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 --> 00:00:11.169 B. We help people start and grow their reselling 00:00:11.169 --> 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 --> 00:00:23.429 gain access to the full -length podcast, Zoom 00:00:23.429 --> 00:00:26.129 call, and private Discord today. Let's get into 00:00:26.129 --> 00:00:28.350 this week's episode. Hi, everybody. Welcome to 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:30.870 another exciting episode of Reseller Mindset. 00:00:30.890 --> 00:00:33.570 I'm doing the introduction today because Mike's 00:00:33.570 --> 00:00:35.250 like, this would be funny. Look at him cackle 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:36.950 over there. If you're watching on the YouTube 00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:41.450 stream. So yeah, today we're going to be talking 00:00:41.450 --> 00:00:44.789 about knowing your competition or knowing your 00:00:44.789 --> 00:00:47.310 enemy. And this is more from a local standpoint. 00:00:48.509 --> 00:00:51.429 Like if you go sourcing to one of your regular 00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:53.710 places and you notice it's not as good as it 00:00:53.710 --> 00:00:56.710 used to, you start asking some questions, maybe 00:00:56.710 --> 00:00:59.090 to the checkout person or maybe the manager, 00:00:59.189 --> 00:01:01.770 if you built up some kind of rapport there. And 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:04.049 like, yeah, there's a new scanner boy or girl 00:01:04.049 --> 00:01:06.670 in town. You're not the only one anymore. So 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:08.590 now you got competition in a place that used 00:01:08.590 --> 00:01:11.069 to be a honey hole, right? And it's like, what 00:01:11.069 --> 00:01:16.930 do you do? For me, I would ask some leading questions 00:01:16.930 --> 00:01:20.209 like, oh, when do they normally drop by? And 00:01:20.209 --> 00:01:23.829 then I may probably drop by around that time 00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:27.159 repeatedly until I figure out who they are. And 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:29.620 then maybe I just subtly start a conversation 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:32.299 with them again, asking some probing questions. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:36.560 So I will make my plan of attack from there. 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:38.620 And that'll usually mean I come in before them 00:01:38.620 --> 00:01:41.400 and I make sure I get it. Or maybe I have a talk 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:43.519 with the manager, like it's time to get that 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.780 backroom access going because this guy needs 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:51.079 to die. What are your thoughts, Mike? I didn't 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.500 think that I would be this excited about a topic. 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:55.959 Like when you first said, I was like, all right, 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:58.659 I get it, right? Like, but I actually am because 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:01.500 I have real life examples of just what Johnny 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:03.920 said. So I won't go into too much detail, but 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.840 I found some sources this year and there's other 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.879 scanners there, right? Like what Johnny's saying. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.280 And it kind of just happened as cheesy as this 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.960 sounds. It kind of just happened like Johnny 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:18.280 just said, like. oh there's somebody else here 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:21.639 like you're paying attention right so and in 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:23.979 one of the situations i heard the other the other 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:25.979 person was there while i was there right so like 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:29.379 we're both scanning and uh i heard them over 00:02:29.379 --> 00:02:32.460 i heard i'm i'm eavesdropping dude right i got 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:36.199 my big ears out like dumbo and uh the person 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:41.659 said like how often they come right I come on 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:43.939 the 17th every single month, right? I'm just 00:02:43.939 --> 00:02:47.159 saying that just for context, right? So if me, 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:49.139 for example, if it's me and Johnny and Johnny's 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:51.479 talking to the people that I come on the 17th 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:53.240 every single month, well, guess who's going to 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:57.520 be there on the 16th, right? Like it is, it's 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.379 a dog eat dog world. And I don't feel bad about 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:02.979 it, honestly. And that's just one of the kind 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:07.360 of ways where you have to understand what your 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.520 competition is in your market. We sell media. 00:03:09.930 --> 00:03:11.729 And we always sit here and say, it's everywhere, 00:03:11.870 --> 00:03:14.229 right? It is. Every store you go in, there's 00:03:14.229 --> 00:03:16.409 tons of different places you can get media from. 00:03:16.889 --> 00:03:21.629 But having that little leg up, it's worth its 00:03:21.629 --> 00:03:23.389 weight in gold. And this is just why we talk 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:25.990 about having relationships and kind of doing 00:03:25.990 --> 00:03:27.750 things like that. But you're right, dude. I literally, 00:03:27.909 --> 00:03:30.009 I do that to people. And that's not the only 00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:32.770 real life example I'm going to cover in this 00:03:32.770 --> 00:03:36.310 one. But that's one where I just literally overheard 00:03:36.310 --> 00:03:40.180 the other person give away. when they come every 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:43.879 single month and i said i had a grin on my face 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:47.479 oh yeah i mean you just you just ask the leading 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:49.620 question oh you're a reseller i'm a reseller 00:03:49.620 --> 00:03:52.960 too let's be friends right um and i will betray 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:58.479 you at the first moment i can uh so yes and like 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.659 when you go to like a library sale it's all the 00:04:00.659 --> 00:04:02.580 competition in the world right everybody there 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:04.759 is your competition so it's a little bit different 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.000 than when you're going to a thrift store i would 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.020 say um So, yeah, you could approach this person 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:14.000 or figure out information from, like I said, 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:18.579 the clerk, cashier person or manager. If you 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:21.680 approach them, don't be overt about it. Just 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.839 strike up a friendly conversation like you normally 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.000 would. They'll give you all the information they'll 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 need normally if they'll bother to talk to you 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.420 because they may not. They're like, no, go away. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.819 And if that's the case, you. You're going to 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:39.000 destroy them. You just have to figure out when 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.800 they're coming and how you get ahead of them, 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:44.300 what their route is. So maybe they got a whole 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:46.980 route that's the same route as yours, plus or 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:50.540 minus a few places. So once you figure all that 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:52.800 out, you'll eventually put them out of business. 