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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 from the ground up.

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We also have a weekly zoom call and private discord for all YouTube members.

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Head on over to youtube.com backslash use book guy to join the channel and gain

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access 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 welcome into another episode of Resellers Mindset Podcast.

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Mike next to Johnny, Johnny's the brains of the operation,

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especially on this topic today.

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And it's a good one.

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And I think it's super important.

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And I'm going to have some, uh, basically I got a lot to kind of knock this one

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out of the park when it comes to why can't we as resellers think past the idea

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that thrift stores are the only place that exists, right?

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So he said, let's talk about sourcing and kind of, you know, some good sources,

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some bad sources.

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And I'll go first here because I got one that's been on my mind lately is when I

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first started reselling, goodwill was my jam, Johnny, like I walk into a goodwill

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and I'm like, I can't even carry all the stuff out.

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I'm like, Deb carry this stuff, get the cats too.

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And I haven't stepped foot in a goodwill now.

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I'm probably close to two months and it's crazy, right?

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Because that's where I started.

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I remember like the store still exists, uh, not that far from me, my old honey

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hole, uh, Deb likes to call it and the only time I really go in goodwill now

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is just to see if anything's changed.

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I know it hasn't, or like the nostalgia feeling of being inside of a, you know,

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a goodwill that just absolutely sucks.

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But I haven't been at one in two months and honestly, I've sourced more items,

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more quality items than I ever have.

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So you're probably thinking, well, Mike, you're not going to the 15 goodwills

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you have in your routes.

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What have you replaced them with?

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Well, unfortunately I don't like to, you know, hide all my great sources

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because I'm worried you're all going to run out here and steal everything.

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Like other resellers, I've been going to record shops.

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I mean, this past week I've spent close to a thousand dollars in two record

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shops and that's only two stores.

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Um, that's what I replaced them with.

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And you don't know until you know.

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So I think it's good to kind of cover this idea of maybe some sources you had

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that you no longer have, or some that you kind of came up with, record shops.

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I mean, you pay a little bit more, but not really because you're

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paying three dollars for DVD at goodwill.

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The record shops, believe it or not, even though they're record shops,

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they got to write their name.

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Um, they have thousands and thousands of DVDs to go along with the

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cassettes and the CDs and the one record shop even had books in the record shop.

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And their prices range from like $2 and some sets I'm paying $15 for, but we have

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the data in front of us to make the decision to buy it.

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And I will say this, another benefit to go into a place like that is it's small

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locally owned and they check for the quality of the things, right?

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Unlike a thrift store where you go, you don't look inside the case, you buy it,

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you get home, there's no disc inside the case that doesn't exist at record shops.

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These people actually take pride in their business and these discs are

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basically brand new look and I personally love record.

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And you, you know, I've been pushing heavily in the group to check your local

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record shops and people are having success with it.

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So that's kind of my initial story.

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I'm going to throw it over to you.

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Yeah.

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I mean, I used to have, I used to go out to state sales and thrift shops as well

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when I first started, but for me it'd be like, I need my time back because I'm

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doing bulk and I need more time to process than I do needing to source or

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wanting to dial down the sourcing time in general.

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And the power went out for a couple of days because of some storm, I want to

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say five, six months ago, four to six months.

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This is back when the employee was still here.

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I was like, she shows up to where it went.

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Okay.

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We're going to go shopping.

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I guess the power is out.

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So we went down a couple of old places I used to go and I'll tell you, Mike,

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they were very happy to see me.

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And they didn't know we were in the store, the manager, she came out and

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finally saw me and flagged me over.

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Didn't know you were coming by.

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We got stuff in the back.

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Would you like to come by?

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We got stuff in the back.

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Would you like to come in the back again?

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I'm like, sure.

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Why not?

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You're all day.

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Because power is out.

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And they were so nice.

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They gave me, they gave me my old discount.

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I wasn't expecting it because I haven't been in there like nine, 10, 12 months

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plus, something like that.

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And I had good stuff quality.

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The thing I like about them, they're in the back and they run a thrift store,

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but they, they got laundry machines back there.

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They're constantly cleaning the clothes.

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They're scrubbing the hats.

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Even the books, they get, they get books and they separate them into, they're

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going to donate this to some other thrift store and then there's ones they're

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going to put out in their store.

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So they do quality checking in the back before it comes out to the front on

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everything that their store is immaculate.

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Everything's clean.

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And they have one dedicated worker that has one of those push things.

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Cause it's carpeted.

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That's all they do all day is they just go around doing that.

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They're a little bit more pricey than your traditional thrift store, but I'll

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pay up for stuff I know has been quality checked versus just digging it out of

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the cart and put it on the shelf, whatever happens, happens kind of deal.

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Now on those kinds of places, I've been to those places too, but I always hate it.

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Like I find something I know is good, but then when I open it up, it's either

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damaged or the spine cracks or there's pages missing or it's been doodled in by

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a nine year old.

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It's like, come on.

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This is a waste.

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This is literally again, wasting my time.

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I don't like to waste time.

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So I think going up in quality to get your time back actually ends up you getting

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more profit in the long run.

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Because again, it's Mike doesn't like for me to say it, but yeah, it's

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your profit per hour.

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And I want to spend it as aptly as I can to make the most dollars that I can.

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And doing it at a junkie, the cobwebs roaches and rats are all over the place.

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No, no, no, no, I'm going to go over here where there's none of that, or at least

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they call the exterminator now and again.

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I agree.

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And I'll say this, when I first started this business, everybody used to talk

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about backroom access, Johnny, you got to get in the back room.

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You got to get in the back room.

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I'm here to tell you, there is some validity to it, but I do think the

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approach has to be completely different than what is thrown out there, right?

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Because everybody makes this team, Johnny, you just walk in and say, yo,

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can I go in the back room? like that doesn't work.

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You got to build rapport, build a relationship and have a normal conversation.

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And I do think I'm a firm believer in karma and treating people the

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way you want to be treated.

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I think in the thrift store world, especially with the mom and top shops,

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the money is good for them, but they just want somebody that's relatable.

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They don't want some loser book dealer coming in, just being a pompous

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idiot about everything, know it all.

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Oh yeah.

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You do do do do do like they want somebody that can have a normal conversation.

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Explain what you do, what they got going on.

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And then that's how you build this.

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Ben, we've got so many people in the group that are in the back room of any

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type of establishment you can imagine.

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And they're all down the earth wholesome people that, you know, if you just had a

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conversation out in the street, it'd be a pleasant conversation to have.

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And I guarantee you that's how they got in the back room.

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It wasn't going in and just being like, Hey, you got stuff in the back room.

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And I go back there like, no, what usually happens, at least in my cases, I go in the

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store, a shop, I go up to the counter.

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I can't even carry all the DVDs, books and CDs.

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And they're like, nobody buys this stuff.

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What are you buying?

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$300 worth of this stuff.

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It's even happened in record shops.

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And a dude's like, dude, let me know when you're coming back, shoot me a text

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message, give me the business card.

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I'll bring in all the other DVDs that I have so you can go through them.

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It's just a simple conversation.

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And I do think it is cemented by you and your family.

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And I do think it is cemented by you actually spending money at the store because

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they're like, shit, this dude's serious.

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Like when's the last time somebody's come in and spent a hundred, $200 on

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stuff we'd never sell.

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Right.

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You don't really have to ask for it.

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It's just given to you if you buy frequently, not necessarily in quantity,

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but frequently, like if you come in there and only grab 25 items, but you do it

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one to two times a week, every week.

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And you're consistent again, consistency in this business is huge, even on the

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buying front, because they know you're reliable.

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They know you're going to get their money and they'll approach you trying to get

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more of your money at some point.

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Um, and if you're buying, if you're niching and you're buying the same thing,

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you can ask this question and it doesn't mean you're asking to go in the back room.

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Do you have any more of these show them what you mean by these or Hey, it's on

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the, it's on the countertop.

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Do you have any more of these?

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And they'll either say yes or no.

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And they may say, yes, we got some in the back.

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Come on back and we'll get you rung up here.

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Cause you're already committing to buy.

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Um, it's like going on a date, right?

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You, you don't go sit down at the table and like, Hey, you want to go back to my

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place? Your meal hasn't even arrived.

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You haven't even had a conversation yet.

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Come on, man.

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Come on.

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It's true.

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It's true.

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And I, I just try to, we're not sitting here saying that thrift store, the

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thrift store businesses sucks and it's dead.

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It's whatever we're just trying to get people to go a little bit further upstream

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to get the better quality stuff.

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And believe it or not, you pay the most at the thrift store and it's the most

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picked over stuff.

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So not only do I want you to get better quality, I'm telling you, you're going

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to pay less for the better quality stuff.

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That's the, that's our only goal here.

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We're not because listen, thrift stores are still, you know, 80%, 85% of my.

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Stuff comes from thrift stores.

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So I'm just saying I've made a little switch and I'm seeing the benefits.

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And honestly, I didn't have a choice.

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What was I going to do?

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Keep going to Goodwills and finding one item, two CDs, three CDs.

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Like that's not sustainable.

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So I had to make a switch.

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Another thing I switched to this year was pawn shops, uh, pawn shops, sell

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DVDs and video games, and usually you can get them for pretty cheap.

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I don't know much about video games, but I know what titles are pretty popular,

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what I can get for.

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And yet again, these places make sure that things aren't completely beat up.

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And pawn shops give DVDs away, dude.

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I never pay more than like 50 cents at a DVD at a pawn shop.

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And it sometimes they have these I'm going to one this next week and I got

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10 for a dollar DVDs and CDs, and they have like thousands of these things.

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Like it's crazy to me the opportunity we have, if we just think a

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little bit outside the box.

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Right.

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I have one guy who sells to me locally.

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He still will, even though my store shut down right now, uh, because I'm moving.

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Nothing bad has happened for you people listening.

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I'm just going to be relocating.

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Um, but he will open every CD.

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He will check the back.

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He will check to see if the disc is in there.

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He'll flip it over to make sure it's got both front and back artwork.

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I never have to check his stuff ever.

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Anybody else I'd have to check and do all that, but he he's taken part of

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that labor away from me, um, because he knows my money's right every time he

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gets paid for quality, cause I don't pay the deal was before I mentioned this to

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him, I don't pay for this or this or this or this, you may have these back.

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Okay.

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I'm going to rectify the situation.

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So I know exactly how much money I'm going to get when I come over and see Johnny.

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It's going to be to the penny because it's correct.

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Now I checked in one more time after that.

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I haven't had to check him since, um, and that's just great that it saves

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again, saves me time.

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I love having my time saved.

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It is almost, almost, it is a strong runner up for money.

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I love money more than anything, but having my time given back to me,

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love that almost as much.

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And I've been telling people, that's a good thing to hit on.

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A lot of people that just start getting into selling CDs and DVDs, they're

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worried about like scratches and like, they don't, you know, they don't want to

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spend the $200 for a resurfacer in the beginning, which makes sense.

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And I said, well, you go to a record shop, they check it all.

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You don't got to worry about having to resurface anything.

251
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And then they do first stores are expensive anymore.

252
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And the realm, if we're talking in the media realm, their stores have become

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thrift stores have become five X what it used to cost to buy a book, CD,

254
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DVD at a thrift store.

255
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So you're only helping yourself.

256
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Sure.

257
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If it's a real good store, I still got really good thrift stores.

258
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I can go to once every two weeks, fill up an Ikea bag, get out of there.

259
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But why not just, why not be the best you possibly can be at sourcing?

260
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I guess this is what this comes down to.

261
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And this isn't like the end of the line, like for me or for you, when it comes to

262
00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:41,380
our sourcing strategies, because we're always open to having another relationship

263
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of the qualities there and the prices.

264
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Right.

265
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I mean, we'll take it.

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There's an endless supply of the items we sell.

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And you can argue unless you're in a super rare collectible category, there's

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an endless supply of anything we can resell it, no matter what the category is.

269
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You just have to find a good supply.

270
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And sometimes you have to pay up for it.

271
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So I'll tell you right now, a lot of cases, I mean, you pay down for it.

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I bought full collections, full Stephen King first editions for 15 cents a pound.

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Like they were, they were in the plastic sleeves.

274
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I'll never forget it.

275
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I'm not a Stephen King fan.

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I probably should have kept them because they'd probably be

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worth billions in 20 years.

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But 15 cents a pound for all first edition Stephen King.

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I'm talking every single book that he ever put out.

280
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I mean, all you got to do is open your eyes.

281
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And I think the biggest thing I have in sourcing is I let everybody know what I

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sell and who I am.

283
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I mean, even in this podcast, my name is in there, even Mike's thing, it's there.

284
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But everybody knows me as a paperback seller because I do sell paperbacks.

285
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Cause I talk about it all the time.

286
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So people know he's not just a book seller.

287
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He likes these paperbacks.

288
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And not only that he likes paperbacks from the eighties on back and seeing

289
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I'm talking about on this podcast, everybody listening now knows I'm the

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paperback guy from 1980s on back.

291
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And then I get approached with deals.

292
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I don't even ask for them.

293
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They get thrown my way.

294
00:14:05,220 --> 00:14:10,100
Mainly in the group I'm in several groups, so they all know what I sell.

295
00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:12,020
And when somebody comes across, I get a message.

296
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Hey, you interested in like, yeah, send me some photos.

297
00:14:13,860 --> 00:14:15,780
Probably the answer is going to be yes.

298
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Or I have ongoing relationships that come out of this.

299
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I have a couple that have networked with me.

300
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They run bigger book operations.

301
00:14:22,940 --> 00:14:25,540
And they don't like the stuff that I like.

302
00:14:25,580 --> 00:14:27,380
So I'm a solution to their problem, man.

303
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They get a little bit of cash.

304
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It's a win, win, win.

305
00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:32,300
I mean, just look at the storage unit guys.

306
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It's the same principle.

307
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They take what they want.

308
00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:39,300
Then they go out to the flea or they post it on marketplace to put it back in

309
00:14:39,300 --> 00:14:43,940
the ecosystem to either other resellers or they try to make a couple of dollars

310
00:14:43,940 --> 00:14:46,020
on it themselves, but they really don't care about that other stuff.

311
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They want it gone.

312
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They want their space and time back.

313
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Just like I do.

314
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I want my space and time back.

315
00:14:50,420 --> 00:14:53,540
I guess space is another thing we didn't touch on, but no, that's definitely a

316
00:14:53,540 --> 00:14:57,260
thing if you're not running in a warehouse when it comes to sourcing, like

317
00:14:57,260 --> 00:15:02,380
if you're running out of your home or storage unit, you got to be a little bit

318
00:15:02,380 --> 00:15:06,620
more picky on what you're taking back with you, because if you take back just

319
00:15:06,620 --> 00:15:12,980
a pile of junk or an absorbent amount that exceeds your capacity, you're

320
00:15:12,980 --> 00:15:17,860
going to have a hard time to get back out and go do it because sourcing is

321
00:15:17,860 --> 00:15:21,420
to most people the treasure hunting aspect or the going out, that's the fun

322
00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:25,660
part of this game, sure, but if you bottleneck yourself, not being able to

323
00:15:25,660 --> 00:15:29,900
do it because you're filled to the ceiling front to back and you got to

324
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get through it somehow, some way.

325
00:15:32,180 --> 00:15:33,300
Yeah, that makes sense.

326
00:15:33,300 --> 00:15:37,300
I like thinking about sourcing is like almost investing or like

327
00:15:37,300 --> 00:15:38,900
having an investment portfolio.

328
00:15:39,460 --> 00:15:42,020
You have to diversify, right?

329
00:15:42,020 --> 00:15:45,660
You're not just buying all single stocks and you would just be like,

330
00:15:45,660 --> 00:15:50,700
you only go to single stocks that go into the same goodwill bins five days a week.

331
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Sooner or later, you're going to get jammed up.

332
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Now what smart people do, they spread their money out.

333
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I got some in bonds, I got mutual funds, maybe a few single stocks here and there

334
00:16:01,020 --> 00:16:06,420
if it's something that aligns with what I want to do, but if one goes boom,

335
00:16:06,740 --> 00:16:08,340
the whole thing doesn't go boom, right?

336
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Like you're still afloat, you're still going, you're still making progress.

337
00:16:12,500 --> 00:16:16,100
And I think that's what it kind of relates to with me is because we look at

338
00:16:16,100 --> 00:16:19,980
I got thrift stores, I got libraries, and then I had back rooms at thrift stores.

339
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And then I got bulk pickups that I get from like Facebook marketplace

340
00:16:23,220 --> 00:16:24,620
and all those types of places.

341
00:16:24,620 --> 00:16:29,700
So that's four completely separate, almost investments I have into my

342
00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:32,020
big portfolio here of reselling.

343
00:16:32,260 --> 00:16:37,100
And if you just got one, you just got that one library or that one thrift

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00:16:37,100 --> 00:16:41,780
store chain or what, no matter what it is, you're still going, you're still

345
00:16:41,780 --> 00:16:45,420
going to get the same amount of money that you're going to get from the thrift

346
00:16:45,420 --> 00:16:49,580
store chain, but no matter what it is across the board, then something happens.

347
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Maybe the donations slow down or maybe the thrift store raises their prices,

348
00:16:53,980 --> 00:16:55,220
which goodwill has done.

349
00:16:55,220 --> 00:17:00,380
And, you know, I went from 97 cents books and now they're all these three dollars.

350
00:17:00,460 --> 00:17:02,780
You are bound by their rules.

351
00:17:04,020 --> 00:17:04,500
Yeah.

352
00:17:04,500 --> 00:17:07,420
I mean, that that's the thing.

353
00:17:07,420 --> 00:17:09,900
There's their rules and there's your rules, right?

354
00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:12,580
And it's not going to be a big deal.

355
00:17:12,580 --> 00:17:14,740
It's just going to be a little bit of a challenge.

356
00:17:14,740 --> 00:17:19,580
And, you know, I'm not going to be able to answer your monetary expectations,

357
00:17:19,580 --> 00:17:23,340
but you have you have the additional one of quality, right?

358
00:17:23,540 --> 00:17:27,620
So if you decide, hey, I want to buy it all, and you're trying to

359
00:17:27,620 --> 00:17:32,340
make this repeat thing, but I have the following expectations of you.

360
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They need to know this.

361
00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:37,220
If you do have expectations, I don't want water damage books.

362
00:17:37,220 --> 00:17:40,140
I don't We've got to get some books on our tables and somebody says,

363
00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:42,380
hey, we're not going to submit these over a Social Network.

364
00:17:42,380 --> 00:17:44,620
Three people can submit it to the United States.

365
00:17:44,620 --> 00:17:45,540
Then we'll send it to you.

366
00:17:45,540 --> 00:17:47,660
You nail the Media unpack table to give medical support.

367
00:17:47,660 --> 00:18:05,940
You

368
00:18:05,940 --> 00:18:11,380
time by taking this deal on or am I going to take a walk to deal with somebody who will meet my

369
00:18:11,380 --> 00:18:17,620
expectations? If you're not choosing door number two, I'm sorry, you're doing it wrong. You need

370
00:18:17,620 --> 00:18:21,780
to choose door number two. Yeah, you're 100% correct. And I'm going to, I'm going to hammer

371
00:18:21,780 --> 00:18:27,380
that home because we talked about it. This stuff is everywhere, dude. I mean, you can go, every

372
00:18:27,380 --> 00:18:35,300
house has a piece of media in it, like in the world. So why are we feeling obligated? And if you think,

373
00:18:35,300 --> 00:18:39,620
if you're the person that's like, I want to be a bulk seller. And you think these mega bulk sellers

374
00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:44,340
just have one source, like one source that only brings her to track the trailers. No, they have

375
00:18:44,980 --> 00:18:51,060
multiple, multiple sources because you can't afford that one source to go belly up. You can't afford

376
00:18:51,060 --> 00:18:57,540
to have that go belly up. Have the conversation upfront, like Johnny's saying, 100% crystal clear

377
00:18:57,540 --> 00:19:02,740
across the board, exactly what you want, because you can't say, yeah, I'm the book person. And you

378
00:19:02,740 --> 00:19:08,260
show up and there's nothing but Webster dictionaries. Well, you didn't say you didn't take dictionaries,

379
00:19:08,260 --> 00:19:14,100
Johnny. So here goes 3000 pounds of Webster dictionaries. Then you're in a situation where

380
00:19:14,900 --> 00:19:19,460
shit, I didn't say that. So like, this has to be thought out. And it all kind of relates back to

381
00:19:20,340 --> 00:19:25,060
treating reselling as a business, right? Thinking at it, like from a business person, like, this is

382
00:19:25,060 --> 00:19:30,660
my business. What does my business want? You can't just be the generic, I'll take all the books person.

383
00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:39,300
And then you just wind up with a big mess. Go where the quality is. And no deal is not too good to pass

384
00:19:39,300 --> 00:19:43,620
up. There's always going to be more opportunities along the road. There's never been a week where

385
00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:48,740
I'm like, well, I found nothing this week. So I guess I got to go pay for the shit. Nobody else wants

386
00:19:48,740 --> 00:19:54,020
sits down at the Goodwill bins. Like, there's no deal that you have to feel like you're tied to in

387
00:19:54,020 --> 00:20:00,260
this business, especially in the media world, because it is everywhere for the taking every

388
00:20:00,260 --> 00:20:07,060
little town has a library that probably runs on volunteers, don't have enough volunteers gets

389
00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:12,340
donations every single day. All you got to do is go have a conversation. You don't even have a

390
00:20:12,340 --> 00:20:17,140
conversation. You could send an email, you can do whatever you want. But I would never feel tied to

391
00:20:17,140 --> 00:20:23,540
a deal. Honestly, I would almost be the I know, like, I'd be like how you are. I had expectations.

392
00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:28,180
My expectations aren't me, we're gonna have to have a conversation. Right now conversations aren't

393
00:20:28,180 --> 00:20:32,660
fun. Right? When the day comes and I got to fire Johnny, it's not going to be a fun conversation.

394
00:20:32,660 --> 00:20:36,820
Right? It won't happen. At least not this year, although we're coming to the end of the year,

395
00:20:36,820 --> 00:20:43,620
maybe next year, when we re evaluate the budget, your salary goes up from zero to zero. But hard

396
00:20:43,620 --> 00:20:48,660
conversations are part of this, right? And we all had to have them at one point sign as a store

397
00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:53,460
manager at CBS. I used to have them all the time. And it's not fun, right? It's not fun to tell

398
00:20:53,460 --> 00:20:59,380
somebody, like, hey, you know, this isn't, this doesn't meet my expectations. Like you're almost

399
00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:06,420
giving somebody a performance review. But Johnny said, you got the cash money, right? You gave them

400
00:21:06,420 --> 00:21:12,820
what you want, what you accept. Okay, I'm paying somebody, and I expect these types of goods in

401
00:21:12,820 --> 00:21:17,780
return. If you don't get those goods, then you need to have a conversation and be like, hey,

402
00:21:17,780 --> 00:21:23,460
this doesn't make sense to me, right? We had the conversation, maybe it was good the past 10 times,

403
00:21:23,460 --> 00:21:28,260
this time it wasn't. And then the next one isn't. Okay, I'm not saying blow a gasket, because

404
00:21:28,260 --> 00:21:32,340
the first time you got something that wasn't right, you know, that's just bad business. But

405
00:21:32,340 --> 00:21:36,900
if it's something that's an ongoing problem, make note of it. And then we address it. And if they

406
00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:41,220
say, hey, it is what it is, well, then you say, hey, it is what it is, me and my wallet are going

407
00:21:41,220 --> 00:21:48,180
somewhere else. Yeah, exactly. Now, if your expectations are, I want you to flip through

408
00:21:48,180 --> 00:21:52,580
the book and check for underlying everyone, and you're dealing with a bulk person who sells in

409
00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:58,180
bulk to other resellers, that may be a bit too much, or they're like, sure, but I need to charge

410
00:21:58,180 --> 00:22:06,260
X for that, because they also have a time metric for dollars. So you need to decide once they give

411
00:22:06,260 --> 00:22:09,940
that number, if they do give a number, that's fine. Or they may say, sure, yeah, that's no big

412
00:22:09,940 --> 00:22:15,300
deal. We have Jimmy the intern. That's how we'll treat all our interns. Fine. But they may want to

413
00:22:15,300 --> 00:22:20,980
charge you more. And you got to decide if it's worth it or not. And if it's not worth it, again,

414
00:22:21,540 --> 00:22:25,700
dollars too high for the kind of service you're offering. I have other people, or I'll go find

415
00:22:25,700 --> 00:22:32,500
other people who will deal at my dollar per item on my expectations, because you're in control,

416
00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:39,700
because it is your wallet. They want the things in your wallet, but they may not want to do

417
00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:44,260
for the time the amount of dollars that's in your wallet. And that's okay on their end, and that's

418
00:22:44,260 --> 00:22:49,620
okay on your end. You're just not meant to do business together. It's as simple as that.

419
00:22:50,180 --> 00:22:54,900
You're not the right customer for them, and they aren't the right source for you. That's fine. You

420
00:22:54,900 --> 00:22:59,700
got to let that go. You can't make it personal. This is entirely business. You can respect their

421
00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:04,500
decision, maybe a little annoyed by it, but you can respect it and move along and go find somebody

422
00:23:04,500 --> 00:23:12,020
else. Yeah, I'm a firm believer in valuing your time and having expectations. And if they're not

423
00:23:12,020 --> 00:23:17,140
met and being held accountable, right? It's almost like kind of expectations we have within ourselves

424
00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:23,220
within our business, right? If we expect ourselves to, you know, list 10 items a day on eBay or

425
00:23:23,220 --> 00:23:30,180
do five boxes a week on Amazon, and we don't keep up with our expectations, like, we're just pissed

426
00:23:30,180 --> 00:23:35,700
off at ourselves. We're unmotivated. But yeah, for some reason in the reselling world, see it all the

427
00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:40,420
time, like, resellers just get suckered all the time, and they just continue to get suckered.

428
00:23:40,420 --> 00:23:45,460
Just like, just be done with it. There's stuffs everywhere. I mean, you could resell anything

429
00:23:45,460 --> 00:23:50,020
and find it in quantity anywhere. I don't understand why we're like, well, you know, it's like,

430
00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:56,500
hypothetically speaking, if I, you know, if I decided, all right, I'm going to go the wholesale

431
00:23:56,500 --> 00:24:00,340
route, I'm just going to start selling Gaylords because I'm the book guy and everybody loves the

432
00:24:00,340 --> 00:24:06,980
book guy. And I'll sell Gaylords for a premium price. And, you know, the quality just sucks.

433
00:24:06,980 --> 00:24:12,100
But Johnny said, well, it's Mike. So, you know, sooner or later, maybe the Gaylord will be good

434
00:24:12,100 --> 00:24:18,740
that he actually sends me that I overpay for and it never happens. But that's happening today.

435
00:24:18,740 --> 00:24:24,340
There's people out there that are buying in bulk from a source that they know sucks, but they're

436
00:24:24,340 --> 00:24:30,900
so scared to lose the source when they just open up their window and yelled out like the JG Wentworth

437
00:24:30,900 --> 00:24:35,060
commercial, like, it's my money and I want it now. Like somebody else will pop up like, hey,

438
00:24:35,060 --> 00:24:38,500
I got books for sale. Like somebody pops out. Hey, you said you buy books. Here goes,

439
00:24:39,060 --> 00:24:42,020
can you want to weigh this right now? You going to give me my cash right now? It's everywhere.

440
00:24:44,660 --> 00:24:47,780
Trying to say this politely. It's hard, Mike. It's hard.

441
00:24:49,540 --> 00:24:53,700
It's your fault if you're continuing to do bad business with yourself.

442
00:24:53,700 --> 00:25:01,140
It's your fault 100%. You are the master of your wallet and the goods you receive from your wallet.

443
00:25:01,140 --> 00:25:08,260
That is all on you, sir or ma'am, to make the corrections necessary to put more dollars in it.

444
00:25:08,260 --> 00:25:13,060
Because if you're having to throw away 90% of the stuff you're getting and your dollar,

445
00:25:13,860 --> 00:25:18,900
your wallet shrinks because of that, because you got a bill from them, what was left over,

446
00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:26,180
you're barely making by. Plus we're in media and if you're just the eBay seller, long turnover.

447
00:25:26,740 --> 00:25:30,980
It's going to be a while before you're even back up to par from that purchase. But if you're

448
00:25:30,980 --> 00:25:35,860
repeatedly hurt yourself, it's like punching yourself in the face. Go ahead, punch yourself

449
00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:40,260
in the face right now, listener. Tell me how it feels. We're not responsible for any brain

450
00:25:40,260 --> 00:25:46,980
injuries that may or may not occur from my suggestion here, but it hurts, right? Yeah,

451
00:25:46,980 --> 00:25:51,940
it's going to hurt. And if you're completely punching yourself in the face, well,

452
00:25:53,060 --> 00:25:58,420
I don't know what to do with you. Stop it. I got the question that we should have faced this

453
00:25:58,420 --> 00:26:03,220
podcast around and you're going to have to give me an answer because I don't have one. I was

454
00:26:03,220 --> 00:26:07,300
thinking about it here while you were telling viewers not to punch themselves in the head.

455
00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:10,180
No, I did. And then I said, we're not responsible, but go ahead.

456
00:26:10,180 --> 00:26:15,940
Resellers are so cheap. They don't want to spend more than a dollar, two dollars for an item at a

457
00:26:15,940 --> 00:26:24,740
thrift store. But if a bulk opportunity comes along and it costs them three thousand dollars

458
00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:31,700
and they got the photos of the pallets, the Gaylords money, all of a sudden means nothing.

459
00:26:31,700 --> 00:26:36,340
They're willing to put it on credit cards. They're willing to get a HELOC to buy the bulk

460
00:26:36,340 --> 00:26:42,180
inventory. I don't understand why. Why are we so tight at the thrift store? But you get this cool

461
00:26:42,180 --> 00:26:48,820
look in bulk opportunity and we just completely forget about what your dollar is worth and what

462
00:26:48,820 --> 00:26:53,620
you would get if you took that three grand, spent it at thrift stores and flip that into something.

463
00:26:53,620 --> 00:26:58,180
It's just for some reason the word bulk makes people just everything goes out the window. They

464
00:26:58,180 --> 00:27:02,580
just need it. They need to have it no matter what the cost is. When you're dealing with deals in the

465
00:27:02,580 --> 00:27:07,700
thousands or tens of thousands and you don't go to inspect it, you're doing it off photos.

466
00:27:07,700 --> 00:27:13,220
I'm sorry, you're foolish. Unless you've done business with this person before, then maybe

467
00:27:13,220 --> 00:27:17,220
it's got some credibility. But for the first time, no, I'm going to go look at it and I'm

468
00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:21,700
going to go touch it just like I was in a thrift store. And to your point of why can't we do it

469
00:27:21,700 --> 00:27:27,700
in thrift store, if they're asking three dollars for a three hundred dollar book, please take my

470
00:27:28,580 --> 00:27:32,820
dollar by three dollars, please. I don't care that it's three dollars at that point, but it's

471
00:27:32,820 --> 00:27:37,540
going to be the right book. It's got to be the right quality in the same deals here, even on a

472
00:27:37,540 --> 00:27:43,140
bigger scale. If they're offering you to do a three thousand or a thirty thousand dollar deal

473
00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:46,740
and you don't go inspect it to make sure it met those two metrics, the price is right and the

474
00:27:46,740 --> 00:27:51,780
quality is right, you are a fool. Plain and simple. I'm going to break it down real easy.

475
00:27:52,660 --> 00:28:00,260
So we buy me and Johnny buy Gaylord. We're in the media around expecting like 90 90 percent is going

476
00:28:00,260 --> 00:28:06,420
to be trash, maybe maybe 85 percent. So at least it's what 15 percent say there's a thousand books

477
00:28:06,420 --> 00:28:11,940
in the Gaylord. We walk away with 150 items. I'm here to tell you, you go to a few thrift stores,

478
00:28:11,940 --> 00:28:15,940
you're going to come out with a lot more than that. And guess what? There ain't no getting rid

479
00:28:15,940 --> 00:28:20,740
of the other 85 percent of shit. You don't you literally only bring it home to good stuff.

480
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:26,580
Right. Every all the junk stays behind this idea that people just want to run into these huge deals.

481
00:28:26,580 --> 00:28:30,980
This is what sinks ships all the time. We've seen it over the years. People come and go in a group

482
00:28:30,980 --> 00:28:38,900
because they get that shiny Facebook marketplace. Oh, buy in bulk. We got oh, we got Amazon

483
00:28:38,900 --> 00:28:45,300
liquidated pallets. Right. Great for reselling. Right. And all of a sudden, the person that's got

484
00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:51,540
a hundred dollar a week thrifting budget is willing to spend eight hundred dollars on this random

485
00:28:51,540 --> 00:28:57,220
Amazon liquidation palette because that's what resellers do. Right. This is how this is how we're

486
00:28:57,220 --> 00:29:02,180
going to get rich. There's no possible way we can lose when we're buying in bulk. And I'm here to

487
00:29:02,180 --> 00:29:07,860
tell you that is completely wrong. Ascending thinking because you don't value your time and

488
00:29:07,860 --> 00:29:14,420
you're spending capital you don't have. Most people that buy these once in a lifetime opportunities,

489
00:29:14,420 --> 00:29:18,820
they don't have the capital to actually support that, especially if the deal goes south,

490
00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:23,780
which a lot of these usually do. Or maybe you break even and you just lost. You might break even

491
00:29:23,780 --> 00:29:28,180
monetarily, but your time's gone out the window. You lost two weeks, three weeks, however long it

492
00:29:28,180 --> 00:29:34,740
takes you to get through it. I just, it's hard for me to, to understand this idea of sourcing

493
00:29:34,740 --> 00:29:40,820
at thrift stores. It can be brutal, but if you track your thrift stores, have the route, it makes

494
00:29:40,820 --> 00:29:46,580
sense. Go a little bit upstream. I'm not saying every bulk deal out there is a scam. I'm not

495
00:29:46,580 --> 00:29:51,940
saying everything you're going to buy is a scam. That's not the case. I have plenty of, I deal with

496
00:29:51,940 --> 00:29:56,900
bulk of libraries all the time and it's quality stuff, but like it's quality stuff because it's

497
00:29:56,900 --> 00:30:02,500
not picked over. Now, if it was Johnny selling me his leftovers that he already scanned, I lose

498
00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:07,460
automatically. I lose my money. I lose my time. I lose everything, but we can't think about that

499
00:30:07,460 --> 00:30:12,500
because Johnny just got the cool looking pallet that's stacked. It maybe puts like that one Stephen

500
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:17,220
King book up top. So you think like, Oh, I totally do that. Like there's the good stuff on top,

501
00:30:17,220 --> 00:30:24,900
right? Yeah. Now, another thing, the people that buy online only, you may not, because you're buying

502
00:30:24,900 --> 00:30:30,500
in lower quantity. Usually I'm not saying go inspect the 10 disc from the guy in Connecticut.

503
00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:36,340
I'm not saying that I'm saying if you have a supplier and it's a first time that you two are

504
00:30:36,340 --> 00:30:43,780
conducting business with each other, if it were me, I would take a trip out to Connecticut to see

505
00:30:43,780 --> 00:30:50,180
what's going to be in my box. I'll buy there or I'll correct them right then and there. Because

506
00:30:50,180 --> 00:30:55,380
that is an in-person thing that needs to happen. If I'm going to do recurring business with a person,

507
00:30:55,380 --> 00:31:01,140
it needs to be correct. That way, when I receive it and it's incorrect, I make a phone call with

508
00:31:01,140 --> 00:31:06,900
all the power. Like, look, I flew up there. It was expensive for me to go see you, tell you how I

509
00:31:06,900 --> 00:31:12,900
wanted my shipments to be. They are in the wrong at that point. I'm not in the wrong because I went

510
00:31:12,900 --> 00:31:18,180
up there. I lay down the law, Johnny's law of what it needs to be. If you're going to receive my

511
00:31:18,180 --> 00:31:23,460
dollars, I'm going to receive your goods. This is how it's supposed to work. Plain and simple.

512
00:31:24,340 --> 00:31:27,780
I think another thing we have to think about here is when you start building some of these

513
00:31:27,780 --> 00:31:34,420
relationships, even within first stores, it's okay if things change as long as you have this

514
00:31:34,420 --> 00:31:43,460
follow-up conversation. Some of my sources would be like, hey, are you taking these yet? Do you

515
00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:48,660
want this encyclopedia set? If things change and all of a sudden I want to take encyclopedias and

516
00:31:48,660 --> 00:31:53,780
I go to them and say, hey, it's okay now if you start putting encyclopedias in my pile, that's fine.

517
00:31:53,780 --> 00:31:58,420
Don't feel like the first conversation you've ever had with this person is how it's got to be

518
00:31:58,420 --> 00:32:03,460
forever. It's an open line of communication I think you've got to have when it comes to these

519
00:32:03,460 --> 00:32:09,700
relationships. The open line of communication has to be more than, hey, your stuff's ready, pay us,

520
00:32:09,700 --> 00:32:15,540
and we'll send it to you. It's got to be more personable. I'll tell you right now, if I'm

521
00:32:15,540 --> 00:32:22,580
buying Gaylords or I'm buying thousands of anything in my business, I want to be able to have this

522
00:32:22,580 --> 00:32:27,460
person's phone number. I want to be reached out to at least on a weekly basis to have a conversation

523
00:32:27,460 --> 00:32:32,260
of what they got going on, what I got going on, when's the shipment coming. I think it's important

524
00:32:32,260 --> 00:32:37,380
to cultivate some of these relationships because when you find good ones, they're good, right?

525
00:32:37,380 --> 00:32:42,740
The libraries I have, it's forever as long as I'm doing this. Then even when I stop doing this,

526
00:32:42,740 --> 00:32:48,340
I can pass the torch on to somebody else in the area that does this. Hey, I have these sources.

527
00:32:48,340 --> 00:32:52,260
I'm no longer doing this. Why don't you come with me one time? I'll introduce you to everybody.

528
00:32:52,980 --> 00:32:58,340
If these relationships, I show up to the library, I got donuts, Dunkin' Donuts. I got little

529
00:32:58,340 --> 00:33:04,340
munchkins. I even had to choose the donuts. I used to go to Dunkin' Donuts and they would just have

530
00:33:04,340 --> 00:33:10,260
pre-ready dozens of donuts. Now Dunkin' Donuts got these kiosks and they make you choose your dozen.

531
00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:14,420
I'm sitting there, I don't know, it's like 35 different donuts. He was like, well, we ain't got

532
00:33:14,420 --> 00:33:17,460
this one, we ain't got this one. I'm like, dude, I just chose things randomly anyway. I'm used to

533
00:33:17,460 --> 00:33:24,020
just you giving me a random dozen of donuts. That type of stuff goes so far with people.

534
00:33:24,660 --> 00:33:33,860
Bringing them a donut. Oh my God, it's a donut. Oh my God, you're the hero. You'd be amazed. They

535
00:33:33,860 --> 00:33:40,740
got signs. I posted on YouTube, Mike does not have a truck. He's got a sedan. Please box the books

536
00:33:40,740 --> 00:33:46,340
nicely. They do it. You take care of people and they'll take care of you. I guess that's what

537
00:33:46,340 --> 00:33:53,780
it comes down to. I did this once with, they're no longer around. It was a senior citizen activity

538
00:33:53,780 --> 00:33:58,100
club thing and they had a library in there. I used to rotate their library, meaning I give them

539
00:33:58,100 --> 00:34:04,420
books and they give me what's circled out. The first time I dealt with them, I asked for them

540
00:34:04,420 --> 00:34:08,820
to have them boxed ready to go because I assumed they had some kind of staff or something. They

541
00:34:08,820 --> 00:34:14,980
didn't. These old people got the tiniest boxes known to man. You can maybe put four hard backs

542
00:34:14,980 --> 00:34:23,220
in there. They had giant pallets worth stacked up like that. My mind was blown that they got these

543
00:34:23,220 --> 00:34:29,620
tiny boxes and then packed and taped these tiny boxes for me because of my request. I felt a little

544
00:34:29,620 --> 00:34:39,140
bad because of an assumption I made, but it was like, huh, if you just ask, you will receive

545
00:34:39,140 --> 00:34:44,980
sometimes. It may not be able to receive like you thought because I had to undo all these boxes,

546
00:34:44,980 --> 00:34:50,420
only four bucks a box, but I couldn't complain because they had complied with my request in a

547
00:34:50,420 --> 00:34:54,900
different way than I expected. It's never going to be perfect. I got another story that relates to

548
00:34:54,900 --> 00:35:04,020
that. I worked at Kmart for a while and one of the managers told the loan and guard in person,

549
00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:11,140
they set up little displays and he told the guy, hey, put the mulch in the display. The mulch

550
00:35:11,700 --> 00:35:16,660
put around the guard. They got a little fountain set up for a display. Put the mulch in the display

551
00:35:16,660 --> 00:35:22,340
so it looks nice. He calls me, he calls me over, he says, you got to come see this. We go out to

552
00:35:22,340 --> 00:35:27,940
the loan and guard area and the mulch is in the display, Johnny, but it's just the bag mulch.

553
00:35:27,940 --> 00:35:32,340
He put the bags. He put the bags of mulch.

554
00:35:33,300 --> 00:35:38,020
They did exactly it. It was requested of them, but it was the wrong way.

555
00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:43,860
That is exactly it. Go into these things knowing that it's not going to be perfect. I still get

556
00:35:43,860 --> 00:35:49,460
jammed up sometimes. I had a pickup where it was more than I thought it was going to be and it

557
00:35:49,460 --> 00:35:54,580
wasn't communicated to me, but once you're in that situation, you got to get it done. It's not going

558
00:35:54,580 --> 00:36:00,500
to be just roses and rich money falling out from the sky. It's going to be things where you can't

559
00:36:00,500 --> 00:36:05,540
plan for. There are certain things you can't plan for. What we just talked about, even if you say

560
00:36:05,540 --> 00:36:10,740
things, you know what you mean in your head, but this person or the person you're speaking to or

561
00:36:10,740 --> 00:36:15,940
then they have to relay the message, it can be taken a completely different way than what you

562
00:36:15,940 --> 00:36:21,940
thought it was going to be taken. Then you wind up with di journo boxes full of books because

563
00:36:21,940 --> 00:36:27,220
Johnny said, just put them in boxes. I said, we ate a lot of di journos this week, so let's put the

564
00:36:27,220 --> 00:36:33,860
books in the di journo boxes. Right. This goes outside of reselling. This goes with any relationship,

565
00:36:33,860 --> 00:36:41,140
a friendship, a personal romantic relationship, a business relationship. Never assume, never presume

566
00:36:41,140 --> 00:36:49,460
because you're wrong usually 99.9% of the time on whatever you got noodling up here in the old brain

567
00:36:49,460 --> 00:36:56,260
case. I'm sorry you are. You need to either ask or you need to spell it out explicitly. That way,

568
00:36:56,260 --> 00:37:01,700
it's crystal clear and then ask the clarifying question, do you understand? Because people are

569
00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:07,700
afraid to look stupid a lot and they'll say, yes, I understand. Then you can do the last follow-up,

570
00:37:07,700 --> 00:37:12,740
okay, can you explain to me what I just asked of you? You're not being rude, but you're making

571
00:37:14,260 --> 00:37:18,980
all the attempts they could possibly make to make sure that it's crystal clear between you and them.

572
00:37:18,980 --> 00:37:24,900
Again, this goes beyond business. This goes to friendships, personal romantic relationships,

573
00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:30,900
acquaintances, people you just meet for the very first time. You cannot assume. You can't judge a

574
00:37:30,900 --> 00:37:35,940
book by its cover. There you go. I made a book pun. Ha, ha, ha, ha. All right. Johnny kind of wrapped

575
00:37:35,940 --> 00:37:39,780
it up there. He gave you all relationship advice. Good luck taking that. He is not responsible.

576
00:37:39,780 --> 00:37:44,500
I told you to punch yourself in the face this podcast too. He's just going to have you guys

577
00:37:44,500 --> 00:37:49,380
all over the place. The luck taking his advice, it's not insured. It's not backed by the,

578
00:37:50,420 --> 00:37:56,420
what is it, the FDIC? There's no backing to what he said. We're not responsible for you hurting

579
00:37:56,420 --> 00:38:01,540
yourself. We are not responsible, but I do think it is so important to think about sources and

580
00:38:01,540 --> 00:38:06,900
diversify your sources. It's kind of like the idea of selling on multiple platforms, which a lot of

581
00:38:06,900 --> 00:38:11,780
you do. You protect yourself in that aspect, so why not protect the stuff you're getting the same

582
00:38:11,780 --> 00:38:18,340
exact way? This, all this conversation is about is if you're the thrift store person, email a library,

583
00:38:18,900 --> 00:38:26,740
email a clothing rag house, email a state sale company. You'd be amazed that people want their

584
00:38:26,740 --> 00:38:31,140
stuff gone and you can give it to them for little to nothing and you get it before the thrift store

585
00:38:31,140 --> 00:38:35,300
gets their grubby paws over it. We all hate the goodwill. All right, well then why don't we just

586
00:38:35,300 --> 00:38:38,420
get everything before it goes to the goodwill? I haven't thought about doing this. What if you

587
00:38:38,420 --> 00:38:42,180
just set up a little tent now back of a goodwill, like not on their property when somebody rolled

588
00:38:42,180 --> 00:38:46,660
up with donations, dropping off the goodwill, I'll give you 10 bucks for that. Just bring it over here.

589
00:38:46,660 --> 00:38:53,380
I mean, I'm just saying, dude, I'll unload it for you. I'll bring it from your car to my car. I'll

590
00:38:53,380 --> 00:38:57,620
give you 10 bucks. You can sit out there, you know, don't be looking like some sketchy person, but

591
00:38:57,620 --> 00:39:02,980
you know, maybe a little tuxedo on. Storcing at the bins before it hits the bins. That's a clever idea.

592
00:39:02,980 --> 00:39:08,260
I like that. I mean, every store has got a donation center. So like you just, you could literally kind

593
00:39:08,260 --> 00:39:12,820
of get a little pop-up tent across the street and say, I'll buy everything you're about to donate.

594
00:39:12,820 --> 00:39:17,460
Big ass sign. Like sure, people give you riffraff, but at the end of the day, what do you think a

595
00:39:17,460 --> 00:39:21,780
goodwill is doing with it? Do you think all this money is going to support, you know, homeless people

596
00:39:21,780 --> 00:39:27,060
in America? You're dead wrong. This is going all in pockets out there. These companies are as

597
00:39:27,060 --> 00:39:31,700
shameless as we can get. And at least you're giving the person that's donating some money for their

598
00:39:31,700 --> 00:39:35,620
items. Sure. You know, we won't get everybody, but I guarantee you, you get rid of, there's so many,

599
00:39:35,620 --> 00:39:39,460
I just came up with that all at the top of my head. There's so many ways you can make money

600
00:39:39,460 --> 00:39:44,420
doing this. I mean, it just blows my mind, but hey, we can't leave the goodwill because

601
00:39:44,420 --> 00:39:47,860
you step outside the goodwill, all of a sudden weird things start happening. You know what

602
00:39:47,860 --> 00:39:52,260
happens? You start making more money, start finding better quality stuff, and you actually spend less

603
00:39:52,260 --> 00:39:55,380
money. All right, Johnny, I'm out here. I'm not even letting you wrap it up. We'll talk to you all

604
00:39:55,380 --> 00:40:00,900
in next week's episode. Thanks for listening to another episode of the Resellers Mindset Podcast.

605
00:40:00,900 --> 00:40:05,780
Today's full episode and all previous episodes are available to all YouTube members along with

606
00:40:05,780 --> 00:40:11,460
the weekly zoom call and private discord. Head on over to youtube.com backslash to use book guy and

607
00:40:11,460 --> 00:40:31,300
consider joining for as little as 2.99 a month.