services on ebay, what do you think of my ad what would you add to it or take out?

Do many plumbers even work weekends regularly or is it mainly odd jobs and the main work saved for mon-fri? am i better off waiting until i am available full time before putting myself out there?

Plumbing - Free Labour/Plumbers Mate! | eBay UK
 
Hehe ...

I like the bit ...

Delivery: Estimated within 2-3 working days

:teeth_smile: :teeth_smile:

At the risk of being patronising, it's an interesting way of looking for some work and I hope it opens an avenue or two for you. You never know until you try!!
 
Lol I don't like having the delivery on there but you can't leave that area blank for obvious reasons :sad3:

Thanks I'm not expecting miracles but can't hurt to try something different. Fingers crossed
 
Hey Armyash you should be done under the trade discriptions act I mean 100% free but buy it now 99p, thats a blooming cheek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To be honest I think its extremley inventive and a damned good idea so fair play, by the way I have a holiday hoval in outer mongolia that needs the sceptic tank emptying, couldnt just pop there with yer wet vac could yer:rofl::yes::yes::yes:
 
Same thing with the price as the delivery had to put something in haha

cheers for the comments
 
good luck hope you get somewhere its clear you want to join this industry
 
Hope you aren't describing yourself when you list yourself under "tools" :38:
 
I have just noticed that if i actually search ebay for my ad i can't find it! not much hope for anyone else finding it then lol. It's fine if i type in the item number or use the link i have added to this thread. hmmmmm something for me to get my head around in the morning, must be something to do with the ad settings or something as it's not even appearing in the categories i have listed it in.

very strange
 
You're putting a helluva lot of faith in the Royal Mail. I'd fit a waste in the packaging in case you get redirected to the wrong part of the country. And did you know that 'Fragile' isn't a warning to them...it's a challenge. I just hope you don't end up like your ad- black and blue!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What's the return's policy like if not happy with the item ?

Seriously though Great idea & best of luck
 
excellent idea ash i hope it works for you.

It's a great idea. Though I can't help thinking it reminds me of something Mr Bean would do. lol
The customer gets the packeage and bends over to sign something and Bean pokes his finger through the eye-holes up their bum. "err, hullooo".
 
Please tell me you didn’t buy Lipstick and Hair Straighteners for yourself…

All the best!
 
Ebay have removed my 'item' as there's nothing actually for sale. Thanks Ebay!
 
Thats because eBay have a separate classifieds section for stuff like this, which they can charge you more for.
 
Ebay have removed my 'item' as there's nothing actually for sale. Thanks Ebay!
I just bought a new pushchair for ÂŁ9 what a bargain!
But I seem to remember there are rules about not selling people, that could be your problem!
 
But I seem to remember there are rules about not selling people, that could be your problem!

Yeah, I think that was an inconvenience that that William the Conqueror chap promulgated once he invaded our shores. Inconsiderate fellow, he was.
 
Just tried to see ad, have they taken you down?

Yes they have. I was selling myself as a free plumbers mate/labourer on weekends for free. It was a good ad and a lot of guys on here said it was a good idea. I thought it would be good to get myself advertised somewhere new but ebay contacted me and said that i was breaking rules as i wasn't selling an actual product. Fair dos i suppose rules are rules but there was no money to be made by myself so i cant see the harm.
 
nothing worse than being taken offline when yer trying to do some good
 
Could you do another advert ... ÂŁ150 for a 15mm end feed elbow and a full day's free labour chipped in?
 
Lol ÂŁ150 to fit an endfeed elbow blimey I know they aint london rates wheres he gonna fit it on the space station????
 
but ebay contacted me and said that i was breaking rules as i wasn't selling an actual product.

If they really want to be funny about it then you could say say you are. A product of your parent's love.
The only problem is that people don't usually look to buy people there so they won't access your ad. Well maybe they do, but it's not your plumbing abilities they want :(
 
DOH!!!!


I didn't mean it that way ... and I can't be bothered to explain how I meant it either!!! Too much wine and too late in the day!!
 
