1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,440 Welcome back to another episode of the Resellers Mindset Podcast. 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,120 My name is Mike, also known as the used book guy on YouTube, 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,080 along with my friend and fellow full time reseller, Johnny B. 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,680 We help people start and grow their reselling businesses from the ground up. 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,560 We also have a weekly Zoom call and private Discord for all YouTube members. 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,800 Head on over to youtube.com backslash used book guy to join the channel 7 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:25,400 and gain access to the full length podcast, Zoom call and private Discord today. 8 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,200 Let's get into this week's episode. 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,440 What is up everybody? Welcome back to the episode 38. 10 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,720 I can't do it now easily as I used to be able to. 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,560 Back with Johnny B here this week. 12 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,480 We got a fun topic here and we're basically going to discuss whether or not 13 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,080 you should sell on eBay or Amazon, right? 14 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:48,560 So I'm going to get the answer that's in everybody's head out of the way here. 15 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,360 No, we're not going to sit here and say sell on both. 16 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,160 We're going to break down each specific one, kind of the pros and cons 17 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,040 and go from there, right, because you could just say, oh, sell on both. 18 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,600 Well, yeah, that's just like the easy way out. 19 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,080 Yeah, we're not taking the easy way out. 20 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,480 So I'm going to I'm going to jump in with the first thing that pops in my mind 21 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,000 when I think about whether you should sell on eBay or Amazon. 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,760 And I think it is the time to get your money back from when you sell an item. 23 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,760 It's such a huge difference between the two platforms. 24 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,600 And I think really doesn't get talked about a lot. 25 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,560 So with eBay, you sell, you know, you sell something today. 26 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:26,280 So you're remote today. 27 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:28,520 You ship it. 28 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,440 You get the you know, the money's in your account, 29 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:32,640 probably within three business days. 30 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,640 Amazon, you sell this remote today. 31 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,080 Going to be 30 days. 32 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,400 You're lucky if you get the full amount after 30 days. 33 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,160 And I think that is a huge factor you have to consider, 34 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,200 especially if you're brand new to reselling overall, 35 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,320 that the time it takes to get your money back out of items 36 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,360 when you compare Amazon to eBay, 37 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,080 you have to take it into some consideration. 38 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,360 So now I'm going to throw it over to you to bullet point to hit me 39 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,720 with your best shot, buddy. 40 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,760 I mean, it would you'd have to know what's available in your area. 41 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:06,280 I would probably do a lot more. 42 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,360 I tried. I probably still be in the Amazon game 43 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,600 if I didn't have to go out such huge distances to get Amazon worthy material. 44 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,720 Most of my stuff in my area that's in a reasonable driving distance 45 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,440 is more suited toward eBay. 46 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,280 So knowing your sources and what your sources produce, 47 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,720 I think helps you enable to make that call a little bit better for yourself. 48 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,600 Am I do I have vastly more barcoded material? 49 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,960 Well, that's more Amazon inclined versus my stuff out here, which is very neat. 50 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,280 We have barcode stuff, but by and large, we have more non barcoded stuff 51 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:42,760 because I live in older rural areas, so their books can be a little bit older. 52 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,280 Not every book has an ISPN number. 53 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,520 There's a thing called a Library of Congress number. 