Starting a recovery service

Rev_Beav

Full Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
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221
Location
Mason City, Iowa
I was thinking about starting a no cost/reward based recovery service to find lost jewelry ect... I just was wondering if anyone else has done something like this before? Did you make business cards? Word of mouth?

I was just talking about it with a co-worker a week ago and sure enough his aunt lost her 14k gold ring that has been in her family for many years. I guess she had a bypass within the past year and while doing yard work the other day she lost her ring... She lives 30+ miles away from where I live and I'm going there on Thursday to search for it. I just wondered if I were to make business cards what I should maybe put on them or if I should have a set cost for gas i.e. 25 cents per mile, ect... I just wanted some of your input on it or if I should just go based on word of mouth ect.. I'm not wanting to get rich of of it I just enjoy making people happy however I don't want to lose money finding peoples items. I'm planning on going there strickly to find her ring but then thinking about when or if I find it asking if I can search her property, what do you think? Thanks for any input!!! I'm pumped to actually have a lead to help someone after just talking about it!
 
i made cards........
 

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So after you made your cards, did you just hand them to friends or put them up at a gas station, or what did you do?
 
you can goto Vistaprint and choose the Mailing Postage card package, doodle up a cool little mailing card and they offer a "Purchase" mailing address list. basically you can but like 500 address around your neighborhood and send them out alllll via vistaprint, they take care of it all. its a real cool service, Ive used it for my business in the past, I reckon it would be good for your situation as well

DetectThis
 
This is just my opinion on a recovery service. If you want money or a reward for your service it should be explained to the person before going to the property. When you recover the lost item searching and digging should stop. If you explain the hobby and reason to continue hunting and they allow it as a reward before you go there then I would think it's ok. It doesn't seem like a good idea to ask to continue hunting at the site. Some people may not want you to be on their property for personal benefit. Good luck with it and hopefully you can recover some lost items.
 
So after you made your cards, did you just hand them to friends or put them up at a gas station, or what did you do?

i made mine basically to hand to a few homeowners or onlookers as a way to break the ice while asking permission to hunt their property, i also gave a few to the township building and cops that would ask what i was doing. insted of money for locating an item i'd trade off hunting the property. i have hung a couple around the neighborhood at local stores but its not like my phone is ringin off the hook :lol: my main purpose was to hand to people as an ice breaker so i could hunt their property. i think i only paid around 10 bucks for a few hundred cards so its not like it was a huge investment. it also looks better than handin someone my number on a scrap piece of paper
 
IMO, a paid for recovery service would be more trusted by the decipient and make a few bucks for you. Anything totally free spooks even me. martin
 
Great input everyone, thanks! It sucks I can't get a card put together and printed before Thursday!

If you have a printer you could easily. just go to like Office Max or something to the equivalent and they usually sell "Business Card Paper" if they do not sell the business card paper, you can use greeting card paper too, its a little thin sometimes but it A LOT better then regular paper) you just throw it in your printer, design a quick easy card (can even use MS Print if you had to) and then print a few out and cut them out. not like you need 10000 of them, get enough paper for 20-30 cards (or how ever many you think needed) and your good.
 
I have thought about offering something like that here, im on disability so would never ask for payment, just a chance to detect some older properties and see whats there, in britain its a 50/50 split and cant be considered a job because 50 percent of $5 is not a career and would not even cover your expenses.

I just like finding history and things we didnt know were there, getting 50% of a find is nice but its like going 50/50 on a $1 scratch ticket, if you do get lucky 50 cents isnt going to change your life but finding things the owners dont want or you can photograph or even get to loan to show at your MD club and maybe get a silver coin for best find is always nice too.
 
IMO, a paid for recovery service would be more trusted by the decipient and make a few bucks for you. Anything totally free spooks even me. martin

if there is a reward for locating a lost object i'm certainly not going to turn it down :lol:
 
That's cool man I was thinking of something like that but a little different. I'm on the fire department so often times in bad accidents people loose things so that would be a good place to start. Maybe get a scanner or something. I know I was in a wreck 2 years ago and lost my fire pager. ooopps! I was cleaning fire trucks for weeks...550.00 to replace. Good luck man maybe we should talk and exchange ideas?
 
Here is mine

I asked Dogpound for permission on following the design on his. I agree with his post. I made my cards for police, onlookers, friends and acquaintances. It helps us look a little more professional rather than shifty scavengers or whatever else the public seems to think of us after seeing these tv shows.
When they see a card come out, it shows we are not criminals trying to do something illegal. We are not hiding ourselves and we may be of some help to them if needed in the future. My main objective is to hand out to law enforcement. Thanks again Dogpound for the inspiration and input as well as your permission with mine.
Front:
IMAGE_CD854455-9323-48AE-AB5D-76E43D298657.JPG

Back:
IMAGE_D3A5DE80-B4D7-4CC2-B1EF-AACF87A52C7A.JPG
 
Vista Print

I had a deal from Living Social where I think I got $30 of product for $10???
I used it for the cards, a few pens, sticky pads, note pads and a small magnetic sign for a vehicle.
I used my pen several times/sticky notes and people asked me about MDing. Good way to get permission without directly asking.
 
i saw an ad in craigslist. the person said they have been mding for 35 years and will come to your personal/private property and attempt to find what you lost. all he/she asks in return is permission to search your property for him/her self.
DMD
 
Success!

It only took me an hour of digging through all her yard work she did and going through all the landscaping that she cleaned out but in a muddy area there were 2 leaves kinda mashed into the mud and I got a gold hit on it. I moved the leaves with my feet and still was getting a hit showing 2", I put my pinpointer down and it hit immediately... right on top, I stuck it into the ground a little and popped out the ring! She was so happy and excited she screamed out with excitement and I let out my best "boooooom baby!" haha jk jk :laughing: But seriously she was really happy and asked "What do I owe you for a finders fee?" I told her you can give me whatever you think is fare... She ended up pulling out a $50! I asked her if she knew any good places to dig around her town (her town is 35 miles away from where I live) she said I could dig there if I wanted to or that there was a campground and park a block over, an old school downtown from 1916 that's been closed for over 10 years. I told her that we'd go check out the town and maybe come back another time if that was alright and she told me I was always welcome to come over whenever! It felt good to help her out and I wasn't expecting $50! My stepson and I went and looked around town... The school really intrigued me so we hit that up for a little bit, it actually had the old square curbs and all that in the front of the school so I thought for sure we'd find something good but only clad and scrap! I just wanted to thank everyone for their input on this matter and I've decided to make some business cards and I think I'm going to just go with 20 cents a mile from where I live that I get when I show up and a "what you think is fare" reward if I find the item... Do you think that sounds fare? Basically I would hate to have someone take advantage of my services and also send me on a wild goose chase to here there and everyone only to find out it in their car cup holder you know...
 

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If you have a printer you could easily. just go to like Office Max or something to the equivalent and they usually sell "Business Card Paper" if they do not sell the business card paper, you can use greeting card paper too, its a little thin sometimes but it A LOT better then regular paper) you just throw it in your printer, design a quick easy card (can even use MS Print if you had to) and then print a few out and cut them out. not like you need 10000 of them, get enough paper for 20-30 cards (or how ever many you think needed) and your good.

I'll be in touch with you soon, I'll work on something and get back to you probably within the week...
 
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