Welcome back to another episode of the Reseller's
Mindset Podcast. My name is Mike, also known
as the Used Book Guy on YouTube, along with my
friend and fellow full -time reseller, Johnny
B. We help people start and grow their reselling
businesses from the ground up. We also have a
weekly Zoom call and private Discord for all
YouTube members. Head on over to youtube .com
backslash usedbookguy to join the channel and
gain access to the full -length podcast, Zoom
call, and private Discord today. Let's get into
this week's episode. What is up, everybody? Welcome
to another episode of Reseller's Mindset Podcast.
As you can see, me and Johnny got somebody else
to come on and actually talk with us. So this
has been a long time coming, kind of been in
each other's DMs for quite a while now. So I'm
just going to throw it over to him. He's going
to introduce himself, kind of tell you what he
does. I will say this, me and Johnny have...
openly trash talk whatnot in the book selling
space so i figured let's get somebody on here
that does it right and actually has results so
take us away hey hi everybody i'm stl bookkeeper
just coming in i'm a whatnot seller uh i sell
a little bit on amazon but mainly whatnot full
-time and i i sell magazines and vintage media
so uh i think I think you say magazines lightly
here, and there is, I guess, you know, you call
like spicy mags, but to be more, I guess, descriptive,
it's like Playboy type hustler and things like
that. Mainly Playboy. Mainly Playboy. So that's
kind of selling. How did you even get, how did
you decide like this is going to be your thing?
So, man, I got on Whatnot. Man, like I want to
say about two years ago almost now. And it's
only because I got kicked off eBay just because
of trying to sell, you know, mags and things
like that. I just stumbled upon them on an estate
sale. And that's mainly the attraction of just
like, OK, these are in great shape. I mean, they're
in the book section. I mean, can these sell like
books? I reached out to one of my mentors, Max,
and he let me know, yeah, these are these are
these are able to be sold. So I'm like, OK, let
me try selling them on whatnot. So I went and
tried to show out and I think I started them.
for like $15. And just because I'm like, this
is probably what they're going for. And one person
bought them all. So I'm like, well then I know
there's other people that probably want them.
So that just got a light bulb in my head. And
I'm like, let me try starting to just only sell
these. I tried yearbooks on whatnot. And they
didn't do as well for me. I sold a couple of
them and there just wasn't any interest in that
for me. But when I started getting into Playboys,
Playboys is more pop culture and I'm into pop
culture. So it seemed right up my alley for is
what I can get interested into and learn more
about. And I was right. I learned a ton and I'm
still continuously learning each day. it's a
very interesting path i started down but uh it
started all just at an estate sale i thought
like hey maybe i can sell these uh john i'm gonna
throw it over to you here in a second i'm just
curious like so you there i guess there are certain
limitations on ebay i don't know like you can't
sell like i know you try selling like i've tried
giving johnny like some anime kind of like 18
plus type stuff that he can't sell so i'm i'm
guessing is it kind of the same with playboy
or does it depend on like the cover the photos
i have no idea i'm just asking you too so first
starting off i tried selling like I didn't know
any of the rules really on eBay for that, so
I posted not just Playboy. You can sell mainly
Playboy, but they still tag you for that if you
do too much. It's really kind of risky, but I
was doing Hustlers and other magazines and things
like that. I got dinged a couple times, and I
was thinking maybe it's just I see others selling
it, so I'm thinking it's fine. I go and continuously
post, and sometimes it's one and done, or two
or three and done. It depends on your account.
kicked me off and I can get back on if I really
tried hard to, but I just was like, let me pivot
to something else because Whatnot was just being
promoted so heavily in my book group. So I was
like, let me try Whatnot out. Let me see what
this is about. And I definitely, I'm glad I did.
I'm glad eBay kicked me off, honestly. Yeah,
the rules on eBay for that stuff, they're really
hard and it's like speeding, right? Sometimes
they catch you, sometimes they don't. You can
figure out how to list that stuff by breaking
the rules, quote unquote. It's a harder racket.
And I kind of agree with you. If you're going
to specialize in that stuff, just go to a platform
where they're okay with it. So I think OneNote
was a good choice for that. They do let you a
little bit on Amazon, but they're kind of like
eBay. They got certain rules and requirements
and how you pack that stuff. Are you selling
the same kind of stock over on Amazon? Yeah,
I've sold Playboys over on Amazon. I've sold
maybe like 10 to 12 of them over there. They
sell pretty well. You just got to be careful
because I've gotten dinged for logo brand things
for the covers on Playboys. So I don't think
they dinged me. don't they have to put them in
those like black coverless bags or or not oh
i did it fbm so it was it was fbm i didn't send
them in so okay yeah yeah so so i think in fba
you have to use special poly bags where it doesn't
show the covers um so that's neat so so whatnot
how so you had the one customer buy everything
so how did how did you scale the whatnot up to
like what it is today like every show is a banger
for you pretty much Man, just I do I do a show
every day. I constantly get inventory, too. So
like I do shows six to seven days a week and
start it off for like an hour. Now I'm doing
like four to six hour shows a night. So it just
all started with like, honestly, just getting
one one hour shows in a day and just being consistent.
It started off like I maybe did two shows a week
and then I started to learn to, you know, get
the inventory a bit and kind of scale the shows
up more so. Were you nervous at the start? Because
I know when Mike and I started, we were a little
bit nervous doing the podcast. And it's exhausting
just talking and talking and talking. By the
end, we're kind of like brain dead. Are you just
kind of the same way after a whatnot show? Oh,
a thousand percent. It's like I've competed in
things and done things like with stages and things
like that. So I know the feeling of being like
drained from like performing. So it's like, yeah,
it's definitely a performance whenever you're
like, you know, putting on for the camera and
things like that. Right. People enjoy the shows.