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:55.519 Now, if they counterattack and do the same thing 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:57.720 to you, well, that's a very interesting game. 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.079 I think it's time to up your game about getting 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:03.860 backroom access and before they don't even get 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:05.500 a chance to touch it. Their schedule doesn't 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:09.720 matter at that point. Now on the reverse end, 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:13.040 you can make, instead of viewing them as your 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.420 enemy, you can make them your ally. Like, look, 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:19.540 it's you and me in this area. We got to work 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:20.899 something out here because we're just stepping 00:05:20.899 --> 00:05:23.480 on each other's toes. Or maybe like, what do 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.240 you like to sell? You're like, I'm books only. 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:29.420 I'm like, oh, okay. Then when I come here, maybe 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:32.620 I'll do disc only instead. And you kind of divide 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:34.860 the store up that way. So you're not getting 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:36.819 in each other's way or wasting each other's time. 00:05:37.220 --> 00:05:39.939 It's a gentleman's agreement or a lady's agreement, 00:05:40.100 --> 00:05:43.360 whatever the case may be. But they can go that 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.959 way. And maybe you can ask them, hey, when you 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.939 go to some other places, if you see any new sealed 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:52.379 DVDs or CDs, you can throw them my way. And if 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:55.930 I see any, I don't know. box sets, I'll throw 00:05:55.930 --> 00:05:58.970 them your way. And now you've made a connection 00:05:58.970 --> 00:06:02.350 where you're exchanging inventory versus competing 00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:04.610 over the same inventory. And that can be to your 00:06:04.610 --> 00:06:06.129 benefit as well. And it can lead to something 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:08.790 else. Or maybe you can look at them like, okay, 00:06:08.829 --> 00:06:10.490 they're going to fail, but they might be a good 00:06:10.490 --> 00:06:12.910 employee. So you could view it from that angle 00:06:12.910 --> 00:06:14.889 as well. Like I'm going to put them out of business, 00:06:14.930 --> 00:06:16.889 but I'm going to hire them in order to do so. 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:19.490 Maybe you need somebody to do photography or 00:06:19.490 --> 00:06:22.029 shipping or whatever. Because they may be doing 00:06:22.029 --> 00:06:23.850 this part -time. They're moonlighting. It's a 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:25.949 couple spare bucks. They have no master plans 00:06:25.949 --> 00:06:29.189 of becoming a big empire. And you can use that 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:33.670 to your advantage. If you can offer them an hourly 00:06:33.670 --> 00:06:36.129 wage that's better than them going to the thrift 00:06:36.129 --> 00:06:38.149 store, they might take it, actually, because 00:06:38.149 --> 00:06:39.649 they don't like necessarily coming to the thrift 00:06:39.649 --> 00:06:40.829 store. They're just trying to get a few extra 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:42.649 bucks. And if you're offering that with less 00:06:42.649 --> 00:06:46.889 work involved or less thinking, they actually 00:06:46.889 --> 00:06:50.449 may do it. I've seen that happen before. I got 00:06:50.449 --> 00:06:53.569 lots of examples for this and they're all kind 00:06:53.569 --> 00:06:55.629 of recent to like this year. I don't know what's 00:06:55.629 --> 00:06:58.370 going on, but another one I'm going to give everybody. 00:06:59.490 --> 00:07:01.370 I've been going to library sales this year for 00:07:01.370 --> 00:07:03.709 the first time in my 50 -year Amazon selling 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:07.670 career. And what I noticed was some library sales 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:09.709 have a preview night, right? So you got to show 00:07:09.709 --> 00:07:11.519 up. And you got to pay. It's usually between 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.399 $10 up to $25, right? So you got to pay to get 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:16.579 in the door, right? Imagine you go to Studio 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:18.980 66. You got to pay to get in, right? To be with 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:22.379 all the celebrities. I noticed there's this one 00:07:22.379 --> 00:07:27.879 group, large family. They're at every one that's 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:32.240 free. But if there's an entry fee to get in, 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:36.420 they do not go to those, right? So little things 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:39.009 like this. are going to give you a leg up. And 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:40.750 I know it doesn't seem like much, but these people 00:07:40.750 --> 00:07:43.209 are always, I don't know, I should go like one 00:07:43.209 --> 00:07:45.470 time just to see, like, I don't know how early 00:07:45.470 --> 00:07:47.449 they get there or they just camp out overnight. 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:49.870 These are not big sales by no means necessary. 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:52.730 I'm talking like 5 ,000 books. And these people 00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:55.089 are in first in line every single time. And there's 00:07:55.089 --> 00:07:57.730 usually at least five of them up to like eight, 00:07:57.790 --> 00:08:00.350 right? So one person just sits in line right 00:08:00.350 --> 00:08:02.269 before it opens, they all kind of go up, but 00:08:02.269 --> 00:08:05.110 they only go to the free ones. So, all right, 00:08:05.110 --> 00:08:07.420 well, you know, if it's free. You're guaranteed 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:09.660 I'm going to see these people. I've been all 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:11.500 over the state this year going to library sales. 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:13.899 Every single one that's been free, they've been 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:16.879 there. Every single one you've had to pay. What's 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:18.660 up, Amazon sellers? We wanted to take a second 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:20.939 to talk about GoToLister, the software me and 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:23.259 Johnny both use to list and manage our inventory 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:26.319 and grow our businesses. With the fastest listing 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.279 speeds out there and built -in profit analytics, 00:08:28.819 --> 00:08:31.939 it's a no -brainer. easily and quickly have items 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:34.940 available for sale using 2d barcodes and get 00:08:34.940 --> 00:08:36.879 more for your items with its built -in smart 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.519 pricing make sure to check out the 30 -day free 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:43.080 trial at gotolister .com backslash mike or using 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.460 the link in the description below not there right 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:48.679 so all right all of a sudden you got that first 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:51.240 huge group out of the way now you can still find 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.799 stuff right even if