We're all about creative finance at Chez Lennon. From short term real estate lending to selling chores, anything ethical goes.
My oldest had been growing her hair long. She's not your classic girly girl, and the extent of her styling was quickly brushing then pulling it back into a low ponytail. As last summer approached, she decided it was too hot and annoying to keep. She wanted it gone.
The easiest path was to grab my shears and take it off. She would have been fine with that. However, somewhere in the labrynth of my brain was the idea of selling it... but how?
A quick Google search brought up an online marketplace for buying and selling hair. I learned the terminology, discovering hers was "virgin" hair, never having been permed, colored, or heat treated in any way. That commanded a premium. Being bone straight and a pretty brown color, she would do OK, though curly red hair was top shelf. That website was a little sketch though - and further Googling took me down the path of hair fettishes, being paid extra to watch it being cut, and other odd requests that was inappropriate for my 14 year old daughter. Furthermore, I was doubtful she would get paid fairly - something just seemed off.
I asked my favorite Facebook problem solving group for how they would go about selling hair.
Rolling my eyes at all the shaming about how she should donate it (that wasn't my question, and it's her asset to do with as she chooses), a few helpful leads emerged. I was led to Steve (@MichiganHairBuyer) on Instagram. We exchanged a few messages including photographs of the hair. Being less than 20" in length, Steve's final offer was in the $50-$100 range. That seemed low, given my Googling, but being new to this, what did I know?
I reached out to my second lead, the lovely Andrea (@andreawilson_hair), a hair artist in Queens, NY. She's a busy businesswoman, and our message exchanges were in slow motion. She asked how long it was, looked at the pictures I sent, and offered $300 via CashApp or Zelle. That was it. That was it??
I tried to get Andrea to engage on the phone or on email. I wanted to understand the process. Where did I send the hair? When did my daughter get paid? I never got in touch with her other than on social media. I looked at her account and her posts. The accounts were seasoned, lots of posting and commenting and it all seemed legit. She's done some truly beautiful work.
Finally I realized we had nothing but postage and time to lose by sending the hair. It would have gone into the trash otherwise. We packaged it up and dropped it in the US mail on Thursday afternoon. Monday morning I received $320 via Zelle. Mind. Blown.
My daughter was floored. What seemed like trash had produced several hundred dollars for her. All three of the kids and I talked about assets again. What are your assets? Can you convert them to cash?
My son was mad because he'd grown his hair long, and it had gone into the trash. The key difference - his was a matted, tangled, smelly (being honest) mess. His sister's was long and cared for. The market wants what the market wants.
How have you and your kids converted unusual assets into cash?
Not sure how to introduce money concepts to your children? Check out this online course: Raising Wealthy Kids
Stephanie Brooke Lennon is the author of Family Bank Blueprint, GoldQuest, and What Would Water Do? Simple Strategies for Navigating Life's Obstacles. Her titles are available in Paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com. Follow Stephanie Brooke on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, and at BrookeLennon.com.
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