WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 Welcome back to another episode of the Reseller's 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:04.559 Mindset Podcast. My name is Mike, also known 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.559 as the Used Book Guy on YouTube, along with my 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:08.599 friend and fellow full -time reseller, Johnny 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.169 B. We help people start and grow their reselling 00:00:11.169 --> 00:00:13.589 businesses from the ground up. We also have a 00:00:13.589 --> 00:00:15.570 weekly Zoom call and private Discord for all 00:00:15.570 --> 00:00:18.469 YouTube members. Head on over to youtube .com 00:00:18.469 --> 00:00:20.829 backslash usebookguy to join the channel and 00:00:20.829 --> 00:00:23.429 gain access to the full -length podcast, Zoom 00:00:23.429 --> 00:00:26.129 call, and private Discord today. Let's get into 00:00:26.129 --> 00:00:28.050 this week's episode. What is up, everybody? Welcome 00:00:28.050 --> 00:00:29.829 to another episode of Reseller's Mindset Podcast. 00:00:30.370 --> 00:00:32.740 Johnny's topic today, it's a good one. What is 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:35.219 the end game of your business? I don't think 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:37.020 we think about this enough. I think a lot of 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:39.299 us are just in like, how do we make it through 00:00:39.299 --> 00:00:42.520 next week? And how do we pay the bills next month? 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:45.840 Right. So the idea of thinking about like, you 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.399 know, what is the actual long term play? Some 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.759 people, you know, there's a lot of good content 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:52.460 creators. There's a lot of good people in this 00:00:52.460 --> 00:00:55.429 group that are retired. from their actual work 00:00:55.429 --> 00:00:57.509 and they do resell is like an extra thing to 00:00:57.509 --> 00:00:59.710 keep them active and have i guess i guess a little 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:02.530 bit of extra casino money uh for me personally 00:01:02.530 --> 00:01:06.659 uh i don't want to be like 90 years old and reselling 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:08.379 no offense if there's somebody that's 90 years 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.719 old reselling at least in the way i do now i 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:14.299 think in the future there will be more advancements 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:16.040 they kind of already exist where you can buy 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:18.060 things and ship them to a prep center you never 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:20.599 have to touch the items i think that would appeal 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:23.599 more to me as i continue to age i'm also on the 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:25.959 third floor so like i'm kind of jaded in my thought 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.609 process like i don't want to be carrying things 00:01:28.609 --> 00:01:31.209 up three flights of steps as i get older but 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:33.349 i do think there is interesting aspects to it 00:01:33.349 --> 00:01:36.469 to people that have kids or people that have 00:01:36.469 --> 00:01:38.790 you know a really profitable business that can 00:01:38.790 --> 00:01:41.969 almost run itself and passing that on to family 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:44.030 and i don't know man what's your thoughts on 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:47.769 this i think it's probably one of the most impactful 00:01:47.769 --> 00:01:51.189 things you decide to do but here's the thing 00:01:51.189 --> 00:01:54.989 when you ask somebody I don't know. If you won 00:01:54.989 --> 00:01:56.810 the lottery, what would you do? They list off 00:01:56.810 --> 00:01:59.390 all these things. If you really get down a brass 00:01:59.390 --> 00:02:01.609 tacks, we're not talking about lottery money 00:02:01.609 --> 00:02:04.150 here, but it can be a significant chunk of change 00:02:04.150 --> 00:02:08.729 on a recurring basis. So based off of that kind 00:02:08.729 --> 00:02:12.270 of math, not lottery math, what can you feasibly 00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:15.030 do or want to do? And if it's not enough, how 00:02:15.030 --> 00:02:18.669 much more do you need? So I'm going to use you 00:02:18.669 --> 00:02:21.610 as an example here. I think you want a home, 00:02:21.849 --> 00:02:25.240 maybe a little bit of land. And then enough income 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.680 to pay your bills and do something spur of the 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.199 moment or just because you can and will kind 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:34.099 of do and you want your time. So how do you get 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:36.819 to those metrics? How do you get your time and 00:02:36.819 --> 00:02:38.919 enough money to do all of that? I think that 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:42.099 knowing that crystal, this is what I need and 00:02:42.099 --> 00:02:46.620 this is what I want. You can then do the math 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.580 to get there. Like, what do you need to do number 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:52.879 wise, numerically at least? what you're selling, 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:55.379 how you're selling it, that may need to shift 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:59.039 to meet that goal. Maybe it's not books. Maybe 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.539 you need to sell, I don't know, refrigerators 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:04.259 to get there. But knowing that, knowing that 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:06.219 you need to sell refrigerators, not books anymore, 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:09.719 that's a key component. Yeah, I agree. I think, 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:12.020 I think it all can be reverse engineered, but 00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:14.370 knowing. what, where you want to be when the 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:16.289 time comes. And it's kind of, you know, like 00:03:16.289 --> 00:03:19.210 having goals and we don't like to talk about 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:21.490 financial things, but like, you know, I invest 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:23.629 every single day. Sure. I'm not putting a thousand 00:03:23.629 --> 00:03:25.469 dollars in the market every single day, but I 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:27.430 have my retirement accounts to automatically 00:03:27.430 --> 00:03:29.650 deduct money from my account every single day 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:32.310 that gets invested. I think we have to be thinking 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:35.330 long -term because, you know, you see this so 00:03:35.330 --> 00:03:39.060 much. And it saddens me when people are struggling 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:41.620 and they're older and they have no savings and 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:44.099 they have no retirement. It like hurts my soul 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:47.520 because, you know, if you just make a small commitment 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.280 over time, it's going to grow so much. It's like 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:52.180 the idea of investing. And even if you just put 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:55.580 a dollar a day into, you know, retirement and 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:59.569 it'll grow over the 20, 30, 40 years. But it 00:03:59.569 --> 00:04:02.590 seems so small today. Right. Like, Johnny, why 00:04:02.590 --> 00:04:04.629 am I going to put a dollar in today? What the 00:04:04.629 --> 00:04:07.069 hell is that? I think people are so short sighted. 