My Moola-Making Mane

Hey, friends. If you read my last post, or you've been following along on Facebook or Instagram, you'll know that I chopped all my hair off and I sold it! This post is dedicated to all the Q and A questions you all sent in about it! Let's get to it, shall we?

How did you find out about this? How long had you been thinking about it? Was it spur of the moment or thought out for a long period of time?

I first became interested a few years ago while talking to a friend in my old ward. She has gorgeous hair and she told me that she sold it once in high school. I had never considered doing that before (I didn't even know you could!) but after that, I kept it on the back burner as an option. Being a grad student's wife I've been working really hard to find ways to generate income so that my husband can focus on school, especially with a baby on the way. The idea of selling my hair was brought up a few times over the past year. I noticed it through reading articles from The Penny Hoarder and by my sister-in-law who is amazing at thinking of ways to make extra money.

How did you stumble upon the selling process? How did you find a buyer?

There's a few different hair selling websites, but I sold mine on a website called buyandsellhair.com. They have tons of helpful info and tips on how to sell your hair and their website is easy to navigate. 
Here's my ad: http://buyandsellhair.com/ads/pregnancy-hair-with-natural-golden-highlights/

After considering a few options, I sold my hair to a guy named David who buys and cuts hair, then the company he works for sends it to California to be made into wigs. 

The sale went quickly, too! I got a lot of offers the first day I posted my ad, and I made the sale the next day. I didn't get my hair cut for 2 months because I did it on my trip to Utah, but I was paid most of the money in advance via PayPal, and then the rest was paid to me in cash at the time of the cut. If you're going to sell your hair, that's the best way to do it. Make sure you do official PayPal though, not the friends and family way. They take a little of the money from the transaction, but it protects you and the other person. 

I've donated my hair (3 times! Ha.), but never sold my hair. What is the the difference between selling and donating?

Donating is definitely easier on your end. There's a minimum of 10 inches, you go to a salon, tell them you want to donate it. They'll wash it and put an elastic around where you want it cut, and then they'll cut it for you. You pay for your haircut, let the hair air dry completely, put it in a bag and mail it to your donation center of choice (Pantene Beautiful Lengths, Wigs For Kids, Locks of Love, etc.) and they may or may not use your hair.  

Selling hair is more complicated. First you create a listing online (there are a lot of helpful tips on the website I used in how much to charge, how to write a listing, etc.), pay your registration fee ($15 for 3 months of advertising), and then you field questions about your hair and try to choose from different buyers who make bids. You choose a buyer, coordinate how they're going to get the hair (are you going to meet them in person? Who is cutting it? How is payment going to take place?), make the sale and then cut the hair. You can cut it beforehand and sell the cut portion but you'll probably make more money if you sell it first then cut it.

A benefit of selling your hair is that, you know it's going to be used for something. A lot of times sold hair goes to make wigs, it could be used for artwork, for fetishes (yikes), or for other things. For example, I was contacted by a company that uses human hair for their porcelain dolls. The man I sold my hair to said that my hair will most likely be going to a cancer patient. 

How much did you make?
I originally planned on selling 16 inches, but ended up selling 22 inches because I would make more money doing so. I was paid $400 for 22 inches of hair, 3 inches thick in circumference! That means I made around $18 per inch for my locks!

Is there a minimum length requirement?

Most people choose to sell 10-20 inches of hair, but you can sell more or less than that, just know that the more hair you sell the more interest your hair will generate and the more money you'll make!

Does it have to be virgin hair? 

Virgin hair means it has not been chemically treated or heat treated. I used to dye my hair all the time when I was 13-15 years old, then I stopped dying my hair. When I became a mom I stopped straightening my hair so much. After moving to Houston I pretty much stopped using a blowdryer and straightener altogether because of the humidity. So if you have never heat-treated or chemically treated your hair, you have virgin hair, BUT if you have dyed it in the past you can grow it out/if you have heat-treated it you can also grow it out and then you'll have "virgin" hair. It takes a while, but it's possible. And yes, you can sell currently chemically treated or heat treated hair but you won't make as much money. 

Can you make more money if you wash your hair less?

Long, thick, healthy, virgin hair sells the best. Your hair is a reflection of your habits. Apparently I don't have great habits as far as styling my hair, but in this case it worked to my advantage. As a mom I don't do much to my hair. I washed my hair about twice a week and let it air dry (I wash it 3-4 times a week now that it's short) then wore it in a messy bun or a braid practically every day.

