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Welcome back to another episode of the Resellers Mindset Podcast.

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My name is Mike, also known as the used book guy on YouTube,

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along with my friend and fellow full-time reseller, Johnny B.

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We help people start and grow their reselling businesses

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from the ground up.

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We also have a weekly Zoom call and private Discord

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for all YouTube members.

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Head on over to youtube.com backslash used book guy

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to join the channel and gain access

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to the full-length podcast, Zoom call, and private Discord today.

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Let's get into this week's episode.

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What is up, everybody?

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Welcome to another episode of Resellers Mindset Podcast.

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Mike next to Johnny and sitting above,

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Carl today, special guest, antique collectible guy.

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He runs the antique and collectible call over in tech

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and sports group as well.

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So Carl, welcome to the show.

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Give us a little bit of insight on who you are, what you do,

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how you got started, and me and Johnny

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will pick on you along the way.

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Well, that's great.

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First of all, I'm always thankful for any opportunity

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to talk about antiques and collectibles.

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It's been a fascinating journey.

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I've been blessed.

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I call it God's blessing on my life

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that he's allowed me to do this for 41 years now.

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And in July, July 14th will mark the start

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the 42nd year of selling.

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I've actually sold before.

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I got into tying trout flies when I was first married

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and tied thousands and sold thousands of trout flies.

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But in 1983, I have two sons older than you guys, 45 and 41.

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And they needed a college fund.

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I had $70 at the time in 1983.

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And I said, well, if I put $70 in the bank,

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and the bank was paying on savings accounts 5%,

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so I'd have $73.50 at the end of one year.

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And then at the end of two years, I'd have $77.

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And then I got paid for college education.

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And at the time, baseball cards were really starting to take off.

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And I go back, and I'll try, in my old man mind,

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I'll try to get back to this part of the story.

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But when I was a young boy, I was growing up on Long Island.

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And baseball cards were always part of our life.

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They were a nickel a pack.

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And so my grandfather would always

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support us pennies and change during the week.

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And we'd go see him.

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And I have a sign up above me here that I keep money in,

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because that's where my grandfather threw our stash

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cash for the weekend.

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And always would buy a pack of baseball cards.

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And living on Long Island, you hope

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you pulled a Mickey mantle.

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And I can't tell you how many Mickey mantles that I had

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on my bicycle spoke.

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You don't put a trashy card in your bicycle spoke in 1961, 62.

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You put Mickey mantle in there.

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So why not?

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I can only think of the tens of thousands of dollars.

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And I probably put a grade of 10 cards only in there.

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So that's something to think about.

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But I collected baseball cards and stuff like that.

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But I would say the turning point in my collectible experience

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was my grandmother was a postmistress

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of a small Long Island town called Sound Beach,

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and which is like a one room post office

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in a small strip mall in the center of the small town.

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And she had a neighbor named Abe Cohen.

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And my grandmother and grandfather

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lived, they both immigrated from Denmark and Sweden

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to Brooklyn.

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And their dream was the American dream to own a house.

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And they bought property out in the middle of Long Island

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on the North Shore.

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And they were living the life.

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And they had this neighbor Abe.

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And my grandmother said one day while we

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visited her over the weekend, hey, go see Mr. Cohen.

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He has something for you.

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So I walked up and over the hill to Mr. Cohen.

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Mr. Cohen was always a friendly person, knew him well.

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And he says, Carl, I'm going to give you something here.

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And I don't know if you'll want it, but yeah, no problem.

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And he gave me this big box of stamps.

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And I've never been good in mathematics.

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I could do arithmetic.

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But when you start putting letters and numbers together,

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it's all over.

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Does that make no sense to me?

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Arithmetic, no problem.

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Do everything in my head real quick.

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Science, yeah, I understand the basics.

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But I'm not going to send anyone on the moon.

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But I loved history.

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And my parents were very in love with history too.

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And so stamps were just a natural thing

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because they had a date on it.

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And usually it was a centennial something.

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So I know dates based on when a stamp was minus 100,

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minus 200 years.

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And it's really helped me a lot.

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But I just started collecting stamps.

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My Danish grandfather had been a stamp collector.

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I still have one of his albums here,

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which will die with me or given to one of my sons.

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But it's always fascinated me.

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But high school came.

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I was still collecting.

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I'd go to a farmer's market.

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I'd buy what's called a cover, which

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is a mailed envelope with a stamp on it,

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celebrating something, commemorating something.

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And I always liked air mail stuff,

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airport dedications, first flights,

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just interesting things that happened.

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Also at the time, I loved books.

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I'm not a reader.

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I have read the spine of every book I've ever bought.

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But the contents, not too much.

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But loved books.

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And I remember my father used to have

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to go to a plumbing supply house.

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And right next door was this old antique shop

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this guy had, which is long gone,

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south of Quaker Town on the old 309.

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And boy, I'd go in there.

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And I found a book that I actually did read.

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It was Heroes of the Ancient World.

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And I remember one in particular I was fascinated with.

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That would be Hannibal, anyone that could take elephants

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over the Alps.

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Just fascinating.

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But I loved books and would always

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have an affinity to heading to a book section.

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My parents were, we weren't poor,

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but we certainly weren't rich.

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But we went to the library.

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And we had our own library card.

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And we had summer reading contests and stuff like that.

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And I've always loved being around books.

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If there's a pile of books somewhere, I'm in it.

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But getting back to the story of 1983, so I had a choice.

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I had to make a choice with how we were going

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to get my son through college.

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And baseball cards were really taking off.

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And in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania,

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there's a place called the Q Mart.

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And the Q Mart is a giant, long farmer's market.

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And if you go to the Q Mart today,

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it's nothing like it was when I first walked in in 1967.

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It was a rat hole.

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And it had little vendor spaces.

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And you had guys that were making sausages.

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You had the Amish making stuff.

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You always had Yackel's Bakery making sticky buns

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or great donuts.

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You had the cardboard pizza guy.

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The crust tasted like they forgot to take the pizza

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off the bottom.

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And just little things like that, a snow cone for a dime,

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ancient pinball machines before digital, just a great place.

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But there was this guy named Jerry.

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And he had a stamp and coin place.

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And I'd go by there.

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And then this guy had a baseball card stand.

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His name was Dick.

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He's long gone.

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I started looking at cards.

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And I actually, excuse me, I actually

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have the Mike Schmidt card and Steve Carlton card.

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These are not the cards because I didn't think I just sold them.

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But these two cards started everything in 1983.

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And so where am I going to sell it?

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Well, one day I decided, let's just get it all together

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and just take it to the flea market.

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And I go to this flea market, which

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was in La Haska, Pennsylvania, across the street

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from Peddler's Village.

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It's no longer there.

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They decided we don't need this flea market here.

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We need the millions of dollars that the land is worth.

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Pretty much that was the decision about Saturday's market.

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The old man died.

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And the family's there.

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Do we want to run this market every Saturday?

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No.

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We're going to sell this property for a multimillion dollars.

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And that type of thing.

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So anyway, I did the flea market on July 14, 1983.

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And I made a whopping $35.

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Now, I was taking in just a little over $200

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at the time on my paycheck.

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A week?

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A month?

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A week.

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A week.

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And I was working at Penn Reels, the maker of Penn Fishing

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Tackle, the saltwater reels and all that.

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And so I said, hey, this might be a good way

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of supplementing my income.

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And I did the next one.

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I made close to $100.

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Well, now I'm kind of hawked.

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Because now I realize, now I've got to go out and find

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better stuff to sell.

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And all of a sudden, it just started multiplying.

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So I did that through 1983.

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1983, only eBay is like Flash Gordon.

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You know?

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It was like, there's nothing like that.

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So 1984 comes, and the weather changes.

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And I start really heavy in the baseball cards.

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And now I am hiring young guys from my church

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to go to the flea market during the summertime.

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I get them set up.

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I go to work.

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And I call them later on that evening to find out

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how much money we made.

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Because in 1984, there were no cell phones to find out,

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hey, Carl, what do I sell this for?

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Or how do I do?

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We just won it.

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And it was a great thing.

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And so everything was going OK.

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In 1987, my father passed away.

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And a friend of mine, who was him and his brother,

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got together and started buying Hook and Loop Fastener, which

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most people will call Velcro.

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But there's only one Velcro brand.

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So we were selling Hook and Loop Fastener.

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And he said, hey, you want to come on board

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and just run the warehouse?

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Now, the warehouse was 2,000 square feet.

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You know, it was nothing.

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But that's what I did.

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I made a job transition.

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But I never stopped doing flea markets.

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And that was the understanding.

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As long as I could do flea markets, I was fine.

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And so we just kept selling and selling and selling.

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And 1995 comes along.

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And Velcro USA in Manchester, New Hampshire

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decides they want our company, because we

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had a company in Costa Rica making it.

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And they wanted that.

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And they wanted to get rid of the competitor.

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And they bought it.

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And they made me a job offer to come to Tucson, Arizona.

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And I moved there with my family.

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And although I wasn't doing as many flea markets,

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I did a number of them.

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I would do shows.

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I'd set up and just set up postcards or whatever.

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And then one day in 1997, I have it here somewhere.

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But my youngest son wrote me a letter and said, dear dad,

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do you wish your children to be stupid forever and ever?

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Please buy us a computer.

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OK?

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All the other kids in school have a computer.

263
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,000
But your stupid sons do not.

264
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,920
You know, that type of thing.

265
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,160
OK, so he laid the guilt trip on.

266
00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:26,280
And we bought a rocket 8-meg Gateway computer at 8 megabytes.

267
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:27,720
And we were on.

268
00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,320
In fact, we upgraded to 16.

269
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,080
We were smoking.

270
00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:33,600
We were smoking.

271
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,880
And one night after the boys were done,

272
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:38,720
yeah, they weren't going to use it for school.

273
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,560
But all I saw was games all the time.

274
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,520
One night, I'm there looking.

275
00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,880
And I come across this company called Auction Web.

276
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,120
And that was eBay.

277
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,160
And I said, well, I'm going to post some stuff.

278
00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:02,400
Now, mind you, no photographs, didn't have a digital camera,

279
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,040
just explained what I was selling.

280
00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:10,560
And no labels.

281
00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:11,560
You mailed.

282
00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:12,800
I got money.

283
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:17,200
I would get $13.54.

284
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,800
Some guy would send me $13 and change in an envelope.

285
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,720
You know, and all the money rattling around.

286
00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,560
And he just trusted me.

287
00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:29,560
Or they just trusted me to send it.

288
00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,880
And that's how it started.

289
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:38,800
Well, I'm a firm believer in God's leading.