They want the entertainment like they they really
thrive off the energy of whatnot. That's what
mainly the difference between other platforms.
You can bring that energy through the camera,
which kind of translate into dollars. So. Gotcha.
So six days a week. That sound that sounds rough.
I know you like it. I know you like the money,
but you ever have days like I just don't want
to stream tonight and you have to do it anyway
kind of deal. Only days where I come off from
doing pickups. If I do a pickup that day. And
I have to do all the heavy lifting. Honestly,
I could stream every day. I'm looking to hire
employees because I could stream every day for
a couple hours. The streaming isn't the hard
part. More or less, all the things behind the
streaming, the shipping, the packing, and the
sourcing, and the moving the boxes. I'm moving
thousands of magazines and boxes a month. So
it's a lot of stress on the body. Luckily, I
love to get massages, so that helps out. There
you go. So let's talk about the shipping for
a minute. So how many hours of shipping to how
many hours of streaming do you say the ratio
is? Wow. Yeah, that is. So if I do about two
hours of streaming, it's about three hours of
shipping. If I do four to five hours of streaming,
it's about like six to seven hours of shipping.
So it can get I'm doing I'm doing all the shipping
mainly by myself right now. I'm on like a tour
of around. from Midwest to East Coast kind of.
So and I'm kind of hitting some family members
houses. So I'm getting some help with shipping
right now. So it's helping out. But normally
it takes me a good four to seven hours of shipping.
I wake up at 430 mainly every day to start working
on shipping. So do you go to the post office
to drop it off or you have them come pick it
up? I go to the post office, have them drop it
off. I haven't got to the point where I'm getting
soon. I'm going to be having them come pick it
up. But right now I'm just dropping it off. Very
cool. So on the streams, you have to put on a
show, as you said, and do a performance. Yeah,
like a persona. What do you find is that people
react to the best in your personal performances?
Is it comedy? Is it historical facts? Is it you
just going, oh, wow, this is so cool? Or what's
like the your. That's a good question. Yeah.
So so I feel it's a different crowd. Every night.
That's one of the things I think it's more or
less it's you have to adapt. So. each night it's
it's a little different so some nights I have
to kind of maybe talk more about the price of
the mags and how much their value is but more
or less sometimes I have a lot of collectors
in there and they're already bidding them up
already and I have to tell more about the backstories
like the articles or the centerfolds and things
like that and that's what really attracts people
to bid up things so sometimes it's more of the
energy somebody had a bad day and they're looking
to like get you know some type of entertainment
and I make a witty comment under the name I I
always love. I've like, I got like dyslexia.
So I've like really hard for me to say names
really. So especially when it's so small on a
screen, I usually make up a name similar to their
letters or, and people love that. So I always,
and I remember those names. It's easy for me
to remember the name that I made up for someone.
So I can kind of always remember that person
when they come in and say the name and it builds
that connection with them. So sometimes it's
the connection with someone, like someone bid
up a mag and bought it because they really wanted
it, but they already had five of them that they
bought from me before. And they just said, They
reached out to me and said, hey, what's the condition?
And I told them, like, the condition. And it
was like, oh, great. I'm always just happy to
support you. So sometimes they're just there
to support. So it just depends on the crowd that
I have that night, you know. If I see a lot of
my regulars, then, you know, I give a little
bit more of just like a chill vibe of, you know,
we're just hanging out, you know. So it's kind
of like, and I love that. I love to kind of like
mix it up and mix it, you know, not the regular
normal stream every day. So it kind of makes
it a little different. Gotcha. So how many of
your other peers, whatnot shows, I mean, you're
working on your own business, of course, but
how often do you get to watch some other people's
shows to just pull ideas from or just show some
support? I only watch Earth One. That's the other
big streamer on Whatnot that sells Playboys.
And he does an amazing job. He goes on right
after me. Most times I really do not watch other
people's shows. I don't like watching other people's
shows just because I don't like stealing people's
ideas. It's easy for me to like. see something
i read this book still like an artist so it's
easy for me to like steal something and put in
my make my own of it but i don't want to like
make it sound too too you know similar to theirs
so i like to give people their own time their
own space to make their own originality because
i come up with things off of my my own head you
know so i don't really like you know because
i could catch myself seeing sometimes seeing
earth ones like little slang little logos and
things that make him i know i get people get
reactions out of because i can see the pattern
of you know when he said and when the when the
bids go up so i'm like oh that works and i don't
want i do that i kind of it's a good thing but
i kind of don't want to like you know steal his
style so i kind of like to Only just watch my
shows and a little bit of Earth One's. I go in
and support him and watch his shows and things
like that. But I try not to go watch too many
other people's shows. I watch a lot of other
booksellers, people in different categories.
I love going into other categories and watching
other category shows, get ideas from there. I
like that you watch yourself because I tell people
all the time when they need to make improvements
in their business, record yourself, see what
you're doing wrong because you can't see it when
you're doing it yourself. You're in the act of
doing it, but watching yourself doing it's a
whole other thing. You make a lot of improvements.
So let's talk about the bidding. Do you do dollar
starts and how do you do like the like sudden
death stuff? What do you do there for people
that are not familiar? So Whatnot is set up to
where you can make your business model kind of
different. You can do minute starts. You can
do 10 -second starts. You can do sudden death
where the time doesn't restart. That's when it
starts at 10 and someone bids. The time just
continuously clocks down. But on a normal bidding
basis, you have an option to add 5 seconds, 10
seconds, 3 seconds. So I chose to do more of
$1 starts. And this is just a more recent. Like
pivot to where I did started doing dollar starts
and that's been really helpful for the business.
But I also am a strong believer in doing. Two
dollar starts, three dollar starts, four dollar
kind of like I see people doing 30, 30 dollar
starts. I'm like started at whatever business
model works for your business. So if you can
get your things for a. good price and you can
start a four dollar i would suggest doing that
but if you can't you could it's totally fine
to start your stuff at three dollars four dollars
five dollars you know whatever you can profit
it and build an audience around that so that's
what i love about whatnot you can build your
audience around kind of like what you chose your
business model to be and you will find your your
your people you will find your tribe so i think
that's a really good uh part about whatnot so
And you and I are in the same group, and I see
the whatnot numbers being posted. Yours has always
been way up there, and I see people that have
been doing it longer or as long as you, and their
numbers aren't even close to yours. Is it simply
because of the product you're selling and they're
not? Or is there some other thing you think that
it causes them to have a kind of a slower snowball
effect? Because you're way ahead of the game,
in my opinion, when it comes to whatnot. I appreciate
that. Thank you, man. Yeah, you are. You are.
So I give props for props, too. But I'm noticing
that they're not yet. I'm not sure it's just
because of the product or there's something else
formulaic going on there. I think it's just the
time. I think it's just the time. I've been doing
it, like I say, for almost two years, doing the
same thing. I'm like, I don't. uh really like
switch up too much i've tried a few different
products like but every day i still stick to
my my bread and butter of my my my mag so i know
people that like you know i'm that that stay
consistent i think it's the consistency that's
the only thing that i can see that is the difference
between uh me and those some of those people
and i think if they're they're still consistent
with it within six months i think they'll be
right there along with me even more I think honestly
the people in our group can really exceed my
numbers like Max and like Kent because they have
like, it's a lot more variety for books. it's
then you can get for you know max it's like only
a few type of and everybody can get the max that
i'm selling so it's not something i'm doing too
different so i feel like it's it's more of just
the consistency of building your audience and
just building people that like trust you and
want to come see and hang out with you honestly
is and that's the one thing i love about whatnot
also because it's like i can be myself and you
know people come hang out with me and and order
with me because you know it's me and they're
hanging out with me so i think that has a lot
to do with it as well because people have told
me that they watch me as entertainment for like
youtube or for tv you know and relief so it's
like with that comes like other things that they're
willing to help donate and you know i get donations
some show so it's like you know it comes with
just people you know being around you with time
so personality inconsistency that makes a lot
of sense to me um so when um So donations. So
people just throw you money just because they
like how you are. Do they do you also do like
giveaways during your show or you don't? Oh,
yeah. I think a giveaway is a very important
part of what not. I think it's people that come
in and abuse it. But I think doing giveaways
help bring just those people that may have not
stayed in your show for a little longer to stay
in that show to see if they're going to win that
giveaway. And that's when, honestly, is a little
tip I would give people. to run your best items.
When you're doing your giveaway, run your best
items. You're going to have the most people you're
going to have in your show, most likely, during
your giveaway. And that's when you should really
capitalize on running the, you know, the high
ticket numbers. And then you have maybe five,
not maybe, you have five minutes to kind of explain
the significance of that item. And you can kind
of like really emphasize why they should bid
it up. I think that is what I use like at the
beginning of the show. It's really a hot time
to do it. You can do it in the middle. You can
do when people rage you. It's a really good way
to kind of like, you know, get get people into
the show and stand. So that's what everybody
wants to know. How do you keep people in your
show? And that is people hate to hear it, but
you don't have to give away, you know. five pound
five pound item but you can give away a four
ounce item that's like a sticker and you know
it won't cost you much and you know people are
willing to stay so cool so maintaining audience
uh retention but how how do you get them there
in the first place because i think that's the
hardest part about whatnot that people don't
put too much thinking time into like getting
that initial audience just going so what advice
do you have there for people that are wanting
to try this Well, it's a few tips. You can go
about it as getting saved, getting a bunch of
saved notes for your shows. And that's just going
with going and reaching out to people and letting
them know that you have a show coming up, sending
your show out to people in your audience that
you want to be actually selling to. You don't
want to go to random shows. So I think that's
a great way to do it. Having people know that
you're going to be having a certain item that's,
you know, really, really valuable or rare. And
that's by using your, you know, your title, using
that title and putting, you know, whatever start
you're doing. If you do dollar starts, they have
a little hashtag for that. So that's a benefit.
But I think the title, your thumbnail is just
like YouTube, your thumbnail and title are, you
know, super huge and whatnot. I really from the
start of it, I focused on my thumbnails and well,
not as much as my titles, but my thumbnails and
things like that to like make me different from
everybody else. And I think that's helped me,
you know, so I think your thumbnails are important.
So I think that'll be a very, very interesting
thing to like, you know, dive deep into for people
with you. If you have great thumbnails, I think
that's a really helpful thing for your shows.
