January 15, 2021
When a family friend mentioned he was using Qoin in his business, Belinda Jennings and her husband didn’t pay much attention. But as 2020 progressed, their friend’s experience was a good one, and they listened more attentively.
Eventually Belinda said to her husband, “Let’s give Qoin a crack. What’s the worst that can happen?”
She had registered the business name Fast Deals 10 years earlier, liking the name but not really knowing what it would be. They decided this was Fast Deals’ time.
A business trading only in Qoin
Belinda had no retail experience but as the founder of Mum Central, a network of 800,000 mums around Australia, she knew a lot about digital marketing.
She knew they had to stand out from all the other online businesses. They decided Fast Deals would trade only in Qoin. That would be their point of difference.
They would sell a range of high quality branded goods—sportswear, manchester, toys, luggage, homewares—that would change daily or weekly. There might be two of a particular item or 50, depending on what was available.
In October 2020, they put some Quiksilver products up for sale, set up the Facebook page Fast Deals Australia, and started promoting Fast Deals within the Qoin community.
The response was immediate. The Quiksilver gear was snapped up and shoppers asked for more. Christmas was approaching and, after 10 months of collecting and trading Qoin, people were keen to spend their Qoin on Christmas gifts.
“The past three months have been a whirlwind for us,” Belinda says. “We made our estimated annual turnover in the first six weeks.”
Her retail philosophy remains simple: stock quality branded items and listen to what your customers want.
Qoin a game-changer
She says Qoin has been a game changer. They have built a substantial Qoin wallet, but they have also used it to go out for dinner several times, and get electrical work done at home. They changed to a gardener who accepted Qoin, and even persuaded their dog groomer to become a Qoin merchant, so they could utilise their Qoin and not their cash.
“There’s an incredible feeling of community around Qoin. People are really respectful of the network. In the usual retail world, it’s dog eat dog, but in the Qoin community people are super respectful and happy to pay full price for quality products,” she says.
“We’ve made some beautiful relationships with Qoin merchants and the Qoin team. I love hearing all the wonderful stories.”