they're there um you're still 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:56.019 going to be able to find items but that's yet 00:08:56.019 --> 00:08:58.649 another thing right little little things you 00:08:58.649 --> 00:09:01.210 start catching on to right along the way you 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:03.289 start making little mental notes right i've been 00:09:03.289 --> 00:09:04.950 going to these library sales for the first time 00:09:04.950 --> 00:09:07.070 it's a brand new experience for me so i'm like 00:09:07.070 --> 00:09:09.230 all right well why are they going to this one 00:09:09.230 --> 00:09:11.629 that's right here but they're not going to this 00:09:11.629 --> 00:09:13.269 one that's right in the next town right it would 00:09:13.269 --> 00:09:15.389 only make sense that you would go to both and 00:09:15.389 --> 00:09:17.230 then you're like wait a minute well you got to 00:09:17.230 --> 00:09:21.009 pay 25 hours a person they got 10 people right 00:09:21.009 --> 00:09:24.429 that's an extra 250 bucks but me and johnny will 00:09:24.429 --> 00:09:25.649 sit here and say you're definitely going to make 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:28.100 that money back anyway so like Clearly, they're 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:29.659 not making no type of money in this business. 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:32.120 They can't afford to spend $10 a head just to 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:34.919 get into some of these sales. That's another 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:39.320 thing I really noticed. Knowing your enemy, it's 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.620 more than just almost thrifting. It's like habits. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:47.240 People are a creature of habit. If I go run the 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:50.139 same routes every single day, every single week 00:09:50.139 --> 00:09:51.940 of the month, I'm doing the same things, northeast, 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:54.360 southwest, and Johnny moves to the area. And 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:56.480 he figures out, well, Mike goes to, you know, 00:09:56.539 --> 00:09:59.179 Reading every second week of the month. And he 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:02.679 goes to wherever, Allentown every third week 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:04.720 of the month. Well, that's what Johnny's going 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.360 to do. He's going to undercut the crap out of 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.919 me. And then all of a sudden, like he said, you 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.460 go to these places and you're not finding this 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:14.039 much, right? And sure, sources change all the 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:16.320 time. We talk about sources change. So just because 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:17.799 you're not finding this much might not directly 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:19.980 mean that, you know, Johnny's moved into your 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:21.679 neighborhood or I moved into your neighborhood. 00:10:22.350 --> 00:10:24.769 But there are things you have to pay attention 00:10:24.769 --> 00:10:27.850 to. And this stuff really is like, it can make 00:10:27.850 --> 00:10:29.870 a big difference. And now I know whenever it's 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:33.830 a free library sale, the math don't even math, 00:10:34.009 --> 00:10:35.370 right? I'm gonna go off the wheels real quick. 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:39.129 Last one I went to was like 4 ,000 books, right? 00:10:39.509 --> 00:10:42.409 Maybe not even. That's not including nonfiction 00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:43.970 and fiction, right? So that's probably like a 00:10:43.970 --> 00:10:46.649 50 -50 split. So it's like 2 ,000 books. You're 00:10:46.649 --> 00:10:50.889 looking at maybe a 10 % accept rate, right? So 00:10:50.889 --> 00:10:53.529 out of your 2 ,000 books, that puts you at 200 00:10:53.529 --> 00:10:56.590 books that are profitable in the wholesale. Well, 00:10:56.649 --> 00:10:58.029 you're not the only people there. You're not 00:10:58.029 --> 00:10:59.909 scanning the wholesale. So if you're bringing 00:10:59.909 --> 00:11:04.269 10 people, we ain't making no damn money. The 00:11:04.269 --> 00:11:08.509 math, don't math. But yet again, here we are. 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:11.029 And knowing your enemy sometimes means you got 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:14.299 to... uh sometimes math is people's enemy and 00:11:14.299 --> 00:11:16.139 i'm a -okay with that but that's just another 00:11:16.139 --> 00:11:19.320 reason i want i want you to get to one that you 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:21.559 specifically have and i think that's on ebay 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.120 and knowing your competition for the category 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.860 you selling because you're you're kind of niched 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:29.960 down and like the the super trade paperback sci 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:34.759 -fi type guy and i'm curious like when you first 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:37.879 decided to go down this venture like did you 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:39.899 do like research to figure out like all right, 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.039 what do, how are people listing their stuff and 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:44.639 how can I do something differently? Exactly. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.179 So when I decided on, I like selling the easy 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.879 sell at a decent clip and they're fun to list. 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:54.200 I enjoy, not everything I list is fun, but these 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.840 are fun. So I started looking it up. Well, there 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.750 may be. On some of them, there may be up to 10 00:12:00.750 --> 00:12:02.490 to 12 listings. On some of them, there may be 00:12:02.490 --> 00:12:06.429 two. And then looking at the listings as a whole, 00:12:06.549 --> 00:12:09.529 whether it's 10 or two, and repeating that up 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:12.909 to 100 or 200 sampling size, the lack of effort 00:12:12.909 --> 00:12:17.129 is not there. Generally, these are one of two 00:12:17.129 --> 00:12:19.649 people. Either it's the comic book store, and 00:12:19.649 --> 00:12:21.710 they sell these books in addition to comics, 00:12:21.750 --> 00:12:24.309 just like they sell graphic novels. So I'm competing 00:12:24.309 --> 00:12:28.039 with those guys. Or it's somebody's private collection. 00:12:28.139 --> 00:12:30.480 They've been collecting for years. They got 10 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.320 ,000 of them. They say, well, it's been nice, 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:35.779 but I'm old, so security isn't great. I need 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:40.320 to sell these off. The comic guys, they don't 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.840 like putting in, most of them do not like putting 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:46.740 up banger listings. And the comic guys, they 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:48.659 don't want to be listing to begin with. A, they're 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:51.840 emotionally attached. B, it's hard for them. 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:54.440 They're not trying to be a reseller. They're 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:56.340 just trying to get a couple few bucks there. 