54 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,200 And before Library of Congress number, there weren't any numbers. 55 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,280 Yeah, what is, you know, like, what is that Library of Congress number? 56 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,200 Is that just like pretty like that was like them working towards the ISPN number? 57 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,520 Right. I mean, it's funny you mentioned that because one of my eBay 58 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,160 newsletter things mentioned that the Library of Alexandria, 59 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,600 every ship that came into port, you were required to give you 60 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,200 get all your books over. 61 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,160 They would literally make a handwritten copy, keep the original and give you the copy back. 62 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:19,440 This is kind of the same thing. 63 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:24,000 Library of Congress wanted to document inventory, all books at one point. 64 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:29,280 But that was just in the United States because not everybody outside of the United States 65 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,360 had a Library of Congress. 66 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:37,040 So they tried to standardize it later with ISP or SBN and then ISP and international. 67 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,320 So that's how that all came about. 68 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,680 And there's some other nuances to it, but this isn't a history lesson, 69 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:45,360 even though we talked a little bit about history. 70 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,800 Thank you for teaching me something today, Johnny, as always. 71 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:50,400 You're welcome. 72 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,200 The next biggest thing that pops into my mind, besides the location, 73 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:02,880 because that does play a factor, is basically the ability to sell anything you want on one platform 74 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,600 and then the ability to sell only a few certain things on another platform. 75 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:14,960 So for those who don't know, eBay, besides the 20 to 50 brands that are on the Vero list 76 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,080 and don't want you selling their items, you can sell anything, right? 77 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:19,520 I could sell this gremlin shirt. 78 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:20,800 I can sell this headset. 79 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,600 I can sell anything basically on eBay. 80 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:30,720 Now, if you start out on Amazon, you have a very small pocket of items you can sell. 81 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,400 Sure, if you take the steps to get ungated, you can sell these things. 82 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,760 But starting out as somebody that's brand new, maybe you're just starting from nothing 83 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,280 or you have a little bit of capital. 84 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,760 It's definitely a lot harder jumping into Amazon than it is eBay 85 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,400 because even if you sell used books, right? 86 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,520 Because that's a category anybody can sell in. 87 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,400 You still will run into books that are gated because they want you to kind of build a 88 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,120 trustworthy relationship with the platform. 89 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:06,880 And I couldn't sell the iPhone today on Amazon, but on eBay, 90 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,880 you can open an eBay account today and sell an iPhone and get paid for it. 91 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,000 And I think you have to take these things into consideration just because 92 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,400 you see the videos, you see people talking about selling Nike and selling Hot Wheels 93 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:24,880 and selling DVDs, all these things, all these people took steps to get ungated in those. 94 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,400 You can't start on Amazon and sell anything you want. 95 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,920 Now, on eBay, it's completely different, you know, besides a few brands. 96 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:33,520 It's kind of the Wild West. 97 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,840 You can sell what you want as long as it's legitimate and you have, you know, an actual, 98 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,760 you know, you have the actual product and you provide the actual customer service. 99 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,320 And I see it all the time, right? You see these videos. 100 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,720 Hey, go to Costco and scan everything and sell all this stuff. 101 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,680 Well, you can't just sell grocery on Amazon. 102 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,920 You can't just sell these brands on Amazon. 