290
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,040
My wife goes to a church ladies function.

291
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:43,800
And she's away.

292
00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,160
I go to what's called the Tanko Verde

293
00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,680
swap meet in Tucson, Arizona.

294
00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:49,880
I'm walking around.

295
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,600
I need some white baseball card boxes.

296
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,400
You know, kind of like they store baseball cards in.

297
00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,520
I see this guy has these white baseball card boxes.

298
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,480
I said, hey, how much are they?

299
00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,560
Oh, they're like a quarter a piece.

300
00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:08,720
Or I sell you a whole bundle.

301
00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:10,280
I said, well, how much is the bundle?

302
00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:11,520
The bundle was really cheap.

303
00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,760
He said, in fact, I've got a couple bundles here.

304
00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:16,400
I said, oh, wow.

305
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,320
He said, in fact, you see all this stuff here?

306
00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:25,040
He said, some guy owed me $250.

307
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:26,400
And he didn't have the money.

308
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:27,800
So he gave me all this stuff.

309
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:29,600
And I'm out here selling.

310
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:36,440
And he said, if you give me $250 for it right now,

311
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,400
you can have it all.

312
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,600
Well, I had $260 in my pocket.

313
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,960
I had a Dodge Intrepid.

314
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:52,400
Mike, Johnny, I swear that after I loaded that thing up,

315
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,000
this is all I could do to drive home.

316
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:56,960
I mean, every it was like a Thomas.

317
00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:57,720
I've been there, man.

318
00:17:57,720 --> 00:17:58,920
I've been there.

319
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:04,600
Every nook and cranny was full of baseball cards.

320
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,000
Yeah, you can see out the windows.

321
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,000
And you're hoping to God nobody see your left.

322
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,520
It's like, hey, OK, I can see out the side rear view mirror.

323
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,360
I couldn't see out the rear view mirror.

324
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:16,720
I could see the side.

325
00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,560
But I got home.

326
00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,760
Fortunately, my wife wasn't home.

327
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,960
Speak too loud because she might find out this story.

328
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,920
But I got everything into my home office.

329
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,600
And so I had stock.

330
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,640
I said, you know, I'm going to throw some of this stuff up

331
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:36,440
on eBay.

332
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:43,040
I found two Jeff Gordon gold embossed autographed cards.

333
00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:48,720
Now, mind you, I had $250 invested in this.

334
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:53,760
They both sold for $150 a piece.

335
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:54,720
I'm in.

336
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:55,400
I'm in.

337
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:56,040
That's it.

338
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:57,000
That's it.

339
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:58,760
Time flies.

340
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:00,440
That's over.

341
00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,560
And by the way, I'm living in Arizona now.

342
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,640
Do you know how hard it is to fly fish in Tucson, Arizona,

343
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:09,640
in the rivers?

344
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,120
There are rivers in Tucson, Arizona.

345
00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:16,120
Unfortunately, they're running 30 feet below the ground,

346
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,280
except for the rainy season.

347
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,320
So I was in eBay.

348
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,240
And I would do that.

349
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:30,440
Then I found an antique mall where I got an antique booth.

350
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:32,440
And I started selling there.

351
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,400
We just started selling.

352
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:44,400
In 1980, no, 2001.

353
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:45,120
Yeah.

354
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:51,280
In 2001, my oldest son graduated from high school.

355
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,920
And I said to my sons, I said, hey, listen.

356
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,080
I'll give you five years to finish your college.

357
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:05,360
And then your mom and I are going

358
00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:09,040
to do something really crazy.

359
00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,840
I just made that statement.

360
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,440
2006 comes.

361
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:16,520
I come home on a Friday night.

362
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,640
My dear wife is sitting on the sofa.

363
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,280
She's crying.

364
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,480
I knew I did something wrong.

365
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,480
That's the way it is.

366
00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:28,640
I said, what's wrong?

367
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,000
She says, when are we going to do that crazy thing you

368
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:32,840
talked about?

369
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:37,120
What crazy thing?

370
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,640
Don't you remember you made this big announcement?

371
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,720
Well, the boys are now out of college.

372
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,240
What crazy thing are we going to do?

373
00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:49,720
We had just gotten a brand new president at Velcro USA.

374
00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,280
And she just tore the place up.

375
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:53,440
Just tore it up.

376
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:58,480
I mean, like dozens and dozens of middle management people,

377
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,120
they just said, I'm out of here.

378
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:08,080
So I decided, hey, I love the flea markets

379
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,480
back in Pennsylvania.

380
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:12,440
Let's move back to Pennsylvania.

381
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,400
But let's move to Upper Lancaster,

382
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:22,760
where Reddingers and Shupps Grove and all the flea

383
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,320
markets in Adamstown are.

384
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:26,680
And let's do it.

385
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:28,120
Let's live there.

386
00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:32,000
And then I can shoot up to the various flea markets.

387
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:37,120
So Middletown wasn't an hour from me.

388
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:42,440
Leesport on Wednesdays was 45 minutes.

389
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:48,160
And Rutz on Tuesdays was 35 minutes.

390
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,680
And Perky-Omenville, I don't know if you've ever

391
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,040
had the joy of going to Perky-Omenville,

392
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:57,560
but that is a great Monday market, especially

393
00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,320
Memorial Day coming up.

394
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,840
That's the day.

395
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,360
Just for people that are curious,

396
00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,880
basically 30 minutes outside of Lancaster.

397
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,440
So we're basically in the same kind of areas.

398
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,000
We've been in the same flea markets.

399
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,720
And that one he's talking about on Tuesdays,

400
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,520
I used to go do my library pickups on Tuesdays.

401
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,280
And it would take me right through the market.

402
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,320
You can't even get anywhere near it.

403
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:24,760
So now whenever they're like, hey, we

404
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,600
got stuff at the library, I'm like, I'm not coming on Tuesday

405
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,800
because it is a mess out that way.

406
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:31,800
And it's so weird, right?

407
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:33,480
Because you want to think a Tuesday,

408
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,360
like a flea market on a Tuesday, indoor, outdoor.

409
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,160
This town is packed.

410
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,360
You can't get in and out of it for the whole duration of it.

411
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:45,560
So yeah, what he's talking about is basically my backyard.

412
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,320
All the places he's talking about currently in Pennsylvania

413
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:49,440
are within a drive.

414
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,800
And a lot of these places are, I'm sourcing out

415
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:54,440
in Lancaster every single month.

416
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,160
I'm sorting out towards Reading every single month.

417
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:58,680
So it's pretty cool to have somebody

418
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,960
on that is basically local and familiar with all the spots.

419
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,760
And it goes to show.

420
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:07,520
We were talking before we started recording.

421
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,320
We've probably been to some of the same flea markets

422
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,320
and just never even knew.

423
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,600
He probably pointed to you when you were like, no,

424
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,280
he's going to be a reseller someday.

425
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:16,800
I knew it.

426
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,320
Yeah.

427
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,160
Mike, could you just give me a side profile real quick

428
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,360
of your face, please?

429
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:28,920
Hey, you were the guy that was shoplifting from my,

430
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,640
you were stealing books from me one time.

431
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:31,600
I remember.

432
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:32,360
OK.

433
00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:34,720
Now I got, now I was wondering.

434
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:36,880
I said, I've seen this guy before.

435
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,920
Back then, I didn't even mess with books.

436
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:40,600
I was an everything eBay seller.

437
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,120
So when I was at the flea markets,

438
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:44,520
I was just looking for anything to flip.

439
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,160
I was a much more kind of chaotic reseller.

440
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,160
But it is funny that stupid Tuesday market, man.

441
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,480
I'm just like, because I went like two or three times

442
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:53,480
for the library pickup.

443
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,600
And I'm like, this is nuts.

444
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,400
I'm done coming out here on Tuesdays.

445
00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:58,920
Because it's just, there's a lot of it.

446
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:00,120
And it's not a huge area.

447
00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:02,040
We're not talking about a major city.

448
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,080
But for these markets, it is packed to the gills.

449
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,440
People from all over, because like you said,

450
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:08,800
it's an hour from Reading.

451
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,880
It's an hour and a half from Philly.

452
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,560
Lancaster has a huge antique Amish market.

453
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:15,440
It's just nuts.

454
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:15,880
Oh, yeah.

455
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,880
And then, I mean, you would see like church vans

456
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:23,320
full of senior citizens coming in for the Tuesday.

457
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,360
Hey, let's go to the flea market.

458
00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:29,960
And yeah, it's really something else.

459
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,640
But it was there.

460
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,200
I've always loved going to auctions

461
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:43,240
since I moved to Pennsylvania in 1966,

462
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:44,760
especially around Quaker Town.

463
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,720
We had an old Pennsylvania Dutchman named Jimmy Moore.

464
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,880
And I just love to watch him just, you know, just.

465
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,960
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

466
00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,560
And a lot of it was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

467
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,920
You know, you didn't know where you were in the account.

468
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,680
But I think he was using it.

469
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,920
But I just enjoyed collecting.

470
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:21,120
I had a classmate in ninth grade do a oral report.

471
00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:25,720
And you had to do oral reports on things that you love.

472
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:26,600
Let's put it this way.

473
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:32,800
I was in high school so long ago that a guy brought an M1 carbine

474
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:38,240
to school and took it apart for his oral book report.

475
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:42,920
Now, that's ancient history.

476
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,880
You don't even go like this on the playground anymore.

477
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,600
You got a psychotic killer here.

478
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:56,000
But this guy, he said, my hobby is antiques.

479
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,200
And I looked at him in ninth grade and said, oh, what a boring guy.

480
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,400
This guy, Kurt, you got to be kidding me.

481
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,120
You should see his collection.

482
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:07,960
Unbelievable.

483
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,320
Just his workroom, all the spare parts

484
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:17,160
that he has collected over the years of if he needs something, he has it.

485
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,360
And it's fascinating.

486
00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,440
But anyway, getting back to the flea markets,

487
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:31,640
I started going to a lot of auctions then because I had to gain a lot of stuff.

488
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:37,760
I had a Jeep Cherokee Laredo.

489
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:46,200
And I literally had almost 19 banana boxes in there, smaller boxes.

490
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:51,480
And I mean, everything was, it wasn't like this driving.

491
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,240
It was more like this.

492
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,720
But I couldn't see out the back.

493
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:03,280
I could, for safety's sake, see out the side window and in front.

494
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:11,000
And my goal was empty banana boxes are a beautiful thing.

495
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,320
And when I'd pack up at the flea market,

496
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,360
I made sure I could get as much stuff in each box

497
00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:22,960
so I'd have more to take to the flea market.