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:00.960 So what I chose is like, if I make a quality 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:06.659 listing with these, I win. Now, there is thrift 00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:09.360 books and secondhand books and Dispens and all 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.200 those people. They're just playing the margin 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:13.659 game. And I see them as well, but they're not 00:13:13.659 --> 00:13:15.919 my competition. They're playing a gigantic game 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:19.450 of lowest price wins. So I don't even view them 00:13:19.450 --> 00:13:21.649 and they're using stock photos. So screw those 00:13:21.649 --> 00:13:25.389 guys. So that was my angle on it. And then I 00:13:25.389 --> 00:13:26.889 was like, okay, if I want to do a quality listing, 00:13:27.029 --> 00:13:28.769 I would need to charge up for this because my 00:13:28.769 --> 00:13:30.850 listings look like no one else in this little 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:35.169 sector. So I did. And then that's changed over 00:13:35.169 --> 00:13:37.970 the years. I started at a certain price and now 00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:39.889 it's at a different price. It's actually higher 00:13:39.889 --> 00:13:42.009 now because I know what I can get away with because 00:13:42.009 --> 00:13:45.470 I've been doing it so long. Because when I first 00:13:45.470 --> 00:13:48.529 started, it was $12 .99 free ship as my entry. 00:13:48.909 --> 00:13:53.409 Now it's like $20 plus like almost $7 shipping. 00:13:53.549 --> 00:13:55.490 Because I know, and that's my minimum injection. 00:13:55.830 --> 00:13:57.690 That doesn't mean I don't sell stuff for more 00:13:57.690 --> 00:14:00.409 if it's worth more. But that's what I need to 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:03.169 do. So I'm usually the highest price listing. 00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:05.370 But you know what? Given enough time, my stuff 00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:07.870 does sell because it's supply and demand. There's 00:14:07.870 --> 00:14:10.450 a lot more demand. There is supply. But it's 00:14:10.450 --> 00:14:14.549 a huge catalog of these paperbacks, right? around 00:14:14.549 --> 00:14:18.909 the 1920s up till today so over 100 years of 00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:21.409 material um and some of these guys would pump 00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:25.330 them out like once a week or in some cases more 00:14:25.330 --> 00:14:27.870 sometimes doesn't mean they're fantastic works 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:30.389 of literature a lot of it is but a lot of it's 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:33.129 hot garbage too like they had a quota to me they're 00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:35.549 just cranking these suckers out and they put 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:37.509 most of their money in cover art and that's what 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:40.409 makes you separate these things A lot of the 00:14:40.409 --> 00:14:42.549 times is the cover art. So they'll spend all 00:14:42.549 --> 00:14:45.590 of their effort there and little hair goes into 00:14:45.590 --> 00:14:48.470 the writing because it's just trash or it's mediocre. 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:50.889 It's not great, but it's a cool cover. And some 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:53.789 people just collect them for the cover. So they're 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:57.850 very comic book -esque. So I would say my main 00:14:57.850 --> 00:15:03.070 competition is the comic book stores, but they 00:15:03.070 --> 00:15:05.610 mainly focus more on comics and these paperbacks 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:10.110 are even below graphic novels for them. And they 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:13.970 also like to focus in the toys and the statues 00:15:13.970 --> 00:15:16.970 and the pop figurines that goes around the comics. 00:15:17.149 --> 00:15:19.269 Those are bigger ticket items for them. So it 00:15:19.269 --> 00:15:22.669 makes sense for them to focus on that. Do these 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:24.850 guys have everything, including what I sell? 00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:30.210 Yes, but I'm only selling this. I think the biggest 00:15:30.210 --> 00:15:33.750 advantage we have as resellers and knowing your 00:15:33.750 --> 00:15:37.570 enemy is that the overwhelming majority of resellers. 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:40.519 are going to be lazy and take shortcuts and not 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:42.379 do things the right way. That's just the reality 00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:44.559 of it. I'm sorry if this offends anybody. I don't 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:47.019 care. The years and years and years and years 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:50.320 I've been doing this, the biggest thing is people 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:53.159 don't do the job thoroughly and fully start to 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:55.200 finish in reselling because anybody can start 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.059 this business. You can drag it along and be non 00:15:58.059 --> 00:16:00.059 -profitable for the rest of your life if you 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:03.500 wanted to. So the biggest thing that I look at 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:06.600 when I'm out and I'm sourcing is I know even 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:08.970 if Johnny Well, not Johnny, because he would 00:16:08.970 --> 00:16:11.190 scan everything. But even if there was another 00:16:11.190 --> 00:16:14.710 scanner and they scanned before me, and I tell 00:16:14.710 --> 00:16:16.429 everybody in the group to do this all the time. 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:19.809 And I do this at library sales. I got this other 00:16:19.809 --> 00:16:24.409 person at my library sales. I don't know what 00:16:24.409 --> 00:16:26.090 his triggers are, right? We're working off software 00:16:26.090 --> 00:16:28.029 on our phone. You can have it set up to whatever 00:16:28.029 --> 00:16:31.730 parameters. Maybe Johnny's buying $20 only profit 00:16:31.730 --> 00:16:33.429 books, but I'm willing to take 10, right? So 00:16:33.429 --> 00:16:37.440 it's different for every single person. I scan 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.980 behind this specific person and I get looks, 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.500 right? Because I'm like scanning after them and 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:46.860 they see me putting stuff in my bag, right? They're 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:49.799 like, the hell's going on? I just scan that. 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:53.039 They're not making no money, right? And I'm sitting 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.159 here like, I'm thinking the same thing about 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:57.620 this guy. I'm like, the hell is this guy doing? 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.299 He's leaving behind all this money. And one of 00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:03.159 the things I noticed is that if the book doesn't 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:06.269 have a scannable barcode, for those on YouTube. 00:17:06.410 --> 00:17:08.470 I don't have one specifically, but there's no 00:17:08.470 --> 00:17:10.670 barcode on the back of the book, right? But there's 00:17:10.670 --> 00:17:14.069 like a little ISBN number. This dude does not 00:17:14.069 --> 00:17:16.849 scan ISBN numbers, right? And a lot of these 00:17:16.849 --> 00:17:19.150 books are usually from like smaller press companies, 00:17:19.769 --> 00:17:21.990 right? Like the university presses or something 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:25.849 like that. The accept rate on the ISBN scans 00:17:25.849 --> 00:17:29.490 is always 10 times higher than the barcode scans. 00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:32.819 But for some reason, We can't spend the two seconds 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:34.420 to hit the little camera button on our phone 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:37.039 and scan it. So whenever I scan behind this guy 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:40.559 and he's almost at every sale. Right. I know 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.819 I see the ISBN book. I'm like, here we go, baby. 00:17:44.059 --> 00:17:47.640 It's like it's you got to know what's going on, 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:50.059 being aware of around you. And maybe maybe the 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:52.000 first time you start doing something new, maybe 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.039 the first time you go to the bins. Right. Or 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.099 you're trying a new source. You're going to library 00:17:56.099 --> 00:17:58.640 sales for the first time. Maybe the first time 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.559 isn't so much about making and scanning as much. 