WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.200 Welcome back to another episode of the Reseller's 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:04.599 Mindset Podcast. My name is Mike, also known 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:06.599 as the Used Book Guy on YouTube, along with my 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:08.640 friend and fellow full -time reseller, Johnny 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.199 B. We help people start and grow their reselling 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:13.619 businesses from the ground up. We also have a 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:15.619 weekly Zoom call and private Discord for all 00:00:15.619 --> 00:00:18.500 YouTube members. Head on over to youtube .com 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:20.859 backslash usebookguy to join the channel and 00:00:20.859 --> 00:00:23.480 gain access to the full -length podcast, Zoom 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.160 call, and private Discord today. Let's get into 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.440 this week's episode. What is up, everybody? Welcome 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:31.079 into another episode of Reseller's Mindset Podcast. 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:35.799 Mike, next to Carlos Norris, Chuck Norris, a 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.179 .k .a. Johnny. He's got... Chuck is his background, 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.700 Chuck Norris on those watching the YouTube realm. 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:45.399 Today's topic, Johnny, is going to be, I feel 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:47.399 like we talk about this all the time and I kind 00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:50.359 of got irritated the other week I made a video 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:53.600 talking about like being a new seller on Amazon. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:57.460 And it's this idea that the potential of the 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:02.259 fees stops us from seeing our real actual growth 00:01:02.259 --> 00:01:04.540 in the business, right? This idea that, well, 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:07.019 the fees are so high, how am I going to make 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:09.140 money? Don't matter what platform, right? eBay, 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:13.200 Amazon, whatnot, Bonanza, Macari, Etsy, Poshmark. 00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:18.299 The fees are accounted for. It's a number, right? 00:01:18.939 --> 00:01:21.159 It's a number. Here is what this number is. Now, 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:24.219 at Amazon, yeah, sure. And most of these platforms, 00:01:24.299 --> 00:01:26.099 it's based off how much you sell the item for 00:01:26.099 --> 00:01:28.140 because it's a percentage, but it's still a percentage. 00:01:28.219 --> 00:01:30.299 So you can sit here and say, the fees are going 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:34.120 to be 25 % and the fees are going to be 50%. 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:38.120 And I'm going to say this. I didn't even care. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.900 I'm going to piss everybody off. They're turning 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:45.000 off the podcast already, Johnny. People that 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.340 care about the fees and complain about the fees, 00:01:47.540 --> 00:01:49.579 they're broke. They don't make no damn money 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:53.920 anyway. Why are we worried about something we 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.959 can account for across the board? And you're 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:01.140 right, dude. It's such a limiting belief that, 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:05.200 oh, the fees are higher over here. Oh, the fees 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.489 are lower over here. And you think just because 00:02:07.489 --> 00:02:09.650 the fees are lower, you can go make more money, 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:11.069 or the fees are higher, you're going to make 00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:13.469 less money, when both of those statements can 00:02:13.469 --> 00:02:16.669 be completely and 100 % false a lot of the time. 00:02:17.669 --> 00:02:20.330 I made a hand gesture as Mike was giving the 00:02:20.330 --> 00:02:23.669 real stuff right there. Yeah, it wasn't a thumbs 00:02:23.669 --> 00:02:28.310 up. It was not a thumbs up. If you cannot operate 00:02:28.310 --> 00:02:33.050 a business, a 40 % margin, get out. There's something 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:35.409 wrong. There's something wrong with you. There's 00:02:35.409 --> 00:02:37.430 something wrong with your finances that stem 00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:41.870 way deeper and darker than a 60 % fee that Amazon 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:46.930 takes. A lot of business are happy with like 00:02:46.930 --> 00:02:50.810 a 3 % margin. And you're unsatisfied with a fucking 00:02:50.810 --> 00:02:56.310 40 or 50 or 60 % margin? Get out of here. I'm 00:02:56.310 --> 00:02:59.009 done with you. You're dead to me. It's just like, 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:02.189 it's an excuse, I guess, at the end of the day. 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.219 Right. Like because why else would you complain 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:06.439 about it? Like it's just an excuse for you not 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:09.300 to even, I guess, give something an opportunity, 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:13.400 like a real chance. And I it irritates me because 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.379 I'm an Amazon seller and the fees, like you said, 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:19.280 are like 50 to 60 percent. But like when you 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.189 really break it down. It's really not that much 00:03:22.189 --> 00:03:24.370 more expensive than if you just sold it yourself, 00:03:24.689 --> 00:03:26.289 right? And at least on Amazon, you can get a 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:28.710 premium for your items. I just think anybody 00:03:28.710 --> 00:03:31.569 that complains about fees is broke and they have 00:03:31.569 --> 00:03:36.270 no, I guess, outlook on growth or no understanding 00:03:36.270 --> 00:03:39.550 that no matter where you sell or what you do, 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:41.210 right? Like, okay, you don't want to pay fees. 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:46.110 Go open a Shopify store and pay the monthly fee 00:03:46.110 --> 00:03:48.669 for the Shopify store and take their small percentage 00:03:48.669 --> 00:03:51.669 when people check out. But then you have to drive 00:03:51.669 --> 00:03:54.270 your own traffic. There's a cost to everything 00:03:54.270 --> 00:03:57.810 in this business. And we just think when they 00:03:57.810 --> 00:04:00.710 raise fees like that, they're purposely just 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:03.150 trying to take more money. Sure, they are because 00:04:03.150 --> 00:04:06.169 they are running a business as well. Right. So 00:04:06.169 --> 00:04:09.349 they have to please their shareholders. And does 00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:12.250 it suck? 100 % of the time, any fee increase 00:04:12.250 --> 00:04:14.550 sucks for us because we're paying more in fees. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.899 you can account for everything. Like, are you 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:19.639 really buying something where you can't afford 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.600 the 30 cents or the extra 40 cents per item? 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:25.600 Because like Johnny said, you don't even have 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.720 a business anyway. Yeah, I mean, for those that 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:35.480 are sucky with the math, 10 % of a million dollars 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:43.079 is still 100 grand. And most... Americans, $100 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.540 ,000 is good money. The most third world country, 00:04:45.699 --> 00:04:48.459 $100 ,000 is fantastic money. You can do a lot 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:52.040 with $100 ,000. So, just because you may have 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.899 to do more and work harder for a smaller margin 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:59.800 than you'd like, suck it up, buttercup. It is 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:03.360 what it is. And you complaining and yelling and 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:09.540 just forum blasting or leaving nasty asinine 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:13.110 comments, It does nothing. Those fees aren't 00:05:13.110 --> 00:05:15.589 going to change just because you dislike them, 00:05:15.730 --> 00:05:19.370 sir or ma 'am. Just like the postal rates. My 00:05:19.370 --> 00:05:22.370 gosh, this is an expensive pack. I see this all 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:24.110 the time when I go to the post office. I'm like, 00:05:24.170 --> 00:05:25.910 get out of here, lady. You haven't been up here 00:05:25.910 --> 00:05:28.310 in six months, apparently. We got news on this 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:30.990 four months back. We generally get a heads up 00:05:30.990 --> 00:05:33.310 from Amazon that fees are going up and the post 00:05:33.310 --> 00:05:36.870 office. It's very rare that we don't. Even eBay 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:42.459 does this. Fees will always go up. And so you 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.120 got two options. You figure out how to run a 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.379 tighter ship on lower margin percents year after 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.560 year, or you sell higher end items to compensate 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:56.959 for these ever increasing fees. Those are the 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:58.980 two methodologies to go about it. And neither 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:05.740 one of them is wrong. Man, this one annoys me 00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:10.490 to a degree I can't describe. It's like. As business 00:06:10.490 --> 00:06:13.930 owners, we are problem solvers. A fee going up 00:06:13.930 --> 00:06:17.810 is a problem that we need to solve. It's not 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:21.529 a problem we just complain about and do fucking 00:06:21.529 --> 00:06:27.870 nothing. I like the idea that let's just go start 00:06:27.870 --> 00:06:32.370 our own website. Instead of eBay or Amazon, let's 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:34.970 just go start our own website. We'll have our 00:06:34.970 --> 00:06:39.810 own reselling platform. It's a good old eBay 00:06:39.810 --> 00:06:44.709 promoted listings fee that I've never seen anybody 00:06:44.709 --> 00:06:47.290 say anything good about eBay promoted listings. 