498
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:30,800
And walks were always nice because you could put them spine up in a banana box.

499
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,800
You could also tilt the box up and make a display.

500
00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,560
So you're not really taking that much room.

501
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:45,400
And if you were creative enough, you could put one banana box on top of two

502
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:53,520
in the middle and have maybe a pyramid with three base, two on top.

503
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:59,080
And you're now showing well over 100 books.

504
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,680
And that's why I love books.

505
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,920
I had a few books that I sold for more money.

506
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:13,440
But my gimmick was a buck a piece because I'm buying these for next to nothing.

507
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:19,240
I'm not buying them for five cents like some people are if you know some people.

508
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,960
But anyway, it was cheap.

509
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,760
It always got people into the booth.

510
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,400
And I always found that people love books.

511
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:36,840
I've never had anyone come up to me and say, hey,

512
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:41,160
would you like to see my Kindle library?

513
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:42,960
Not yet.

514
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,160
Who cares?

515
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,360
Do people even have Kindle anymore?

516
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:53,800
Or I've had some great opportunities.

517
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:58,320
When I was in college, there was a really rich couple

518
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,760
that had me come over on Saturdays and do yard work and cleaning.

519
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:08,400
And they had a 5,000 volume library.

520
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:13,880
And the lady said, Carl, would you dust the library?

521
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:15,000
I said, what do you mean dust it?

522
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:19,240
She said, I want you to take each book off the shelves

523
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:26,840
and dust the shelves in the back and then put each book back and dust each book.

524
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:28,040
Yeah.

525
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:32,080
Hey, she's paying me two bucks an hour at the time.

526
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,400
You know, that was more than minimum wage.

527
00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:35,040
I'm in.

528
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,000
And feeding me good at lunch?

529
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:38,400
Yeah, I'm in.

530
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,040
So I've always loved books.

531
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:45,240
And at the flea market, books were great.

532
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:46,840
I'm going to auctions all the time.

533
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:47,960
I'm buying.

534
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:54,640
And many times, I would buy a big load on Friday.

535
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:55,280
Excuse me.

536
00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:00,720
On Monday morning in Adamstown, Brad Wolf,

537
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:05,200
whose grandfather, Art Pennebacher, had an outside auction

538
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,000
underneath the pavilion in Reddingers.

539
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,960
And they'd have like 150 tables full of stuff people brought.

540
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,680
And I'd fill my Jeep Cherokee up.

541
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:21,040
I'd go to Rooks on Tuesday, Leesport, and then

542
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,600
Saturday's market on Saturdays.

543
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,960
And when it came around to getting rid of stuff,

544
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:35,560
I would just take like eight banana boxes to the trash over at Leesport.

545
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,440
And people would say, hey, you can't dump your trash.

546
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:39,520
I'm not.

547
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:40,520
I'm not dumping it.

548
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:41,720
I promise.

549
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:42,520
I will take it.

550
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,280
If there's anything left over.

551
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:50,320
In come the flying vultures, people looking for new stock for free.

552
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,240
You know, walking by me, taking back banana boxes.

553
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:55,560
So long, so long.

554
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:56,560
I couldn't sell it.

555
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:57,840
Good luck to you.

556
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,920
And so that's pretty much it.

557
00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,040
I met an auctioneer.

558
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,520
And he told me, I said, so did you apprentice under somebody?

559
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,080
Because in Pennsylvania, there's two ways of doing it.

560
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,320
You can apprentice under an auctioneer for, I believe, it's two years.

561
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,200
And then you can take the test.

562
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:23,360
But the test is pretty difficult. There's a lot of apprentice auctioneers

563
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,760
that cannot get past it because there's a lot of information.

564
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:32,520
Or you could go to one of three colleges, one in Clarion State

565
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:37,200
in the Northwestern part, one at Harrisburg Area Community College,

566
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,520
and one at Redding Community College.

567
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:44,080
Well, I got in the class of 2012 at Redding Area Community College.

568
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,200
240 hours of classroom work.

569
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:53,160
I mean, they had a lawyer come in and teach law for 32 hours.

570
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,440
My mind almost exploded.

571
00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:01,880
I told my wife, I said, if I put as much time into my regular college

572
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:08,600
and high school, I'd be a nuclear physicist today instead of what I am.

573
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:15,360
And I passed the test, flying colors.

574
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:21,160
And we just recently, on my podcast, on the Reseller Greatness Group,

575
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:27,080
I highly, highly recommend that group.

576
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:29,560
If I could just give them a plug, Mike?

577
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:30,520
Of course.

578
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,320
I've already given them a plug.

579
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:38,440
But I've been a member of that group for over two and a half years now.

580
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:43,360
And I was a member of the old group, which is no longer,

581
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,680
well, is in existence, but I'm no longer associated with.

582
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:53,080
But Tech's group, the vast amount of knowledge.

583
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,960
And even on Wednesday nights during the media call,

584
00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:03,280
there is knowledge to be gleaned by Johnny B. I just

585
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:10,720
enjoyed the collection of people and their expertise

586
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:16,400
in so many different categories that you can just glean from

587
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,640
and I'm really thankful to be part of that group.

588
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,720
But anyway, getting back to the auctioneer.

589
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,640
Oh, one second before you do.

590
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:24,320
Yeah.

591
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,120
You're one of my favorite people in that group, just because, again,

592
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:28,440
you just hit the nail on the head.

593
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,400
The vast amount of knowledge you've accumulated over the years.

594
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:33,880
I'll pop into your call every now and then just to listen.

595
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,960
I don't plan to ever do antiques or collectibles,

596
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,160
but I like knowing the knowledge that you guys share.

597
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,720
And yeah, it's probably the best collection of individuals for just,

598
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,240
they're specialized, they have all the knowledge in the world

599
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,200
about these couple of things and it's a beautiful thing.

600
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,160
There, my plug, Mike.

601
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:53,240
And that's fine.

602
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:54,760
The link will be down in the description

603
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,880
because we're going to have Carl's eBay store down there

604
00:33:57,880 --> 00:33:59,920
and we'll throw in the Reseller Greatness link.

605
00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:04,160
Since he is a coach over there and we have had a bunch of the coaches

606
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:05,360
from Tech's group on here.

607
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,560
So yeah, that group's great.

608
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:13,640
And Mike, the last name, first of all, the first name is spelled K-A-R-L.

609
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,720
The last name is H-E-L-L-M-A-N-N.

610
00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:18,640
Don't forget the last N.

611
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:23,400
It would be like Johnny Barhouse, you know, if you forgot the N.

612
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,880
So just two N's there.

613
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:27,400
Thank you.

614
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:32,400
But anyway, hey, Johnny had a stamp album.

615
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,800
He didn't know what it was.

616
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,640
My expert, you know what?

617
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,000
It was a book, but it had stamps in it.

618
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,720
I had one too, but I didn't know Carl was in it.

619
00:34:41,720 --> 00:34:42,880
I don't know what to do with this.

620
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,960
I know nothing about stamps, but I know a guy who does and his name is Carl.

621
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,640
Yeah, well, thanks for letting me in on it because the one I had,

622
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:52,080
I had to find like a local coin and stamp guy.

623
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,360
And then like it was only open one hour a week.

624
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:56,560
And I want to be in a waste of time.

625
00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:01,600
But now I know I got Carl next time I fall into a big book of old stamps.

626
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:11,160
But the greatness of the group is that I get on in the regular chat room

627
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,440
and I just say, hey, I got a question.

628
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,120
And I just give them the question within 10 minutes.

629
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:22,200
My question is answered because somebody has expertise.

630
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:28,840
And I think this is the thing with collectibles, antiques, whatever.

631
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,320
We gain knowledge over our lifetime.

632
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,600
I've been blessed to do this for 42 years.

633
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:44,800
And I intend to keep doing it because there is no way in the world

634
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:51,040
that I want to go back to working a full time job at 69

635
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:57,520
and having some 28 year old know it all kid tell me what to do.

636
00:35:57,520 --> 00:35:58,760
I won't last.

637
00:35:58,760 --> 00:35:59,560
Come on.

638
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:03,240
I want to say, hasta la vista, baby.

639
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:08,200
I'll get my job back at CVS and I'll hire you on, Carl.

640
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,080
Oh, wow.

641
00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:11,360
Tech worked at CVS.

642
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:12,040
I know.

643
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:12,560
I know.

644
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:12,920
See?

645
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:13,560
Yeah.

646
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:15,640
Oh, I'll tell you what.

647
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:22,640
But then the auctioneer thing, it didn't pan out exactly

648
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:28,040
because most auctioneer houses have, oh, ching,

649
00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:31,440
my favorite sound in the background.

650
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,360
Most auction houses have a staff already.

651
00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:35,960
It takes a lot of money.

652
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:45,040
So I would basically rent out my voice for calling and stuff like that.

653
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:46,280
And I did that.

654
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:50,880
But I got all my money back.

655
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:58,600
But I got two unbelievable estates for being an auctioneer.

656
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:05,320
And that paid the ticket, one being a 100 year old woman's house

657
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:10,040
that had lived in the house for 71 years.

658
00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:12,480
And she had her parents' stuff.

659
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:19,000
She had a fellow nurse as a roommate.

660
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,600
And she had all her stuff when she died.

661
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,760
And it was literally a treasure hunt.

662
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:33,240
Every room, every drawer, it was unreal.

663
00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:37,560
So it's all part of the hunting and stuff like that.

664
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:40,400
Unfortunately, I got sick.

665
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,160
Now I live in Arkansas.

666
00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:50,080
There are really no flea markets like the Saturdays market here.

667
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:54,280
And I set up last September.

668
00:37:54,280 --> 00:38:02,200
And my hard flea marking days are over.

669
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:04,920
So I just have eBay now.

670
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:08,640
And that's what I'm concentrating on.

671
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,120
And it's going well.

672
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:15,160
I am an everything seller, unfortunately.

673
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:16,520
I can't niche down.

674
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:22,160
If I find something cool at the Benz or an antique store, I'm buying.

675
00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,720
I have some good markets to go to.

676
00:38:25,720 --> 00:38:30,480
I'm still looking for that one Mickey Mantle rookie

677
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,880
card worth $7 million.

678
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:43,680
But in the meantime, I just keep buying and selling.

679
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:45,720
That's pretty much my story.

680
00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:48,120
I'm going to dig into your eBay business here.

681
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:52,880
So how many listings do you currently have on eBay?

682
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:56,000
Just right around 800.

683
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,000
All right.

684
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,040
Collectible wise, do you like to focus on stuff?

685
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,160
Are you still looking for cards?

686
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,480
Do you have something that you'd rather sell over something else?

687
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:08,920
Because you think antique collectible, to me,

688
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,160
like somebody who's not on the outside looking in, I'm thinking,

689
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:13,600
does this guy sell lamps?

690
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,280
Does he sell rugs?

691
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:16,920
Does he sell?

692
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:20,400
What's your spectrum here when it comes to antiques and collectibles?

693
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,280
Even though you said you're an everything seller,

694
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:26,520
if you see a lamp, are you going to buy a lamp?

695
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:30,160
Here's Carl Hellman's rule.

696
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:34,800
An 8 by 6 by 4 box.

697
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:36,120
If it fits, it ships.

698
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:37,360
That's a good rule.

699
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:44,840
If it don't fit, don't buy it.

700
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:46,160
I love it.

701
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,800
I can't put a lamp in here.

702
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:49,320
OK?

703
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,840
I can't.

704
00:39:51,840 --> 00:40:04,240
I could put a 70 pound bar of machinist grade steel in here,

705
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,160
but I can't put a lamp in here.

706
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,360
I can't put a VCR in here.

707
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:12,760
There's a lot of things.

708
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:18,200
Now, I do have a little bit larger boxes for books,

709
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:24,880
but I sell a lot of baseball caps, hats.

710
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:27,400
99% of them fit in this box.

711
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:33,080
What doesn't with the wider brims fits in just a little bit larger box.

712
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,760
I think this is one of the great tests.

713
00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:41,400
We have people that come on the antiques and collectible calls

714
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:45,040
on Thursday nights, 8 o'clock Eastern Standard Time.

715
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:47,280
See, I even got a plug in for my show there.

716
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:52,920
But they say, I got this.

717
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:57,160
And this lady had quite a large lamp.

718
00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:00,440
And the lamp is usually not the problem.

719
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,040
It's the lamp shade.

720
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:08,080
And she's there, how do I ship this?

721
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:12,760
Well, to be honestly, perfectly honest with you, I don't know.

722
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:16,400
And Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care.

723
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:17,440
I don't want to know.

724
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:24,880
Find a niche or find smalls.

725
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:31,720
In the antique world, anything that is tiny that fits in this

726
00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:34,720
is basically called a smalls.

727
00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:37,200
And smalls are beautiful.

728
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:41,560
Smalls can be very valuable.

729
00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:44,480
My best eBay sale came.

730
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:48,200
Leaseport opens basically up at 4.30 in the morning.

731
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:49,960
It's all flashlights.

732
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:57,240
And I get there one day at 9 o'clock.

733
00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:00,080
For some reason, I couldn't go that day.

734
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:03,080
But I got there at 9 o'clock.

735
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:07,520
And one of the vendors has a whole bunch of garbage

736
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:08,880
laid out on a table.

737
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:10,560
There's no rhyme or reason.

738
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:12,200
My favorite type.

739
00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:19,000
And on it was a pinback button.

740
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,080
Not this one.

741
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:23,640
This is my favorite pinback button.

742
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,120
It says, I'm the guy that put the junk in the junk shops.

743
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:31,080
But it was no bigger than this pinback button.

744
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,360
And it had a flower on it.

745
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,240
It had the head of Herbert Hoover on it.

746
00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:40,360
And it said, who but Hoover?

747
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:43,680
And I said, how much?

748
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:44,840
He said, a buck.

749
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:49,280
And I said, well, I'd probably get $20 for that.

750
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:53,720
So I decided to put it on auction on eBay.

751
00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:58,200
Started out at $19.95.

752
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:02,920
Three minutes later, I get four messages.

753
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:05,440
Hey, I'll give you $100 for that.

754
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:07,360
Give you $50 for that.

755
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:08,640
Give you it.

756
00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:14,080
No, I only have ended one auction early.

757
00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,400
I said, I'm going to let it ride.

758
00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:22,520
Well, seven day auction of $19.95, $19.95.

759
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:24,160
Oh, $40.

760
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:28,280
And it got up to, on the seventh day in the morning,

761
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:29,960
it got up to $200.

762
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:32,600
I'm, wow, this is great.

763
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:33,800
This is great.

764
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:38,120
Well, in the last minute, my wife and I are sitting there.

765
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:41,760
And my cell phone is literally going like this.

766
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:43,360
I mean, it's vibrating.

767
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,440
It's singing and all that.

768
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:50,480
And when the dust settled, $1,512.

769
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,880
And here, it turned out that this particular button

770
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,600
was made for Herbert Hoover's wife

771
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,680
during her campaign stops to give it out.

772
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,860
And because it had a poppy on it, they were from California.

773
00:44:04,860 --> 00:44:07,760
And that's what she wanted, something special.

774
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:11,400
And that paid, man, did that pay the mortgage?

775
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:15,320
Plus, that sale did.

776
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,040
But I love stuff that's small.

777
00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:19,000
Yeah, dude.

778
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:20,920
Easy to sell.

779
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:27,160
A lot of pinback buttons, coins, small jewelry, tokens,

780
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:28,400
and stuff like that.

781
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:32,440
I ship them in an old cassette box.

782
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:39,640
I just, you know, Longines, 40 most romantic tunes.

783
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:43,000
Pull a cassette and a thing out, throw that away,

784
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,880
use the box to send it in a bubble pack mail.

785
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,600
I've never had any complaints and all that.

786
00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:51,220
So I love small stuff.

787
00:44:51,220 --> 00:44:54,360
I think a lot of resellers would benefit if they just

788
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:56,760
decided, like, I'm not going to mess with stuff that's

789
00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:58,200
above this certain size, right?

790
00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:00,720
Because you would literally, like, I would say,

791
00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:03,600
here, take the 8x6x4 box.

792
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:05,480
And then you know when you're at the thrift store,

793
00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:07,760
if it don't fit in there, you're leaving it behind.

794
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:08,760
I never heard of that.

795
00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:11,360
And I think it's like, that's like an instant level up.

796
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:14,160
If you can control kind of what, you know,

797
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:15,680
as an everything seller, you almost

798
00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:18,000
have to, because all of a sudden, you got lamps,

799
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,200
you got all this other kind of wacky crap.

800
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:22,680
And then it just eats up too much of your time.

801
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:24,960
I love the idea of taking an empty cassette tape

802
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:25,880
to the flea market.

803
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:28,160
If it can't fit in here, I'm not going to buy it.

804
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:30,080
That's a beautiful thing.

805
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:31,680
And that's another thing.

806
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:37,840
If you even downsize the concept of 8x6x4 down to a cassette

807
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:43,120
tape, you know, number one, that it probably

808
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:47,520
is going to be four ounces or less.

809
00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:52,640
So now with the ground advantage,

810
00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,000
and living in Arkansas is a beautiful thing,

811
00:45:55,000 --> 00:46:01,880
because 1,000 miles to the east, west, or north,

812
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,000
I'm in the lowest tier.

813
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:07,800
And I'm charging $4.95 for shipping,

814
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:12,480
but I'm only paying $4.25.

815
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:16,240
So I'm making, even though there is some,

816
00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:21,640
I'm making $0.50 here, $0.45 here, and that all adds up.

817
00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:26,960
And so yeah, you got to just say to yourself, hey,

818
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:28,880
I've got to watch when I'm buying.

819
00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:32,720
And if you are a seller, the worst thing you can do

820
00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:34,920
is say, hey, what do you have?

821
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:36,800
I'll sell stuff for you.

822
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,440
Let someone come up to me one day and say, hey,

823
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:40,680
I hear you sell on eBay.

824
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:42,800
I have a dining room set.

825
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:44,920
Oh, yeah.

826
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:46,080
I'm your guy.

827
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,160
It's only two letters.

828
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:53,760
And oh, you've got to learn to say that.

829
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,120
And you've got to learn to say it with a smile.

830
00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:57,680
So yeah.

831
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,120
Well, even in me and my books, I took in the size and model.

832
00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:01,320
That's why I love these things.

833
00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:02,560
They're all under a pound.

834
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:05,120
Every single one will never be above a pound,

835
00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:06,280
unless they buy multiple.

836
00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:08,000
But that's OK if they do.

837
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:10,000
But most of my shipping supplies,

838
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:13,320
just like here, are the same size.

839
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:15,840
If I stuck to larger books, you could do the same model

840
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:17,120
if you did larger books, sure.

841
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:18,920
But you're not going to do the gigantic,

842
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:21,880
takes two armed, open style books, those coffee table

843
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:22,880
books.

844
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,520
No, I mean, even in my niche, what you just said very much

845
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:26,720
applies.

846
00:47:26,720 --> 00:47:28,520
Oh, absolutely.

847
00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:31,120
Although, there are certain books

848
00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:35,960
that you have to maybe do special packaging,

849
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:40,840
like your Nora Roberts books that you're so fond of.

850
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:43,440
I'm sure the $4,000 magician books

851
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:44,800
that I'll make exceptions to.

852
00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:46,120
It ain't sold yet.

853
00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:47,000
So it ain't for you.

854
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:49,360
Like the guys that they got their own garage,

855
00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:52,560
shall I do it for $4,000?

856
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:55,360
Until it's sold, it ain't worth nothing.

857
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:58,920
Johnny, what a hater Mike is.

858
00:47:58,920 --> 00:47:59,880
Wow.

859
00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:02,800
I got this million dollar item, but it never sold.

860
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:14,560
I would say that has been the secret to my reselling,

861
00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:19,920
is learning to say no to bigger things,

862
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:26,280
unless I know I have a customer that I could deliver it to.

863
00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:28,720
And that was the beauty of the flea market.

864
00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:30,800
When I was doing flea markets, I would

865
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:35,000
buy things for particular customers

866
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:38,880
that were always looking for the same stuff all the time.

867
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:42,080
Because their question is, when they come into your booth

868
00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:48,160
at a flea market, do you got anything for me this week?

869
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:55,720
If I had 15 items that I hand selected for people up

870
00:48:55,720 --> 00:48:59,720
in a box in the front of my Jeep,

871
00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:06,800
and I could sell 13 of those items, even 10 of them,

872
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:09,320
I would have a great day at the flea market.

873
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:13,680
Because I know they were sold with somebody in mind.

874
00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:15,760
And that's another thing.

875
00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:18,680
Yes, you could be an everything seller,

876
00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:22,480
but you don't have to buy everything.

877
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:23,840
That's a good point.

878
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:25,320
Yeah.

879
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:27,160
You already kind of got yourself in hot water

880
00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:28,960
saying you make money on shipping on eBay.

881
00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:30,760
Now I'm going to try to get you in more hot water

882
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,280
to all the resellers out there listening to this.

883
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:38,320
Are promoted listings necessary as an eBay seller?