103 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,960 On eBay, you can, but not on Amazon. 104 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,000 And I think a lot of people kind of get that mistaken is when they start something, 105 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,840 especially with Amazon, they think they can just go to their store and scan everything. 106 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:08,160 And it's the furthest thing from reality because it's going to take a lot of money to get ungated. 107 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,720 It's going to take a lot of time for you to get, you know, get all these brands unlocked, basically. 108 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,280 And not only that, taking it a step further, you don't even need the entire thing. 109 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:20,720 You could have part of something and sell it on eBay. 110 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:26,800 So if you got a keyboard, you can literally pop off every single key and sell each key independently. 111 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:29,280 Can't do that on Amazon. 112 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:30,880 That is true. Like there's. 113 00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:37,440 I mean, so I guess we would say Amazon's catalog overall is probably bigger than eBay's. 114 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,040 Just because the size of the site. 115 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:45,760 But I think eBay allows you to have more descriptive items, singular items, like you're saying, right? 116 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,600 There's plenty of people that just have eBay stores based on parts, right? 117 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,560 I mean, just you sell parts of sewing machines, you sell typewriter parts. 118 00:06:54,560 --> 00:07:01,440 Linder lids, speakers that go to a stereo system, but it's just the speakers, not the rest of the stereo system. 119 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,040 Yeah, you would not be able to do that on Amazon versus eBay. 120 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:12,240 I just feel like, you know, I think a lot of things we're talking about, like we've already kind of gone down the rabbit hole here and kind of prove like. 121 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:24,720 If you're brand new and you want to get the money back out in a reasonable time and you want to learn kind of the game before you take a big step, I think we kind of already made it clear that eBay would be the way to start. 122 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:32,960 I would say eBay's learning process is a harder long term thing, but I think Amazon. 123 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,560 As initial starts a lot harder to learn as far as jumping in. 124 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:45,840 So for a beginner, I think eBay would be the way to go because you can correct it along the way and the mistakes you make on eBay are a lot more forgiving, in my opinion, than the mistakes you'd make on Amazon. 125 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,440 Oh, for sure. Right. Because, you know, you can basically do what you want on eBay to an extent. 126 00:07:51,440 --> 00:08:01,120 And yeah, if you do something wrong, you'll get a warning, you know, like it takes a lot for eBay to kind of, you know, throw you to the curb, kick you out the house versus eBay. 127 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,720 Where, you know, you can screw something up big time. 128 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:14,560 Maybe you put a 10 instead of a 1 or you put 100 instead of a 10, like, and then all of a sudden you sell all these units and you ain't got them and Amazon's going to say, well, see you later. 129 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:22,080 Bye. So I do think it's weird though, right? Because you just said, right? Like eBay, it's going to, it's harder at the beginning. 130 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:36,480 So like Amazon, it's a longer term play, in my opinion, because it's going to take time to build an Amazon business. Even though a lot of Amazon is automated, like we're saying, it takes time to understand what you can sell, how much it's worth. 131 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:47,680 It's a whole, it's a whole different process when it comes to eBay. And I just think if you got to choose from the beginning eBay, just to see what you like, and then you can go from there and build your Amazon business around that. 132 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:59,280 And eBay, you know, like you said, it's still harder work upfront. I think, I think when you go from eBay to Amazon, you're like, wow, Amazon's easy, right? I feel like I'm spoiled in comparison to you. 133 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:08,480 When I jumped into Amazon is exactly what you're saying, because I did eBay for a long while before I even found you and said, okay, I want to try this Amazon thing. 134 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:14,480 Went over there and I'm like, this is so easy. This is great. This is like a vacation. 135 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:24,080 But I don't think I'd have that same reaction if I started in Amazon, because eBay is a lot harder to learn because it took the time to learn it all. 136 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:35,680 Going from that ship over to the Amazon ship to learn how to sell a new sea vessel. I hate analogies, but here we go. Sailing was a lot easier of a transition, I think. 