00:04:07.069 --> 00:04:08.610 I think we've got to start thinking about the 00:04:08.610 --> 00:04:11.849 long term play as we continue to age. Maybe even 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:13.389 if you're older and maybe you don't feel like 00:04:13.389 --> 00:04:16.230 reselling anymore. Just start thinking of ways 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:19.230 to be like, OK, here's how much I need per month. 00:04:19.370 --> 00:04:23.029 What can I do to maybe cut back the work, maybe 00:04:23.029 --> 00:04:25.769 make the business less stressful? And I can still 00:04:25.769 --> 00:04:27.769 generate income because I think a lot of people, 00:04:27.810 --> 00:04:31.850 unfortunately. fall into that weird spot of you 00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:34.910 can never really hang up the boots you can never 00:04:34.910 --> 00:04:37.970 really retire because you always have to be because 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:40.649 the cost of life goes up everything goes up by 00:04:40.649 --> 00:04:44.689 the time we're old thing gas will be 55 a gallon 00:04:44.689 --> 00:04:47.970 right so like we can account for we know everything's 00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:49.490 going to go up everything has always gone up 00:04:49.490 --> 00:04:51.860 in price since the beginning of time right shipping's 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:53.699 going to go up 10 times next year right we can 00:04:53.699 --> 00:04:55.420 account for these things so start planning for 00:04:55.420 --> 00:04:58.000 them today and start saving for your future and 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.660 if you have a business is it transferable i can't 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.740 pass my business down to anybody because it requires 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:08.120 me going out and scanning things, right? So I'm 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.660 basically giving somebody a job. I'm not giving 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:13.939 nobody no types of blessings. I'm giving you 00:05:13.939 --> 00:05:17.920 an e -yo -yo scanner and my YouTube link and 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.060 saying, hey, good luck, figure it out, right? 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.240 But I do think there are a lot of reselling businesses 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.040 where, you know, you take a step back where you 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.800 can have people run the business for you. You 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:31.000 can say, I'm the owner, I oversee things. You're 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.000 not really required to be hands -on because I 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.399 have a good team underneath me. Those are the 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:37.579 businesses that are the ones that can be, you 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.959 know, family tree changing because you have this 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:45.779 ongoing LLC business employees, actual real estate 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:48.279 space for your business. Unlike me, who's just 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.920 a apartment living, you know, scanner guy. I 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.920 ain't got nothing to pass down. The scanner be 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.579 worth nothing by the time I go. Right. I mean, 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:59.139 generational wealth or generational businesses. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.540 For those that are interested in that, I mean. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.459 That requires a little bit of setup. You're probably 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:05.379 want a family trust because you're not going 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:06.800 to they're probably not working when they're 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:09.699 five years old. But you can start putting money 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.160 in there for when they're of age to start coming 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:14.439 on in the business. And then if they decide not 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:16.519 even to do the business, well, they got a little 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:18.879 bit of money coming in and you can readjust your 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:22.259 plans. OK, I need I need legacy management now 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:24.680 to manage. I probably need a board of directors 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:28.240 because my family has no interest in coming on 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:29.819 board like I planned when they were a little 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:33.350 bitty. But If they do come on board, you can 00:06:33.350 --> 00:06:35.290 make the transition pretty seamless if you start 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:38.250 today, honestly. A little bit of legal, a little 00:06:38.250 --> 00:06:40.050 bit of account setup, pay us some paperwork, 00:06:40.189 --> 00:06:43.550 and you're good to go. I'm simplifying a bit, 00:06:43.629 --> 00:06:45.350 but that's pretty much the brass tacks of what 00:06:45.350 --> 00:06:49.290 it is. Now, what's up, Amazon sellers? We wanted 00:06:49.290 --> 00:06:51.350 to take a second to talk about GoToLister, the 00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:54.050 software me and Johnny both use to list and manage 00:06:54.050 --> 00:06:56.930 our inventory and grow our businesses. With the 00:06:56.930 --> 00:06:58.970 fastest listing speeds out there and built -in 00:06:58.970 --> 00:07:02.230 profit analytics, it's a no -brainer. Easily 00:07:02.230 --> 00:07:04.529 and quickly have items available for sale using 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:07.350 2D barcodes and get more for your items with 00:07:07.350 --> 00:07:09.910 its built -in smart pricing. Make sure to check 00:07:09.910 --> 00:07:12.730 out the 30 -day free trial at gotolister .com 00:07:12.730 --> 00:07:15.310 backslash Mike or using the link in the description 00:07:15.310 --> 00:07:18.709 below. Again, I don't think a lot of people know 00:07:18.709 --> 00:07:21.689 what they want out of life or what they really 00:07:21.689 --> 00:07:24.089 want that like reasonable. We got to come down 00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:26.250 to reasonability. What do you want? Do you want 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:29.399 the home? Do you want a vacation? every month 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:31.399 do you want to go tour europe for six months 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:35.180 out of the year or or asia or somewhere else 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:37.240 whatever you want to do or you just want a cabin 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:40.839 in the woods and be left alone um or maybe you 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:43.720 want to and there are folks who just want to 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:45.620 work till they die i'm probably i probably fall 00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:47.399 more into that camp i always have to have busy 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.800 but maybe i just want to open up a bar and hang 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:52.860 out with bar people um that's my end goal but 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:54.899 that requires a little bit capital to do that's 00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:56.560 not my end goal i'm just using that as an example 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:03.230 um So your goal can be big or small, but knowing 00:08:03.230 --> 00:08:06.029 that at the end of the day can help you in your 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:08.490 current business, or maybe you need more than 00:08:08.490 --> 00:08:11.670 one business to make those goals a reality. And 00:08:11.670 --> 00:08:15.689 you go into more owner territory than self -employed 00:08:15.689 --> 00:08:20.449 territory at that case. Now, I think it's critical 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:24.600 to know. We get money from reselling, and Mike 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:26.579 mentioned it earlier, is are you putting any 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:28.439 money aside? What kind of investments are you 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:30.759 doing? Are those the right investments? Do I 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:33.600 need a financial advisor? Because I don't know 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.460 what I'm doing here. I'm just kind of guessing 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:39.440 what sounds good in the news cycle. I can't help 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:41.320 you there. Maybe you do need a financial advisor 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:44.220 or a tax advisor because all your investments 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:46.740 are either taxed up front or taxed at the end 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:49.440 or taxed all the time. So you've got to figure 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.590 that out as well. So there are certain nuances 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:56.169 there, but everybody should at least have a savings 00:08:56.169 --> 00:09:00.450 account, bare minimum. I don't care who you are. 00:09:00.549 --> 00:09:02.929 That's the lowest barrier to entry other than 00:09:02.929 --> 00:09:05.350 cash and gold and the safe and vault or under 00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:08.110 the mattress kind of deal. Because at least you 00:09:08.110 --> 00:09:09.889 get a little bit of compounding. It won't be 00:09:09.889 --> 00:09:12.210 much, but at least your money's growing. It's 00:09:12.210 --> 00:09:13.929 not shrinking unless you're touching it. Don't 00:09:13.929 --> 00:09:16.250 touch your savings account. Unless you're saving 00:09:16.250 --> 00:09:17.990 up for the home, then yeah, pull the trigger 00:09:17.990 --> 00:09:21.039 when you can. I think... I think another thing 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:25.200 too is utilizing your reselling business for 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.940 X amount of time to have X amount of dollars 00:09:27.940 --> 00:09:30.820 to pivot into another business that can be more 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:34.149 profitable, right? Because it's... I personally 00:09:34.149 --> 00:09:36.809 think it's super hard to rescale a reselling 00:09:36.809 --> 00:09:40.049 business successfully if you compare it to other 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:42.330 type service business models that I've seen. 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:44.490 Listen, my whole YouTube was like people that 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:46.190 like are trying to pitch like different ideas, 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:48.110 right? I got people with laundromats. I got people 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:50.529 doing car detailing and things like that because 00:09:50.529 --> 00:09:52.970 that's the type of shit I'm interested in. I'm 00:09:52.970 --> 00:09:55.269 an entrepreneur at heart. And I think a lot of 00:09:55.269 --> 00:09:58.090 people get stuck in the reselling cycle and they 00:09:58.090 --> 00:10:02.090 could potentially be more profitable if they, 00:10:02.190 --> 00:10:04.059 like you said. Maybe they got to start selling 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:06.460 refrigerators. I think people, resellers are 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:10.259 so scared to spend more money to make more money. 00:10:10.539 --> 00:10:13.240 And it's literally just holds us back completely. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:15.419 Like I used to be, I used to be that way. I used 00:10:15.419 --> 00:10:17.679 to be like, I want to, I like, I don't want to 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.500 spend more than, you know, a hundred bucks today. 00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:21.440 And now I'm like, I want to spend as much money 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.159 as I possibly can in every store I'm in to make 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.500 more money. But in the beginning, I was not like 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:28.139 that at all. I think all of us are like that 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:29.519 in the beginning. We're like, we don't want to 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.139 spend nothing. I do think we have to think about. 00:10:31.669 --> 00:10:35.190 If we spend more, are we getting the ROI? Are 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:37.490 we going to make more money? You just don't spend 00:10:37.490 --> 00:10:39.470 to spend. But if the opportunity is there, we 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:42.370 need to take it as resellers. We know what works. 00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:44.889 We know what sells. And if you have the capital 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:46.830 to get more of those items that you know we're 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:50.250 going to sell, there's no stop. You got to block 00:10:50.250 --> 00:10:53.110 yourself out. I had a bunch of one -on -ones 00:10:53.110 --> 00:10:55.529 yesterday, and I said this to multiple people. 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:58.710 I said, you're a better reseller than you think 00:10:58.710 --> 00:11:01.610 you are. If I had to drop... one of your best 00:11:01.610 --> 00:11:04.169 friends in your life and said, you have to train 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:05.789 them to be a reseller. I guarantee you would 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:07.809 train them in everything they need to know. But 00:11:07.809 --> 00:11:09.350 for some reason, we second guessed ourselves 00:11:09.350 --> 00:11:12.110 when it comes to opportunity. And we second guessed 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:14.250 ourselves with the data that we understand. We've 00:11:14.250 --> 00:11:16.529 sold this item before. Sure, we're not paying 00:11:16.529 --> 00:11:18.870 a dollar today for it. Maybe we got to pay $10 00:11:18.870 --> 00:11:21.169 and it's going to sell for 30. But you know, 00:11:21.350 --> 00:11:24.009 that thing is guaranteed to sell and you're guaranteed 00:11:24.009 --> 00:11:26.470 to make money on it. And we still struggle with 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:28.210 it just because it costs more than the dollar 00:11:28.210 --> 00:11:30.789 we paid the first time we found it. That is so 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:35.389 fundamental right there. It's marginability. 00:11:35.649 --> 00:11:38.809 As long as it's profitable, you can scale, but 00:11:38.809 --> 00:11:41.970 you've got to be clearing money. And yeah, you 00:11:41.970 --> 00:11:45.250 could say that item or SKU can tank or this, 00:11:45.250 --> 00:11:46.450 that, and the other. But again, that's stuff 00:11:46.450 --> 00:11:49.990 that's out of your control, man. But if the data 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:54.110 today and the data you've had all along is showing 00:11:54.110 --> 00:11:56.210 profitability, even though a little less margin 00:11:56.210 --> 00:11:59.039 year by year. That's a -okay until it becomes 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:01.519 unprofitable. Then it's not okay at that point. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.179 But you're a business owner. You should be monitoring 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:05.000 that stuff all the time. You should catch it 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.639 before it even gets to that point. But, and yeah, 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:12.320 people are afraid to spend, like you said, 10 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.940 bucks because we're used to this huge margin. 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:17.779 There are a lot of businesses that don't have 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:20.179 the marginability of reselling and we scoff at 00:12:20.179 --> 00:12:24.519 20 % margin. How dare we? But a lot of businesses 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:28.240 can thrive off. 20 there's some operations that 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.720 make a business out of three percent margin that's 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:34.480 tiny but when you're talking a billion dollar 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:38.539 operation three percent say okay sir ma 'am um 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:45.139 and there there's this thought of i could just 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:47.419 make more money by pumping it into reselling 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:49.679 because the the return on investment's so good 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.440 you're not necessarily wrong But I do think a 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:55.200 little bit of diversity helps you in case of, 00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:57.200 again, these unforeseeables. Let's say you got 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:01.100 Section 3 and you're three months into resolving 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:03.159 this. Or maybe it takes you six months because 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:04.840 you need to bring lawyers on to get your account 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.000 back. And what are you doing for those three 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.019 to six months? You got no extra money. You don't 00:13:11.019 --> 00:13:14.399 even have savings because you bankrolled, you 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:17.600 bet all on black, which is Amazon, which is not 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.570 a bad bet at face value. Every now and then, 00:13:21.649 --> 00:13:24.370 they may tell you to take a walk from the table 00:13:24.370 --> 00:13:26.389 and cool off. You better have a pile of cash. 00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:29.470 Yeah, you better have a pile of cash. Johnny 00:13:29.470 --> 00:13:32.090 literally explained my business over the past 00:13:32.090 --> 00:13:34.570 two years at the beginning of his little rant 00:13:34.570 --> 00:13:37.610 there. And he said, you can have a higher sell 00:13:37.610 --> 00:13:40.129 -through with lower margins and make more money. 00:13:40.230 --> 00:13:42.629 If I look at my exact Amazon business year to 00:13:42.629 --> 00:13:45.490 date, over the last year, I'm up 48%. My average 00:13:45.490 --> 00:13:49.190 sales price is down $2 per unit, right? But I 00:13:49.190 --> 00:13:53.629 made... probably an extra 20 % to 25 % in actual 00:13:53.629 --> 00:13:56.789 tangible dollars so far this year than I did 00:13:56.789 --> 00:13:59.730 last year. So I sold less. I had a higher ASP. 00:13:59.929 --> 00:14:02.990 But now that my sell -through is higher, my margins 00:14:02.990 --> 00:14:06.289 are lower, I make more money than my old business 00:14:06.289 --> 00:14:10.970 does. I'm living proof. It makes perfect sense. 00:14:11.129 --> 00:14:15.250 And that is a very viable model to go. And it's 00:14:15.250 --> 00:14:18.610 hard for people to swallow that. I don't know 00:14:18.610 --> 00:14:22.309 why that holdup is. Again, it may be fear. It 00:14:22.309 --> 00:14:26.549 may be, well, why sell something for $2 instantaneously 00:14:26.549 --> 00:14:29.350 when I could sell something for $20 in 12 months? 00:14:29.370 --> 00:14:31.830 It's boring, dude. It's lame, right? Having an 00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:34.529 average sales price of $15, dude, nobody's getting 00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:40.870 excited when you sell a DVD for $15. And it excites 00:14:40.870 --> 00:14:43.230 me because I know I probably spent a dollar on 00:14:43.230 --> 00:14:45.730 that. I just made $6 or $7. And I think to myself, 00:14:46.009 --> 00:14:49.519 man. Like I used to work a job where I had to 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.379 work, you know, when I worked in Macy's, I was 00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:53.360 making seven and a quarter an hour, like before 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:56.460 taxes, like that one DVD was equivalent to me 00:14:56.460 --> 00:14:58.519 working one hours at Macy's, right? Like, so 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:01.000 for me, I'm like, hell yeah. Like I just made, 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:03.580 I just made one hour of Macy's wages over here. 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:05.379 But I think for your average resellers, like 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:07.919 you said, they want the big booms. They want 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.340 to see, oh, I went to the thrift. I went to the 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:12.440 bins and I turned this dollar into a trillion 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.129 dollars. I'm here to tell you, you don't. you 00:15:15.129 --> 00:15:17.889 don't need to have all the crazy good finds to 00:15:17.889 --> 00:15:20.389 have a nice profitable reselling business. Like 00:15:20.389 --> 00:15:23.950 I probably sell five to 10 items a year over 00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:26.169 a hundred dollars. And that's the highest I go 00:15:26.169 --> 00:15:28.070 like all year long. Right. And Johnny already 00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:29.970 sold one of them. So theoretically it's between 00:15:29.970 --> 00:15:32.470 four and nine because I don't find this stuff 00:15:32.470 --> 00:15:35.480 around me. Like this is what is. readily available 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.220 to me in my area. It's the stuff that's worth 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:41.740 between $10 and $25. And that's all I buy for 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:44.460 a dollar. And I take my dollar and turn it into 00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:47.580 between $5 and $10 as much as I possibly can. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.700 It is what it is. I mean, it pays the bills. 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:52.679 It keeps the lights on. I'm comfortable with 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:57.539 that. In business as a whole, you can make money 00:15:57.539 --> 00:16:02.480 at two ends of the spectrum. Cheap stuff, we'll 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.740 call it Timu items. There's a bajillion of them. 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:08.000 Or the Rolexes. There's not a bajillion Rolexes. 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:10.240 And we all try to get these Rolexes because, 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:14.539 again, it sounds good, like you said. Finding 00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:18.580 the Rolexes is a huge Herculean task to do, and 00:16:18.580 --> 00:16:21.059 it's great when they happen. But trying to build 00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:24.259 your business off the Rolex model is a lot harder 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:27.419 than the Timu model because the Timu stuff is 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:29.799 everywhere you look. It's everywhere. It's abundant. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.919 If you find an abundant pile of Rolexes, hey, 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:35.519 call me. I'll go 50 -50 on it with you. Yeah, 00:16:35.580 --> 00:16:37.299 I think you're right too. Like even if you wrap 00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:39.340 it back to like, what's your end game? My end 00:16:39.340 --> 00:16:42.539 game requires me having more money. So in order 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:44.779 for me to get more money, I had to lower my margins 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:47.279 to send in more items to sell, right? Like that's 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:50.279 the only way I make more money. If nothing else 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:52.600 changes and I'm in the same area and I'm going 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:55.000 to the same thrift stores, I'm hitting the same 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.960 spots over and over again, I have to find more 00:16:57.960 --> 00:16:59.980 items to scale my business because I need more 00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:02.100 money for my end game, which is to have a house, 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:04.579 to have a little piece of land, not have no... 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:07.779 neighbors and get my time back, right? So I said, 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:09.839 well, I need more money. Like we all do. We all 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.759 need more money. How do we get there? I could 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:14.339 have changed what I sold. Maybe I could have 00:17:14.339 --> 00:17:16.859 started selling Nikes, right? I live by the outlets. 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:19.279 Maybe I start flipping clothes and shoes from 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:22.059 the outlets, or I can lower my margins a little 00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:25.109 bit. raise myself through. I'm not buying slower 00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:27.490 moving items when my margins go down. I'm buying 00:17:27.490 --> 00:17:30.190 faster moving items. So if I'm going to take 00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.750 less money, I need it to sell quicker so I can 00:17:32.750 --> 00:17:35.069 turn that money over quicker and quicker. That's 00:17:35.069 --> 00:17:36.789 been my whole focus this year is sell through. 00:17:36.990 --> 00:17:39.430 So yet again, we get back to what is your end 00:17:39.430 --> 00:17:41.829 game? What do you need to do to get there? It 00:17:41.829 --> 00:17:44.400 would be impossible for me to... maintain high 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.079 margins in media and scale this business because 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:49.380 i don't have the quality of stuff around me my 00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:52.359 only play was okay i focus on a higher sell -through 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.140 i lower my profitability a little bit but i sell 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:58.279 10x more units than i did last year and i make 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:03.700 more money right and having a high asp or getting 00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:05.880 your asp as high as you can is always a good 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:09.519 goal but if you could sell a million two dollar 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.559 items and you can only find, I don't know, five 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:16.160 of these $1 ,000 items, you're better off selling 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:21.980 the $2 items. Your area impacts what kind of 00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:24.619 items you have access to. The right deals come 00:18:24.619 --> 00:18:27.440 along maybe, I don't know, once every six months 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:31.299 or once a year, and you're in a position because 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:34.339 you waited to get that mega score of just awesome 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:37.279 stuff. But for the rest of the year, It's okay 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.400 to pick up the lower end stuff, honestly. Now, 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:44.480 is it a bit grindier that way? Yeah. So it's 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:46.700 a happy medium of trying to find the best things 00:18:46.700 --> 00:18:50.039 you can, sure. But you also need to work with 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.940 what you got. And if what you got is Teemu items 00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:57.819 and not the refrigerators or the Rolexes, that's 00:18:57.819 --> 00:19:00.940 fine. You just gotta... Okay, if I'm stuck with 00:19:00.940 --> 00:19:03.279 $2 items, how do I make a business off of $2 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.740 items? Or am I in the right business? I need 00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:08.200 to look elsewhere to find whatever that elsewhere 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.720 item is to get me my, I don't know, $10 items 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.079 I desire. Because maybe it's not books. Maybe 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.420 it's not CDs. Maybe it's, I don't know, makeup 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:21.220 or you opening up a laundromat or doing something 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:24.400 even outside of reselling. It's all dependent 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.319 on what you personally want. Yeah, I agree. I 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:31.640 just looked. I'm up 73 % on units sold year to 00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:36.779 date from last year. It's a lot of units. It 00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:40.980 is more work, right? 100%. But in the Amazon 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:43.859 land, it's really not because all I'm doing is 00:19:43.859 --> 00:19:46.960 slapping a label on 98 % of the stuff. The other 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.400 2 % maybe has got to get resurfaced or it doesn't 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:52.460 go through. So I think it is a balancing act, 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:54.180 like Johnny said, like I'm sitting here telling 00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:56.299 you, I'm buying more items, I'm sending more 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:58.819 items that requires more time out of my life. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:02.000 But the trade off is more actual profitable dollars 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.200 into my bank account. At the end of the day, 00:20:04.220 --> 00:20:06.339 right? Like I tell you all, it's impossible for 00:20:06.339 --> 00:20:08.279 me to work 40 hours unless I'm driving three 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:10.880 hours one way. So even if I do have to chip in 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:12.500 the extra time, if it is going to make me more 00:20:12.500 --> 00:20:15.519 money. where I'm currently at, my bubble of reselling 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:17.380 that I have, then that's the commitment it's 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:19.200 going to take at the end of the day. And like 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:22.619 I said, it's not exciting. I love finding that 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:27.000 book I sent you, the damn nice little gold, shimmery, 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.960 really expensive books, Franklin, whatever the 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:31.859 hell they're called. I always forget the name 00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:34.720 of them. Easton Press. Easton Press, right? It's 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:36.440 not that I don't book for this stuff, Johnny. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:38.099 I think people are like, he don't even look for 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:40.160 this stuff. I'm like, I'm out here in these stores 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.380 like, please, please, please. I'm telling you. 00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:44.369 the people that actively look for and sell this 00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:46.430 for their entire business model, they travel, 00:20:46.509 --> 00:20:49.069 they hop on planes because they don't pop up 00:20:49.069 --> 00:20:51.450 every day. Well, they do pop up every day, but 00:20:51.450 --> 00:20:56.109 you're in Pennsylvania. It's in Iowa. It's there 00:20:56.109 --> 00:20:58.710 and available, but it's in Iowa. Yeah, dude. 00:20:58.829 --> 00:21:01.410 It's not that I don't look for them. I do my 00:21:01.410 --> 00:21:03.410 due diligence when I'm in the stores. It just 00:21:03.410 --> 00:21:05.569 doesn't exist around me. And when it does, it's 00:21:05.569 --> 00:21:07.289 a nice bonus, right? Every once in a while, sure, 00:21:07.410 --> 00:21:09.970 I come across one. Yay, I come across something 00:21:09.970 --> 00:21:12.450 and it's worth a lot of money. But other than 00:21:12.450 --> 00:21:15.529 that, I think that's the idea of like your end 00:21:15.529 --> 00:21:18.230 game and focusing on, you know, I don't even 00:21:18.230 --> 00:21:20.269 think it has to be monetary. I think you'd be 00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:22.690 getting your time back and having just like. 00:21:23.199 --> 00:21:25.819 an extra piece of income coming in right it's 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:27.759 never going to be fully passive no matter what 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:29.559 you do in life there's nothing that is fully 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:32.799 passive but i do think you know doing the legwork 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.539 up front and really thinking about what you want 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:36.480 to be down the road when the time comes where 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.079 maybe you just get bored of reselling right that's 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:40.539 what happens to a lot of people people are just 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:43.759 like I don't enjoy this anymore. It's not fun. 00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:46.240 And I think you got to do something you enjoy. 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:49.140 I enjoy going and scanning things and finding 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:51.220 some cool stuff every once in a while or whatever 00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:53.400 it may be. I think a lot of people lose that 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:55.119 pretty quick in resale because they realize. 00:21:55.849 --> 00:21:58.970 I got to go to 100 thrift stores in a month and 00:21:58.970 --> 00:22:01.630 I can't just survive off my one local thrift 00:22:01.630 --> 00:22:04.109 store or Goodwill bins. And then like you just 00:22:04.109 --> 00:22:06.710 get tired of it. But it's such a great opportunity 00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:09.309 financially. And if you just want to get your 00:22:09.309 --> 00:22:11.109 time back and have a little bit of extra money 00:22:11.109 --> 00:22:13.339 that people but people. Everything we're talking 00:22:13.339 --> 00:22:15.019 about, man, like people can't think about next 00:22:15.019 --> 00:22:17.099 week rather yet, you know, me and Johnny sitting 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:19.480 here saying we want to grow old. Johnny's still 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:20.900 going to be reselling. I'm going to be sitting 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:23.480 over here smoking a peace pipe being like, yeah, 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:27.059 I quit reselling 20 years ago. I'll let you sit 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:29.480 near the conveyor belt, Mike. It's fine. But 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:32.279 in all seriousness, if you've created a business 00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:35.299 model that is a grind, whether it's got a huge 00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:39.420 route going on or you just have so much stuff 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:42.599 you just sift through. You need to come to the 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.460 realization, okay, either I'm in the right business 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:48.400 and I need to put in processes, systems, and 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.799 probably personnel to make this viable of any 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:54.839 real dollars. Otherwise, you probably need to 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:57.859 be looking at something else that's higher margin 00:22:57.859 --> 00:23:01.700 to do or a different business entirely. It's 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:06.000 those reality checks that impacts you personally, 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:08.660 whether you stay in reselling, go do another 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:12.559 business. Or you figure out, okay, my business 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:15.279 needs some major adjustments because I need to 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.220 be making X in value per item. I'm not. How do 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:21.299 I do it? Is my widget right? Or my process is 00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:24.279 wrong? Yes, no. And then follow the chain of 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:26.819 commands to figure out how to get there. You 00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:29.400 can do this. It's a little bit of thinking power. 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:31.559 It really is a little bit of thinking power. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:35.480 But take some time. Make a list of what you actually 00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:38.200 want for you and yours, yours being your family 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:40.539 probably. If you're a single person, well, you 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:42.519 could be selfish and make your personal wish 00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:45.460 list with no compromise. Get in that man house, 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:47.900 not a cave, the whole house is the man house, 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:51.519 and do with it as you see fit. Figure out how 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:56.359 much that costs and figure out, okay, am I making 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:59.660 enough money to get there by 10 years? No? Okay, 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:02.259 my timeline needs to be 15 years. Are you okay 00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:04.660 with that? Yes, no? That's the other thing. People's 00:24:04.660 --> 00:24:07.200 timetables, they don't think about that. When 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:08.940 do they want to hit the goal? I think that's 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:11.279 a very important measuring stick because that 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:13.660 tells you on a year -to -year basis if you're 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:15.779 on or off track. And if you're off track, how 00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:19.779 do I get back on? What do I need to do? If you're 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:23.359 not okay with the longer timescale, what needs 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:26.619 to change? What do I need to do to change my 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:29.420 business or shift businesses entirely to make 00:24:29.420 --> 00:24:33.420 that a reality? A lot of it too is like, you 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:36.900 have to understand your business on a financial 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:40.039 level that most don't. We talked about this on 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:42.779 the call we had is like, I broke down my pay 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:46.420 per hour in the