884
00:49:38,320 --> 00:49:42,240
I sell hats.

885
00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:45,640
I've started selling hats too.

886
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:53,120
If I did not do promoted listings of at least 6%,

887
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:55,480
I probably wouldn't sell too many hats.

888
00:49:55,480 --> 00:49:58,880
But I buy my hats at the bins.

889
00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:00,840
I pay $1.59 a pound.

890
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:03,760
Depending on the weight and fabric of the hat,

891
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:08,680
I get anywhere between 6 and 7 hats per pound.

892
00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:12,000
So you can see my cost is way down.

893
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:18,480
If it's going to cost me another $0.80 to sell it,

894
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:23,360
I'm still close to a dollar cost.

895
00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:26,440
So yes.

896
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:37,800
Now I do use promoted listings on the majority of my antiques,

897
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:39,240
but only like 3%.

898
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:45,080
I'm a cheap guy.

899
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,360
I will spend money if need be.

900
00:50:48,360 --> 00:50:52,880
But I like little things that don't cost too much money.

901
00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:57,680
And I love piles of ephemera that I can sort through,

902
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:01,480
sell the bulk off in one lot, get all my money back,

903
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:05,000
and then have all the cherries.

904
00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:07,600
And so yes, no.

905
00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:16,760
I don't have to have a 99% promoted listings.

906
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:19,920
But you have to have a reasonable one.

907
00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:22,120
I do stress this.

908
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:25,440
If you're going to have a really strange thing that you're

909
00:51:25,440 --> 00:51:29,440
going to put in an auction.

910
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:35,160
And I believe in the auction for strange things.

911
00:51:35,160 --> 00:51:38,680
Because there's no way a lot of this stuff you could just say,

912
00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:41,440
hey, I think it will sell for this.

913
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:47,560
I had two real photo postcards of the Icehouse for Armor Meat

914
00:51:47,560 --> 00:51:50,960
Packing Company in Round Lake, Illinois

915
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:53,720
that I bought for $3 a piece.

916
00:51:53,720 --> 00:51:55,160
I had $6 in.

917
00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:57,520
Now I could have said, hmm, these

918
00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:59,200
are really strange looking.

919
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,000
These are great cards.

920
00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:03,440
Maybe I can get $50 for it.

921
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:05,160
Well, I could have put $50.

922
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:07,960
Someone could have knocked me down to $30.

923
00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:09,280
I would have taken it.

924
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:11,520
I put it for auction.

925
00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:12,920
I promoted.

926
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:15,520
eBay's promoted auctions.

927
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:18,080
Usually, if you start out low, it

928
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:25,160
will cost you $1.99 to promote it for the whole week.

929
00:52:25,160 --> 00:52:28,160
I'm in $1.99 when I'm spending that cheap.

930
00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:31,240
Those postcards went for $410.

931
00:52:31,240 --> 00:52:34,680
So you know what?

932
00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:37,200
Did the promoted listings help?

933
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:40,520
Number one, if you look at your sales,

934
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:42,920
you'll find a lot of things don't even

935
00:52:42,920 --> 00:52:46,320
sell for promoted listings.

936
00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:48,520
So yeah, promote it.

937
00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:51,720
But that doesn't mean that you're going to pay the fees.

938
00:52:51,720 --> 00:52:53,960
So that's my answer on.

939
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:55,120
What about best offers?

940
00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:56,760
You a best offer guy or no?

941
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:57,560
Oh, yeah.

942
00:52:57,560 --> 00:52:59,200
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

943
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:05,760
If I have something for $19.95, you hit me up around $13.

944
00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:08,240
I have less than $1 in it.

945
00:53:08,240 --> 00:53:08,960
I'm in.

946
00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:10,240
Smart man.

947
00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:11,720
You have $1.

948
00:53:11,720 --> 00:53:17,760
I have $19.95, and you offer me $2?

949
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:18,680
Come on.

950
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:20,800
And you'll notice one thing.

951
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:25,200
Their feedback is usually really small.

952
00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:26,840
And then I had a guy one day.

953
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:29,480
He offered me $4.50 on something.

954
00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:34,600
I said, no, I need $7.95.

955
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:38,400
So he sends me back an offer of $4.24.

956
00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:41,080
How in the world did he come up with $0.24?

957
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:42,360
It's beyond me.

958
00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:43,600
But do you think that's a good idea?

959
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:44,920
Hey, I worked out the math, Carl.

960
00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:45,840
I worked out the math.

961
00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:47,360
I had my reasons, OK?

962
00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:48,680
Yeah, I guess so.

963
00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:50,160
I guess so.

964
00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:53,280
Anyway, yeah, I do.

965
00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:55,040
Yeah, no problem.

966
00:53:55,040 --> 00:53:56,800
Because you know what?

967
00:53:56,800 --> 00:54:00,400
I don't want to be a warehouse.

968
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,440
I just want to get rid of this stuff.

969
00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:05,960
Because one day we're going to die,

970
00:54:05,960 --> 00:54:09,200
and guess what they don't do at the funeral home.

971
00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:13,640
They don't hitch up a U-Haul truck to dump all the crap

972
00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:18,080
in your grave or put it in the crematorium with you.

973
00:54:18,080 --> 00:54:21,640
You've got to get rid of it.

974
00:54:21,640 --> 00:54:24,200
So yeah.

975
00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:25,520
Yeah, I agree.

976
00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:27,000
Turn and burn to your inventory.

977
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:28,480
Don't feel offended by offers.

978
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:29,400
Promote your stuff.

979
00:54:29,400 --> 00:54:32,200
I mean, we're into this stuff for nothing as resellers.

980
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:33,320
I don't care what you sell.

981
00:54:33,320 --> 00:54:34,600
Like, you got the margin.

982
00:54:34,600 --> 00:54:38,000
So I like to throw in all the eBay sellers out there

983
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:40,120
just because it seems like so far we've

984
00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:43,600
had a clear, concise agreement here.

985
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:45,320
Everybody we had on that sells on eBay,

986
00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:47,840
they're like, promote best offers.

987
00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:50,040
And it's just, I don't know, but the majority of people

988
00:54:50,040 --> 00:54:52,520
sometimes out there in the social media world,

989
00:54:52,520 --> 00:54:55,560
especially in the YouTube realm, it's like, hey,

990
00:54:55,560 --> 00:54:57,880
it's just eBay trying to get more money out of us.

991
00:54:57,880 --> 00:54:59,880
And if we all promote at 3%, Carl,

992
00:54:59,880 --> 00:55:02,160
then there's really no promotion because we're all

993
00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:03,320
promoting at 3%.

994
00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:05,400
So we're basically promoting at 0%.

995
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:09,200
But I do think it is important to get yourself out there.

996
00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:14,880
Yeah, you know, the other thing is I love, years ago,

997
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:18,080
I joined a number of these groups on Facebook.

998
00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:23,720
And you hear, oh, all the fees that I had to pay on eBay.

999
00:55:23,720 --> 00:55:27,440
You know, as an auctioneer, there

1000
00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:29,560
were fees that you don't see.

1001
00:55:29,560 --> 00:55:33,640
Number one, if I'm going to hold my auction in a fire hall,

1002
00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:37,800
guess what, I just paid between $500 and $1,000

1003
00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:41,520
just to rent that hall out for two days,

1004
00:55:41,520 --> 00:55:47,120
to bring my stuff in, and to have the auction the next day.

1005
00:55:47,120 --> 00:55:50,920
There are people working, $20 an hour.

1006
00:55:50,920 --> 00:55:53,360
There's a lot of fees.

1007
00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:55,160
There's a lot of people working for eBay.

1008
00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:02,160
I had no idea what their computer room looks like.

1009
00:56:02,160 --> 00:56:07,840
Or better yet, their computer building looks like.

1010
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:09,840
All the fucking storage alone, man.

1011
00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:10,640
Yeah.

1012
00:56:10,640 --> 00:56:13,200
Yeah, it's got to be fantastic.

1013
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:17,000
And then to have somebody send it right

1014
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:19,160
to your phone in your house.

1015
00:56:19,160 --> 00:56:21,600
And by the way, I can't help myself.

1016
00:56:21,600 --> 00:56:23,480
I just got a look here.

1017
00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:24,680
It's just real quick.

1018
00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:25,680
All that kachinging.

1019
00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:26,440
Bingo.

1020
00:56:26,440 --> 00:56:28,480
Bingo.

1021
00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:30,200
Hey, just talking to you guys.

1022
00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:31,320
I made $20.

1023
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:32,640
Just great.

1024
00:56:32,640 --> 00:56:33,760
We do take commission.

1025
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:34,840
It's an hour to talk to us.

1026
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:35,480
I love it.

1027
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:36,520
No commission.

1028
00:56:36,520 --> 00:56:37,560
You guys are crazy.

1029
00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:39,400
Yeah, it's too late.

1030
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:41,240
All sales made during the podcast

1031
00:56:41,240 --> 00:56:45,240
were entitled to 50% of the sale.

1032
00:56:45,240 --> 00:56:47,680
Yeah, well, come get it.

1033
00:56:47,680 --> 00:56:51,320
So what's Antique Collectibles?

1034
00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:52,680
You're at 800 listings.

1035
00:56:52,680 --> 00:56:53,560
Do you want to grow?

1036
00:56:53,560 --> 00:56:55,200
Do you want to stay where you're at?

1037
00:56:55,200 --> 00:56:56,480
Do you have a listing goal?

1038
00:56:56,480 --> 00:56:58,200
Because a lot of eBay people are like,

1039
00:56:58,200 --> 00:57:01,160
hey, I'm going to list 10 items a day, or five items a day,

1040
00:57:01,160 --> 00:57:03,520
or what's that look like for you and your business?

1041
00:57:03,520 --> 00:57:08,480
That's where I am right now at the 10.

1042
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:16,520
And I really see it's not how many items you have in your store.

1043
00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:21,640
It's how many good items you have in your store.

1044
00:57:21,640 --> 00:57:26,720
I have some items that I just put for sales, 40%.

1045
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:34,400
Days in the queue of 800 days.

1046
00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:37,440
Last time I did my arithmetic, that's over two years.

1047
00:57:39,800 --> 00:57:41,640
I've got to do something.

1048
00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:43,520
But I've done the work.

1049
00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:44,000
You know what?

1050
00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:45,360
It's not hurting to have.

1051
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:55,800
But I would rather love to have a 500 of store and just easy,

1052
00:57:55,800 --> 00:57:57,760
small stuff.

1053
00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:00,080
One of the beauties about postcards,

1054
00:58:00,080 --> 00:58:01,520
and excuse me for a moment.