If they really want to be funny about it then you could say say you are. A product of your parent's love.
The only problem is that people don't usually look to buy people there so they won't access your ad. Well maybe they do, but it's not your plumbing abilities they want :(

Had it set up that if 'plumbing' or 'plumbing joblot' 'plumbing tools' etc was typed in the search box my advert came up in the same listings so would have been seen by plenty. :(
 
Lol ÂŁ150 to fit an endfeed elbow blimey I know they aint london rates wheres he gonna fit it on the space station????

I did consider relisting it but be selling something with it like 15mm compression tee for '25p buy it now' haha i will give it another go tomorrow night.

Also just got myself a batch of business cards made advertising myself too. Something to put in with my letters and CV's when they go out and will leave a few at merchants in the area. Trying to slowly cover every angle.
 
Not trying to put you off but in my experience it's next to impossible to be recommended by a merchant unless you're in there most days. Also, not many members of the public go into a local merchant if it's away from the high street and has no bathroom/kitchen showroom.

I'm not saying don't approach them but don't expect anything soon if you do!

What I found really effective (and others on the forum have done this to good effect) is to put business cards in door to door. Very boring, sore feet, etc but I did some around 3 years ago and I still get calls once every so often from those cards. You can expect a 0.5% to 1% return (one job per 100-200 business cards). That job might be a tap washer replacement or might be a day's work. If you do 1,000 cards you might get 5 jobs in the next 2-3 weeks.

Hope you get some good success with whatever you try.
 
I did consider relisting it but be selling something with it like 15mm compression tee for '25p buy it now' haha i will give it another go tomorrow night.

Also just got myself a batch of business cards made advertising myself too. Something to put in with my letters and CV's when they go out and will leave a few at merchants in the area. Trying to slowly cover every angle.

Hows the advert gonna start then?? maybe something like "ground control to armyash"!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
haha, yeah, Private Consultation, General repair, and Major Ballsup are our chief engineers :rofl:
 
Not trying to put you off but in my experience it's next to impossible to be recommended by a merchant unless you're in there most days. Also, not many members of the public go into a local merchant if it's away from the high street and has no bathroom/kitchen showroom.

I'm not saying don't approach them but don't expect anything soon if you do!

What I found really effective (and others on the forum have done this to good effect) is to put business cards in door to door. Very boring, sore feet, etc but I did some around 3 years ago and I still get calls once every so often from those cards. You can expect a 0.5% to 1% return (one job per 100-200 business cards). That job might be a tap washer replacement or might be a day's work. If you do 1,000 cards you might get 5 jobs in the next 2-3 weeks.

Hope you get some good success with whatever you try.

Thanks for the advice.

That's pretty much what i expected from the merchants but a slim chance is better than no chance. I would love to do a leaflet drop and being in the army i'm no stranger to walking for hours on end and getting sore feet! :) but i would rather be working with/for someone to build my experience and confidence before i go on my own. I'll keep trying. I am on summer leave for 3 weeks in August and that's when i can really throw myself in to it properly. I'll be servicing every family members gas appliances and doing anything else they want doing and will be writing to hundreds of plumbers.
 
Something I always like and something I like to do is take the trouble to go and speak to people face to face. Very easy to send out a batch of cv's and letters and most firms receive loads. If you can deliver them by hand, look the part, and introduce yourself. Takes a lot of effort but I am much more likely to give a positive response. It may be that the person you speak to can't help, but they may know someone etc.
Also, don't be afraid to stop and ask if you see a van etc and ALWAYS follow up any cv's you send/hand out. Don't expect anyone to come beating your door down. You don't have to pester people but you can start to build relationships and network.
You sound like a really positive and pro-active guy. With the way things are at the minute it will take some time and effort but if you keep at it I reckon you'll find something.
Every "No" is one person closer the the "Yes" you're looking for.
Good luck, Mate.
icon14.png
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Reply to Something else i thought i'd try - improvement ideas welcome! in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Creating content since 2001. Untold Media.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock