WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 Welcome back to another episode of the Reseller's 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:04.559 Mindset Podcast. My name is Mike, also known 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.559 as the Used Book Guy on YouTube, along with my 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:08.599 friend and fellow full -time reseller, Johnny 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.150 B. We help people start and grow their reselling 00:00:11.150 --> 00:00:13.589 businesses from the ground up. We also have a 00:00:13.589 --> 00:00:15.570 weekly Zoom call and private Discord for all 00:00:15.570 --> 00:00:18.469 YouTube members. Head on over to youtube .com 00:00:18.469 --> 00:00:20.829 backslash usebookguy to join the channel and 00:00:20.829 --> 00:00:23.469 gain access to the full -length podcast, Zoom 00:00:23.469 --> 00:00:26.129 call, and private Discord today. Let's get into 00:00:26.129 --> 00:00:28.469 this week's episode. What is up, everybody? Welcome 00:00:28.469 --> 00:00:31.109 into another episode of Reseller's Mindset Podcast. 00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:34.130 Mike with Johnny, as always. Today's topic is 00:00:34.130 --> 00:00:36.390 a... This is going to be one where we have to 00:00:36.390 --> 00:00:38.450 tread lightly, kind of, sort of, but not really. 00:00:38.750 --> 00:00:41.390 But barriers to entry, are they a good thing? 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:44.549 Are they a bad thing? And like I said, you got 00:00:44.549 --> 00:00:46.170 to tread lightly, Johnny, because there's a lot 00:00:46.170 --> 00:00:47.890 of new people that want to get in the game. There's 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:49.350 a lot of people like us that have been around 00:00:49.350 --> 00:00:53.609 for a while. And the barriers are, I mean, even 00:00:53.609 --> 00:00:55.729 on eBay, I'm going to say the barriers are definitely 00:00:55.729 --> 00:00:58.270 higher because there's more advancements in technology 00:00:58.270 --> 00:01:00.549 and there's more people reselling than there 00:01:00.549 --> 00:01:03.570 ever has. So I'll kind of let you go first here 00:01:03.570 --> 00:01:05.709 since it's a pretty easy softball topic that 00:01:05.709 --> 00:01:08.489 I didn't tell you beforehand. Yeah, yeah. Thanks 00:01:08.489 --> 00:01:12.049 for that, Mike. Pleasure as always. Yeah, I'd 00:01:12.049 --> 00:01:16.890 say in general, even before every year gets tougher, 00:01:16.989 --> 00:01:19.250 right? But even before this year, the big AI, 00:01:19.430 --> 00:01:23.790 I don't know, charge. eBay's always been a tougher 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:31.260 platform to start. Just because you got to. Yeah, 00:01:31.299 --> 00:01:33.379 you can get items, but it's a matter of I got 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:35.939 to set up a bank account. I got to set up how 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:38.620 I'm going to get paid. I got to learn how to 00:01:38.620 --> 00:01:44.200 list. I think you can get started quicker, but 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:46.900 I think the requirements to enter are a little 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:50.379 tougher. Though on Amazon, you got to scan your 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:52.420 ID and have a Zoom meeting. So I guess there's 00:01:52.420 --> 00:01:55.760 some technology advancements there as well. You 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.040 just didn't have to do that. So I guess. I guess 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:02.579 nowadays they're both pretty on par to get into. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:07.640 Now, as far as the monetary entry, well, you 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.419 got to have a little bit of money to spend usually, 00:02:09.460 --> 00:02:12.259 unless you're doing the free pickup model on 00:02:12.259 --> 00:02:16.460 either platform. If you're doing the free pickup 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:19.020 model, well, I guess you have to have a vehicle 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:22.259 of transport or at least a, I don't know, a little 00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:29.080 red wagon and a bus pass. And you can make a 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:31.740 go at it. We always say even a homeless person 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:34.460 could do this. They have access to a public library. 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:38.719 They probably couldn't do eBay because they don't 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.699 got the camera phone just yet. So they're probably 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:44.479 going to have to start an Amazon, that homeless 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:46.520 person, right? Then they can transition to eBay 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:54.490 once they get their camera phone. Yeah. The titles 00:02:54.490 --> 00:02:58.990 on eBay are getting more. I don't know, mainstream 00:02:58.990 --> 00:03:02.830 where you can list something and you can put 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:04.169 a couple of words in there and it's not going 00:03:04.169 --> 00:03:05.810 to sell because everybody else is doing professional 00:03:05.810 --> 00:03:08.270 titles like it's the full 80 character limit. 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:10.689 All the details you pretty much need are in the 00:03:10.689 --> 00:03:13.590 title. So the days of list it and forget it. 00:03:13.629 --> 00:03:18.919 I don't think you're there much anymore. Yeah, 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:21.840 a little bit of pocket change or a little red 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:26.719 wagon, and you can get eBay going. Now, Amazon's 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.960 a little tougher, I think, because of the tools, 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:34.099 man, the minimum tools you need. Now, we always 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:37.560 say you don't need to do all the software, but 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:39.840 the minimum software, you're probably going to 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:43.379 need a scout. People can get away with the Amazon 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:46.300 app, but that's hard, I think, off the gate. 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.569 Do you think? I mean, you kind of are a barrier 00:03:50.569 --> 00:03:53.150 to entry. I think about it this way, right? So 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:56.930 I am a new bookseller. I like books. I like sci 00:03:56.930 --> 00:03:58.969 -fi books. I want to start a little eBay business 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:02.509 selling sci -fi books. Well, I'm brand new to 00:04:02.509 --> 00:04:05.949 eBay. I don't know what they expect from photos 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:11.280 and title structure and item descriptions. I 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.020 mean, I hate to break it to you, but you are 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:15.699 like almost the ultimate barrier to entry to 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:18.000 somebody that's new because at the end of the 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.879 day, we've said it before, right? I mean, you 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:22.379 have the same item and we create the same listing. 00:04:22.459 --> 00:04:25.300 Like mine is just dog poop in comparison, right? 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:28.100 Like I can accept that and live with that. So 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:31.139 someone that's brand new, I think what happens 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:33.459 here is the seasoned sellers are adapting to 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:36.139 what the platform wants because sure, times are 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:37.579 not like they used to be. It's a little bit harder 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:40.990 now to pull a sale and to catch a fish. And the 00:04:40.990 --> 00:04:43.930 seasoned professional sellers, we'll call them, 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:47.189 understand here's exactly what the platform wants. 00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:49.310 So I'm going to do every single thing I possibly 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:52.769 can. Now, the new person, they don't know these 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:54.730 things. Maybe they watch a lot of videos, but 00:04:54.730 --> 00:04:57.209 a lot of videos aren't going to say, okay, well, 00:04:57.290 --> 00:05:01.230 here's my exact foolproof way to make the perfect 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.589 eBay listing, right? So you are a barrier to 00:05:05.589 --> 00:05:08.470 entry. How do you feel about that? Pretty darn 00:05:08.470 --> 00:05:11.610 good. See? See? I like that on the standard. 00:05:12.230 --> 00:05:14.350 Yeah, that is a good thing, right? But to the 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:16.610 new person, they don't get sales because Johnny's 00:05:16.610 --> 00:05:19.709 listings are too good. So it's like, I know you 00:05:19.709 --> 00:05:21.990 don't like to kind of tread lightly into hell 00:05:21.990 --> 00:05:23.410 with the new people that don't know what they're 00:05:23.410 --> 00:05:25.189 doing because you got to put in time to figure 00:05:25.189 --> 00:05:27.350 it out, right? But it is kind of interesting 00:05:27.350 --> 00:05:29.829 to think about it from that aspect. Like every 00:05:29.829 --> 00:05:34.290 amazing eBay seller is making it that much harder 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:36.740 for a new seller. But that's just the reality 00:05:36.740 --> 00:05:38.459 of business, right? If we kind of just look at 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:41.279 the grand scheme of the universe, like the winners 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.360 are going to win. Yeah, and here's the thing. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.399 So I'm the gateway, right, on the higher end 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.500 because I do charge higher. But there's a gateway 00:05:50.500 --> 00:05:53.319 on the lower end, the bulk guys. That's shit 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.220 though, dude. You can't outprice them. So even 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:58.300 if you say, okay, I'm going to beat Johnny. I'm 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:00.379 going to charge a dollar less than him. Well, 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:03.060 you know what? Joe Schmo that I can't compete 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:07.329 with. that charges, I don't know, $5 free ship. 00:06:08.889 --> 00:06:12.069 Okay, you can't compete with that guy. If you're 00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:15.129 trying to capture the lowest price customer, 00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:17.269 they don't want to spend a lot, but they'll buy, 00:06:17.509 --> 00:06:20.490 you'll get a lot of volume, but you're charging 00:06:20.490 --> 00:06:22.889 five bucks free ship. That's a hard model to 00:06:22.889 --> 00:06:24.829 compete with without special commercial rates. 00:06:24.949 --> 00:06:27.290 And those big guys got it. You got to be selling 00:06:27.290 --> 00:06:30.389 hundreds and hundreds a day to get access to 00:06:30.389 --> 00:06:35.279 that usually. So like, what do you do? Like, 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.220 I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:39.079 can't make the top quality listing to compete 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:41.959 with the Johnny. And I can't go lower because 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:44.639 the bulk guy with the stock photo is crushing 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.240 it because I just can't go under it. So I'm stuck 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.639 in the middle. And I guess I got to wait my turn 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.699 in line for Johnny to sell out. That's the worst 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:56.500 place to be in reselling is in the middle. Any 00:06:56.500 --> 00:06:58.980 way you look at it, you cannot just be the person 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:03.439 just mediocre reselling is dead. It's dead 100%. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.459 Whatever is mediocre part of your business, sooner 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:08.579 or later, you're not going to be in business. 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:11.980 It is interesting, though, because as we sit 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:13.980 here and say there's these barriers, right? And 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:17.519 I'll hop into the Amazon one here shortly. I 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.680 do think for the person that wants to treat this 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.819 like a business, there's still no better time 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:24.240 because like we're talking about the barriers, 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:27.720 they're all achievable. There's nothing really 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.300 stopping you from. passing every single hurdle 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:31.839 we're going to talk about this episode and that 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.360 we have already talked about you just have to 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.439 be willing to put the time in right it's not 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.060 just like johnny said it's not as easy as just 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:41.220 well just go list an item and you fall somewhere 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.199 in the middle and it sells right like everybody 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.879 that's a reseller has been reselling for over 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:49.180 six months three months knows that them days 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:51.240 are gone you need to have quality listings with 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:54.019 quality photos and you need to be consistent 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:56.420 no matter what platform you're selling on so 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:58.079 i think it is great for the person that says 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.470 hey I'm going to give this a real shot, right? 00:08:00.529 --> 00:08:02.810 I'm going to take this seriously for X amount 00:08:02.810 --> 00:08:04.689 of time. I want to make X amount of dollars. 00:08:04.949 --> 00:08:06.910 And I'm going to see what I can get out of this 00:08:06.910 --> 00:08:09.529 effort that I put into it. But that's a hard 00:08:09.529 --> 00:08:14.569 hill to climb because treating something seriously, 00:08:14.689 --> 00:08:16.069 especially if you're working, you've got other 00:08:16.069 --> 00:08:18.829 time commitments, it's super hard to kind of... 00:08:19.219 --> 00:08:21.740 go a hundred percent in a multiple different 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:24.379 areas and say, all right, well, instead of working 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:26.839 40 hours this week, I'm going to work 50 or instead 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.079 of 50, I'm going to work 60. But dude, the opportunities 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:31.839 there, we see new people come into the group 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:33.720 all the time that are just like, they take it 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:36.480 seriously. They treat the business right. And 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.120 what do you know? They make money at the end 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:42.019 of the day. Right. As you've been talking, I've 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:43.659 been thinking about what, how did I approach 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:46.559 the market when I first joined reselling? Cause 00:08:46.970 --> 00:08:49.909 eBay been out for a while, right? It's not a 00:08:49.909 --> 00:08:52.549 brand spanking new platform. I took a look at 00:08:52.549 --> 00:08:54.769 the market and I looked at what other people 00:08:54.769 --> 00:08:56.590 were doing, how they were selling. I'm like, 00:08:56.669 --> 00:08:59.629 okay, what can I do that's better? How can I 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:03.690 offer a better product presentation? Because 00:09:03.690 --> 00:09:07.909 that's what's going to sell or outsell most everybody 00:09:07.909 --> 00:09:10.470 else. And you know what? That required more work. 00:09:10.529 --> 00:09:12.289 They required more photos, more item specific, 00:09:12.490 --> 00:09:15.250 me putting a book description in the description 00:09:15.250 --> 00:09:18.379 field. Because not a lot of people do that. They 00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:20.559 may put a condition in their store policies, 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:22.279 but very few of them put a book description. 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:25.259 That's not the end -all be -all separator. That's 00:09:25.259 --> 00:09:29.639 just an addition to. And then, okay, if you're 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:31.620 going to do all that, well, then I need very 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:34.899 streamlined processes or I'm going to be screwed 00:09:34.899 --> 00:09:38.419 and I'll be suffering to get 10 up a day back 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:43.000 in those times. And it's... Making a commitment 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.559 to do that, to do a quality listing or do a quality 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.379 listing plus one extra step everybody else isn't 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:52.580 doing, that's a hard pill to swallow. It's like 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:54.440 you got to work really hard and you got to build 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:58.840 it up because your first day on the job, yeah, 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.100 you're not going to get any sales. It's just 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:03.980 not going to happen. Maybe you'll get sales that 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:09.159 week, potentially. What's up, Amazon sellers? 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:11.379 We wanted to take a second to talk about GoToLister, 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.960 the software me and Johnny both use to list and 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:16.259 manage our inventory and grow our businesses. 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:18.919 With the fastest listing speeds out there and 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:21.519 built -in profit analytics, it's a no -brainer. 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:24.480 Easily and quickly have items available for sale 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.399 using 2D barcodes and get more for your items 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:29.960 with its built -in smart pricing. Make sure to 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.299 check out the 30 -day free trial at gotolister 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:35.220 .com backslash Mike or using the link in the 00:10:35.220 --> 00:10:38.320 description below. It's a grind. And then on 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.799 the Amazon front, how do you compete there? So 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:43.879 many people on the same listing, right? And pretty 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.220 much it's lowest price wins. But you got your 00:10:48.220 --> 00:10:52.120 avenues, you got your new books or new items. 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:55.919 You've got your send it into Amazon and you got 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.840 your merchant. Okay. What field has the least 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:01.460 bit of competition that you could do? It's probably 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:04.450 new, but. How the heck do you get yourself a 00:11:04.450 --> 00:11:06.629 bunch of new legitimate products that Amazon 00:11:06.629 --> 00:11:09.730 will take? So then you may not want to go that 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:11.710 route because it's very complicated. You may 00:11:11.710 --> 00:11:15.049 decide to go the FBA route. And then figuring 00:11:15.049 --> 00:11:20.049 out all the complexities of triggers. uh and 00:11:20.049 --> 00:11:22.809 then where to go because i've seen cost of goods 00:11:22.809 --> 00:11:25.129 eat people alive like they're paying like three 00:11:25.129 --> 00:11:29.389 to four dollars to get a twenty dollar book that's 00:11:29.389 --> 00:11:32.309 look that's a grind in and of itself i mean margins 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:34.649 are slim so how do you get bigger margins then 00:11:34.649 --> 00:11:36.590 you gotta figure out sourcing and it's a spiderweb 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:39.110 effect um that's what makes you a business owner 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:43.259 figuring out all that stuff but It's still a 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:45.179 grind to figure it out. I'm not going to lie 00:11:45.179 --> 00:11:47.559 to you. It is. You're going to be working no 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.799 matter which way you slice it. Back in our day, 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:54.019 Johnny, I know back in my day, you just signed 00:11:54.019 --> 00:11:56.620 up and you just uploaded a picture of your ID, 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:59.000 I think. When you signed up on Amazon, did you 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.559 have to do the video or that wasn't yet? No, 00:12:01.580 --> 00:12:03.679 that was a requirement. I had to have a video 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.580 conference. Well, first they had me submit a 00:12:06.580 --> 00:12:08.860 form, which is just your standard information, 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:13.029 your bank account. um and you had to include 00:12:13.029 --> 00:12:19.070 photos of your id um and then i messed up on 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:21.149 mine and there's a timer because they they gotta 00:12:21.149 --> 00:12:23.789 work the people and he's like you got seven minutes 00:12:23.789 --> 00:12:27.090 to fix this i'm like what and it was i reversed 00:12:27.090 --> 00:12:32.429 my um my month and the day of the month uh on 00:12:32.429 --> 00:12:36.360 my application and so i'm like okay fine He's 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:37.879 like, what do I need to do? He's like, you need 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:41.000 to upload a photo of your ID so I can just validate 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:43.820 that it's legitimate. So I just scanned it in, 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:47.500 right? My wallet was in my room. So I had to 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:50.600 run to my room, grab my wallet, and then scan 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:54.419 it in and then email him. He wouldn't let me 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:58.419 just pop it up on the thing. And I finished like 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:02.399 a minute, 27 seconds to spare. I'm like. You 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.639 son of a gun. Cause I've been waiting two weeks 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.279 to do this one meeting. Right. And then it'd 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.440 be like another two weeks if I couldn't do it 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.580 this time. So they were lenient, but I had to 00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:17.279 hustle. I had to hustle on that call. And after 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:19.399 the call, you got to wait for something in the 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:22.000 mail. I forget what it's called. The postcard. 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:25.519 Yeah. The postcard enter that in and then you're 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:28.399 good to go. And then you may have some things 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.169 that pop up on Amazon. I forget that. You got 00:13:31.169 --> 00:13:34.070 to finish setting up your account. But it's not 00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:37.149 easy, especially if you're not technologically 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:39.909 inclined. Like, who has a scanner? I mean, I 00:13:39.909 --> 00:13:42.450 do because I bought the printer that had a scanner. 00:13:42.570 --> 00:13:45.029 If you don't have a scanner, I mean, you got 00:13:45.029 --> 00:13:47.710 to find somebody, know somebody, or guess what? 00:13:47.830 --> 00:13:51.929 That public library I always mentioned. I mean, 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:54.450 that's just the initial hurdle of signing up, 00:13:54.529 --> 00:13:57.570 right? Yeah. And to some, right, you said it 00:13:57.570 --> 00:14:00.320 might seem like a big hurdle. But to others, 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.480 like I would wonder what their ratio is of people 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:05.399 that sign up on Amazon, like what the percentage 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:07.779 is. And they actually show up to their first 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:09.700 video verification to even get their account 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:11.639 off the ground. I bet it's probably like a 50 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:14.519 50 split, like half the people do all the typing 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:16.480 in and then they're like schedule a meeting and 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.340 then they never. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. And. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.279 Because it's effort, right? Because that's the 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.899 first thing of, well, you have to show up on 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:28.879 time. You don't show up on time. They're like, 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:33.279 see you next person in line. Yeah. And it's that's 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:35.460 the initial sign up. I want to dive a little 00:14:35.460 --> 00:14:38.320 bit into. All right, you're signed up. And now 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.419 you can only sell a small percentage of items 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.059 in Amazon's catalog because everything is gated. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.419 Right. So on Amazon, brands are gated. Categories 00:14:47.419 --> 00:14:50.200 are gated. So people start out with used books. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.100 I started out with used books because it's one 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:54.800 of the few categories that's like. automatically 00:14:54.800 --> 00:14:56.879 ungated for everybody. So you can sign up on 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:59.259 Amazon today and you can start selling used books. 00:14:59.419 --> 00:15:02.340 Well, back in my day, we just sound like a bunch 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:04.179 of old timers in this podcast. And honestly, 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:06.139 we're on our way there. So it really don't matter. 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:08.279 Back in your days, like what, seven years ago, 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:10.940 six years ago? Yeah, you could just go and start 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:12.759 scanning books right away and you could sell 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:15.039 100 % of the books, right? Like there was no 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.220 gates at all. I could sell any book that was 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:20.299 profitable on Amazon. Well, nowadays, probably 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:23.039 for the past two or three years, You get approved. 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:24.899 You can sell new books, but you can only sell 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:27.039 a small percentage of new books, right, in the 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.299 beginning. Amazon kind of wants you to build 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:32.360 this, hey, show me what you got, right? Like, 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:34.259 show me you're actually going to send us products 00:15:34.259 --> 00:15:37.200 and sell something before we allow you to sell 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:39.080 all these other items. So a lot of new people 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:41.179 start and they think they can sell any of the 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:43.100 50 million books on Amazon. And then they go 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:46.019 scan and they can only sell 5%. And they're like, 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.379 they instantly quit right there. And I always 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:51.279 tell them, like. Just listen, send in a box or 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.259 two of what you can. And then as they get checked 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:57.240 in, Amazon automatically start releases a lot 00:15:57.240 --> 00:15:59.100 of these gates. So you can start selling a majority 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:01.539 of the book catalog. But so you do all the headache. 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:03.980 You show up to the video verification. You're 00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:05.940 like Johnny, run into the room to get his wallet. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:08.240 I do the same thing whenever I need like my card 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.759 for something I'll get on the computer. And then 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:13.860 you go to scan and you can only sell 5 % of the 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:15.639 books that you actually find that are profitable. 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:18.610 That's another hurdle because most people. throw 00:16:18.610 --> 00:16:20.970 in the tail there and it's like yeah i don't 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:23.629 know man it's it's consistency and wherewithal 00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:25.929 but the barriers are going to be no matter what 00:16:25.929 --> 00:16:27.330 business the barriers are going to be around 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:29.250 every corner and that's just a that's a second 00:16:29.250 --> 00:16:31.629 barrier we got your video now you got it you 00:16:31.629 --> 00:16:33.230 can only sell five percent of the books right 00:16:33.230 --> 00:16:35.129 so that's two barriers and we're not even we're 00:16:35.129 --> 00:16:37.490 like a week into the i guess you gotta wait two 00:16:37.490 --> 00:16:38.990 weeks for the video and then you can go start 00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:40.850 scanning so we're three weeks into the process 00:16:40.850 --> 00:16:43.710 because it's the video plus the postcard in the 00:16:43.710 --> 00:16:47.259 mail yeah yeah week You're almost looking at 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:49.860 a month turnaround time to even attempt to sell 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:52.539 your first item. You've already given 40 bucks, 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.840 right? Just to sign up. I'm curious, when you 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.679 started, was restock limits a thing or is it 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:02.120 still during the phase of just there's no limits? 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.579 It was, but it used to be like 5 ,000, like off 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:09.089 the rip. Like you can be brand new and you automatically 00:17:09.089 --> 00:17:11.730 got like 5 ,000. And I think they always increased 00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:13.750 it if you ever got close. I never made it that 00:17:13.750 --> 00:17:16.650 far at that time. But yeah, I'm pretty sure it 00:17:16.650 --> 00:17:20.170 was not really like any, it didn't matter. Gotcha. 00:17:20.630 --> 00:17:23.130 Gotcha. Because at one point in time, I don't 00:17:23.130 --> 00:17:24.849 think restock limits were a thing. You could 00:17:24.849 --> 00:17:27.289 just send it as much as you want. There were 00:17:27.289 --> 00:17:32.230 no storage fees. Oh my God, storage fees. Yeah, 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:36.890 that's a thing too. You're going to mess up or 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:38.589 you're going to send in bad inventory. And then 00:17:38.589 --> 00:17:40.190 after a period of time, you're going to have 00:17:40.190 --> 00:17:42.369 to, well, you're first probably going to eat 00:17:42.369 --> 00:17:43.950 a bill and your payouts are going to start to 00:17:43.950 --> 00:17:45.650 get less and less and less. And then you're going 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:47.130 to question it and then you're going to go digging. 00:17:47.349 --> 00:17:49.230 And then you're going to find out you have inventory 00:17:49.230 --> 00:17:51.410 that's been sitting in there for more than six 00:17:51.410 --> 00:17:54.410 months and it's got to go or else you're going 00:17:54.410 --> 00:17:59.970 to have smaller payouts. So that's another gate, 00:18:00.049 --> 00:18:02.470 I think, is you got to monitor your inventory 00:18:02.470 --> 00:18:09.809 you're sending in. I'm going to give a real life 00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:12.289 example of exactly this, right? So, okay, you 00:18:12.289 --> 00:18:15.430 can sell books now. You start selling DVDs or 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:16.930 maybe you've been selling books and all of a 00:18:16.930 --> 00:18:19.109 sudden you wake up one day and they say, Johnny, 00:18:19.150 --> 00:18:21.569 you no longer can sell Scholastic. Or the big 00:18:21.569 --> 00:18:24.630 one recently was universal DVDs, right? You can't 00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:28.410 sell universal branded DVDs. So there's going 00:18:28.410 --> 00:18:30.230 to be these hiccups along the road. Think about 00:18:30.230 --> 00:18:31.670 it this way. If you were the brand, you don't 00:18:31.670 --> 00:18:34.069 want these random people selling your products, 00:18:34.190 --> 00:18:36.140 right? Because you don't know what the... quality 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:38.500 is is johnny burning dvds and send them into 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:42.700 amazon to sell etc etc so what happens here is 00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:45.940 people yet again say well i guess it's time to 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:47.480 call it quits because they're just going to gate 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.539 everything on me and it's the end of times well 00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:53.400 my real life example is exactly it's not related 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:57.119 to amazon it's related to ebay you there's other 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:59.720 avenues to make money for those products you 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:04.119 can't sell yourself right like i I can sell the 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:06.640 stuff on eBay, but I don't have the expertise. 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:08.980 I don't have the knowledge. And I would argue 00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:11.420 probably the biggest barrier to eBay is knowledge 00:19:11.420 --> 00:19:13.339 of the platform and the products you're selling. 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:17.380 And I don't have that. So we're getting the items, 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:20.440 we're getting the DVDs for a buck, right? Or 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.299 a dollar, right? We're making 10 bucks, 15, 20 00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:26.920 bucks on some of these. Well, if you have somebody 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:28.880 you can just send this stuff to, to sell it for 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.170 you. theoretically, it's less work and you still 00:19:32.170 --> 00:19:33.849 are making money on the back end, right? Like 00:19:33.849 --> 00:19:35.549 I think about it this way. I had that stuff sitting 00:19:35.549 --> 00:19:37.930 that you already sold for me on eBay. It was 00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:39.809 like sitting in my storage unit for months and 00:19:39.809 --> 00:19:41.869 months and months. I just never was going to 00:19:41.869 --> 00:19:44.410 do it. So when you do run into this, oh, I can't 00:19:44.410 --> 00:19:46.349 sell the History Channel anymore, like this DVD 00:19:46.349 --> 00:19:49.690 I'm holding. Well, Johnny can or somebody you 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:51.630 know can, right? And that's why it's a good thing 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:53.430 to kind of have these relationships and be around 00:19:53.430 --> 00:19:56.769 people and say, hey, you know. uh can you sell 00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:58.930 this for me on 55th split commission whatever 00:19:58.930 --> 00:20:01.349 that may be i think there's always an answer 00:20:01.349 --> 00:20:04.690 to every barrier that we run into it i don't 00:20:04.690 --> 00:20:07.289 think any the barrier that really sinks us is 00:20:07.289 --> 00:20:10.109 if they say you can't sell no more right then 00:20:10.109 --> 00:20:11.990 all right well what are we gonna do we can't 00:20:11.990 --> 00:20:14.509 sell no more everything else you're always gonna 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:16.869 have to pivot some point in your life right like 00:20:16.869 --> 00:20:18.529 you always gotta take a risk you always gotta 00:20:18.529 --> 00:20:20.529 try something different and when you get hit 00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.569 with some of these punches you gotta do something 00:20:23.569 --> 00:20:26.170 different you can't just fold up That's it, dude. 00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:30.049 I quit so much for seven years, right? Yeah. 00:20:30.410 --> 00:20:32.170 So yeah, let's say you're gated. I mean, you 00:20:32.170 --> 00:20:34.869 got myself who does the 50 -50 consignment. You 00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:36.589 even got to sell back your book. That's not gonna 00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:38.569 be for every single item, but they've made a 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:42.029 gigantic empire on, well, let me just go with 00:20:42.029 --> 00:20:44.309 the main scanning application. As these scanners 00:20:44.309 --> 00:20:48.210 are scanning, I can offer them pennies. And if 00:20:48.210 --> 00:20:50.910 you can get enough pennies, that equates to dollars 00:20:50.910 --> 00:20:53.829 and they'll send you a check too. Then you've 00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:56.809 got the restricted inventory places, right? They 00:20:56.809 --> 00:20:59.789 do a similar thing to me. So they're more Amazon 00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:04.049 focused. I'll do eBay or Amazon or Abe. And then 00:21:04.049 --> 00:21:06.529 you got people like Max, who's just, he's making 00:21:06.529 --> 00:21:09.710 a business on, again, gated material. Send it 00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:13.069 to me. I'll sell it for you. So there's plenty 00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:14.750 of opportunities out there and there's plenty 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:18.220 of people to. to swindle your wares with. It 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:20.559 doesn't necessarily have to be the Amazon platform. 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:22.880 It could be adjacent to the Amazon platform. 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:26.880 And then you may want to dabble in eBay yourself. 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:29.420 So, you know, like, you know what? I got a spare 00:21:29.420 --> 00:21:32.519 hour after my Amazon, after my day job, I'll 00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:35.440 plug in an hour a day on eBay. It's going to 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:37.740 take you a minute, but once you grind it out, 00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:40.700 you'll start selling items yourself. And then 00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:45.279 I've seen people have some luck on Etsy. For 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.500 those that like to be the Etsy seller or even 00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:52.359 like the, what do they call it? Color books by 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:54.740 the foot, like all red books, all green books, 00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:56.640 that kind of thing. There's just different ways 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:58.819 to monetize. There's so many different avenues 00:21:58.819 --> 00:22:01.359 in our business to monetize. It's just taking 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:03.880 a second, either doing the research or talking 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:07.680 to people, finding out information and or experimenting. 00:22:08.940 --> 00:22:11.140 I'm a big proponent of experimenting. Well, let 00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:13.380 me try to sell back your book this year. You 00:22:13.380 --> 00:22:15.359 know what? I don't like the numbers. Let me try 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.000 to do it better on my side. Or you know what? 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:20.539 I'm going to try this other guy, this other program. 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:24.079 Or I'm going to try an antique booth mall. Maybe 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:27.559 you have the high traffic area where that stuff 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:30.279 just sells every weekend and you're just restocking 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.380 with BS. But that BS sells there and only there. 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:38.319 I gave myself a barrier probably three years 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.380 ago when I told myself. I wasn't going to sell 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.099 textbooks on Amazon anymore. Right. So like I 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.900 can probably sell every textbook on Amazon if 00:22:46.900 --> 00:22:49.500 I wanted to, besides like the top half percent. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:54.779 And I just said to myself, well, the risk, the 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:57.019 risk is the barrier for me. So these are items 00:22:57.019 --> 00:22:59.119 I can actually sell. But like if I'm out in the 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:00.779 thrift store and I scan a textbook and it's like, 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:03.019 you're going to make a hundred dollars. I send 00:23:03.019 --> 00:23:04.279 this in, I'm going to make a hundred dollars. 00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:06.319 And like Johnny says, I go to one of these buyback 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.019 companies and they're like, we're going to give 00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:11.519 you $15. guess who's taking the $15, right? Like 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.920 that's me every single time. It's hard to navigate 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:18.519 barriers when they happen, but it's not just, 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:21.000 some of these things aren't necessarily like 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.019 set in stone, right? Like I can sell the textbooks, 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.400 but I choose not to. And it's kind of like, there's 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:27.799 things on eBay you can't sell. I got you in trouble 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:29.539 for some of the things I sent you, right? They're 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:31.700 taking these listens down because they don't 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:35.700 meet their guidelines, right? It was naughty, 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:37.660 ladies and gentlemen. He sent me something naughty. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.619 Yeah, very, very naughty because I can't sell 00:23:44.619 --> 00:23:46.259 it on Amazon because they don't allow anything 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:48.880 even close. But dude, I did look it up on eBay 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:51.380 and there was one sold, right? So I'm just assuming 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:53.420 you could sell it because I don't know. I didn't 00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:56.000 understand that. There's ways to get around it. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.420 I plugged in the item specifics. That's why I 00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:00.680 got dinged because I cared about the listings. 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:03.660 If I didn't do that and I took out one word in 00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:05.859 that title, it probably would still be up. But 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:09.690 I did. I did a perfect listing, but Amazon called 00:24:09.690 --> 00:24:11.710 me out on my perfect listing. Not that it was 00:24:11.710 --> 00:24:14.750 imperfect. It was just like, oh no, you can't 00:24:14.750 --> 00:24:19.490 sell that here. No, no, no. On the topic of Amazon 00:24:19.490 --> 00:24:23.329 gates, I've only physically bought a few products 00:24:23.329 --> 00:24:25.769 to get ungated in a few brands, right? The only 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:28.069 brands I've ever bought products to get ungated 00:24:28.069 --> 00:24:34.009 for were Nintendo, Pokemon, and WWE. Those are 00:24:34.009 --> 00:24:36.880 the only ones. And rock and learn, which they 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:38.759 didn't accept. So that was a waste of my time 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:41.559 and money. But those are the only three. Everything 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:44.779 else that people get gated in, I think Amazon 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:47.400 has a new system in place where you have to be 00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:49.839 selling products of that specific brand. And 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:51.319 they have a hidden algorithm where it's like 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.000 the top X percent of the sellers of Universal 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.240 are still going to be able to sell. Then the 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:57.799 next percent, you're going to need an invoice 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:00.160 for 100 units. And then the next percent is going 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.400 to be you can't sell it at all. So the only thing 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:05.210 Amazon is telling you. It's to sell more items. 00:25:05.309 --> 00:25:07.490 But everybody's sitting here right now. I know 00:25:07.490 --> 00:25:09.470 the first thing coming out their mouth is, well, 00:25:09.549 --> 00:25:12.509 how can I sell more items if the catalog isn't 00:25:12.509 --> 00:25:15.849 as openly available to somebody like me? Right. 00:25:15.910 --> 00:25:19.390 Because maybe I'm part time and I wish I could 00:25:19.390 --> 00:25:22.670 sit here and say, you know, life is fair and 00:25:22.670 --> 00:25:25.829 business is fair. But unfortunately, it's not. 00:25:26.029 --> 00:25:28.750 And that's why there's almost like the perfect 00:25:28.750 --> 00:25:30.950 storm, because the beginning of this year, I 00:25:30.950 --> 00:25:32.529 said the only thing that matters in this business 00:25:32.529 --> 00:25:35.359 is sell through. So I've been selling the crap 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:37.660 out of everything. I'm taking some of the money 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:40.799 every single time. And all of a sudden this year, 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:42.359 they start rolling out all these gates. And it 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:44.839 seems like it's kind of implicated with what 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:47.980 you're selling of that specific brand on Amazon 00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:51.039 to avoid these gates, because I personally haven't 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:54.339 gotten hit with any of them. So I don't know 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:56.619 what it is. And I know it's unfair for the part 00:25:56.619 --> 00:25:59.609 -timer on Amazon. But if you have an avenue like 00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:01.970 we're talking about, right, like we got Max in 00:26:01.970 --> 00:26:04.190 the group, you know, the kid's been doing commissions 00:26:04.190 --> 00:26:07.069 with libraries and now he's offering to sell 00:26:07.069 --> 00:26:09.170 people's gated items. We got you for the eBay. 00:26:09.250 --> 00:26:11.730 You'll even do the Amazon stuff as well. Just 00:26:11.730 --> 00:26:13.410 take advantage of it, right? I'm still making 00:26:13.410 --> 00:26:14.990 money, right? The stuff I'm sending you, you're 00:26:14.990 --> 00:26:16.769 selling. I'm still making money on the back end. 00:26:16.829 --> 00:26:19.250 And honestly, dude, it's less work for me. I'm 00:26:19.250 --> 00:26:21.329 just throwing it in a box. And I mean, you could 00:26:21.329 --> 00:26:23.789 almost argue that it'd be better off for me to 00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:26.019 just do this with my whole business. It's the 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:28.940 same work for me. It's not extra work. People 00:26:28.940 --> 00:26:31.059 think that, but no, it's pretty much the same 00:26:31.059 --> 00:26:32.819 work. There's a little bit of different processes 00:26:32.819 --> 00:26:34.539 involved when I'm dealing with other people's 00:26:34.539 --> 00:26:37.119 stuff, but it's essentially the same workflow, 00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:43.019 so it's not extra. Let's talk about the one kid 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.319 we never really talk about, the merchant guys. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:47.920 You're brand new. How do you do a merchant operation? 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:51.400 You don't want to do eBay. You're opposed to 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:55.839 the fees. all of that that is FBA, you're looking 00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:58.500 at merchant, like, okay, you're going to need 00:26:58.500 --> 00:27:02.460 to store like an eBay seller. And you got to 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:04.339 factor in space because if you're doing merchant, 00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:07.819 I mean, you're going to have metrics that you're 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:10.660 going to list in, but it's not like on eBay where 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:12.940 you're charging like a $20 higher bill. You're 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:15.940 dealing with a lot more lower margin stuff. So 00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:18.240 you're going to need space. You're going to need 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:22.599 the infrastructure to put these items on. Are 00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:24.940 you going to have a turnover period? Like, I 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:27.839 don't know, every 270 days, we pull everything 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:30.200 that's 270 days plus. And then what do you do 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:33.119 with that stuff? So you have a whole host of 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.339 hurdles to overcome. There are very profitable 00:27:37.339 --> 00:27:39.180 merchant sellers. I'm not saying they're not, 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:43.259 but I think merchant is harder than FBA. 100. 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:45.279 Dude, think about it this way. Amazon tracks 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.180 your on -time delivery right now. So Johnny takes 00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:50.779 the order today. Literally, someone orders it 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:53.410 right now. He goes within the next 15 minutes, 00:27:53.470 --> 00:27:55.930 drops it off at the post office. If the post 00:27:55.930 --> 00:27:58.029 office decides not to hold up their end of the 00:27:58.029 --> 00:28:01.289 shipping agreement, which we all know, that shit's 00:28:01.289 --> 00:28:03.130 going to happen. Your stuff's going to sit there, 00:28:03.210 --> 00:28:05.309 and it doesn't get delivered on time, but you 00:28:05.309 --> 00:28:07.490 did every single thing you possibly could. You 00:28:07.490 --> 00:28:08.950 even did better than what you said you were going 00:28:08.950 --> 00:28:11.680 to do on the platform. You still get dinged. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:13.700 And Amazon don't play the games that eBay does 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:15.460 because you might get a negative feedback on 00:28:15.460 --> 00:28:18.480 eBay. Amazon will shut down your whole FBM operation 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:20.819 and say, you can't sell FBM because your items 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:22.420 are not getting delivered on time. And you can 00:28:22.420 --> 00:28:25.940 say, well, Jeff, hey, Bezos, Mr. Bezos, I'm taking 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:27.799 it to the post office. You can see the scans. 00:28:28.019 --> 00:28:29.220 They're going to say, well, it's not getting 00:28:29.220 --> 00:28:32.039 to the customers on time. So that's on you. I 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:34.539 listened to a pretty big merchant operation. 00:28:34.759 --> 00:28:39.039 They had a situation where their basement flooded. 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:42.099 And it damaged like 100 orders they had planned 00:28:42.099 --> 00:28:44.660 to send out. And he asked Amazon, well, they 00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:46.980 wanted him to send the books. And he said, no. 00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:49.640 You know what happened? 100 dings on his account. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:52.279 And they made him sign a letter that he was bad 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:55.000 and would never do that again for an act of nature 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:58.539 that was out of his control. That's insane to 00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:02.980 me. That tells me how much Amazon literally doesn't 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:05.759 care about you. You do what they say or you leave. 00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:08.440 Yeah, that's all it comes down to. So I'm going 00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:10.559 to wrap this episode up here. With barriers, 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:13.940 you can easily knock down every single barrier. 00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:16.180 You all have the tools, right? Especially if 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:17.859 you're selling books. Now, if you're in other 00:29:17.859 --> 00:29:19.779 categories, there's plenty of other experts out 00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:22.160 there. But if you were selling books or CDs or 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:24.500 DVDs on Amazon or eBay, you're looking at the 00:29:24.500 --> 00:29:27.380 two gentlemen that know how to get. shit sold 00:29:27.380 --> 00:29:30.380 and get it done the right way right like it's 00:29:30.380 --> 00:29:32.579 not even like a a shameless plug that's just 00:29:32.579 --> 00:29:34.460 the facts of the matter here right the facts 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:36.099 of the matter is when it comes to books book 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:39.140 listings johnny's the best when it comes to amazon 00:29:39.140 --> 00:29:41.339 selling me on amazon i'm not the best but i'm 00:29:41.339 --> 00:29:42.720 the only person that's going to show you exactly 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:44.420 what you need to do to actually get money coming 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:47.819 into your bank account and don't get discouraged 00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:51.250 don't get deterred because You might be sitting 00:29:51.250 --> 00:29:53.569 pretty like me right now. And then we wake up 00:29:53.569 --> 00:29:56.269 tomorrow and Amazon says, well, Mike, we're going 00:29:56.269 --> 00:29:59.029 to regate the whole DVD category and you're going 00:29:59.029 --> 00:30:00.910 to have to go buy a thousand units. That's why 00:30:00.910 --> 00:30:02.829 I want everybody to be strategic today with their 00:30:02.829 --> 00:30:05.809 money. Have a little bit of cash reserves for 00:30:05.809 --> 00:30:08.089 your business set aside. And that's how we can 00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:10.230 kind of get through the rainy days and everything 00:30:10.230 --> 00:30:11.869 like that. So we appreciate you all. We'll talk 00:30:11.869 --> 00:30:14.970 to you in next week's episode. Thanks for listening 00:30:14.970 --> 00:30:16.990 to another episode of the Reseller's Mindset 00:30:16.990 --> 00:30:19.589 Podcast. Today's full episode and all previous 00:30:19.589 --> 00:30:21.930 episodes are available to all YouTube members 00:30:21.930 --> 00:30:24.690 along with the weekly Zoom call and private Discord. 00:30:25.009 --> 00:30:27.809 Head on over to youtube .com backslash to use 00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:29.890 book guy and consider joining for as little as 00:30:29.890 --> 00:30:30.789 $2 .99 a month.