Zara Shirwan

With the help of her husband, the internet and a digital camera, Elvira has turned a lifelong passion for rocks and crystals into a successful home business. Their Internet shop http://stores.eBay.co.uk/ROCKY-ROAD-to-RUIN is now one of the top shops of its kind on eBay and the couple are making enough money to live comfortably in their retirement..

Elvira, 55, has been collecting unusual rocks and gems since the age of three. As a registered carer for her 78 year old husband John, in 2002 Elvira started her own rock and gem store on the internet to bring in some extra income. Living on one pension and struggling to cover bills, Elvira started selling rocks, crystals and gems without a formal business plan or set of financial targets. 

Following a string of successful eBay transactions, selling from their own collections, in 2005 Elvira and John decided to open up an eBay shop to trade from.  With a global market at their fingertips, currently around a third of their customers are American, and they trade extensively with Japan, Australia and Europe. At present, most of their business comes from eBay, but they are keen to drive more orders through their own website to reduce costs (www.rockyroadtoruin.com). They will however continue to sell on the eBay site, ensuring they reach the maximum audience possible.

Depending on the number of items sold, Elvira devotes around 5-6 hours a day to the business, photographing and uploading the rocks and crystals and John spends 1-2 hours a day packing the items for postage and answering email enquiries.

Prior to running their business full time, Elvira worked in office jobs and, after completing an apprenticeship in the aircraft industry, John worked in textiles and sales.  Though John has become actively interested in rocks and crystals, Elvira is the driving force. Sourcing stock from all over the world, buying directly from the miners, it has taken a long time for Elvira to find the right people to buy from and trade with.

With their structure in place, the couple is planning to build up to trading between £2-3,000 per week.

Before focusing their business online, John and Elvria would regularly attend Rock 'n' Gem Shows (http://rockngem.co.uk), often held at racecourses around the country. Trading through the internet has provided them with a global market to showcase their wares -- and allowed them to run their business from home.

Elvira's advice for people starting out is to "find your product and stick at it. Keep your website up to date and keep uploading new things.  It is possible, but you don't get anywhere without putting in the effort. And know your field."

John adds, "Watch out for tricks on eBay.  People will ask you time consuming questions then fail to bid, win but not pay. Watch out for feedback, it's a deal-breaker for most people. We no longer give feedback to buyers until we have received from them, but give our feedback to sellers as soon as we have received the goods and are satisfied. And don't send anything until you are sure the goods have been paid for and have the money in your account."

John heard of Nick James a few years ago through some marketing material. He signed up to receive Nick's weekly email tips and found them useful enough to sign up to nick-james.com to access more information. Impressed by the common sense advice, John and Elvira intend to use more of the information to further develop their business.