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:04.079 It's kind of seeing what other people are doing, 00:18:04.220 --> 00:18:06.299 right? Seeing what the flow of the place is. 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:09.359 Where is everybody going to, right? In my experience, 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:12.880 most people run to like the history and like 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.460 the war sections. Me personally, I'm going self 00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:17.720 -help and religion. That's where the sell -through 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:20.180 is for me. Not so much the crazy, super high, 00:18:20.259 --> 00:18:22.799 profitable, slow -moving military book you might 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:24.960 come across. I really don't care about that. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:27.730 And I know if I just walk over here. boom, I'm 00:18:27.730 --> 00:18:29.569 knocking it out. And it's the same way when selling 00:18:29.569 --> 00:18:33.349 disc media, I go to a library sale. I'm not even 00:18:33.349 --> 00:18:34.849 going to the books first. I'm going to the disc 00:18:34.849 --> 00:18:37.569 media every single time. And most booksellers 00:18:37.569 --> 00:18:39.150 are just stuck in their ways and they don't, 00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:41.490 they just sell only books. And I'm just like, 00:18:41.569 --> 00:18:43.490 well, if this is what it's going to be, then 00:18:43.490 --> 00:18:44.950 I got to do something a little bit different 00:18:44.950 --> 00:18:48.250 to make some more money. And yeah, dude, it amazes 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:52.150 me how resellers just assume that every other 00:18:52.150 --> 00:18:54.670 reseller is the greatest reseller, right? Like 00:18:54.670 --> 00:18:57.170 if somebody's in there before me, Oh, there's 00:18:57.170 --> 00:18:59.809 nothing left for me, dude. They're already in 00:18:59.809 --> 00:19:01.490 there. I'm the opposite. I'm like, I'm laughing. 00:19:01.609 --> 00:19:05.390 I'm like, let's go see what Doink the Clown left 00:19:05.390 --> 00:19:07.470 us in the store because I know there's some good 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:11.069 money sitting in there. When I go to a sale like 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:13.869 that, the first thing I do is I don't shop for 00:19:13.869 --> 00:19:17.250 Amazon. I shop for eBay. So I make a complete 00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:20.769 pass of what I could just instantly pull, no 00:19:20.769 --> 00:19:23.690 questions asked. I will scan this stuff later. 00:19:24.170 --> 00:19:26.410 or look it up later to see if it can go to Amazon, 00:19:26.589 --> 00:19:28.869 and that's where I will send it. But I spend 00:19:28.869 --> 00:19:31.710 zero thinking time, and I just use my book knowledge, 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:35.210 make my initial pass. HubSpine, yoink. Trade 00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:37.390 little paperback sci -fi that I love to sell, 00:19:37.529 --> 00:19:41.769 yoink. Bible, yoink. These are things that I'm 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:46.349 guaranteed that I'm going to list on eBay. Regardless, 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:49.109 I'll do a condition check before I buy this stuff. 00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:52.359 That's a secondary thing. I'll yoink everything 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:55.480 out that I can, that I can just eyeball test. 00:19:55.579 --> 00:19:58.660 No questions asked. And there may be things that 00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:00.819 I have to toss them back. Like I open it up. 00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:02.940 It's all water damage or somebody took a gigantic 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:05.500 Crayola to the majority of the book. That's going 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:08.339 back or I open it and it falls apart on me. That's 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:12.119 going back, but I'll do that first. And then, 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:16.440 then I'll do my Amazon scanning because I'll 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:18.900 get a lot of books that the Amazon scanners. 00:20:19.690 --> 00:20:23.509 won't even look at that way or if there's in 00:20:23.509 --> 00:20:25.990 my area there's more ebay people than amazon 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:29.930 to be honest Me doing that, I'll get a lot more 00:20:29.930 --> 00:20:32.529 than they can even touch because they really 00:20:32.529 --> 00:20:34.670 don't have interest in Amazon for the most part 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:37.869 because they're eBay people. But they're an everything 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:40.250 store eBay kind of type, the ones that attend 00:20:40.250 --> 00:20:42.890 these book sales. So they aren't really booksellers. 00:20:42.890 --> 00:20:45.009 They're everything sellers. They just saw this 00:20:45.009 --> 00:20:47.250 sale on Facebook. I'm like, oh, cheap books. 00:20:47.430 --> 00:20:49.849 I can sell cheap books, right? Well, go away, 00:20:49.910 --> 00:20:53.990 everything seller. Nobody likes you. And as far 00:20:53.990 --> 00:20:56.690 as scanning goes, yeah, I hit the religion thing 00:20:56.690 --> 00:20:59.630 first because I'm Texas, right? Bible Belt. They 00:20:59.630 --> 00:21:01.750 usually got a big religious section. So I hit 00:21:01.750 --> 00:21:04.910 that first. And then it's either the self -help 00:21:04.910 --> 00:21:07.349 or the nonfiction. And then I'll hit the fiction 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:09.710 because I already know fiction. And because of 00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:12.569 my eyeball walk around, I've already yoinked 00:21:12.569 --> 00:21:14.789 what I wanted to yoink anyway. And it's in my 00:21:14.789 --> 00:21:16.910 cart already. Now it's just a matter of scanning 00:21:16.910 --> 00:21:19.089 for the outliers. In my opinion, they're going 00:21:19.089 --> 00:21:21.640 to go into Amazon. So I don't even really start 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:24.240 with fiction, but I do focus on fiction because 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:27.960 I have that knowledge in the fiction world. And 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:30.180 I start with that first, right? But I've already 00:21:30.180 --> 00:21:32.720 done the work and everybody avoids the fiction 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.099 like the plague minus the actual end consumer 00:21:35.099 --> 00:21:38.099 who reads fiction and is there to shop for fiction. 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:41.240 And yeah, they're the customer. Fine. So they're 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:43.740 my only real competition on that front, but I 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:46.720 don't really worry about them. Now, another thing 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:52.180 for competition. If we're going around to places, 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:53.940 like we were mentioning at the beginning of the 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:57.400 podcast, we can't find them, right? Well, here's 00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:00.799 a little thing to think about. Look at your social 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:03.319 media in your area. And if you notice somebody 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:06.099 who has dreams of being a young YouTuber, sorry, 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:09.859 Mike, and they're posting stuff, look at their 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:11.680 videos. And if you've been to enough stores, 00:22:11.779 --> 00:22:13.759 you can pretty much figure out what stores they're 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:17.980 going to. And you can watch some of their videos 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:20.259 at that point and then figure out their schedule 00:22:20.259 --> 00:22:21.539 because they'll talk about it because they're 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:23.400 YouTuber. Right. They want to talk about how 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:26.220 they do things. I mean, no offense to Mike, but 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:29.640 he talks probably more than he should about where 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:34.460 he sources from. But, yeah, it's out there and 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.680 even on Facebook or Instagram or even the almighty 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.720 Twitter. Right. The information's out there. 00:22:40.779 --> 00:22:44.400 Now, I have looked at what. On Amazon, when people 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:45.859 are on the listing, like, where are these people 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:47.319 from? Where are they getting this? I thought 00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:49.500 this thing was rare. Like, what state are they 00:22:49.500 --> 00:22:51.859 in? Because it gives you that information. You 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:55.299 can do something similar on eBay. And Tech and 00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:58.339 Sports, who does the Reseller Greatness podcast, 00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:01.700 he's got a great video on how to find stores 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:04.660 and stuff in his group. I've watched that video 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:06.500 several times because it's always like, if I 00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:09.779 need to know this, this will do me a solid at 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:12.000 the stage where I have heavy competition in my 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:20.500 area. I'm trying to think here. So when is a 00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:25.920 point that you should start worrying about competition 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:30.940 as far as the listings go on eBay and Amazon? 00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:35.500 Like, I think I was going to say this, but it 00:23:35.500 --> 00:23:37.900 kind of leads us right into this. I think another 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:40.539 thing with knowing the enemy with reselling is 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:44.180 that a lot of resellers. want all the money all 00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:48.079 the time and they're not thorough with going 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:51.180 back and being the best price right so not only 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:53.859 do they have one of the not best listing they 00:23:53.859 --> 00:23:57.019 don't have the best price either and to them 00:23:57.019 --> 00:23:59.880 i see it all the time and a lot of resellers 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:01.599 complain when they go to garage sales people 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:04.339 say oh i know what i got and i want x amount 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:06.720 of dollars well when you all go list your stuff 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:09.660 you do the same exact damn thing there's no sold 00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:12.460 comps and you think you can get 10x with a last 00:24:12.460 --> 00:24:15.299 sold for 90 days ago this is the biggest advantage 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:18.019 i have it's the only reason my amazon business 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:21.000 exists i don't even care it's because i scan 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:23.799 at the lowest price i send it in the lowest price 00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.700 i sell it at the lowest price nothing else matters 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:30.460 in amazon land i don't care who comments on this 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:33.160 video and says well my books are better condition 00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:37.460 or the buy box depended on location That is like 00:24:37.460 --> 00:24:42.700 a 0 .05 % of how they decide to buy box on Amazon. 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:45.720 The biggest one is price. So guess what I care 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:50.119 about? The price. And that is why I sell thousands 00:24:50.119 --> 00:24:52.180 and thousands and thousands and thousands and 00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:55.700 thousands of CDs, books, DVDs every single year. 00:24:55.980 --> 00:24:58.220 And that's why I'm still here. That's why the 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.940 bank account goes up. It's not because I sit 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:03.160 here and brag to Johnny that I have 50 ,000 Amazon 00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:06.799 listings. It's cool that I have 50 ,000 Amazon 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:08.680 listings, Johnny. Check me out. I'm the coolest 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:11.319 guy, the coolest cat on the block. And Johnny's 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:14.000 like, well, Mike, you're living under the underpass. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.680 And I'm like, dude, we don't care about that. 00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:20.960 You see my listing count here? You see my bars, 00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:24.599 right? That's the biggest thing, dude. We have 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:28.539 to price our items to sell no matter what platform. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:31.500 And we cannot do that because we're so damn greedy 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:35.339 that even though we spent. a dollar for the DVD, 00:25:35.700 --> 00:25:40.000 we need to get maximum, maximum money. Even if 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.339 there's somebody else on the listing and I look 00:25:42.339 --> 00:25:44.720 at it and like, well, mine's is a little bit 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.839 better. This thing sells once every 90 days and 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:49.819 there's only one other person, right? Mine's 00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:51.380 a little better quality. So I'm going to charge 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:53.740 like an extra 50 bucks. And then it just sits 00:25:53.740 --> 00:25:56.799 there, especially on eBay. Nobody goes back and 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.660 looks at their old prices. Like what is the percentage 00:25:58.660 --> 00:26:01.299 of eBay sellers? I would love to know this. Did 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:03.660 it actually go back? and either have the pricing 00:26:03.660 --> 00:26:06.180 buckets based on dates like a lot of the professional 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:08.759 eBay sellers do, like yourself, because I personally 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:11.000 rarely, rarely did it when I was an everything 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:13.539 seller on eBay. Whatever they set that initial 00:26:13.539 --> 00:26:16.900 price at, regardless, maybe somebody comes on 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:18.859 the listing and they got 100 of these, and the 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:21.140 quantity is 100, and it's 20 bucks cheaper than 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:23.339 yours. Dude, this is going to sit in my house 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:26.299 forever. I'm going to be staring at Alfred Hitchcock 00:26:26.299 --> 00:26:28.160 for the rest of my life. For those watching on 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:31.259 YouTube, I got one of his DVD sets. And you think 00:26:31.259 --> 00:26:35.970 to yourself, Well, eBay sucks. No, you suck. 00:26:38.130 --> 00:26:41.029 Well, since you brought up garage sales, here's 00:26:41.029 --> 00:26:44.369 another thing I like to think about. And maybe 00:26:44.369 --> 00:26:46.029 a lot of you haven't ever thought about this, 00:26:46.190 --> 00:26:50.430 but do you ever view garage sales and thrift 00:26:50.430 --> 00:26:53.049 stores and estate sales as your competition? 