137 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:54,880 I'm going to I got a hot take for you, right? So if I had to take the percentage of people that only sold on Amazon so far in their reselling careers and sent them over to eBay to be full time resellers, I'm going to say 90% of them say, no, I'm not doing this. 138 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,280 Right. And then how many of them give up after the first week? 139 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:10,480 Probably 90% of the 90%. Those who made it through saying yes, how many survived after the week after that? How many are left? One guy, one girl? Who knows? 140 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:22,080 It's so weird, right? It's like, I mean, I don't want to like kind of call myself lazy or like anything. It's just like Amazon to me, I can get a lot more done. 141 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:36,080 And it's a lot less work, I guess, because, all right, everybody knows it's following me like I'm not a huge bookie, right? I don't collect books. I'm not like, sure, you know, like, if I see something interests me, yeah, I'll keep it for myself. 142 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:42,080 But I mean, you were talking a niche of a niche here when it comes to my personal collection of books. It's like 10 books deep, right? 143 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:54,080 And it doesn't really interest me. And I think that's the big thing with eBay, right? A lot of people that do this full time in their specific categories or niches, they have an interest in it. 144 00:10:54,080 --> 00:11:07,080 It's not something that where they're just like trying to make a buck, right? Whether you're doing clothing, you know, you're in the clothes, you're in the fashion, you're doing books, you're in the collecting books, you're into, you know, specific authors, things like that. 145 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:17,080 And I think that's kind of where that's the struggle for me is that books don't excite me besides the ROI and making a bunch of money. Sure, I have a few people I look out for. 146 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:33,080 But if I just got to go list a book on eBay versus Amazon, it's like you would have to, I'd be a crying baby. You have to drag me by the back of my collar, Johnny, down to the storage unit and say, I'm closing the storage unit door and you're not coming out until the stuff is listed on eBay. 147 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:45,080 Well, I always want to ask you, I mean, to the very point you're making, why not with your eBay business do that thing you always talk about doing because we've talked about it here before. Why don't you do toys on eBay instead of books in your life? 148 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:51,080 You can still do that crap too, don't get me wrong, but why don't you make eBay more enjoyable for yourself? 149 00:11:51,080 --> 00:12:00,080 I've thought about this, but then like that opens a whole other can of worms, right? So like, then I got to like, because then I'm going to be looking at toys on Amazon, right? 150 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:15,080 Because then I'm going to be like, whoa, if I'm selling toys on eBay, I can sell toys. So like I basically have to have two different niches for two different platforms. And I don't know, I just, I feel like it would kind of, because I'll straight up admit like the knowledge I've gained in books over the past year is like tenfold, right? 151 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:31,080 So I'm learning a lot more than I ever have. And yeah, it would be fun to, you know, sell toys, but I just think it would just kind of overwhelm me because I would be, I would have to have this, this half of my brain book and then this half of my brain toys. I don't know, I just think it'd be too much for me. 152 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:47,080 I personally like the idea of niching down and just doing something really well. So as much as it would excite me to do something like that, personally for me, I just think, and I hear it all the time, right? Oh, why do you only stick with used books, used media? 153 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:58,080 Well, something I'm good at, I have the relationships built. It's just something that I just like, I'd rather keep my life as simple as possible, understand as much as I can about something and roll with it. 154 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:08,080 Now that makes total sense, I get you. I just know you always talked about toys and like you don't like eBay as much, might as well make eBay enjoyable, but your answer makes total sense. I mean, you would be split focused. 155 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:22,080 That's the reason I got out of disc as well as Amazon to not be a split focused. It was a hard, hard thing for me to do. And once I did it, I don't know, like I could handle it all, but it was a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders at that point. 156 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:38,080 Like, all right, this is what I'm doing now and I can really focus up and I still got a way to go. That's the thing with the game here. I mean, I don't know everything about books. You don't know everything about books either, but we acquire more and more each year we do this. 157 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:52,080 I am by no means, quote unquote, an expert in my field. I'm better than beginner I think but I don't think I'm at the end of the road of like grand master bookseller, no way. Not even close. 158 00:13:52,080 --> 00:14:13,080 If there was no, I'm gonna let everybody in on a little secret here about me. If there was no software to tell you what books are profitable on Amazon, I wouldn't exist today. I don't know nearly enough to be able to walk into a store and grab a book off a shelf and know that it's profitable. 