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:49.829 And it cracks me up because I know somebody out 00:06:49.829 --> 00:06:53.009 there is probably paying. you know, five or 10 00:06:53.009 --> 00:06:54.930 X what everybody else is and probably seeing 00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:57.930 a huge increase in sales over the person that's 00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:01.310 like, it's a scam, dude. It is 100 % a scam. 00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:04.009 If we all promote at 2%, then we're not promoting 00:07:04.009 --> 00:07:06.230 at anything because everybody's promoting at 00:07:06.230 --> 00:07:08.550 2%. Meanwhile, there's somebody out there promoting 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:10.769 at 10 % who has the margin in their business 00:07:10.769 --> 00:07:13.629 and it's just like swimming in the money, right? 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:17.769 Like it's, I'm on you. I get burned out with 00:07:17.769 --> 00:07:20.029 the fee talk because it's all accounted for, 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:22.860 right? especially in Amazon land or even eBay 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:25.180 land, you kind of know what your fee percentage 00:07:25.180 --> 00:07:27.759 is on every single item based on your store and 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.160 things like that. If we can account for all this 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:32.560 up front, why are we complaining about it on 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.600 the back end? I know a guy who does exactly what 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.180 you're talking about with promoted listing. He 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:39.600 pays to be at the top, but he is in a saturated 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:43.000 market. He needs to do that in order to sell 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.379 through steadily because he can do all kinds 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:48.339 of... forecasting math if he does this and he 00:07:48.339 --> 00:07:52.560 is highly successful at what he does um but that's 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.620 like you're saying it's baked into his business 00:07:54.620 --> 00:07:57.759 model he knows the numbers because if he were 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.660 to like do two percent or no percent his sell 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:03.040 -through rate and his dollars he's raking in 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.620 would be trivial to what he's doing now he would 00:08:06.620 --> 00:08:10.000 be he would have to work at cvs if he was doing 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.009 it by any other means I think too, like we're 00:08:14.009 --> 00:08:16.629 resellers. Should we have like the craziest margin 00:08:16.629 --> 00:08:20.089 in the universe, right? Like I feel like we should, 00:08:20.149 --> 00:08:23.670 there's any, you know, it's not like tariffs 00:08:23.670 --> 00:08:26.329 are affecting us, right? Like we're just buying 00:08:26.329 --> 00:08:30.410 stuff locally, right? So like we have a lot of 00:08:30.410 --> 00:08:32.850 control on what our spend is per unit, right? 00:08:32.950 --> 00:08:35.509 We have a lot of control on, we have all the 00:08:35.509 --> 00:08:38.009 control on what we decide to buy to try to resell. 00:08:38.909 --> 00:08:41.250 this idea that, oh, I don't want to pay the extra 00:08:41.250 --> 00:08:45.389 fee. Well, your item never sells. And you're 00:08:45.389 --> 00:08:47.470 literally, it costs you money instead of making 00:08:47.470 --> 00:08:49.129 you money. I can't seem to get it through to 00:08:49.129 --> 00:08:51.210 people that we don't make money until the items 00:08:51.210 --> 00:08:54.389 sell. For some reason, we try to hang on to this. 00:08:54.529 --> 00:08:56.570 I'm going to get the top dollar. I'm not going 00:08:56.570 --> 00:08:59.830 to pay extra to promote my items. And then you 00:08:59.830 --> 00:09:01.350 don't make no money and you just keep spending 00:09:01.350 --> 00:09:04.049 money. What's up, Amazon sellers? We wanted to 00:09:04.049 --> 00:09:06.389 take a second to talk about GoToLister, the software 00:09:06.389 --> 00:09:08.870 me and Johnny both use to list and manage our 00:09:08.870 --> 00:09:11.950 inventory and grow our businesses. With the fastest 00:09:11.950 --> 00:09:13.929 listing speeds out there and built -in profit 00:09:13.929 --> 00:09:17.330 analytics, it's a no -brainer. Easily and quickly 00:09:17.330 --> 00:09:20.230 have items available for sale using 2D barcodes 00:09:20.230 --> 00:09:22.549 and get more for your items with its built -in 00:09:22.549 --> 00:09:25.090 smart pricing. Make sure to check out the 30 00:09:25.090 --> 00:09:28.009 -day free trial at gotolister .com backslash 00:09:28.009 --> 00:09:30.370 Mike or using the link in the description below. 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:33.740 Okay, let me ask you this. Would you rather get 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:37.840 $10 every day of the month, and these would be 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:45.299 the same items, or $100 every other week? Yeah, 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:48.320 I mean, I'm going to take the $10 every day. 00:09:48.750 --> 00:09:50.509 Yeah, I'm going to clear more money doing it 00:09:50.509 --> 00:09:52.429 that way. Even though it doesn't seem that way, 00:09:52.529 --> 00:09:55.029 it seems like I'm bringing in very little, but 00:09:55.029 --> 00:09:57.570 it compounds. It's about sell through. You're 00:09:57.570 --> 00:09:59.269 selling it over and over and over and over and 00:09:59.269 --> 00:10:03.690 over again versus the other guy doing $200 a 00:10:03.690 --> 00:10:06.850 post, you're $300 a month. Well, the $300 guy, 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:09.809 for those of bad math again, is making more money, 00:10:09.850 --> 00:10:12.049 ladies and gentlemen. He's got more money going 00:10:12.049 --> 00:10:17.220 into their bank account. It's okay to run a low 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:20.460 margin game or a high volume game as long as 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:22.200 you know your numbers and you're actually clearing 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:24.960 a few bucks. It's just a matter of scale at that 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:29.840 point. How much are you scaling? Because if you're 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.299 running the $10 game and you're only selling 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:36.340 10 items a month, that's not going to cut it. 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.419 It's just not. But if you're selling $10 items 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:42.139 and you're selling... I don't know, a thousand 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:44.299 of those a month because you sent in more or 00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:46.799 you listed more of those, that improves your 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:49.659 sell -through. That's game on. You can do that 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:53.100 over and over again. I think too, like when we 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:54.779 really started looking at it from that side, 00:10:54.940 --> 00:10:57.840 the spectrum, like Amazon punishes you for not 00:10:57.840 --> 00:10:59.899 selling items, right? They have storage fees 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:03.139 and there's removal fees. In eBay, it doesn't 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:05.639 exist. Well, you do get punished because it takes 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.210 up real estate in your house. It's mental real 00:11:08.210 --> 00:11:09.690 estate when you're looking at the same stuff 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:15.009 every single day. I think the platform even tells 00:11:15.009 --> 00:11:19.490 you, we want you to sell your items. We don't 00:11:19.490 --> 00:11:23.029 get paid until you sell your items. eBay, sure, 00:11:23.070 --> 00:11:25.230 you have the store subscription, whatever, if 00:11:25.230 --> 00:11:27.330 you have insertion fees, which most people don't. 00:11:28.330 --> 00:11:30.409 You can let it sit there for years and years 00:11:30.409 --> 00:11:33.210 and years. Amazon, they're like, hey, we need 00:11:33.210 --> 00:11:35.190 to sell this stuff or we're going to charge you. 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:38.110 out the ass to keep these items here but for 00:11:38.110 --> 00:11:41.730 some reason we still hang on to this hope of 00:11:41.730 --> 00:11:44.470 trying to get the most money all of the time 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:46.769 when if you take some of the money all the time 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:49.870 you're going to win you continuously have cash 00:11:49.870 --> 00:11:53.070 flow how many resellers don't have cash flow 00:11:53.070 --> 00:11:57.990 it's probably over 65 percent well i'm giving 00:11:57.990 --> 00:12:00.529 you the solution if you got a good item at a 00:12:00.529 --> 00:12:03.659 great price it'll sell I know it sounds crazy. 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.620 Sounds like, you know, like Bigfoot, right? Like, 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:09.940 but if you have a good desirable item and it's 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:12.860 at the best price, I promise you it will sell. 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:15.639 And it goes for eBay, goes for Amazon, goes for 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.240 anywhere. That's why you look at these people 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:20.299 and whatnot to push these crazy numbers. They're 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:23.259 buying large amounts of inventory. at discounted 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:26.000 prices so they can sell them at even more discounted 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.340 prices, right? It's just the idea of turning 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:30.860 a quick dollar into a quick dollar. Instead of 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:32.360 trying to be the person that's going to turn 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.080 a dollar into an item and you're going to hold 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:37.740 on to it for six months to a year and it never 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:40.679 sells. So honestly, that dollar has cost you 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.500 real estate and Amazon has cost you more than 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:45.080 a dollar because you had to store it. And if 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:47.100 you had to remove it, it costs you more. The 00:12:47.100 --> 00:12:50.409 fees or the Amazon fees literally tell you to 00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:52.649 sell your shit yesterday. And we still can't 00:12:52.649 --> 00:12:55.549 do it. We were still afraid to be super aggressive 00:12:55.549 --> 00:12:58.009 with repricing. And eBay, it's different because 00:12:58.009 --> 00:13:00.529 you have your own shelving. And sure, some of 00:13:00.529 --> 00:13:02.470 you like to live with all your eBay listings 00:13:02.470 --> 00:13:04.730 in the house and all over the place, but