Service lets people shed their past for profit

Love's mementos go up for sale online

There is a box on the top shelf of your closet, tucked behind the sweaters and dust-bunnies, where you're hoarding mementos from relationships gone by.

It's time to stop avoiding the memories, dive into that box and gain from your pain.

Ex-cessories.com offers a forum for buying, selling and melting the jewelry you've collected from all the losers and jerks you dated or married. Wearing that diamond ring or those gold earrings again is out of the question, so why not make a little money to buy yourself something shiny?

Elizabeth Rothbeind says she and partner Allison Wasserman came up with the idea for Ex-cessories.com while cleaning out Wasserman's closet and stumbling upon her old relationship jewelry.

"It was a light-bulb moment," Rothbeind says. "There is money to be made. We thought people don't necessarily want to go to a pawnshop and wouldn't it be cool to do it online. People want to move on from the past."

They launched the site in April 2008 to capitalize on the online consignment market dominated by eBay and Craigslist. To distinguish itself, Ex-cessories.com extends a more direct connection with the owners. Rooted in their own relationship woes turned cash, the two reach out through their daily blog and interaction with users.

The Web site is basic and the cache is slowly growing, but Rothbeind says the pair plan to expand into an entire network of broken hearts looking to share stories, administer relationship advice and respond to a breakup with the site's slogan, "Don't get mad ... break even."

"One woman told us that she used the money she made to move after her breakup," Rothbeind says. "A man was unfortunately left with an engagement ring, and instead of letting it sit in a drawer, he sold it."

The budding business's inventory boasts necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings and "ex-tras," with name brands including Chanel, Dior and Hermes. You can find everything from engagement rings to cuff bracelets at prices ranging $30 to $5,000.

Selling your jewelry can be done two ways: You retain the listed item and are responsible for shipping when it's purchased or you can mail the piece to the owners in New Orleans to ensure its safety and delivery. Either way, you pay a $5 listing fee, and all items worth more than $500 must be appraised.

You can also liquefy your bad memories. To have your jewelry melted down, mail it in and the company will return a check to you for the value of the precious metal.

Rothbeind and Wasserman collect a percentage commission from the selling and melting; thus everyone is made happy by an otherwise sad situation.

For those purchasing from the site, the experience is a take on the old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Rothbeind says some customers have reset the jewelry to personalize the items and shed the tainted memories from previous owners.

Randy Torres of Orlando, Fla., bought a Tiffany hook-and-eye bracelet for his girlfriend's birthday present after hearing about Ex-cessories.com from a friend.

"The same bracelet I got for less than $200 was just over $400 in the store," Torres said by e-mail. "I think it's a great and fun idea, but I was only concerned with the quality, price and service, which was great." Torres said his girlfriend didn't mind, by the way.

Torres says he plans to do more business on the Web site and will continue the word of mouth about his experience. Rothbeind and Wasserman are counting on this kind of customer satisfaction to propel their business from startup to booming retail network.

"We definitely want to expand our inventory," Rothbeind says, "but we also want to attract more people to come together and connect."