159 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:26,080 I know the, you know, the five or 10 bulls and everybody knows right you know like you're always going to look at an old leather Bible you're always going to you know I already forgot the name of the ones that are really worth it. What are they called? 160 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:42,080 Eastern press, Franklin Library limited edition clubs they say like I know those if I see I see a spine of them but like that's not going to get you nowhere in this business, unfortunately, especially on Amazon, but I do think on eBay like that's probably why 161 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,080 I'm where I, I gained a lot more knowledge. 162 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:57,080 If I'm listening on eBay, then if I'm listening on Amazon and that's just a fact because eBay you got to look it up you're looking at the year of the book you're looking at the condition of the book, the author the title, the binding of the book. 163 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:12,080 So I do think like start now I think that's another kind of great point for eBay versus Amazon is that, hey, you're learning a lot more doing this right because you just scan it on Amazon you just got your little scanner and your phone tells you whether or not you're buying 164 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:28,080 it in numbers and columns at that point. Yeah, and I couldn't even tell you 99% of the stuff I listed on Amazon, because I scan it it says it's green I go home, peel stickers off put them in a pile scan it price it and it's out the door like there's no real 165 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:41,080 information. Sure there's a few books that catch my attention right, but other than that, I have no idea what this stuff is versus if I'm listening you know 50 eBay books or, well I got a look up 50 eBay books. 166 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:53,080 I'm going to get all that knowledge right there like hey, all right, I'm typing in the year I'm typing in the edition I'm typing in the author and then when you search, you're not only getting, you know, the second edition of going with the wind, you're going to see the first 167 00:15:53,080 --> 00:16:05,080 edition and you're going to see the price difference in the sold comps. So you have that information, like, I remember because a few library pickups ago I found going with the wind, and I didn't even know there's like the first year they printed them they printed 168 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:18,080 them every single month. So it's like first edition July, August, September, October, and I had two different months, and the price difference between the two is actually significant and it's like, I never would it. 169 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:31,080 I would sell that out if I sold on Amazon only like I never would know that. Hey, you see it going with the wind, first edition. Well, yeah, it might be a first edition but there's different months that go into that first year first edition kind of deal and that's 170 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:35,080 just knowledge you gain from eBay I think you get a lot more knowledge from selling on eBay. 171 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:51,080 Yeah, I agree with that. Absolutely. I mean, Amazon does have that collectible, is it collectible or collectibles tab with books. Yeah, collectible, but nobody ever uses that because that's not what sells it's it's it's treated as everything else so the certain nuances 172 00:16:51,080 --> 00:17:01,080 between editions like you saying, I don't think really exist on Amazon, which affects the value by huge, huge dips. 173 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:17,080 I think Amazon's a lot more almost like the stock market, right, because things rise in price it for a moment, based on the stuff sending in. I mean it's not like we don't have people selling the same books on eBay either, but I don't look at eBay a lot like I do. 174 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:32,080 I don't look at Amazon as far as a stock market game because here's here's a difference for me, even though I have the capability of creating my own listing on Amazon. No, I won't, I wouldn't. But I do on eBay and I know my, I can make my own stock value since we're using 175 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:46,080 another analogy, I don't know why I'm full of analogies today but anyway, I can make my stock value whatever I want if I put in the time energy and effort to a certain extent, I don't have that ability on Amazon it is what it is I'm stuck at this. 176 00:17:46,080 --> 00:18:00,080 Now that's not to say which Mike's probably gonna make the point in here in just a moment, usually pound per pound the values more over at Amazon, but I do feel like I have more control over on eBay in that regard. 177 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:17,080 I do think you definitely can differentiate yourself on eBay, it doesn't exist on Amazon right beside your username which means nothing, you're just, it's all based on price on Amazon right it's not, there's no photos, you got a condition note that nobody ever reads so it's like, 178 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:31,080 it really means absolutely nothing on Amazon, the only thing that matters on Amazon is the price and I know people don't want to hear that but it's the truth if you never have the lowest price you're never going to get to sale you're never going to tell me otherwise maybe 179 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:46,080 once or twice you'll get the sale but overall it just, it's not going to it's not going to work for you. And kind of like the way you do eBay like building a store building a brand around your store and sending out coupons and newsletters like that is almost, 180 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:59,080 it's going to be like your expectation if you start on eBay is to be first start you're going to find out what you like and then you're going to niche down and then you're going to start building your rapport with customers right repeat customers, multiple quantity buys 181 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:11,080 things like that and Amazon doesn't exist I mean, I've maybe had five people, five orders the lifetime of me selling on Amazon that were more than one item. It just doesn't happen. 