1055
00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:12,760
Yeah, it's probably like 200 listings right there.

1056
00:58:12,760 --> 00:58:15,320
Here's all my postcards listed on eBay.

1057
00:58:15,320 --> 00:58:17,480
There's 450 postcards.

1058
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:20,000
Staff of his inventory.

1059
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:21,320
You know what?

1060
00:58:21,320 --> 00:58:27,040
This is a beautiful thing versus 450 lamps.

1061
00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:32,800
Common sense, dude.

1062
00:58:32,800 --> 00:58:35,920
I feel like the big takeaway so far I've gone from this

1063
00:58:35,920 --> 00:58:37,920
is everything you're talking about,

1064
00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:40,520
it's just common sense the way you should actually

1065
00:58:40,520 --> 00:58:44,120
operate an eBay business or just have a business in general.

1066
00:58:44,120 --> 00:58:46,520
It's so eye opening to have somebody like you on.

1067
00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:48,800
It's like you've been doing it for longer than me and Johnny

1068
00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:50,040
have been alive.

1069
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:54,200
And it's the same common sense practices

1070
00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:57,120
we still talk about every single day for people

1071
00:58:57,120 --> 00:58:58,600
or people that are in rough spots

1072
00:58:58,600 --> 00:59:00,240
or they want to be more successful.

1073
00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:03,360
These are the things we tell people day in, day out.

1074
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:04,200
Be smart.

1075
00:59:04,200 --> 00:59:06,000
List desirable items.

1076
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:09,320
I know that's the most hardest thing to do

1077
00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:10,760
is to find desirable items.

1078
00:59:10,760 --> 00:59:13,560
But there's a large group of us that actually can do it.

1079
00:59:13,560 --> 00:59:15,240
And you actually sell the stuff you list.

1080
00:59:15,240 --> 00:59:17,000
You don't waste your time.

1081
00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:18,240
Yeah.

1082
00:59:18,240 --> 00:59:21,800
We're not going to, if I use a baseball analogy,

1083
00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:25,920
we're not going to, that Herbert Hoover pin

1084
00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:29,200
was an out of the park home run.

1085
00:59:29,200 --> 00:59:31,200
No doubt about it.

1086
00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:32,880
And I've had home runs.

1087
00:59:35,640 --> 00:59:42,440
A few triples, many doubles, but tons of singles.

1088
00:59:42,440 --> 00:59:43,240
But guess what?

1089
00:59:43,240 --> 00:59:45,720
You get a man on base with a single

1090
00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:48,320
and you get another man hit in a single

1091
00:59:48,320 --> 00:59:50,880
and you can move that guy over to third.

1092
00:59:50,880 --> 00:59:55,080
And the next guy could get, you start getting runs in.

1093
00:59:55,080 --> 00:59:59,640
And I think that's the thing is buy smart.

1094
00:59:59,640 --> 01:00:03,040
Learn to say no to yourself.

1095
01:00:03,040 --> 01:00:07,720
And this is what I've been doing more and more.

1096
01:00:07,720 --> 01:00:12,960
I got away from what I was doing and started getting into clothing

1097
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:16,200
and I realized I did not want to do clothing.

1098
01:00:16,200 --> 01:00:20,560
In fact, one of my rules on the antiques and collectibles call,

1099
01:00:20,560 --> 01:00:25,080
we do not use the word clothes unless they came off

1100
01:00:25,080 --> 01:00:31,600
the back of George Washington or Paul Revere's trousers

1101
01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:32,600
that he was wearing.

1102
01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:33,520
Bullions hat.

1103
01:00:33,520 --> 01:00:37,200
Saddle bruises on the side.

1104
01:00:37,200 --> 01:00:38,640
We're not going to do that.

1105
01:00:38,640 --> 01:00:45,520
But the important thing is just to find good stuff day in and day

1106
01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:51,720
out and just know if you've sold it before.

1107
01:00:51,720 --> 01:00:53,120
That's the other thing.

1108
01:00:53,120 --> 01:00:58,360
There are books that you guys and I have sold.

1109
01:00:58,360 --> 01:01:00,480
I have an antique mall booth.

1110
01:01:00,480 --> 01:01:07,080
If I can get Rush Revere by Rush Limbaugh books,

1111
01:01:07,080 --> 01:01:10,920
I know I've sold them every time I put them on in my booth

1112
01:01:10,920 --> 01:01:12,800
for six bucks a piece.

1113
01:01:12,800 --> 01:01:13,600
Boom.

1114
01:01:13,600 --> 01:01:15,040
I put another one up.

1115
01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:18,000
Some homeschooler family is going to come by.

1116
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:19,040
Oh, Rush Revere.

1117
01:01:19,040 --> 01:01:21,920
Hey, and we're going to come back to this guy's booth

1118
01:01:21,920 --> 01:01:27,280
to see if he has any others or Bill O'Reilly's killing series.

1119
01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:29,160
Oh, people love the killing series.

1120
01:01:29,160 --> 01:01:33,720
They just, at least in my antique mall booth.

1121
01:01:33,720 --> 01:01:39,040
But just look for things that are good.

1122
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:41,960
It doesn't have to be expensive all the time.

1123
01:01:41,960 --> 01:01:44,440
But look for good things.

1124
01:01:44,440 --> 01:01:50,720
And if the thing's a dog, call it what it is.

1125
01:01:50,720 --> 01:01:55,640
And say, I'm not going to do that again.

1126
01:01:55,640 --> 01:02:00,040
So my last question I got for you, Carl, is sourcing.

1127
01:02:00,040 --> 01:02:03,480
I mean, on the topic of finding good items,

1128
01:02:03,480 --> 01:02:05,520
you've mentioned the flea markets, obviously,

1129
01:02:05,520 --> 01:02:06,760
and the thrifts.

1130
01:02:06,760 --> 01:02:12,760
Are there other great places to get what you're dealing in?

1131
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:16,080
In Pennsylvania, Johnny, I used to go to a lot of auctions.

1132
01:02:16,080 --> 01:02:19,320
In fact, I was in my antique mall booth yesterday pricing

1133
01:02:19,320 --> 01:02:19,800
stuff.

1134
01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:23,480
And this guy had a t-shirt on, and he's walking away.

1135
01:02:23,480 --> 01:02:25,560
He says, see you at the auction.

1136
01:02:25,560 --> 01:02:28,960
I said, whoa, buddy, are you an auctioneer?

1137
01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:30,640
He says, no, I work for one.

1138
01:02:30,640 --> 01:02:34,000
And there's one about an hour and 20 minutes away

1139
01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:35,800
from me in Oklahoma.

1140
01:02:35,800 --> 01:02:38,880
And they have, and I've seen it as I'm passing it,

1141
01:02:38,880 --> 01:02:43,040
going to Tulsa to go to a flea market there.

1142
01:02:43,040 --> 01:02:48,640
I've seen hundreds of people in this field, early morning

1143
01:02:48,640 --> 01:02:49,760
hours.

1144
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:52,880
And they have 80 acres.

1145
01:02:52,880 --> 01:02:58,040
And they have rows and rows of literal who

1146
01:02:58,040 --> 01:03:01,120
knows what's in those boxes.

1147
01:03:01,120 --> 01:03:03,760
The first Saturday of every month,

1148
01:03:03,760 --> 01:03:08,800
it's called Chupps, C-H-U-P-P, Prosser for Yes.

1149
01:03:08,800 --> 01:03:11,840
Who knows that I would be giving Chupps a plug.

1150
01:03:11,840 --> 01:03:16,800
But it's the first Saturday of every month.

1151
01:03:16,800 --> 01:03:21,560
It's on Route 412 on the way to Tulsa between Arkansas.

1152
01:03:21,560 --> 01:03:23,240
I can't remember the name of the town.

1153
01:03:23,240 --> 01:03:27,960
It starts with an I. But stuff like that.

1154
01:03:27,960 --> 01:03:32,520
I just love auctions.

1155
01:03:32,520 --> 01:03:39,320
Unfortunately, COVID wiped out a lot of auctions or the style.

1156
01:03:39,320 --> 01:03:42,520
Now, most auctions are done online.

1157
01:03:42,520 --> 01:03:44,920
And there's no personality there.

1158
01:03:51,120 --> 01:03:57,360
One thing in theology, they call it

1159
01:03:57,360 --> 01:04:01,800
the Fall of Man, man's original sin, his total depravity.

1160
01:04:01,800 --> 01:04:05,520
As an auctioneer, I've seen a total depravity of people

1161
01:04:05,520 --> 01:04:10,560
where they just say, I don't care what that guy bids.

1162
01:04:10,560 --> 01:04:14,440
I'm going to bid it up and make him pay.

1163
01:04:14,440 --> 01:04:17,280
And oh, it's a beautiful thing as an auctioneer.

1164
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:22,800
And you just keep going back and forth

1165
01:04:22,800 --> 01:04:25,200
because two people hate one another.

1166
01:04:25,200 --> 01:04:29,440
But I just like the auction.

1167
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:32,360
If you can find an auction, here's

1168
01:04:32,360 --> 01:04:34,640
what I would suggest doing.

1169
01:04:34,640 --> 01:04:38,760
Introduce yourself to the auctioneer.

1170
01:04:38,760 --> 01:04:41,720
Tell them that you're a reseller.

1171
01:04:41,720 --> 01:04:44,760
Tell them that you are looking for certain things.

1172
01:04:44,760 --> 01:04:48,360
One of the things I have, and I don't really have it here,

1173
01:04:48,360 --> 01:04:50,440
and I don't wish to stand up to show you

1174
01:04:50,440 --> 01:04:54,720
my shorts and my hairy legs.

1175
01:04:54,720 --> 01:04:55,920
Oh, I have one right here.

1176
01:04:58,680 --> 01:05:01,400
So this is the business card that I use here.

1177
01:05:01,400 --> 01:05:03,560
It says wanted to buy.

1178
01:05:03,560 --> 01:05:07,360
And it basically just says, hey, antiques and collectibles,

1179
01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:10,040
all unique and interesting items.

1180
01:05:10,040 --> 01:05:16,320
I have my phone number, my email address, my PO box number.

1181
01:05:16,320 --> 01:05:20,440
But the most important thing I found on a good business card

1182
01:05:20,440 --> 01:05:22,880
is what you're looking for.

1183
01:05:22,880 --> 01:05:27,040
And there's about 40 subject matters,

1184
01:05:27,040 --> 01:05:31,000
anywhere from antiques, collectibles, coins, tokens,

1185
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:34,840
silver, gold, stamps, comics.

1186
01:05:34,840 --> 01:05:36,480
Yeah, silver and gold to my business card.