I still 00:13:04.730 --> 00:13:06.850 would challenge you that. Imagine if you could 00:13:06.850 --> 00:13:08.970 sell it all today, how much would you take for 00:13:08.970 --> 00:13:11.549 everything today? Like that is the opportunity 00:13:11.549 --> 00:13:15.730 you have, not worrying about the fees and playing 00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:18.970 the games they want you to play. Is it fair that 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:22.909 promotional listings are even a thing? No, because 00:13:22.909 --> 00:13:24.570 if you got the best listing, maybe you should 00:13:24.570 --> 00:13:26.870 pop up first. If you got the best price, maybe 00:13:26.870 --> 00:13:29.350 you should pop up first. But they have to make 00:13:29.350 --> 00:13:31.450 money. They are a business. These platforms are 00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:33.990 businesses. Amazon has ads as well. We just don't 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:37.230 deal with it in the used media land. But when 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:39.490 I listed on eBay, I always promoted my stuff. 00:13:39.769 --> 00:13:43.009 I think, I don't, I mean, I don't do it. Like 00:13:43.009 --> 00:13:45.230 I'm not knee deep in eBay, but I think like. 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:48.700 I know if I ever got back into eBay, I would 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:51.019 promote everything at more than the rate they 00:13:51.019 --> 00:13:53.580 would want because I know a lot of you suckers 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:57.600 aren't. And unlike most people, I want to sell 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.259 my stuff and make some damn money. I don't want 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.279 to sit around. My goal is to have a zero -item 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.700 store, everything sold. There you go. I mean, 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:09.500 okay, there are some other things that you could 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:15.649 do if you're a fee shock individual. okay, if 00:14:15.649 --> 00:14:20.809 your cost of goods are $1 .50 per book, somewhere 00:14:20.809 --> 00:14:23.429 in there, okay, how can I get them lower to make 00:14:23.429 --> 00:14:26.450 up my marginability back other than volume? Because 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:27.990 some people don't want to do tremendous volume. 00:14:28.250 --> 00:14:31.470 So you got to think differently. So let's cut 00:14:31.470 --> 00:14:34.190 cost. That's a way to make the same amount of 00:14:34.190 --> 00:14:36.750 margin once we're making. Whether that's buying, 00:14:36.950 --> 00:14:40.929 okay, I normally buy 100 poly bags, but if I 00:14:40.929 --> 00:14:44.679 buy 1 ,000 poly bags, I get a 15 % discount. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.519 That's 15 % more of my money back in my pocket. 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:50.220 Or like the subscriptions for the tools. There's 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:54.919 usually a monthly and a yearly. Even in groups 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:57.679 and stuff, that's usually the case. And there's 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.460 percent savings. So again, I'm making up marginability 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:03.000 back. And you just figure out how to cut cost 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:07.620 by either changing your purchasing habits and 00:15:07.620 --> 00:15:10.039 or looking for deals. Like if you know Uline 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:13.710 has that once a year. Shipping thing, you save 00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:16.429 up all year long and you go big on that purchase 00:15:16.429 --> 00:15:19.769 because you're going to save 50 % over the course 00:15:19.769 --> 00:15:21.789 of the entire year of stuff you're going to buy 00:15:21.789 --> 00:15:25.110 anyway. Same with shipping labels. Or you figure 00:15:25.110 --> 00:15:27.590 out, there are ways to figure out how to get 00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:30.870 stuff for free. Your books too, your CDs, DVDs, 00:15:30.870 --> 00:15:33.509 and video games too. If you cut all your buy 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:36.090 cost out, you're going to eat some time and a 00:15:36.090 --> 00:15:39.149 little bit of gas money, but it can be done. 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:43.679 And you can make up some margin back. It's not 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:46.940 easy. And here's where I think this stemmed from. 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:52.139 People don't like not easy things. And they get 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:54.899 mad when life becomes a little bit harder because 00:15:54.899 --> 00:15:56.860 they think life is as hard as it's going to be. 00:15:57.220 --> 00:16:01.500 And when something new comes up, making their 00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:03.639 life harder, it feels like they got punched in 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:05.919 the face. And they don't like getting punched 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.539 in the face. And so they scream and yell about 00:16:08.539 --> 00:16:12.600 it and do nothing. And it does. Does them, does 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.139 no one else that's reading it or who they're 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:19.919 yelling at any good? It's just a waste of time 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:23.639 all around for all involved. Yeah. Like you said, 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:26.059 