182 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:24,080 Right, and which is interesting because Amazon's very customer oriented, but not when it comes between the seller and the customer just Amazon direct and the customer. 183 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:37,080 Yeah, Amazon don't want you putting in those thank you letters that you're ripping up right now right it's a yeah, yeah, Amazon don't want them knowing who you are basically right it's just they just want that people to know. 184 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:51,080 Yeah, so that was the same way before I started selling on Amazon, I thought anything sold on Amazon was sold by Amazon right, you know I didn't I didn't think it was people like me and Johnny that are sending this stuff in and Amazon's literally just a storage space 185 00:19:51,080 --> 00:20:02,080 and they ship it to you so personally I thought it was like hey, you know this is all from Amazon but it's the furthest thing from true like there's more third party stuff than there is Amazon stuff anymore and it's crazy to think about but most people don't know that 186 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:13,080 because Amazon doesn't let me put, you know, my, my face on gizmos body on a thank you card and send it out to people is they don't want you doing that they want everything to be Amazon Amazon. 187 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:24,080 You know, you can't ship and frosted flake boxes on Amazon you can on eBay if you wanted to sure it might be frowned upon but you know if that gets reported to Amazon, then guess what you're getting saluted out of the out of the club real quick, there's 188 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:40,080 no second chances when it comes to that kind of thing so I think we kind of hit it on like eBay is the starter platform I think to kind of figure out if this is something you want to do to get your money back out of items but I do think Amazon does hold some kind of bar 189 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:56,080 here and it does need to kind of, you know, be a decision in the life of your business. Now, going to say here this is different for every single category right with us media. I do think you can start on eBay and then you have to ask yourself the question 190 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:11,080 of do you want to have an Amazon account. And this is going to be category based right because use clothes and isn't going to sell well on Amazon right and stuff like that just not going to work on Amazon, but with media. 191 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:26,080 And even if you're just maybe an everything seller right because you hit on an earlier, the price you can get for things on Amazon is always 95% of the time going to be more than on eBay. 192 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:41,080 So you can buy a new sealed. Next time you're outsourcing. If you have an Amazon account or even if you just you know even if you just search it on Amazon to see how much it's selling for scan that new item on eBay, and then scan it on Amazon and I guarantee 193 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:47,080 you'll probably see 20% minimum price difference between the two platforms. So that is good. 194 00:21:47,080 --> 00:22:02,080 I agree with you. Absolutely. There, there is some consideration you have to take into that like at some point in your business, if you're in a niche that you can sell on Amazon you know like toys, you know maybe you do new toys versus eBay like you're 195 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,080 going to get more for your money on Amazon. 196 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:20,080 And I think you have to, you know, look at yourself and say hey what do I want for my business right if you're fine with, you know, have a small warehouse and things like that because with eBay, Johnny B has to store all this stuff with Amazon. 197 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:35,080 I could have thousands of books sitting in the warehouse behind me somewhere in across the country that Amazon deals with and this is great for somebody like me that lives in an apartment doesn't have a lot of space, or doesn't want to you know have a whole shipping center set 198 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:45,080 up a whole inventory system set up. And I think that's another huge advantage when it comes to Amazon receive a is, you don't have to keep none of the items around right you know you just send it off. 199 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:52,080 Right you can forever work out of your home technically. I can't because space, that's the thing. 200 00:22:52,080 --> 00:23:00,080 You can work out of an RV. I'm going to I'm going to say, maybe with what I just said because FPM. That is a thing. 201 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:11,080 It does work to FPM works great so like, I think, I think that's a good like segue maybe for somebody that's like hey I want to try Amazon right maybe you just start fulfilling stuff yourself. 202 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:22,080 You can work out of an RV you can travel, travel the country by items from anywhere in the country, ship them in from wherever you're at, and then get paid every two weeks. 