1187
01:05:36,480 --> 01:05:37,800
You're right.

1188
01:05:37,800 --> 01:05:42,560
Books, game calls, fishing, lures,

1189
01:05:42,560 --> 01:05:44,280
or as they would say in Oklahoma, lures.

1190
01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:52,280
You've got to tell people and tell the auctioneer, hey,

1191
01:05:52,280 --> 01:05:53,360
this is what I'm looking for.

1192
01:05:53,360 --> 01:05:57,000
Did you ever get this stuff?

1193
01:05:57,000 --> 01:06:04,800
When that auctioneer sees you for the first time,

1194
01:06:04,800 --> 01:06:06,480
he knows who you are.

1195
01:06:06,480 --> 01:06:07,840
That's the guy they talk.

1196
01:06:07,840 --> 01:06:10,880
He's interested in buying something.

1197
01:06:10,880 --> 01:06:15,960
And you establish a relationship.

1198
01:06:15,960 --> 01:06:20,040
You can establish a relationship with an auction house

1199
01:06:20,040 --> 01:06:25,080
to the point where they usually like to do everything in order.

1200
01:06:25,080 --> 01:06:30,560
But you could just say, hey, can I leave an absentee bid

1201
01:06:30,560 --> 01:06:33,160
on something?

1202
01:06:33,160 --> 01:06:37,160
Or better yet, is there any way that earlier in the sale

1203
01:06:37,160 --> 01:06:40,800
you could sell that particular item to me?

1204
01:06:40,800 --> 01:06:43,760
Or no, no, you don't say to me.

1205
01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:48,040
You say, could you put that up on the block earlier?

1206
01:06:48,040 --> 01:06:49,920
And they will.

1207
01:06:49,920 --> 01:06:55,440
99% of the time, if they know that you have bought from them

1208
01:06:55,440 --> 01:06:58,360
again, don't ever march into an auction house

1209
01:06:58,360 --> 01:07:02,960
and say, hey, I want you to do this.

1210
01:07:02,960 --> 01:07:04,440
Guess what?

1211
01:07:04,440 --> 01:07:06,480
You could be going like this, and they're not

1212
01:07:06,480 --> 01:07:07,400
going to see your bid.

1213
01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:12,640
Be a decent person.

1214
01:07:12,640 --> 01:07:15,880
Be a decent person, and people will just love.

1215
01:07:15,880 --> 01:07:20,240
We'll just keep coming back to you.

1216
01:07:20,240 --> 01:07:22,560
That's my sourcing thing.

1217
01:07:22,560 --> 01:07:25,560
I haven't done too much sourcing online.

1218
01:07:25,560 --> 01:07:28,640
I like to look at the stuff.

1219
01:07:28,640 --> 01:07:32,320
Because in my world, condition is everything.

1220
01:07:32,320 --> 01:07:35,480
Hey, you could buy 100 books, but when you open them up,

1221
01:07:35,480 --> 01:07:38,760
the whole content falls out because the spine's broken.

1222
01:07:38,760 --> 01:07:42,400
Or it's water damaged and highlighted.

1223
01:07:42,400 --> 01:07:44,120
Yeah.

1224
01:07:44,120 --> 01:07:45,560
So yeah.

1225
01:07:45,560 --> 01:07:49,120
I think that is a good, and we talk about it all the time,

1226
01:07:49,120 --> 01:07:51,240
the days of just being a reseller

1227
01:07:51,240 --> 01:07:53,560
and going to a thrift store and not talking to nobody

1228
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:54,440
about what you do.

1229
01:07:54,440 --> 01:07:56,440
I think they're very numbered here.

1230
01:07:56,440 --> 01:07:59,680
I think you have to have conversations regardless

1231
01:07:59,680 --> 01:08:01,960
of where you're at, whether that's a thrift store or a flea

1232
01:08:01,960 --> 01:08:04,280
market, and have business cards.

1233
01:08:04,280 --> 01:08:06,760
I mean, I feel like we talk about business cards

1234
01:08:06,760 --> 01:08:08,080
every other week as well, Johnny.

1235
01:08:08,080 --> 01:08:11,600
But it's something so simple that can instantly,

1236
01:08:11,600 --> 01:08:14,240
all it takes is one or two of these connections,

1237
01:08:14,240 --> 01:08:16,680
and your business is just, boom, it's gone.

1238
01:08:16,680 --> 01:08:18,680
Like all of a sudden, you have more inventory.

1239
01:08:18,680 --> 01:08:20,440
I only have three sources these days.

1240
01:08:20,440 --> 01:08:22,880
And they're the same sources I had when I first started

1241
01:08:22,880 --> 01:08:24,320
after I got established.

1242
01:08:24,320 --> 01:08:27,040
I got my walk-in customer short.

1243
01:08:27,040 --> 01:08:30,360
But I was a decent guy like he was talking about.

1244
01:08:30,360 --> 01:08:31,960
I was fair with my pricing.

1245
01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:33,720
They were happy to see things go,

1246
01:08:33,720 --> 01:08:35,320
and they just repeat with me.

1247
01:08:35,320 --> 01:08:36,920
It's a beautiful thing.

1248
01:08:36,920 --> 01:08:39,200
Time and time again.

1249
01:08:39,200 --> 01:08:42,560
It doesn't cost anything to be decent to people.

1250
01:08:42,560 --> 01:08:47,160
You know, at the bins, I have a number of customers,

1251
01:08:47,160 --> 01:08:49,360
when they're on the other side of the bin,

1252
01:08:49,360 --> 01:08:53,920
and they see hats, and they know I'm the hat guy,

1253
01:08:53,920 --> 01:08:56,240
they're flipping hats over to me.

1254
01:08:56,240 --> 01:08:58,840
And I look at them if I want them.

1255
01:08:58,840 --> 01:09:00,080
Thank you.

1256
01:09:00,080 --> 01:09:02,160
No, but thank you.

1257
01:09:02,160 --> 01:09:03,520
But thank you.

1258
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:04,480
Thank you.

1259
01:09:04,480 --> 01:09:07,080
Yeah, it goes a long way, a thank you.

1260
01:09:07,080 --> 01:09:07,680
It does.

1261
01:09:07,680 --> 01:09:08,920
How are you?

1262
01:09:08,920 --> 01:09:10,120
You don't even talk business.

1263
01:09:10,120 --> 01:09:11,440
How are you doing?

1264
01:09:11,440 --> 01:09:14,320
You listen to whatever they say, and then you relate back

1265
01:09:14,320 --> 01:09:16,240
to them just a little bit to show that you're

1266
01:09:16,240 --> 01:09:21,480
an actual human being, and not just a jerk or a reseller.

1267
01:09:21,480 --> 01:09:25,680
I would say one of the big disappointments of my life

1268
01:09:25,680 --> 01:09:30,680
is when I was working for Velcro USA, living in Tucson,

1269
01:09:30,680 --> 01:09:37,240
I would go down to Mexico every other week for 11 years.

1270
01:09:37,240 --> 01:09:41,680
What an ignorant, ignoramus I was for not

1271
01:09:41,680 --> 01:09:43,200
trying to learn Spanish.

1272
01:09:46,240 --> 01:09:50,520
Seriously, if I would have learned Spanish

1273
01:09:50,520 --> 01:09:54,160
working in the field that I was, I

1274
01:09:54,160 --> 01:09:57,240
would not only learn conversational Spanish,

1275
01:09:57,240 --> 01:09:59,160
but I would have learned business Spanish,

1276
01:09:59,160 --> 01:10:01,680
industrial Spanish.

1277
01:10:01,680 --> 01:10:06,880
And when things got rough in 2008,

1278
01:10:06,880 --> 01:10:11,080
and I was out there, if I could have gone to some big

1279
01:10:11,080 --> 01:10:18,720
manufacturer and say, I can't even pronounce it right.

1280
01:10:23,240 --> 01:10:29,200
If you could even just learn pleasantries in Spanish

1281
01:10:29,200 --> 01:10:35,120
and learn how to say gracias, or denada,

1282
01:10:35,120 --> 01:10:41,720
or the common greetings for holidays and stuff like that.

1283
01:10:41,720 --> 01:10:43,680
What is this?

1284
01:10:43,680 --> 01:10:47,160
A lot of these people, all of a sudden,

1285
01:10:47,160 --> 01:10:53,640
you have brought them up from a despised,

1286
01:10:53,640 --> 01:10:59,520
what these people despise me, to we're equals.

1287
01:10:59,520 --> 01:11:00,120
Guess what?

1288
01:11:00,120 --> 01:11:02,320
Equals work together.

1289
01:11:02,320 --> 01:11:07,360
And they won't forget you.

1290
01:11:07,360 --> 01:11:12,280
It takes years and years and years to build a reputation.

1291
01:11:12,280 --> 01:11:16,840
It takes three or four words or fleeting seconds

1292
01:11:16,840 --> 01:11:20,080
to ruin an entire lifetime.

1293
01:11:20,080 --> 01:11:21,080
Yeah.

1294
01:11:21,080 --> 01:11:23,640
Yeah, that's so true.

1295
01:11:23,640 --> 01:11:26,600
Hola, mi nombre is Johnny B., el pastor de libros.

1296
01:11:26,600 --> 01:11:28,600
Hi, I'm Johnny B., the book shepherd.

1297
01:11:28,600 --> 01:11:29,840
Dude, you just Googled that.

1298
01:11:29,840 --> 01:11:32,200
You didn't pull that off the top of your head.

1299
01:11:32,200 --> 01:11:33,320
I mean, you're not wrong.

1300
01:11:33,320 --> 01:11:35,440
But it sounded good.

1301
01:11:35,440 --> 01:11:37,640
It does sound real good, like you were fluent.

1302
01:11:37,640 --> 01:11:39,960
I mean, pull for a second.

1303
01:11:39,960 --> 01:11:41,080
I don't speak Spanish.

1304
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:41,960
I live in Texas.

1305
01:11:41,960 --> 01:11:44,800
I probably should take a minute to learn.

1306
01:11:44,800 --> 01:11:48,120
I'll share a story with you.

1307
01:11:48,120 --> 01:11:53,120
I would always go out and I would walk the floor.

1308
01:11:53,120 --> 01:11:58,440
And I noticed a lot of people in my position

1309
01:11:58,440 --> 01:12:04,560
would walk the floor and never say anything to anybody.

1310
01:12:04,560 --> 01:12:06,520
I would introduce myself.

1311
01:12:06,520 --> 01:12:08,600
I'd speak in broken Spanish.

1312
01:12:08,600 --> 01:12:12,200
I'd find out, hijos?