Gotcha. So you said earlier on that you do other
media, other vintage media. What other vintage
media do you dabble in? So I also do like DVDs
when I get them. I do mainly DVDs and CDs when
I get them. I get them in bulk usually, and I
try to do shows with those and have a few different
platforms that I sell those on as well. Very
cool. What do you think WhatNot needs that it
doesn't currently have, like the wish list of
features and stuff? That's a good question. If
I can get one thing on WhatNot, I think I would
make it easier to do the graphics, like the graphics
you guys have behind you. I know it's a program
like OBS, I believe it is, that you can adapt
to it. But I think if they made it a feature
on the app that you can kind of make. Make a
little bit more of an interesting, like your
own little interesting things to add into your
show pop up when you're doing a show. I think
that'll be a great feature. I think also making
it international to where you can, you know,
how Amazon and eBay is the way we're reaching
across, you know, the world. I sometimes do get
a few Canada buys, so that's cool. But, you know,
make it a little bit more accessible for the
world. Can they just not watch it, or they just
can't have stuff shipped to them, and they have
to ship to a U .S. address, then have it shipped
up to wherever they are? So I think it's only
in certain countries right now of the world.
So I don't think it's able to be downloaded and
them to shop in certain parts. But I know it's
gaining more and more traction all around the
world, but it's just not to the point where they're
spreading to the U .S. and buying. Gotcha. How
much of your Amazon, how much percentage of your
business is the Amazon side of your business?
Maybe like 5%. So low. I like it. Cool. So on
your whatnot setup, there's all kinds of ways
to do it. You got your phone, you got your computer,
you got multiple screens. What does your setup
look like? Because I know you travel quite a
bit. Yeah, my setup is like a, right now it's
a, looking at it right now, it's like a photo
light box right now. And I just started that
on the fly because I was thinking about traveling.
And it's just a photo light box with a stand,
one of these magazine stands here. And I have
my tripod and that's it. That's all I need. And
I grabbed the mags. Mike, what's your setup look
like? I wish it was that simple. I got too much
shit going on over here. I'm curious though,
like what's a, when it comes to buying these
things, right? Like when I buy CDs and DVDs,
I pay like 20 cents a piece. I don't care what
they are, right? So like, I'm just like, I'll
pay X amount for X dollars. When it comes to
like, maybe I'm scrolling Facebook marketplace
and I see a listing and this guy's trying to
sell his whole Playboy magazine collection, even
if I wasn't doing whatnot. but I still wanted
to make like a dollar or make some money on these
items. Like what would be a dead set? You're
going to automatically buy like a dollar a piece.
Is that a really good deal in the space you're
in? Or is it like 50 cents a piece, $2 a piece?
Yeah. See, see that, that just depends on your
business model. So I definitely would suggest
just as a safe to never buy it over $2. Never
go over $2 for a mag. You know, if the condition
is good, if there's no mold or smell, all of
them are good. And the years are nothing like,
you know, you got some 50s or 60s in there, you're
looking good, you know. So the earlier the addition
of the mags, that's even better. So if you got
some early additions, you're definitely good
at $2 a mag. Okay, so the older stuff is better.
Now I'm curious, do they still actively make
these magazines? So they restarted making them
like this past year. So that's the interesting
part. And that's just this, you know, they did
go back to reprints. They're just starting at
2025 and up. So that's the cool thing about it.
So I think it may even be a big boom in Playboy.
I'm starting to see a lot more. advertisements
for playboys and a lot more of a different crowd
that you wouldn't think that is buying from playboy
so it's actually really interesting yeah i was
scared i had no idea honestly i just remember
like uh growing up in the city there was always
like those uh newsstands and they always had
like the magazines that had like the dark covers
over them so you couldn't see as like teenagers
right so that is i mean that is that's good for
you but then you also got to worry about you
know Possibly more competition, but listen, I
think you sold yourself short earlier when you
were talking about like being successful and
whatnot. I mean, anybody that just listens to
this podcast can hear like you're, you're like.
right you're you're you always are going like
i i even said to him before we started recording
like i was in one of his whatnot streams this
past week because we have people on i like to
kind of be like a little fbi detective and see
right what the hell they're actually doing right
so like you're sitting there dude and you're
just you're literally talking the whole damn
time and it's one mag after the next and i do
think you you you have built up an audience because
i've seen people in the chat asking like hey
do you have the 2006 you know, whatever month
it is, whatever year it is, whatever type of
edition it is. And I do think the category you
sell in helps, but I do think you have to have
the type of personality to sit there and basically,
you know, kind of run your mouth for, you know,
four hours a day about the same thing over and
over again. So I do think you kind of sell yourself
short and kind of, you deserve a little bit more
credit than you give. Thank you, man. I appreciate
it. I appreciate it. It's kind of good to be
humble. So estate sales, right? So now I personally,
don't do estate sales right i i have enough stuff
other other places when you go to an estate sale
is there always competition for these things
like because now i'm going to be thinking i go
to a state sale yeah the first five people in
line are going to be trying to get the mags if
that's the case or are they like because vinyl
records are crazy right now like people vinyls
like the hottest thing in the media space i wonder
if the magazines are kind of the same way in
your opinion like if you go to a state sale do
you got to be like one of those first three in
line and then run straight for where the mags
are In some areas, yes. Unfortunately, it is
that way. Actually, I did a video where I was
vlogging me doing a collection at a state sale.
I told everybody that I was going to pick it
up. And I recorded me walking through the state
sale. And it's a part of the video. You see the
person picking up the magazines that I was going
for. And I'm like, that's exactly what they were
like. Yeah, I've been out here waiting for, you
know, my friend told me to come up here. And
we've been waiting out here all day. So, yeah,
sometimes you think that no one's coming. You're
20 minutes late and they're gone. So I definitely
have gone early and been waiting for hours to
pick up mags at estate sales. It's definitely
one of those things that people are starting
to kind of come around to. And it's a lot of
like a lot of older gentlemen are starting to
really get them just for their collections. You
know, they're collecting them. I got another
one. When I go to a thrift store, maybe they
have like three of the same DVD or book or something
like that. And the person's like, oh man, what
are you going to do? Play one of these DVDs in
every room? Like they're trying to be a smart
ass about me being a reseller. But I think like,
dude, you've had to be in some weird ass positions
where they're just like, why the hell is this
guy buying 5 ,000 Playboy magazines? Like, have
you been in awkward, weird situations just because
of the business model? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's
pretty it's pretty crazy because I do meet a
lot of different people. I've met people who've
been dated play playboy models and I've met people
who's hung out with Hef. And, you know, I've
met people who just like, you know, got them
from their from their dad. So it's people who,
you know, really want to talk to me about, you
know, the Playboy Max and get in depth on what
my collection is and things like that. And I'm
just like, you know, because I like because I
tell them, like, I collect a bit, which I do.
I got a collection. I enjoy it, but I'm more
of a seller because I'm here for my people. I
have an audience of people that depend on me
almost to get them certain mags that they really
want. It's people who are getting mags for their
husbands or their grandpa. It was their birth
date, and they want to frame it. It's people
who reach out to me personally for significant
mags that mean a lot to them. I try to not get
too attached to them. When people reach out to
me, And, you know, kind of when I pick them up
and, you know, try to really connect with me
on that, I always get a little off about it.
But it's like I understand I'm a collector at
heart, too. So I understand. But, yeah, it gets
a little weird. Some people can kind of, you
know, be a little off putting with it. But, you
know, I kind of just roll with the punches. I
really wish I had someone with me, you know,
to kind of like buffer. I see why that that picker
show all the best history shows, channel shows
where they picked across the country. They always
had a buddy, you know, so I wish I had that buddy.
And I see. why they had to buddy because it's
for those awkward you know buffers conversations
that you need so but you know it's part of the
game I try to keep it cool because I'm always
in some weird area of the country so I just like
all right yeah that's cool like I'm I'm just
here and they're never any any harmful anybody
you know mean or anything it's it's always just
you know that awkwardness you know so it's just
like really really cool but just you know i just
try to get out of there and load up you know
especially like traveling too right it's different
like i can just go down to my local police station
right i'm familiar with the area right so it's
a little bit more sense of comfort you you're
always traveling yeah a lot Yeah, see, that's
another thing, right? You're like, hey, the collections
in the basement where it can't be seen. And you're
like, shit, is this the last time I'm going to
walk down a basement? Yeah, I always tell people
where I'm at. I'm like, hey, this is the collection.
But because I'm just starting to do that, honestly,
because a lot of times I go so many places. I
don't remember the places, the names and things.
I have a route and, you know, I'm going on. It's
a state sale. I'm going there. So it's like I
sometimes get a little mixed up, but I'm getting
better at letting people know where I'm at because
I do go. travel a lot so have you put any thought
of uh beyond whatnot or addition to whatnot as
far as your business goes like in media land
we see people that maybe want to open a bookstore
or retro dvd cd shop or that kind of stuff or
some other business entirely like opening a car
wash or uh a U -Haul rental thing. They're using
their resale business to funnel into another
business. Are you planning on doing all that
or just it's too early? I'm making too much money.
I don't got time to think about that right now.
No, no, I'm, you know, I'm a 30. So I'm trying
to, you know, get settled down, start a family
thing. So I've already invested into property.
So now I'm just like wanting to get more into
that and also just expand my business for, I
see a lot of opportunity with whatnot. So I want
to expand more into the whatnot space, live streaming
or selling. I think it's a lot of opportunity,
not just in magazines. I think the whole app
of selling, you can sell anything on there. You
can, you can literally, I've seen people sell
like. cotton you know tissue paper for like 30
bucks on there on that show so like that's the
type of if you see that you see the potential
in that so I see too much potential so I'm just
gonna like you know nail down on whatnot really
heavily for my main income but also I'm a strong
believer in having multiple sources of income
so of course I'm still staying at Amazon I'm
getting a really nice check from Amazon this
month so that's great from all of that textbook
season. So that's great. So I I'm a strong believer.
I think Amazon is going to be something I do
seasonal for the textbook season and really loading
up during the summer and enjoying the textbook
season. So I think that's what I'm going to move
forward towards Amazon because Amazon is really
great. Honestly, I love Amazon too. It's just,
you know, I love the, the whatnot faster pace,
you know, income and then the consistent Amazon
income is also awesome. So. Very cool. So. When
you find something, it's a lot more pieces than
your vehicle can hold. Do you do the multiple
trip thing, or do you call a guy, a buddy you
know with a bigger truck, or you go down to U
-Haul and rent something? What's the process
for a big score for you? Most times, I make a
trip out of it, and I'm doing big scores. I try
to rent a van or a truck, and I load that truck
up. Sometimes, I've rented a U -Haul. But I don't
usually go to U -Hauls if it's not nothing like
too major, big, you know. So I usually just make
a big trip out of it and fit it all in a truck.
A lot of people love to think that it's not going
to fit each time. Yep. I've never left a mag.
I've never left a mag. So that's the thing. I
always find a way. Sometimes it's a tight fit.
They're going under the seats. They're stacked
onto the ceiling. It's going to fit. Yeah, and
it's a drive back. And the cool thing about it,
it's one of those things where, you know, you
see someone driving with those mags and, you
know, I'm pulling over at gas stations. I'm trying
not to open all of the doors. It's like, you
know, it's one of those things. But it's one
of those things. If you get pulled over with
a bunch of mags, it's one of those things you
could get out of that ticket. Pretty easy most
times. So it's got its perks. It has its perks.
There you go. So have there ever been any awkward
moments on your stream? Awkward moments? Or somebody
getting out of line on the stream? Yeah, I mean,
some people come in and, you know, troll all
the time. I mean, that's part of this new generation,
you know. I get trolled every stream. I always
have one of the same jokes at least three or
five times a stream. And it's, I hope those pages
aren't stuck together, you know. So it's what,
I get that joke so much. It's, you know, I just
roll with it now. And it's one of those things
I'm like, I know it's coming. And most times
that's as far as it goes. I don't get too many
angry people. Because there's no editing and
whatnot. So you kind of have to deal with it
suddenly. It's a live show. Yeah. You know, sometimes
I have family come in on me and stuff like that.
But at first I used to get real, real like anxious
and things like that about, but now I'm super,
super comfortable kind of like being on camera
with them and like people come in and talk. I
talk with people, you know, like my family members
on, you know, so it's like not, not too, too
much anxiety with it. Like I said, I'm pretty
good at adapting. So that part of it doesn't
really get me too worried. I try to stream in
one room that I don't I won't get bothered. So,
you know, I try to keep it simple. So I deal
a little bit of magazines myself, but it's mainly
like pulp stuff for eBay from like the 30s, 40s
up into the 60s. Do you ever mess around with
some of those kind of magazines? Or are you?
OK. I know they don't probably perform as well
as the Playboys, but how do they perform on Whatnot
for you? Do they perform slightly less? I honestly
believe they perform pretty well. And now at
first they wouldn't have like the first eight
months or nine months, but now it's an audience
for magazines that has been thriving. The good
thing about competition that you can't stream
all the time. So when you're not on people, new
eyeballs are seen and, you know, they don't have
to see you, but eventually they will. So I think
that that is kind of really helped. So I think
mainly people are really focusing on Playboy
because they've seen success with like me and
a couple of other big streamers. But I think
it's so many. more magazines that people can
see success with. I've sold Sports Illustrated.
You can just specifically focus on Sports Illustrated
and sell them pretty well. I was doing $4 or
$5 over what they sell on eBay the other night,
just all Sports Illustrated. It's just not something
that I'm focused on. I think people, if they
focus on one particular niche, they can really
dial down on and scale up their market because
you're going to find it's I don't want to say
it's millions of people on what not, but I feel
like it's millions of people on what not. It
feels like it sometimes, but it's a lot of people
on what not. And I feel like it's more than enough
people if you have like a certain niche that
you can build an audience around it, you know,
and make a good living. I don't know if you can
go full time, but you can definitely make a lot
of good extra cash. So I think that's a really,
really interesting part. If people focus on different
magazines, so many, so many different type of
magazines out there that I think you can build
an audience around it. just a certain mag cool
so what do you do with the junk because us booksellers
and dvd and cd sellers we we have means to kind
of get rid of it i imagine it being a little
bit more difficult for magazines so what do you
do with the stuff you don't want to you don't
want to sell on whatnot or you can't sell it
it's water damaged or etc Oh, yeah. If it's like
damaged or stuff like that, then then I kind
of toss it unless I've actually had people that
really ask for more damaged mags because it's
it's a it's an area for those people who use
it just for doing craft. So I've had tons of
people who made murals and all these crazy cool,
you know, things with Playboy covers. So it's
one of those things that crafters love that,
too. So I kind of keep a pile of them. uh stacked
near like my streaming area and try to keep them
there just in case anybody comes in and asks
you know for some craft stuff like do you have
any damage max like i've get i've gotten that
quite a bit so just depends on like the the the
crowd but i usually save a few of them but mainly
i toss them if they're like completely trashed
you know well the the non -trash ones like they
got mixed in here's a pile of i don't know highlight
magazine I don't know if it's a sell or not,
but I'm just using it as an example. What do
you do with that kind of stuff? Do you junk them?
Do you have a buyer for that? I set it aside.
Yeah, I set it aside. I got quite a few different
ones because you never know. People come in asking
for so many different publications of magazines
that I've never even heard of. So sometimes when
I remember the name when I read it, because I'm
like, oh, I remember seeing that somewhere. And
I'm like, OK, yeah, I seen it on this magazine
that I got in a couple of weeks ago. And I'm
like, oh, I have a few of these. So I run them
for them. That's happened quite a few times,
too, as well. So sometimes I just hold on to
them. They look kind of valuable. I look up the
price of them. They're not like, you know, something
that's just like, you know, worthless. And I'll
hold on to them for a bit. Sometimes I actually
throw in a few of them throughout the stream
or I say, hey, someone buys something with like
a certain cover on it. Like, yeah, I bought it
for this. I'm like, well, I have more computer
Macs like this over right here if you like that,
you know, so. Gotcha. So you say them because
you never know when you're going to need them.
And it sounds like it's happening more frequently
that they're going to be able to go out. So speaking
of that, talk to me about your storage. For that
kind of stuff and then for your stream stuff,
right? Because you got to hold on to them for
your different shows throughout the week. So
you don't need a gigantic warehouse, but I'm
assuming you need some kind of organization shelving
system for the week. Yeah, so basically I do
it all out of my home location, which is a one
-car garage. And when I get back, I'm definitely
going to be... moving to a larger location, uh,
because of just, uh, just the pure volume of
how many orders I have to ship. I don't have
the space for currently, but, uh, right now I'm
just using three, uh, like four tier, uh, metal,
metal racks that I kind of like put the orders
on a table where, where I use for like just the
orders that I need right here and there, you
know, and then I have stacks of magazines kind
of like around me. I like to be able to see them.