with the shipping, like shipping goes up like 00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:28.340 three times a year now. Like every time it's 00:16:28.340 --> 00:16:30.580 like, this is the end of times, right? Like, 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.059 well, what are you going to do about it? I mean, 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:36.360 you start your own. That'll be the next comments 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.320 I start seeing. I'm going to start my own shipping 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:43.830 company, right? Everybody's got this grand solution 00:16:43.830 --> 00:16:46.950 to these problems that you just can't account 00:16:46.950 --> 00:16:49.250 for. You know shipping's going up three times 00:16:49.250 --> 00:16:51.309 a year. You go in, you change your shipping profile 00:16:51.309 --> 00:16:54.230 on eBay where you do calculated shipping and 00:16:54.230 --> 00:16:56.110 you don't even got to change anything. You could 00:16:56.110 --> 00:16:58.570 literally just pass it on to the consumer. Oh, 00:16:58.590 --> 00:17:00.049 well, then they take the fees off the shipment. 00:17:00.110 --> 00:17:02.070 So technically you're paying more fees. Well, 00:17:02.110 --> 00:17:04.769 listen here, little Johnny. If you can't afford 00:17:04.769 --> 00:17:09.369 the extra dimes and nickels, then... this ain't 00:17:09.369 --> 00:17:11.490 for you i mean we are reselling junk that we're 00:17:11.490 --> 00:17:15.130 buying for nothing and a lot of times 10x in 00:17:15.130 --> 00:17:18.150 our money all day long like if you can't like 00:17:18.150 --> 00:17:20.309 john said if you can't find margin to cover these 00:17:20.309 --> 00:17:23.950 fees that are so predatory and so business crushing 00:17:23.950 --> 00:17:27.359 then you gotta you gotta do something because 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.440 well i guess well i guess it's cool to whine 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.000 about things now though right it's just cool 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.299 to just be like oh man this sucks fees are up 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:35.700 man this is the end of course the fees are up 00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:37.859 look at look at the everything everything's up 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.359 what was the last time you went and bought something 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:42.859 from anywhere like wow this was actually cheaper 00:17:42.859 --> 00:17:45.319 than it was a year ago like it doesn't it doesn't 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:49.079 exist anymore so like hello it's just Get with 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:52.200 the times. As crappy as that sounds, we can't 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.059 control the fees. It's not like they come and 00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:56.380 ask, hey, should we raise fees? All in favor, 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:58.579 raise your hand, right? Like, nobody's ever going 00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:01.240 to raise their hand, right? It's crazy to me 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:02.980 that we get so bent out of shape. And I'm just 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:06.559 like, I just pay Amazon, you know, $100 ,000 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:10.160 a year in fees. And people are like, you paid 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.380 them $100 ,000 in fees? And I'm just like, yeah, 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:15.559 but it's all accounted for. That's the only number 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:17.630 they see. They don't see all those other numbers 00:18:17.630 --> 00:18:19.950 over here. They're good numbers. They just see 00:18:19.950 --> 00:18:21.710 this one number and they're like tunnel vision 00:18:21.710 --> 00:18:25.150 because no other numbers exist. And the brain's 00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:29.450 exploding like Mount St. Helens. I know. I know. 00:18:29.470 --> 00:18:30.910 And I just think to myself when I see one of 00:18:30.910 --> 00:18:33.369 those little ugly Amazon vans, I'm just like, 00:18:33.390 --> 00:18:35.490 yeah, I own that. That's mine. Yeah, I know. 00:18:35.549 --> 00:18:39.509 I bought one of those for you, right? Like it's 00:18:39.509 --> 00:18:42.029 all a huge network of things when it comes to 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:44.670 the fees. People just, resellers take it personally. 00:18:44.690 --> 00:18:47.529 Like, I've been selling on eBay for 60 years. 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:49.609 Well, no shit, the fees aren't what they were 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:54.529 back when you started back in 1922. If you're 00:18:54.529 --> 00:18:56.910 a free shipping guy and your business is suffering 00:18:56.910 --> 00:19:00.289 because of shipping, maybe switch from free shipping. 