Sean's $4500 Monthly Online Store Sells Fluorescent Rocks And UV Flashlights To Rock Collectors
Sean Stimac • Published January 6, 2024
ABOUT
Sean Stimac
Owner, Perkyboxes.com
Fluorescent Flashlights
From Youngstown, Ohio
Side Hustle Started October, 2020
Full-Time Job
Sr. Project Manager
Software Implementations
SIDE-HUSTLE STATS
20
Hours Worked Per Week
$4500
Revenue Per Month
1
Founders
0
Employees
$7,000
Startup Cost
12
Months Before Profit
Rock & Mineral Groups
Main Growth Strategy
20%
Net Profit Margin
Table Of Contents
Working As A Sr. Project Manager + Selling Rocks & Flashlights
Coming Up With The Idea
Where did you get the idea to start selling fluorescent rocks and UV flashlights?
It was almost exactly three years ago when I got started. I had some spare time, so I just started on Etsy selling rocks like this one.
And what’s interesting about these is that they glow, right? At the time when I started selling these, it was believed that these little glow cobbles were only found on the shores of Lake Superior.
I live an hour away from Lake Erie. And I thought, you know, I’ll go up there and try finding some of these cobbles on my local beaches because when you look at glaciation patterns, you know we had four major glaciation periods in North America.
When you follow these glaciation patterns, you can clearly see that they traveled over some fluorescent deposits that are now known in Ontario and Quebec. So I thought, well, the chances of finding something are decent because of the geologic history of the region. Here in the south of Lake Erie are the moraine fields of the glaciers, where the glaciers pushed rock and material into these hills.
So I was like,” All right, I’ll go up there to some lakes and look around.” And I found a ton. I think I was the first person to find them on Lake Erie about four years ago. I had buckets of these things. I’d just go up there and have a fun evening finding rocks.
I saw people, you know, from Northern Michigan, where I’m from, making good side money selling these things. So I thought,” What the hell? I’ll try selling some of these on Etsy.” And I did pretty well. I sold some locally, and then I sold some via Facebook as well.
As for the flashlights, one of the barriers to entry into fluorescent minerals is cost. Everything is so expensive. Field lamps, which is what we’ve been using in the hobby for decades—literally going back 50–60 years—are these huge, expensive, battery-powered tube lamps, and they’re like $400–$700. There are so many minerals that are affordable to get into, but fluorescent minerals are just hugely inaccessible. So part of my constraints is that I needed things to be cheap enough that people could affordably buy the lights.
First Steps To Starting
What were your first steps to creating your own UV flashlights?
A former friend of mine made small UV flashlights, and I would buy a bunch of them from him and then give them away so they could find stuff. I was on a waiting list with this guy for months and months just for ten units. So not very many. I got frustrated because I wanted more, and he wasn’t selling them to me at the time. So I cut out on my own.
I networked with a manufacturer in China and said,” Hey, here’s what I need and the rough specs of what I’m looking for.” A month and a half later, I had a few hundred of these in my possession. So I started selling them, and it took off mega-fast.
I didn’t want to be like these other guys who are selling small lights for $50–$60 bucks. I wanted something that was less than $20. And so we got this worked out, and I sell them for about $16. So that’s kind of my start.
I’d come home with a couple hundred dollars a month. It was basically enough to keep going and going. That’s also when I took the next step in forming my LLC, which was April of 2022.
What Are Perky Boxes?
You sell "perky boxes" on your website, what are those?
Another sort of niche inside of this hobby that I’m really interested in are small, really tiny mineral specimens.
There’s like 5500 different species of minerals that exist in the world, and a majority of those are only found as micro-sized crystals. So we’re talking stuff that is millimeters in size. People were getting fleeced on the boxes for those.
Most of these are about a dollar each. And I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but, you know, some of us have collections that are in the thousands of these small minerals, right? So it adds up really fast. And so I started manufacturing those as well.
So bulk price-wise, if you buy a box of 40, that comes out to $0.74 a piece, and if you buy an individual, they are $0.78 a piece.
I’ve been selling these now for, I don’t know, maybe half a year. I get thousands and thousands of them at a time, and I just have a hard time keeping them in stock. There are eight different sizes that I’m making, and I’m working with a company in China to manufacture them.
And yeah, the margin on them is quite good. I’m the second-cheapest that I know of, and I’m still making a healthy profit.
There’s no way I would charge this percentage on a large item like one of the lights. It wouldn’t be fair when you’ve been in the hobby. But some people are charging a buck 30 apiece, which is just ridiculous.
Growing Your Side-Hustle
How do you find customers? What was your main marketing strategy?
I’m really active with my customer base. We’re in a really small niche. I’m a member of six different rock and mineral organizations around the country, and I’m the national editor for one. I sit on two committees for another. So I’m pretty active in the hobby, and I’m really active with my customers.
And it’s sort of evolved really, where they say,” Man, it would be nice if I had this or if I have this.” And I’ll say, “well, I think I can do that.” For example, this year, people always complained about lights and how expensive they are. And in our hobby, there are three different real wavelengths that we use to make rocks glow. And I was only producing small, long-wave lights really cheaply at the time. People wanted better, more expensive lights. So I got to work and I made cheaper large lights now.
So this was step one. And the goal there was to be able to offer one that was $100 or less. At the time, the next cheapest one available was $150, and there were issues with the heat dissipation. They get really hot because LEDs—their LEDs in particular, are really inefficient, so they get really hot. I came out with those products, and they were $100 even.
Revenue + Earnings
On average, how much do you earn from your side-hustle each month?
Do Crystals Have Healing Powers?
What's your opinion when it comes to rocks and crystals having powers or mystical benefits?
Startup Costs + Tools
How much did it cost to start rocks and minerals business?
Side-Hustle Lessons & Advice
Do you recommend selling rocks and minerals? What tips would you give to others?
Work-Life Balance
What's your full-time job? And is it easy to balance with your business?
Career Lessons & Advice
Would you recommend pursuing a career in software implementations?
Yeah, I probably would. It’s the job that gave me the resources required to get started. Right? I feel like if I had a lower-paying job or, you know, something to that effect, I probably wouldn’t see the success that I’ve seen in my side hustle. And I think the very nature of the person who does the type of work that I do for my day job lends itself pretty well to managing the side hustle at the same time.
Where Can People Find You?
Where can people purchase your fluorescent rocks, UV flashlights, and other goods?
If you’re interested in fluorescent rocks and minerals, you can purchase Sean’s hard goods online at Perky Boxes.