00:26:53.289 --> 00:26:55.950 Like, why didn't you get the phone call? Why 00:26:55.950 --> 00:26:58.130 didn't you get the email? Why is this stuff going 00:26:58.130 --> 00:27:00.789 there and not directly to me? I think about this 00:27:00.789 --> 00:27:03.960 a lot. that's my stuff sitting on that shelf. 00:27:04.019 --> 00:27:07.299 It should already be at my driveway. Why isn't 00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:12.759 it? What can I do to make that happen? So I know 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:15.039 it's an extreme, but I kind of view it that way. 00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:17.160 Like they are my competition. They're getting 00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:19.460 the stuff I'm not, and I'm having to pay them 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:24.940 to get the stuff. So I like to view it like, 00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:27.690 okay, how can I get it direct? How can I get 00:27:27.690 --> 00:27:30.109 it from wherever it came from? Somebody's home 00:27:30.109 --> 00:27:33.670 more than likely. I'm not going to include libraries 00:27:33.670 --> 00:27:35.230 because that's its own little special entity 00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:40.690 or any kind of nonprofit. But it's just like, 00:27:40.789 --> 00:27:44.930 okay, how can I up my game where I can make the 00:27:44.930 --> 00:27:48.769 thrift store shelves barren from books? That's 00:27:48.769 --> 00:27:50.690 it, dude. I mean, you got a good point. I'm going 00:27:50.690 --> 00:27:53.450 to tap on this real quick. You see that as competition. 00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:57.259 I see, and I think people now are kind of catching 00:27:57.259 --> 00:28:00.740 on to this more because these thrift store chains 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:03.440 are selling online. The thrift stores are the 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:06.000 competition. You go shop in a Goodwill, you're 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.140 literally giving your competition money, right? 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:10.039 And guess what they're doing? They're looking 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:12.579 everything up nowadays. So does self -test get 00:28:12.579 --> 00:28:15.240 into the sales floor? Sure, some items slip through 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:17.299 the crack, but we're talking a percent of a percent 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.099 anymore, right? It used to be a lot easier to 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:22.380 go into a Goodwill, fill up the cart. That does 00:28:22.380 --> 00:28:24.619 not exist, at least around me, in any way, shape, 00:28:24.619 --> 00:28:26.339 or form. You're not going to any Goodwill and 00:28:26.339 --> 00:28:28.839 even get more than 10 items when it comes to 00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:31.400 media because everything's scanned at a centralized 00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:34.160 location. So like you're saying, that's your 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:36.819 competition, right? And when I drive by the Goodwill 00:28:36.819 --> 00:28:38.880 and somebody's donating a car full of books, 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:41.400 I have the same thing. Johnny thinks like, shit, 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:43.019 that should have been mine, right? And I actually 00:28:43.019 --> 00:28:44.660 would have gave that person some money for their 00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:46.079 stuff. And maybe they would have appreciated 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:48.039 it. Maybe that would have turned into some word 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:50.279 of mouth. Then I get another connection and another 00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:54.519 connection. Absolutely. They are a competition, 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.660 boys and girls. They're selling online. We're 00:28:57.660 --> 00:28:59.920 competing with them. They're our direct competitor. 00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:02.920 And yet we're putting money in their pocket. 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:09.259 So until you establish different sources, why 00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:13.839 are you funding your competition? Or until you 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.940 figure out how to take away the stuff you're 00:29:16.940 --> 00:29:19.220 selling from your competition, why are you supporting 00:29:19.220 --> 00:29:22.329 your competition? These are key critical things 00:29:22.329 --> 00:29:24.529 you need to think over the lifespan and the course 00:29:24.529 --> 00:29:27.789 of your career as a reseller. It doesn't really 00:29:27.789 --> 00:29:31.589 matter what you sell. And then taking a step 00:29:31.589 --> 00:29:36.230 further, people like to flip, go from eBay to 00:29:36.230 --> 00:29:38.329 Amazon, right? And there's plenty of people who 00:29:38.329 --> 00:29:41.069 buy stuff from eBay to go to Amazon, but you're 00:29:41.069 --> 00:29:43.210 funding the competition over on the eBay front, 00:29:43.390 --> 00:29:46.940 right? You really are. uh even on the even on 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:48.740 the dollar start auctions or if you're doing 00:29:48.740 --> 00:29:51.039 whatnot um you're funding the competition there 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:54.839 more or less um you could view it more of in 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:57.500 that scenario they're they're a supplier i guess 00:29:57.500 --> 00:30:00.819 but where are they getting their stuff from why 00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:03.140 isn't it yours already that's i view it in the 00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:05.440 same kind of light like as the thrift stores 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.519 we were just mentioning like how come they got 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:10.039 it and i didn't that's how i'm looking at it 00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:12.279 that's all that's all boils down to and i know 00:30:12.279 --> 00:30:16.160 everybody thinks that right like everybody thinks 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:18.680 i think that myself when i like roll out of a 00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:21.700 back room and like there's another reseller there 00:30:21.700 --> 00:30:24.039 and they give you that look like why like why 00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:25.779 is that person in the back room right or like 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:28.359 when people watch my youtube videos and they 00:30:28.359 --> 00:30:31.599 you know they see me filling up the car with 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:33.519 books from the library back room which i'm going 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.759 to do today after we record this it's like well 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:41.700 why how let it's not fair and i It is fair. You're 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:44.740 just too lazy to put in that tiny bit of effort, 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:47.119 right? Like I've talked about the story a million 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:50.480 times, like how I wound up with one of my library 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:53.079 relationships was through a Craigslist post. 00:30:53.339 --> 00:30:56.299 Like who uses damn Craigslist anymore, right? 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:58.980 And I literally have a library for the rest of 00:30:58.980 --> 00:31:01.180 my life because of a stupid Craigslist post. 00:31:01.480 --> 00:31:04.769 Those are the types of things. I look back, like 00:31:04.769 --> 00:31:06.869 that's when I first started and I wanted it all, 00:31:07.009 --> 00:31:09.849 right? Like that hunger, I'll straight up admit, 00:31:09.950 --> 00:31:12.650 like I don't got that dog in me like I used to, 00:31:12.670 --> 00:31:15.089 right? Like I was like, I'm putting ads out everywhere. 