00:19:00.369 --> 00:19:05.529 Wow. That is the best piece of advice we've given 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:10.259 ever on this podcast. Maybe you should start 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:12.779 charging for shipping because that's marginability 00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:18.940 for just selling the same damn item. I was a 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:24.680 real true life story. True life, MTV style, old 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:27.000 school true life for those that remember MTV 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.160 when they actually had documentaries. True life 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.819 was one of them. So I was a huge proponent of 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:37.119 free shipping back when I did eBay. that was 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.099 selling the cat and dog toys and she said like 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:41.740 there ain't no way i'm doing free shipping and 00:19:41.740 --> 00:19:43.539 looking back it was the smartest decision she 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:46.500 made because the fees go up multiple times a 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:49.539 year and you pass it on to the customer and people 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:52.039 just you know they might be bent out of shape 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:53.880 but that's what it calls to ship an item right 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:56.140 so it's not like you're ripping anybody off it's 00:19:56.140 --> 00:20:01.640 uh it's it sucks but if you don't like it cbs 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:04.369 is hiring i mean They might not be in business 00:20:04.369 --> 00:20:06.369 for much longer, but you can go do something 00:20:06.369 --> 00:20:09.670 else. I remember I did my first reselling year 00:20:09.670 --> 00:20:14.210 free shipping. That's only because everybody 00:20:14.210 --> 00:20:19.710 I asked or saw on the YouTube land, they were 00:20:19.710 --> 00:20:22.349 doing low margin, high volume, and free shipping 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:25.369 was part of that model. And that was different 00:20:25.369 --> 00:20:27.690 than my eBay model, but I took that as a blanket. 00:20:27.789 --> 00:20:29.849 Nobody else is saying otherwise, this is what 00:20:29.849 --> 00:20:32.130 I need to do. And then it just dawned on me. 00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:34.750 Why don't I just charge for shipping? This sounds 00:20:34.750 --> 00:20:39.470 better. And it was better and is better. I don't 00:20:39.470 --> 00:20:42.529 even do media mail. I do first class mail with 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:44.609 all my eBay orders. It's sometimes priority if 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:49.509 they want to pay stupid money for it. But, yeah, 00:20:49.849 --> 00:20:52.190 and that's the other thing. People try to pick 00:20:52.190 --> 00:20:55.990 the lowest shipping class. Like, what is it? 00:20:56.029 --> 00:20:58.349 Bound printed matter. And then there's media 00:20:58.349 --> 00:21:00.269 mail. And then you got first class mail. I just 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:03.309 want first class. It is what it is. It gets there 00:21:03.309 --> 00:21:06.549 within two days. I'm covered with $100 free insurance. 00:21:06.849 --> 00:21:09.170 So no matter what, I'm getting $100 out of this 00:21:09.170 --> 00:21:14.849 item, whether they lose it or not. Yeah. I love 00:21:14.849 --> 00:21:16.910 me some bound printed matter on Amazon when I 00:21:16.910 --> 00:21:18.490 used to do merchant fulfilled. I'm like, I'm 00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:21.210 going to save three cents and I'm going to invest 00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:23.250 this three cents and I'm going to be a millionaire 00:21:23.250 --> 00:21:25.430 off the back of this three cents that I saved 00:21:25.430 --> 00:21:28.829 today. Right. And I'm not saying don't use bound 00:21:28.829 --> 00:21:33.269 printed matter. Don't use media mail. But I mean, 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:36.289 at the end of the day, it's just run your business 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:38.470 how you see fit. If you get better margins for 00:21:38.470 --> 00:21:40.009 bound point or matter route, that's the solution 00:21:40.009 --> 00:21:42.369 you came up with. That's okay. That is a perfect 00:21:42.369 --> 00:21:45.769 solution. A lot of people do it. Another thing 00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:48.650 in that is, I know Mike's not a big proponent 00:21:48.650 --> 00:21:50.690 of credit cards, but there are plenty of cash 00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:52.609 back cards for each mailing label. You can get 00:21:52.609 --> 00:21:56.930 2%, 2%, 2%, 2%. Crank that up. I mean, that's 00:21:56.930 --> 00:21:59.269 more margin back to you. I mean, a buddy of mine, 00:22:00.569 --> 00:22:03.329 I think he got nine grand back for the year in 00:22:03.329 --> 00:22:05.470 his cash back. He spends a lot of money in order 00:22:05.470 --> 00:22:10.569 to do that, but it all adds up. Or you can funnel 00:22:10.569 --> 00:22:12.829 it into points or whatever. You're making the 00:22:12.829 --> 00:22:15.289 money up. Again, this is all about problem solving. 00:22:15.490 --> 00:22:18.769 We are problem solvers as business owners. You 00:22:18.769 --> 00:22:21.190 got to ask yourself, I think there's like six 00:22:21.190 --> 00:22:24.549 critical questions. Who, what, where, when, how, 00:22:24.769 --> 00:22:30.650 why, and to what extent? To what extent is the 00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:32.849 duration of how long it's going to go on for, 00:22:32.890 --> 00:22:36.750 for those that aren't familiar. When is when 00:22:36.750 --> 00:22:39.549 you're starting. So there are different questions. 00:22:40.990 --> 00:22:45.769 You can solve like 95 % of problems with just 00:22:45.769 --> 00:22:48.450 those six questions. The hardest part is to figure 00:22:48.450 --> 00:22:51.710 out which order the questions go in for what 00:22:51.710 --> 00:22:55.869 problem. Like if you need to buy a home. probably 00:22:55.869 --> 00:23:00.470 your leading question is where versus how. Unless 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:03.410 you got very little money, then how might be 00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:05.170 the leading question. Again, it's about the order 00:23:05.170 --> 00:23:07.230 you put things in, and then you can work it out 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:09.390 from there by answering the other five questions. 