1313
01:12:12,200 --> 01:12:14,240
Do you have children?

1314
01:12:14,240 --> 01:12:17,640
See it and take pictures.

1315
01:12:17,640 --> 01:12:20,800
I didn't understand what they were saying, but who cares?

1316
01:12:20,800 --> 01:12:22,360
I took time.

1317
01:12:22,360 --> 01:12:27,120
At Christmastime, hey, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad.

1318
01:12:27,120 --> 01:12:30,920
So New Year comes.

1319
01:12:30,920 --> 01:12:35,480
Hey, Feliz Ano Nuevo, Feliz Ano Nuevo.

1320
01:12:35,480 --> 01:12:42,120
The fifth person goes, Don Carl, do you know what you're saying?

1321
01:12:42,120 --> 01:12:44,560
I said, yeah, most of everyone, happy New Year.

1322
01:12:44,560 --> 01:12:47,560
He says, no, that's Feliz Ano Nuevo.

1323
01:12:47,560 --> 01:12:50,320
You're saying Ano Nuevo.

1324
01:12:50,320 --> 01:12:57,200
So I go, Latin based language, Ano, Ano, Ano, Anus.

1325
01:12:57,200 --> 01:12:59,880
Oh my god.

1326
01:12:59,880 --> 01:13:04,560
I said, am I wishing everyone a happy new a-hole?

1327
01:13:04,560 --> 01:13:07,000
And he says, see.

1328
01:13:07,000 --> 01:13:11,120
I said, then why didn't Fernando tell me?

1329
01:13:11,120 --> 01:13:12,640
All he did was go.

1330
01:13:12,640 --> 01:13:16,720
Yep, yep, send you on to the next one.

1331
01:13:16,720 --> 01:13:20,040
And he said, because he respects you too much to say

1332
01:13:20,040 --> 01:13:21,040
anything.

1333
01:13:21,040 --> 01:13:30,560
And I just said, OK, well, the last few years at Velcro Max,

1334
01:13:30,560 --> 01:13:34,200
I would always get the greeting at the beginning of the year,

1335
01:13:34,200 --> 01:13:37,720
hey, Don Carl, Feliz Ano Nuevo.

1336
01:13:37,720 --> 01:13:38,560
Yep, yep.

1337
01:13:38,560 --> 01:13:42,440
It is an interesting thing about treating people

1338
01:13:42,440 --> 01:13:44,800
the way you would expect to be treated

1339
01:13:44,800 --> 01:13:48,160
and how it can go lengths in a reselling business

1340
01:13:48,160 --> 01:13:50,840
and the different opportunities and relationships

1341
01:13:50,840 --> 01:13:53,000
it can create for your business.

1342
01:13:53,000 --> 01:13:55,280
I think a lot of people go in and say,

1343
01:13:55,280 --> 01:13:59,800
I got to be a secret service reseller.

1344
01:13:59,800 --> 01:14:04,040
I went to see President Ford one time at the airport.

1345
01:14:04,040 --> 01:14:07,960
And I got probably within five people away from him.

1346
01:14:07,960 --> 01:14:10,520
But when he came out in the crowd,

1347
01:14:10,520 --> 01:14:16,280
there was a chauvinly dressed guy, like two guys over.

1348
01:14:16,280 --> 01:14:19,880
And I realized when Ford went to the crowd,

1349
01:14:19,880 --> 01:14:22,880
this guy was a secret service agent.

1350
01:14:22,880 --> 01:14:27,880
And I didn't know it up until that moment.

1351
01:14:27,880 --> 01:14:30,680
But we got to let people know what we're doing.

1352
01:14:33,680 --> 01:14:36,480
So what, somebody doesn't.

1353
01:14:36,480 --> 01:14:39,040
What if you had 95%?

1354
01:14:39,040 --> 01:14:42,880
I was a high school teacher for three years.

1355
01:14:42,880 --> 01:14:46,680
95% in my class was an A every time.

1356
01:14:46,680 --> 01:14:49,480
I'd rather have the 95% than the 5% people

1357
01:14:49,480 --> 01:14:54,240
that are going to hate you for being a reseller.

1358
01:14:54,240 --> 01:14:56,040
Yeah, I agree.

1359
01:14:56,040 --> 01:14:57,040
Yeah.

1360
01:14:57,040 --> 01:14:59,080
All right, Carl, we're going to wrap it up here.

1361
01:14:59,080 --> 01:15:01,520
We appreciate you hanging out with us today and spending

1362
01:15:01,520 --> 01:15:02,960
well over an hour of your time.

1363
01:15:02,960 --> 01:15:05,040
It's super insightful to hear.

1364
01:15:05,040 --> 01:15:07,520
I mean, I don't want to say you're an old man, dude.

1365
01:15:07,520 --> 01:15:10,800
But it's insightful to hear these types of business

1366
01:15:10,800 --> 01:15:14,080
practices from basically a different generation

1367
01:15:14,080 --> 01:15:15,920
than the one we're currently in and reselling.

1368
01:15:15,920 --> 01:15:16,840
And I do think there is something

1369
01:15:16,840 --> 01:15:20,600
to be said about the differences in generations of reselling.

1370
01:15:20,600 --> 01:15:24,160
So yeah, Carl, we can find you.

1371
01:15:24,160 --> 01:15:26,880
You are a coach over in Tech's Group, Reseller Greatness.

1372
01:15:26,880 --> 01:15:29,960
The link will be down below along with Carl's eBay store.

1373
01:15:29,960 --> 01:15:31,760
If you want to go check out and make sure

1374
01:15:31,760 --> 01:15:34,840
that he isn't selling anything that is over the size of 8

1375
01:15:34,840 --> 01:15:38,520
by 6 by 4, because then we can just message him like, hey,

1376
01:15:38,520 --> 01:15:39,440
this is too big.

1377
01:15:39,440 --> 01:15:41,200
Maybe that's what we should do after this.

1378
01:15:41,200 --> 01:15:42,960
Johnny will just go into his eBay store

1379
01:15:42,960 --> 01:15:45,960
and we'll measure everything out.

1380
01:15:45,960 --> 01:15:47,320
There are some blocks.

1381
01:15:47,320 --> 01:15:48,360
OK, there are some.

1382
01:15:48,360 --> 01:15:50,280
Uh-oh, he's back cracking already.

1383
01:15:50,280 --> 01:15:50,800
Here we go.

1384
01:15:50,800 --> 01:15:52,080
I'm in my territory, man.

1385
01:15:52,080 --> 01:15:53,280
I don't like this.

1386
01:15:53,280 --> 01:15:57,280
You know, Mike, Johnny said you were a nice guy.

1387
01:15:57,280 --> 01:16:00,200
But I've seen you attack several times.

1388
01:16:00,200 --> 01:16:02,240
And now you're attacking the guests.

1389
01:16:02,240 --> 01:16:03,680
And you're right.

1390
01:16:03,680 --> 01:16:04,760
I don't have to.

1391
01:16:04,760 --> 01:16:06,120
Johnny brings the guests on.

1392
01:16:06,120 --> 01:16:07,400
He's like, oh, Mike's super nice.

1393
01:16:07,400 --> 01:16:09,200
We're not going to run you into the ground.

1394
01:16:09,200 --> 01:16:10,680
And then everybody gets here.

1395
01:16:10,680 --> 01:16:13,440
And I'm just like, so what's going on?

1396
01:16:13,440 --> 01:16:15,920
Yeah, but Carl, we appreciate you hanging out.

1397
01:16:15,920 --> 01:16:17,680
And yeah, you can find him over in TechsGroup.

1398
01:16:17,680 --> 01:16:20,080
And yeah, I mean, you got any final thoughts

1399
01:16:20,080 --> 01:16:22,680
for a brand new reseller or somebody that's

1400
01:16:22,680 --> 01:16:24,280
been doing it for a while that's looking

1401
01:16:24,280 --> 01:16:26,120
to gain a little bit more traction in their business

1402
01:16:26,120 --> 01:16:29,040
before we wrap this up?

1403
01:16:29,040 --> 01:16:35,480
If you have $35 a month to spend on TechsGroup,

1404
01:16:35,480 --> 01:16:39,040
you will not regret one moment.

1405
01:16:39,040 --> 01:16:45,200
The information that's out there is so vast

1406
01:16:45,200 --> 01:16:53,200
that if I would have had that information back in 1983,

1407
01:16:53,200 --> 01:16:56,600
it would have been a totally different life, totally

1408
01:16:56,600 --> 01:16:58,040
different life.

1409
01:16:58,040 --> 01:17:02,040
There are people that just have started with nothing,

1410
01:17:02,040 --> 01:17:10,480
but implore or use the wisdom that's out there from not only

1411
01:17:10,480 --> 01:17:16,360
him, but a couple thousand people.

1412
01:17:16,360 --> 01:17:20,440
You'll go, well, treat people right out there.

1413
01:17:20,440 --> 01:17:23,160
Tell them you're a reseller.

1414
01:17:23,160 --> 01:17:26,800
Don't always beat people up over price.

1415
01:17:26,800 --> 01:17:31,280
If it's a fair price, pay it, because they'll

1416
01:17:31,280 --> 01:17:37,480
remember that you didn't beat them up, and they'll be back.

1417
01:17:37,480 --> 01:17:41,880
They'll call you time and time and time again.

1418
01:17:41,880 --> 01:17:42,760
And you know what?

1419
01:17:42,760 --> 01:17:44,720
Enjoy it.

1420
01:17:44,720 --> 01:17:49,000
Always buy quality, not quantity, quality,

1421
01:17:49,000 --> 01:17:51,120
and you'll go well.

1422
01:17:51,120 --> 01:17:52,760
So thanks for having me.

1423
01:17:52,760 --> 01:17:54,200
All right, everybody.

1424
01:17:54,200 --> 01:17:55,760
Yeah, we appreciate you hanging out,

1425
01:17:55,760 --> 01:17:58,680
and we'll talk to everybody in next week's episode.

1426
01:17:58,680 --> 01:18:00,920
Thanks for listening to another episode of The Reseller's

1427
01:18:00,920 --> 01:18:02,280
Mindset podcast.

1428
01:18:02,280 --> 01:18:04,640
Today's full episode and all previous episodes

1429
01:18:04,640 --> 01:18:06,720
are available to all YouTube members,

1430
01:18:06,720 --> 01:18:09,520
along with a weekly Zoom call and private Discord.

1431
01:18:09,520 --> 01:18:12,720
Head on over to youtube.com backslash to use book guy

1432
01:18:12,720 --> 01:18:31,720
and consider joining for as little as $2.99 a month.