I don't like to be in boxes. So I kind of have
them kind of stacked around me in areas just
so I can kind of grab them. And I prep, you know,
before my show with the mags and I'm going to
run mainly that show. So I kind of make it into
like a kind of like like as the kids would have
it, like the Roblox blocks around me of mags,
you know. So and then I have, you know, my table
and kind of the area where I would just reach
back and kind of put the mags. I'm working on
a better streamlined system to where I can better.
you know basically one more mags while i'm on
stream so that's the whole goal gotcha talk to
me about your your sorting process is it is it
also in the garage or yeah everything is all
in one on one spot in the garage uh my i have
like my computer and all that stuff kind of in
a separate room but uh just just to print out
my shipping labels and things like that but i
do it all in one garage i have my my shipping
supplies in the back of the garage area I have
the magazines that have been sitting a while,
kind of like the ones that you would say that
maybe I'm not using or not the brand that I'm
going to sell, kind of sitting off on the side.
And then farther up, closer to the door of the
garage opening, I have my racks, my table, and
my stream set up. Just a small table where I
show the masks. I don't need too much space to
stream. So you bring it in and you open the box
and you pull it out or tub or container, however
you're doing it. How do you do the card shuffling,
if you will, for sorting? Like, is it by year
or is it by stylization? A lot of times I go
through, I pick out all the ones that I know
that are like super valuable and I set them aside.
Then I... I go through and put them in by 10
years, by decade, separate them by decade. And
then after that, I kind of go through and just
set them in order from decade to decade. And
then I'm kind of ready to go from there. You
know, once someone asks, I feel the volume of
the show is kind of deadened down. I throw in
a different year, kind of flip the show around.
So it kind of helps me with that organization
when I have it in by decade. Gotcha. So I'm not
sure our audience knows the rules and regulations
or whatnot or lack thereof, but is there anything
you're not allowed to show on your stream? Oh,
yeah. You can't – that's the thing. It's just
definitely one of those things where it's no
nudity or anything like that. It's not something
that you can just show nudity or anything, but
I'm just – you just have to cover things up with
notes and things like that. Certain things you
can't say. Of course you can't say anything that
– has any sexual things you know related to it
so you know it's just mainly just you know magazines
yes that's all you can you know people like to
go a little farther but nope it's playboy's in
a in a classy classy box it's in a box of its
own it's not just your average smut you know
yeah down to the dirt you know they're pretty
classy so i'm not sure people know this so i'm
going to bring it up there there are certain
issues way back where the the uh model was indeed
underage are those barred from whatnot because
they are definitely barred from ebay i know that
for a fact yeah but they're still collected because
they are collectible just she may have lied or
the audience did or the people didn't fact check
her actual age or whatever it happened she's
like 80 years old now but is there a rule on
whatnot for those particular issues or that happened
that happened mainly in in the penthouse publication
playboy didn't do tune uh Didn't really get too
into that. They did pretty well with that. I
mean, some would say a couple, but no one has
any real proof on real Playboys, too many. So
mainly Penthouse and a few of those non -named
or popular magazines that are dope, that you
can catch that going on again. And those are
the ones, that's why it's a catchy thing. You
got to know your stuff. You don't want to be,
you know. involved in any of that so you really
need to know your covers your you know the backstories
and things like that so it's it's not too much
into playboy but you still got to be careful
with certain issues that show just a little too
much and things like that and playboy articles
in playboy so you got to just be careful with
things like that gotcha so i just for curiosity's
sake the um the celebrity ones i imagine do better
than the non -celebrity ones in playboy or is
there a non -celebrity playboy issue that's like
the best of them all that people may be unaware
of non -celebrity just like a famous issue we
ain't gonna know who the hell they are if they're
not a celebrity i know right yeah that's what
i'm trying to think of one of those people a
lot of people go for What's the most valuable
one out there? Yeah, that's a better question.
There we go. Oh, that's cool. I got it right
here. I can show you. It's not a bad one. Oh,
Marilyn. Oh, okay. What'd she go for? She goes
for, at the low end, ungraded, which I'm going
to get this one graded, but she goes at a low
end for about two to three grand. Nice. And what
about graded? uh she goes for graded i believe
this one i just got a few mags graded back and
the ones that's on the market that sold in this
condition at a it was a six it went for eight
grand so i think this was about yeah i think
this was about a six to seven so it may get eight
to ten grand all right i got some rapid fire
questions for you These are more on the silly
side, all right? Can't sell Playboy no more.
As of today, you have to sell Nat Geo magazines,
National Geographic magazines. Do you think you
could still make it? A hundred percent. You know
your animals then. Yeah, I could, I could, I
tell, I'll tell you, I could, I could really
honestly, I think I can sell anything on there.
That app is a lot of opportunities. And also
in my family, I come from a family of really
good salesmen. Like my dad is a really good salesman.
My brothers, both of my brothers, they're all
the top salespeople at all of the jobs they work
at. Like they're extremely good at selling. And
my dad's really good at, with talking with people,
he's had jobs where he's done like, you know,
a lot of, you know, a liaison or I think that.
that's what the word is i'm not like i said i'm
not i'm not that that they're good at talking
as them but what did you do before resale like
what was your what was your last real job before
you decided to get into resale before i did resale
i uh i had a business where i did atms i installed
atms uh that's like entrepreneur like have you
ever had like a crappy real job like cbs yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so oh yeah oh 100 so
My last job, I worked for a company where I took
care of mentally disabled people and homeless.
I'm not homeless people, but mentally disabled
people and old people. And, you know, I was a
caretaker. So I did that for like seven years.