203 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:36,080 And I do think there is a benefit to somebody like myself who doesn't have the space I mean yeah I have a storage unit but you know, I couldn't hold the operation he has unless I had you know, probably 40 by 40 unit right and that and that takes money it takes time. 204 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:47,080 It takes a lot of work versus Amazon, multiple units I had eight units at one point it wasn't fun because they weren't near each other. It wasn't all the way the end all the way in some of the middle was fun. 205 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:59,080 Yeah, so you, so you figure. All right, you start with eBay you got a few bins, you just figure out if Amazon something you want to do if your niche is even relevant on Amazon because it's not everything that sells on eBay, they're going to be able to sell on 206 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:12,080 eBay. And that's just the reality of it right you can't sell you know sure you can sell use remotes and things like that but they use clothing market on eBay to Amazon I mean it's not even close to each other right you would never you wouldn't survive in that field. 207 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:25,080 So you do have to weigh that and if you don't have the space. Then, you know, maybe you do start with used media and you do start on Amazon but even then it's going to be a longer term play and I think people have to realize, because all the Amazon content is based around 208 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:37,080 basically getting rich overnight and really not having to do any work because we even said it, you know, if you compare eBay to Amazon sure it's really not that much work but it's still work it's still a lot of lifting. 209 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:51,080 It's still a lot of a lot of labeling a lot of a lot of time a lot of waiting to get your money back, and I think that's the biggest thing if we talk about the eBay versus Amazon is just getting your money back out of it and I don't know it's it's tough for me to sit here as 210 00:24:51,080 --> 00:25:06,080 99% Amazon versus 1% eBay and just say hey, if you're brand new then eBay is the way to go but I seriously do think eBay is the platform for somebody that is brand new and I don't think I could. 211 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:21,080 I mean, what could I even argue about that Amazon would be better than eBay if you're a brand new seller I don't think there's anything because you're not learning as much when you're sourcing for Amazon, you're sure you don't got to pack or ship anything but if you're starting out 212 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:31,080 you should be excited about it right, you should be excited to, you know, store your hundred dollar vintage jacket somewhere your shoes somewhere and then package ship when you get an order. 213 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:47,080 And Amazon you don't get none of that right there's no really satisfaction satisfaction you just look at your stupid phone 30 times a day, and see that the little orange bar went up another 15 bucks another 20 bucks right there's like, there's there's real no like, you don't even get a cool 214 00:25:47,080 --> 00:26:01,080 sound that comes through your phone when you get a sale right it's like, I don't know like if you had to argue for somebody to start Amazon before eBay as a reseller like do you have anything that you could even throw out there. 215 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:17,080 You know because I don't have to like sit on a phone from a dude from another country, holding my photo ID up to the camera to even get started, or wait for a piece of paper in the mail, two weeks that may get lost to even get that phone call with a guy from the 216 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:31,080 country, and then I have to wait for this thing called the buy box, I don't have any of that nonsense of eBay. I mean they may limit me to like 10 listings, but I could I could get my money with those 10 listings on Amazon I gotta wait what is it couple months when I first 217 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:41,080 start, because they hold over at the very beginning. There's a lot of grit your teeth and bear through it with Amazon at the very very beginning. 218 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:51,080 Like, government red tape right like you start on Amazon it, you just feel like it's a process that's never going to end like you're never going to see the money. 219 00:26:51,080 --> 00:27:05,080 It's like a three month job interview with Amazon. It is and there's so many people that are like, Mike I've been selling on Amazon, it's been two months, I haven't got paid anything I'm like, unfortunately that's the way and unfortunately when 220 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:16,080 I'm doing the content it's like, hey, this doesn't matter right I'm going to get paid right away when it's the furthest thing from the truth and I try to convey that but like people just jump head first in. 221 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:20,080 And if you're only relying on that Amazon money like you're done. 222 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:33,080 Yeah, and I honestly, because it's a lot different than when you first started Amazon, you base pretty much no different, but I see Amazon getting tougher and tougher and tougher to get into over the long course. 