00:23:10.049 --> 00:23:14.849 I think fees overall, they're always going to 00:23:14.849 --> 00:23:16.650 be there. There's always going to be more. And 00:23:16.650 --> 00:23:19.930 even if they decided to come out on lower fees, 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:23.400 People that complain about high fees will just 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:25.680 be like, well, they're just preparing us for 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.420 next year where they're going to quadruple the 00:23:28.420 --> 00:23:30.680 fees. So they lower fees this year and then next 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:32.799 year we're going to pay a million times more 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:36.859 like the people that are always going to be Debbie 00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:39.740 Downers about everything, especially with the 00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:42.970 fees. There is no satisfying these people. They're 00:23:42.970 --> 00:23:45.490 going to be a no fee weekend. This is just a 00:23:45.490 --> 00:23:47.309 weekend. And next month, they're going to raise 00:23:47.309 --> 00:23:49.109 it up and we're all going to have to pay the 00:23:49.109 --> 00:23:51.529 price. And these people are just miserable all 00:23:51.529 --> 00:23:53.549 around. That's what I realized. Like, if you 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:56.150 complain about fees or eating away at your business, 00:23:56.250 --> 00:23:58.650 then you don't you don't have the margin to begin 00:23:58.650 --> 00:24:01.150 with. Give me some final thoughts on fees before 00:24:01.150 --> 00:24:05.789 we roll out of here. I mean. They're never going 00:24:05.789 --> 00:24:09.289 to go away. There's no there's no happy. sunshine 00:24:09.289 --> 00:24:12.250 rainbows and puppy dogs out there where these 00:24:12.250 --> 00:24:14.390 fees go away. They're just inevitable reality. 00:24:14.829 --> 00:24:20.369 They're going to increase every year. And you 00:24:20.369 --> 00:24:24.930 have to figure it out. It is your responsibility. 00:24:25.529 --> 00:24:29.440 Amazon, eBay. The post office, they aren't going 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:32.579 to give you the gift of we're lowering fees except 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:34.660 watching a blue moon. But that's already after 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:36.920 they jacked it up 50%. So lowering it another 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:38.960 2 % doesn't mean diddly because you're still 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:43.119 left with 48 % going up than what it did originally. 00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:46.259 So don't think you're getting a break. There's 00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:47.940 no such thing as a free lunch, especially with 00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:53.819 fees. Yeah, yeah. I think this was a great opportunity 00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:56.440 for me and Johnny to tell you that we have never 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:01.119 raised. The $2 .99 monthly fee to join our wonderful, 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:03.099 amazing group that's all about selling books 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:06.640 on Amazon and eBay, CDs, DVDs as well, whatever 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:11.019 it may be. So unlike Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Mercari, 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:13.960 whatnot, Depop, all of them, we have not raised 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:16.460 our fees since we first launched this group. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.140 And Johnny tells me every day, listen, you guys 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:21.619 want to get angry? Johnny wants to raise fees, 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:23.740 and he's been wanting to raise fees for like 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:27.170 years now. Since we started. When we started, 00:25:27.269 --> 00:25:30.069 I said $2 .99 was too low. Here we are like four 00:25:30.069 --> 00:25:32.329 years fucking later. Everybody else is raising 00:25:32.329 --> 00:25:35.430 their damn fees, but not Mike. Not Mike. He's 00:25:35.430 --> 00:25:38.089 staying the course with his $2 .99. We might 00:25:38.089 --> 00:25:43.529 lower our fees. Fuck off. I want to have a million 00:25:43.529 --> 00:25:45.990 people on Johnny's call so he goes crazy, but 00:25:45.990 --> 00:25:47.470 that's going to do it for the episode. Don't 00:25:47.470 --> 00:25:49.170 let the fees get you bent out of shape, and we'll 00:25:49.170 --> 00:25:51.480 talk to you all next week. Thanks for listening 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:53.480 to another episode of the Reseller's Mindset 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:56.079 Podcast. Today's full episode and all previous 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:58.400 episodes are available to all YouTube members 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:01.160 along with the weekly Zoom call and private Discord. 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:04.299 Head on over to youtube .com backslash to use 00:26:04.299 --> 00:26:06.380 book guy and consider joining for as little as 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:07.279 $2 .99 a month.