I did that from like high school all the way
through college. So that was like my last real
job. And I love that job. That was good. I worked
with people. That's like the perfect answer you
ever could give, right? Nobody could ever hate
you ever in life. You're like, yeah, I took care
of people that were in need before I decided
to. to start doing yeah yeah yeah that uh that
gets me to the next one so when i talk to my
family about like reselling books like they kind
of just like laugh about it right like i i almost
should just tell them Just tell them, act like
I'm you and just tell them your story. Like,
hey, I decided I'm going to sell live on this
website online and it's going to be Playboy magazines.
Like when you first like started getting like
traction with this, that initial conversation
of like maybe just a family member being like,
hey, what the hell are you doing to make this
money? And you say, well, I actually sell these,
you know, classy magazines, spicy magazines.
And what was their reaction? Man, they were they
were shocked. I mean. My my my partner, she was
shocked. My brother and my one of my best friends,
they just they just honestly they they were a
little shocked at first. And then they were they
were like, I'm really into getting into like
niche things. So like I get I get into, you know,
little fun things that I like to get into. So
they were kind of a little shocked. And then
they were like, well, that kind of makes sense.
You you seem like you you would find something
like that. A lot of people say a lot of my family
was like, say that kind of makes sense. You seem
like you would you would do something like that.
They were just shocked that it was actually.
audience for it, just like people with books.
They're not more shocked that I got into it,
more shocked that it was actually people that
wanted to do it, wanted to buy it. It's crazy.
And just for those kind of wondering, give a
ballpark range of like, I don't know, maybe a
roundabout of your monthly sales at the beginning
of the year to where you kind of grown it to
at this point of the year. You don't got to be
exact. I don't need all your financials, just
kind of an idea. So people are like, wow, this
actually can be done. OK, yeah. So first starting
off, I mean, I had a first year I did pretty
well on on and I did over six figures the first
year. So and this year, I think. I'm on track
to do around the same, a little bit better. But
the year first, beginning of the year, started
off shaky. It was a rough year, just like for
everybody. So in this past, you know, last few
months have been, you know, a game changer. And
I just take that to more or less me being consistent
on just. It's it broke that maybe six to 18,
16 to 18 month mark for me of like, you know,
being on the app and, you know, getting that
traction of just doing that. So I think that
really helped. But I really think that, yeah,
that this past, you know, four or five months
is really this last three to four months has
really been a game changer. And, you know, I'm
thinking I'm going to do well over, you know,
the six figures. you know, this year. And I think
that's all due to just, you know, streaming consistently
and being consistent with my audience and just
trying to bring good energy. I'm going to keep
it 100%. My ass is not streaming six days a week.
I don't care what it is I'm selling. So you definitely
have the hustle muscle and you've actually dropped
shit off at post offices not too far from me.
So next time you're in my area, you definitely
need to shoot me a message so we can go grab
some food or whatever it may be. You're a traveling
man, dude. Yeah, I'm going to be – what are you
on, the East Coast, right? Yeah, I'm by, like,
Harrisburg. Oh, yeah, I'm going to be – oh, I'm
going to be in your area a bunch with a U -Haul.
So I'll definitely catch up with you. Oh, shit,
dude. That sounds like you're going to try to
put me to work. I was about to say that. That's
just a con to get you to go work for him. Yeah,
I'll buy you lunch. You're just going to work
nine hours first. Yeah, perfect. I got a buddy.
I got a buddy in town. Perfect. Yeah, yeah. Give
all the sticky ones to Mike. Yeah, he'll take
all the sticky ones. Jesus, what did I get myself
into? So, I mean, where can people find you before
we wrap this up? Like, where are your socials?
It'll all be in the description, but for those
that are listening and don't catch the description
or the YouTube comments, like, what are your
handles and where can people find you? You can
find me at STL, like the, you know, let's say
the STL bookkeeper. So, S -T -L -B -O -O -K -E
-E -P -E -R. On Instagram and then STLbookkeeper314
on Whatnot. And I'm there on Instagram, YouTube.
That's about the same thing everywhere. So you
can catch me there on YouTube and Whatnot and
Instagram. Born and raised St. Louis. Is that
why you roll with the STL? Yeah, born and raised
St. Louis. And anyone from St. Louis knows, you
know, people from St. Louis love to let you know
they're from St. Louis. And 314 is the zip code,
right? Or the area code, whatever it is. Yeah,
that's the city life. I'm the same way, you know,
like, I just need PHL 215 in front of me. And
then we basically can be joined. I know what
it's about. Yeah. Anyway, we appreciate you hanging
out with us and we'll definitely check back in
on you next year because I you sent me some of
the numbers you're pushing. And yet again, this
guy is super humble. So we appreciate you spending
your your day with us and coming on and kind
of, you know, proving that what not can be done.
Me and Johnny knew kind of sort of that maybe
what not could be successful. We just had to
find the right person. And you're definitely.
So thanks for hanging out with us. I started
from the very beginning. No, no followers. No,
no audience. Nothing. So it's definitely I still
don't have an audience. on any other social media.
So I think you just start and don't stop being
consistent. That's my number one thing I can
tell. Yeah, that's the whole thing. I always
said it could work. It's just a different, harder
grind in my opinion, but it can be done. It's
not easy. I'm not saying it's easy at all, but
it's a blast when you get in the groove of it.
When you get in a routine of it, it's a blast.
All right, man. We appreciate you. We'll talk
to everybody in next week's episode. Thanks for
listening to another episode of the Reseller's
Mindset Podcast. Today's full episode and all
previous episodes are available to all YouTube
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