223 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:48,080 Like, it may be, I don't know, like a secret metric of 12 months before you get the buy box you really going to wait a year and send in stuff for a year before you start seeing real dollars over time this is all speculation folks, but I could see them 224 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:50,080 doing something like that. 225 00:27:50,080 --> 00:28:02,080 Oh yeah I mean just look at the this re verification everybody's been going through right. It's, they're going to make it harder and harder which is great for people that are already selling on Amazon right because we already have it set out. 226 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:11,080 We're already, we're already you know selling on Amazon we really don't have to worry about it but I do think it is going to get harder and harder is going to take longer and longer to get results. 227 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:22,080 So, I mean maybe about the getting the by losing the buy box in a thing, and then having to read it back that's a new ish new ish. 228 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:34,080 You know, it never used to be lose a buy box and for those who don't know what the buy box is just when somebody hits buy it now, your product is the item that gets bought when they hit buy it now, now, Johnny B's not eligible for that buy box, Johnny B's never going 229 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:48,080 to be the buy now button and guess what I mean it's tough, tough cookies out there when you don't have the buy box anybody that's been selling on Amazon and never had the buy box and had the buy box will tell you it's like night and day is completely different 230 00:28:48,080 --> 00:29:04,080 and there is a lot more nuances to go to it but I will say this. If you're in a category where you can sell both on both eBay and Amazon. I do think you should create an Amazon account, at least get through all the red tape, right get through all the verification 231 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:26,080 process, and then once you've got the green screen on you can't see it so like, I do think there is some validity to have an account on both, and, you know, start with eBay, have an Amazon account, jump through the hoops. 232 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:38,080 You're not going to be a professional so you're not going to pay the 40 bucks a month just have an individual account. Get through all your verification process, and then once you, you know, you find out what you like right you know you're selling on eBay now for probably 233 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:48,080 two or three months. Then you know you can slowly start trickling some stuff into Amazon right get your account moving a little bit and then you can decide from there what works best. 234 00:29:48,080 --> 00:30:00,080 I think eBay in my opinion, when it comes to getting results. It's just going to take longer there's no way around it I can't, you can sell million dollars on stuff on Amazon today you're not going to see that money for at least 30 days minimum probably 235 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:12,080 closer to 60 days eBay completely different world. And it is beneficial as a new seller to basically you know get involved with eBay get your money back out and turn it back over quickly. 236 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:21,080 I think that's a good point to take on the results here on this I think it's been a good discussion here the eBay versus Amazon and you know where you should go as a beginner the different kind of plays you should make. 237 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:30,080 And as somebody that's you know need need deep in eBay every single day of their life here. I'm curious that you know if you had to start over. 238 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,080 And you know both platforms today like you still stick with eBay. 239 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:44,080 Now that's not to say if you've been listening for a minute that I dropped out of Amazon I did Amazon for a minute, but I have full plans to come back to Amazon. 240 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,080 It just may not be with the books. 241 00:30:47,080 --> 00:31:01,080 I'm waiting to see what Amazon does next year before I can make my own plans what I want to do with Amazon long term. I think Amazon rounds out my portfolio of reselling, and that's probably a different discussion for diversification. 242 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:14,080 Amazon Amazon and Johnny B will meet again. That's all I'm gonna say. Yeah, it's like you said you know right you created the account, you know, even though you step back from it, you know, we're basically doing the same things in opposite directions right, I have the eBay account, 243 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:20,080 and it's 1% active you have the Amazon account is 1% active right we have. 244 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:34,080 They're there though right so it's like, I guess that's kind of the point we're trying to make here is eBay works better for beginners when it comes to cash flow figuring out what you like learning things, but he still has his Amazon account right he's got it ready to go 245 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:43,080 god forbid something happens eBay, he can kind of switch it up and go from there so as always we appreciate y'all listening to us and we'll talk to everybody in next week's episode. 246 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:52,080 Welcome back to another episode of the resellers mindset podcast my name is Mike also known as a used book guy on YouTube along with my friend and fellow full time reseller Johnny B. 247 00:31:52,080 --> 00:32:08,080 We help people start and grow the reselling businesses from the ground up. We also have a weekly zoom call and private discord for all YouTube members, head on over to youtube.com backslash use book guide to join the channel and gain access to the full length podcast zoom call and private 248 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:13,080 discord for today. Let's get into this week's episode.