00:31:15.190 --> 00:31:18.349 I want all the free microwave cookbooks. I don't 00:31:18.349 --> 00:31:20.009 care. I'll deal with them. I'll figure out a 00:31:20.009 --> 00:31:22.650 way to deal with them. That type of hunger and 00:31:22.650 --> 00:31:24.750 just thinking a little bit, a little bit outside 00:31:24.750 --> 00:31:27.470 the box, right? So many of us just rely on those 00:31:27.470 --> 00:31:31.529 thrift stores to pay us. And so many of us fail. 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:34.640 because we only rely on the thrift stores. But 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:36.819 Johnny said, they're selling all this stuff online. 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:40.079 This is your direct competition. You're not worried 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:43.160 about selling media on Amazon and worrying about 00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:45.299 the used book guy. Just go look on some of these. 00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:47.960 The Goodwills are in competitions with themselves. 00:31:48.460 --> 00:31:51.299 I've seen some book lists. The lowest 20 offers 00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:53.619 are all different Goodwills. The Goodwills, they 00:31:53.619 --> 00:31:56.680 don't care. They want to undercut their other 00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:59.279 competitors, which is in the same damn company. 00:31:59.380 --> 00:32:03.160 It's crazy to me. Right. I mean, I don't know 00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:05.819 if they're required to because of like collusion 00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:08.700 rules or what. But no, I see them undercutting 00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:13.599 themselves all the time. But I guess the regionalized 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:15.599 or franchise and they're all, quote unquote, 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:19.140 independent. Maybe they pay Big Papa headquartered 00:32:19.140 --> 00:32:23.259 Goodwill a yearly fee to do so. But they're all 00:32:23.259 --> 00:32:25.079 competing with each other and then we're competing 00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:28.940 with them. But they're getting the stuff because 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:32.089 we go buy it from them. Right. Why can't we get 00:32:32.089 --> 00:32:35.849 this stuff? It's not any harder. Yeah, they got 00:32:35.849 --> 00:32:38.190 the name brand recognition. We're going to get 00:32:38.190 --> 00:32:39.829 called out for that in the comments, certainly. 00:32:39.930 --> 00:32:42.650 I get it. But there's no reason you can't start 00:32:42.650 --> 00:32:44.650 building your own brand in your own little area. 00:32:45.009 --> 00:32:49.809 You may not go national or international with 00:32:49.809 --> 00:32:52.529 it like they have, but you could be the regional, 00:32:52.730 --> 00:32:55.950 I don't know, Winsboro, Texas book guy. It's 00:32:55.950 --> 00:32:58.430 going to him every time. He pays cash money. 00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:01.460 um and maybe he starts offering i don't know 00:33:01.460 --> 00:33:03.460 cryptocurrency as payment because that's the 00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:07.119 new fun thing to give instead of actual dollars 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:11.940 um you can figure it out it's hard a lot of us 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:13.599 are still working on it as like how do we get 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:15.940 more how do we get more and more and more for 00:33:15.940 --> 00:33:18.880 cheaper cheaper cheaper um or how do we get it 00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:20.940 all just coming to us and now we're just a factory 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:23.420 machine like uh mike's background back there 00:33:23.420 --> 00:33:26.480 that's a factory machine warehouse kind of operation 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:30.019 yeah it's uh It's kind of eye -opening when you 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:32.559 really think about it. And I'll be straight up. 00:33:32.599 --> 00:33:36.819 I tried to find an eBay seller or even a bookstore 00:33:36.819 --> 00:33:39.460 to come get stuff that I don't have that's good 00:33:39.460 --> 00:33:43.000 for Amazon. I can't find nobody, Johnny. I've 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:46.000 tried the zip code search on eBay. I've sent 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:48.680 messages. I've reached out to smaller bookstores. 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:51.180 Nobody wants to come literally get stuff for 00:33:51.180 --> 00:33:53.759 free. And I think it's a huge missed opportunity 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:57.019 because... They don't even know what I got, right? 00:33:57.099 --> 00:33:58.980 So why not just take the risk once and see what 00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:00.960 the quality is, right? You don't, this could 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:04.319 be good stuff. And it's hard, man. Knowing your 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:07.000 competition is, it's so crucial to this game 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:08.900 anymore. It's not like it used to be. It's not 00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:12.960 nowhere near as easy as it used to be. And we 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.340 just try to take the easy way out. And there's 00:34:16.340 --> 00:34:18.539 no easy way out. Like the great song from the 00:34:18.539 --> 00:34:20.599 Rocky soundtrack, there's no easy way out. Listen 00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:25.460 to it. It's the facts of life. It's cheesy to 00:34:25.460 --> 00:34:29.980 say like, oh, well, that's not fair because Johnny 00:34:29.980 --> 00:34:32.260 just went to his library three weeks ago and 00:34:32.260 --> 00:34:34.619 he got all the books. Like, how is that fair 00:34:34.619 --> 00:34:37.179 for somebody like me? Well, guess what? I hate 00:34:37.179 --> 00:34:39.260 to be the bearer of bad news. That's like one 00:34:39.260 --> 00:34:41.820 library out of probably 50 ,000 in the state 00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:46.480 of Texas. So many libraries. It's dumb. It's 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:49.099 really dumb. Every small town has a little small 00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:51.420 library. You just create an excuse for yourself. 00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:53.760 And it's just like a whiny crybaby excuse. So 00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:55.400 that's going to do it for knowing your competition. 00:34:55.659 --> 00:34:58.360 You've heard it here, right? Like the opportunity 00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:00.519 is there. There's always another source. And 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:03.719 let be pissed off like Johnny is. Or when I drive 00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:05.380 by and I see someone donate stuff, being like, 00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:08.260 damn, why can't I let me be the next person that 00:35:08.260 --> 00:35:09.960 gets this stuff next in line? And all you have 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:12.199 to do is not just go into a thrift store and 00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:14.269 hope you fill up your cart. Get active on social 00:35:14.269 --> 00:35:16.849 media. Put out some free pickup ads. The world 00:35:16.849 --> 00:35:18.610 is yours for the taking. We'll talk to you all 00:35:18.610 --> 00:35:21.409 in next week's episode. Thanks for listening 00:35:21.409 --> 00:35:23.429 to another episode of the Reseller's Mindset 00:35:23.429 --> 00:35:26.030 Podcast. Today's full episode and all previous 00:35:26.030 --> 00:35:28.429 episodes are available to all YouTube members 00:35:28.429 --> 00:35:31.110 along with the weekly Zoom call and private Discord. 00:35:31.449 --> 00:35:34.250 Head on over to youtube .com backslash to use 00:35:34.250 --> 00:35:36.329 book guy and consider joining for as little as 00:35:36.329 --> 00:35:37.250 $2 .99 a month.