Diet also plays a role. I take prenatal vitamins and try to eat healthy. While I'm not perfect at it--have you NOTICED my baking habits?--just know that the more hydrated you are and the healthier you eat, the stronger and shinier your hair will be. Regardless of whether you sell your hair or not, please take good care of yourself.

What will you spend the money on? Bills or fun?

I wish it was for fun, but probably bills. It's fun having electricity and water, though, right?

Was it an emotional experience? How do you feel about your new hair? Do you think you'll keep it short or grow it out again?

Surprisingly, I didn't cry, but I did have about two months between the sale and the cut to prep for it. It was kind of fun to see my hair from a more objective perspective when he was cutting it, though. He cut my hair dry in sections and had me tie each section with an elastic so I was part of the process. I thought, "wow, my hair is darker than I thought. And it actually is really pretty. I hope that the person who gets this wig will appreciate it more than I did!"

There wasn't a mirror in front of me when I was getting my hair cut, so when I saw my reflection afterwards, I wouldn't say that what I felt was regret, but it was definitely a shock. Like "what did I do?!" kind of shock. I did not like it. Now that it's been a few weeks, Spouse Unit and I both like it much better.

Something that surprises me is that styling short hair is some sort of art form. And I'm not good at it. I am surprised that there's more than one way to style it, but I haven't really figured that out yet. While I was getting my hair cut, we were talking about the future of my mane and David said he thinks that I could/should grow it out and sell it three more times before it goes gray.

Can I do it, too? 

YES! David was really very kind and easy to work with, so if anyone in northern Utah is interested in selling their hair he told me to send you his way! I'd be happy to give you his contact info. ALSO, if you choose to list your hair on buyandsellhair.com, please please use my Affiliate Link.  Here it is in case you missed that: LINK

If you register to sell your hair there using my link, I get a little money too! Like a buck fifty. Don't get too excited. 

If you want to sell your hair, here are a few helpful tips, some that I've mentioned above, but here's a condensed version:

-Selling hair is less sketchy than it sounds, but there are still scammers. If they're offering way more than what you asked for, if their writing style changes, if they tell you a sob story, if they ask you to shave your head and film it, if they have a sketchy long email address, etc. etc. etc., then  you're probably getting scammed. Report them to the website and move on to someone who is interested in your hair.

-Taking the leap to cut a lot of hair off is scary, but money helps make the fall a little softer.

-Long, thick virgin hair makes the most money. Take good care of yourself and your hair will show it. 

-Going through a website like buyandsellhair.com is a good option because they know what they're doing. They set you up for success by helping you figure out how to word your ad, how much to price your hair for, and how to watch out for scammers.  
-Go to https://hairsellon.com/hair-price-calculator/ to estimate the price of your hair, then go a little higher when you place your ad. My hair was valued at $334 but I was able to get more money (I wasn't supposed to but that's a story for another day).

-Take good, honest photos and be truthful in your ad. You don't need to show your face, and your hair doesn't have to be frizz-free either (you want to show them how your hair really is. They'll be able to tell if you're stretching the truth).  

-Take your time weighing out possible buyers. You're paying to place your ad and it's your hair. You can be picky.

-You're probably not going to have Regina George's hair (I heard that it's insured for $10,000) but you can still make a decent amount of money on it. $100 and a possibly free haircut is better than paying for a $30-50 cut and all your hair going in the trash.

And now, what you've all been waiting for--the answers to Brianna's questions:

Do you get worried that it somehow stumbled into the wrong hands and there's someone sitting in their basement smelling your hair? How much did you accidentally over estimate your blob of shampoo after it was cut off? Do you feel like you could more perfectly execute the role of one of the Newsies and who would you choose to be? Did your girls still recognize you?
I hope he's not sniffing my hair in his basement. 
I didn't (thankfully), but I did find out I use a quarter of what I used to in shampoo and conditioner--2 squirts of each instead of 8! Isn't that incredible. My shower time has also been cut down significantly, and it was already pretty short before.
I think that my execution of a Newsies role would have to do less with my hair and more with accent and my 36 week pregnant bod. Can't do those barrel rolls the same anymore. I'd also be more inclined to be a Newsie if Christian Bale would commit to a role reprise. 
Thankfully my girls didn't freak out too much. Tina did enjoy telling people that "Mommy cut alllll her hair off!" though.

Thanks for reading! Happy haircuts.

Melissa The Mama Llama