month of October on a call that 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:49.920 I did. And I think people... People don't know 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:52.500 their numbers, so they think their business sucks 00:24:52.500 --> 00:24:54.119 more than it sucks or they're not getting the 00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:56.259 results they should be getting. But if you really 00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:58.240 sit down and break down your actual numbers, 00:24:58.339 --> 00:25:00.420 you will see how much you're making per hour. 00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:02.700 And I think it will surprise a lot of people 00:25:02.700 --> 00:25:05.000 to know that you're probably making more than 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.759 your typical job that you can go find in your 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.259 local area that doesn't require a degree or doesn't 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:14.019 require tens of thousands of dollars to go get 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:16.960 a degree. So I think we have to understand that 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.230 at that level. Everything we're talking about, 00:25:20.349 --> 00:25:22.789 the times have changed in resale. It's not like 00:25:22.789 --> 00:25:24.750 it used to be. You have to have business. We 00:25:24.750 --> 00:25:28.450 had it easy back in the day. Yeah. I mean, people 00:25:28.450 --> 00:25:30.869 that had it easy back then, there were still 00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:32.890 people falling flat on their face, but the people 00:25:32.890 --> 00:25:35.450 that were smart, like you are required to be 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:39.329 today, were super successful. Now, it's required. 00:25:39.329 --> 00:25:45.789 They got to pile cash, more cash than... Yeah. 00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:49.170 Yeah. So nowadays it's required to even have 00:25:49.170 --> 00:25:53.349 that type of business mentality to even be any 00:25:53.349 --> 00:25:56.349 type of successful because you can't just list 00:25:56.349 --> 00:25:58.309 it and forget it. You can't just send anything 00:25:58.309 --> 00:26:00.670 to Amazon. You got to know what, what is the 00:26:00.670 --> 00:26:03.210 data you're looking at? Does it sell? Has it 00:26:03.210 --> 00:26:06.130 ever sold? How many photos do I need? Do I need 00:26:06.130 --> 00:26:08.230 to do this? Do I need to do that? And if your 00:26:08.230 --> 00:26:10.829 end game is this to be forever for you, or is 00:26:10.829 --> 00:26:13.549 it to be for the next 5, 10, 15 years, you still 00:26:13.549 --> 00:26:16.089 have to be profitable today. And what goes into 00:26:16.089 --> 00:26:20.269 that is things are changing. Dude, how much shit 00:26:20.269 --> 00:26:22.490 has changed this past year in reselling a loan? 00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:25.990 Don't matter what the platform is. So much. There's 00:26:25.990 --> 00:26:28.710 a long list. It's completely new. Like if somebody 00:26:28.710 --> 00:26:32.599 was reselling. in 2024 and just started to get 00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:35.339 back into reselling today in 2025, they would 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:38.099 be like, what the hell has happened around here? 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.119 I had two friends I talked into doing Amazon. 00:26:41.380 --> 00:26:44.660 And this year had a lot of problems. And I had 00:26:44.660 --> 00:26:47.319 some interesting conversation. This isn't normal, 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:49.980 but it might be. And you need to be OK with that. 00:26:50.140 --> 00:26:52.160 And I didn't have a crystal ball knowing that 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:55.500 we would have the buy box issues three months 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:57.640 out of this year, maybe fourth, because we're 00:26:57.640 --> 00:27:02.230 headed in December in a few days. I'll help you 00:27:02.230 --> 00:27:04.730 because I talked you into this the best I can. 00:27:05.049 --> 00:27:07.369 But at the end of the day, they were both profitable. 00:27:07.450 --> 00:27:11.730 They were okay with that. But I was talking probably 00:27:11.730 --> 00:27:15.410 potential forecasting for 2024. We're in 2025. 00:27:15.650 --> 00:27:19.130 And that forecast I did with them doesn't work. 00:27:19.250 --> 00:27:23.490 It doesn't comply. Now, adjustments need to be 00:27:23.490 --> 00:27:26.109 made. And knowing when to make those adjustments 00:27:26.109 --> 00:27:28.809 is good. But that's the thing. There are things 00:27:28.809 --> 00:27:31.660 that... these curve balls that come at us and 00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:34.799 our business has to sustain those impacts and 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:37.500 if it can't your business is broken and you need 00:27:37.500 --> 00:27:40.039 to reevaluate it now it's not broken because 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:42.200 of anything you did because again these are things 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:44.799 out of your control but you need to be able to 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:48.940 fix it when it gets broke or is broken or is 00:27:48.940 --> 00:27:52.819 on the way to being broken because It's all this 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:55.259 is on you. It's nobody else's control but yours. 00:27:55.380 --> 00:27:57.640 Even if those things hit you that are out of 00:27:57.640 --> 00:27:59.440 your control, it's still on you to be able to 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:02.859 fix them. Yeah, you're right. And I mean, you 00:28:02.859 --> 00:28:05.539 had the Amazon buy box and we have this eBay 00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:07.640 promoted listings where somebody clicks on a 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:10.140 listing, whatever, and it still sells. 10 years 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:12.119 later, you still get charged a promoted fee, 00:28:12.220 --> 00:28:14.819 right? Like we can't control this. You got two 00:28:14.819 --> 00:28:16.759 options, right? You either figure out a way to 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:19.109 deal with it or you quit. Because we're tired 00:28:19.109 --> 00:28:21.269 of hearing you cry. I don't even have to tell 00:28:21.269 --> 00:28:23.630 you, Johnny, about tired of hearing you cry. 00:28:23.869 --> 00:28:26.490 I'll say it for both of us. You can't change 00:28:26.490 --> 00:28:28.809 what the platforms change, right? You can just 00:28:28.809 --> 00:28:31.049 go sell somewhere else. Good luck, Chuck, right? 00:28:31.289 --> 00:28:33.750 Make your own platform and make it the Disneyland 00:28:33.750 --> 00:28:36.809 of reselling. I'll jump on board. I like Disneyland. 00:28:37.230 --> 00:28:41.569 But until then, suck it up, buttercup. It's tough 00:28:41.569 --> 00:28:44.390 because I get it, right? Like it's an extra percentage 00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:46.430 coming out of your pocket. But at the end of 00:28:46.430 --> 00:28:49.160 the day. We're playing on their platforms. We 00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:51.240 are at the will of whatever they did. If the 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:54.079 platform says, hey, we're raising fees 10%, you 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:55.539 will have two options. You go sell somewhere 00:28:55.539 --> 00:28:58.279 else or you just stop selling. You know, you 00:28:58.279 --> 00:29:00.339 just quit or you just, well, I guess that's straight. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:03.339 You stop selling, you move somewhere else or 00:29:03.339 --> 00:29:06.619 you account for the extra 10%, right? Or change 00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:10.259 what you're selling. Exactly. So there's always 00:29:10.259 --> 00:29:12.859 going to be pivots. I mean, we just, anybody 00:29:12.859 --> 00:29:14.900 listening to this as a reseller this year, even 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:17.390 if it's just... you know, even if you're selling 00:29:17.390 --> 00:29:20.430 on whatnot or any of these other platforms, just 00:29:20.430 --> 00:29:22.369 look at the post office. The post office goes 00:29:22.369 --> 00:29:24.609 up every three months. I feel like the cost of 00:29:24.609 --> 00:29:27.130 shipping things. So every, every person, no matter 00:29:27.130 --> 00:29:30.009 what platform is impacted by changes in reselling 00:29:30.009 --> 00:29:32.599 constantly. So if you're end game. You don't 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:34.880 know what your end game is. Good luck figuring 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:36.299 out how the hell you're going to get anywhere 00:29:36.299 --> 00:29:38.200 or if you're even making a dollar at the end 00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:40.119 of the day. Like we got to have some type of 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:43.119 goal, whether that's retirement or whether that's 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.039 next year or whether that's by the end of next 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:47.119 month. You should have something laid out where. 00:29:47.769 --> 00:29:50.089 This is my expectations for the business. I want 00:29:50.089 --> 00:29:52.509 to make this much money, track it, know your 00:29:52.509 --> 00:29:55.529 numbers down to a T, down to the penny, spend 00:29:55.529 --> 00:29:58.750 some time actually being a business owner, not 00:29:58.750 --> 00:30:01.750 just being a lister and taking photos and filling 00:30:01.750 --> 00:30:04.369 up a box, dive into your numbers, dive into the 00:30:04.369 --> 00:30:06.349 actual profitability of your business. Because 00:30:06.349 --> 00:30:08.829 if not, dude, who cares? You're just useless. 00:30:08.890 --> 00:30:11.109 You're just roaming through life and you have 00:30:11.109 --> 00:30:13.130 this big, beautiful opportunity of reselling 00:30:13.130 --> 00:30:14.690 and you kind of just let it go by the wayside. 00:30:15.309 --> 00:30:18.450 Right. For a person like me, I'm always going 00:30:18.450 --> 00:30:20.509 to be doing something in books. I mean, even 00:30:20.509 --> 00:30:22.789 before I started reselling, I was in book publishing. 00:30:24.390 --> 00:30:26.750 I'm probably not going to change my widget, even 00:30:26.750 --> 00:30:28.970 though I'm fully aware. That's a weird zoom in. 00:30:29.029 --> 00:30:33.690 Okay. I know. Got to watch the video. Subscribe 00:30:33.690 --> 00:30:35.869 to the used book guy on YouTube to see this amazing. 00:30:35.970 --> 00:30:37.970 Oh, my God. It like zoomed in super high when 00:30:37.970 --> 00:30:39.509 I went to drink my Mountain Dew. I was like just 00:30:39.509 --> 00:30:42.329 my whole head. That was the plug Mountain Dew. 00:30:42.390 --> 00:30:44.569 We're looking for a sponsor. Yes, we are. Zero 00:30:44.569 --> 00:30:48.279 sugar, please. Yeah. But anyway, I like the widget 00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:50.099 I sell. I'm probably never going to change my 00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:54.400 widget. I may add things on to it because I'm 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:56.059 fully aware there are other widgets that are 00:30:56.059 --> 00:30:58.259 way more profitable that I can do. And some other 00:30:58.259 --> 00:30:59.799 people that are in different categories like 00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:01.700 Johnny, why are you wasting time in books? Because 00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:03.700 I see it all the time. A lot of the resellers 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:06.140 transition in books to do something else. I don't 00:31:06.140 --> 00:31:08.220 want to do that. I love books. I'm a weirdo. 00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:11.019 But I'm okay with that. And I'm self -aware of 00:31:11.019 --> 00:31:13.839 that. So I make my business work around playing 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:17.200 with books however I can. I do consignment with 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:19.299 books. I do eBay with books. I do Amazon with 00:31:19.299 --> 00:31:24.019 books. I plan on opening up a bookstore and all 00:31:24.019 --> 00:31:28.019 these other weird things with books. Now, could 00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:30.819 I take an easier path by selling another widget 00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:34.140 and doing other things? Probably. But we talked 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:36.240 about our end goal. My end goal is working with 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:39.000 books until the day I die. That is my end goal. 00:31:39.180 --> 00:31:41.279 And having money along the way to do whatever 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:44.609 the hell I want. As of right now, I'm doing just 00:31:44.609 --> 00:31:47.710 that, so I'm where I need to be. Now, if you're 00:31:47.710 --> 00:31:50.670 not okay with that, and you're not in love with 00:31:50.670 --> 00:31:52.869 your widget like I am, and you're not a weirdo 00:31:52.869 --> 00:31:56.549 like I am, change your widget. Do something else. 00:31:56.950 --> 00:31:59.069 I got an idea. Everybody's widget should just 00:31:59.069 --> 00:32:01.480 be a dollar bill. There you go. We're playing 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:03.640 with dollar bills. I'm in love with my widget. 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:06.500 I'm like Mr. Krabs. I hate the books, but I love 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:08.400 the dollar bills. I don't see a book. I see a 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:10.259 dollar bill. I was just like, oh, what is this 00:32:10.259 --> 00:32:12.039 thing? This is a pretty big dollar bill here 00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:14.299 I have in my hand. Let me send it on its way 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:16.180 so it can come back and make me more money. But 00:32:16.180 --> 00:32:18.460 you're right, dude. My end game was to move to 00:32:18.460 --> 00:32:23.539 California, buy a 3 ,000 -acre farm in the middle 00:32:23.539 --> 00:32:25.640 of nowhere. Something's got to change because 00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:29.000 I don't have that income currently to get there. 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:31.559 But that's not my end game. My game is nice little 00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:34.539 place, a little bit of land. I'm good to go. 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:36.900 Just keep pumping money into retirement. I don't 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.519 live the lavish life like people got to force 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.720 me to buy things for myself that are expensive. 00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:44.720 So, yeah, for me, it's different for everybody, 00:32:44.859 --> 00:32:47.019 though. Right. But understanding what yours actually 00:32:47.019 --> 00:32:49.519 is, is the only way you're ever going to be able 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:52.660 to. get there to even see the light at the end 00:32:52.660 --> 00:32:54.900 of the tunnel and if it is working forever i 00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:56.519 still will challenge you like hey what do you 00:32:56.519 --> 00:32:58.380 want to do along the way what are some cool things 00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:00.440 you want to do along the way What are maybe some 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:02.180 business things you want to buy? Some people 00:33:02.180 --> 00:33:04.400 want to go the route of an employee or some people 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:06.940 want to go the route of the fanciest, you know, 00:33:06.940 --> 00:33:09.759 software or their own warehouse space or their 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:11.819 own little, you know, storage unit that they 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:14.039 build in the back of the yard, their own barn, 00:33:14.220 --> 00:33:16.059 their own reselling barn or something like that. 00:33:16.380 --> 00:33:18.539 Everybody's got to have aspirations, right? I 00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:20.480 think a lot of people just judge through like, 00:33:20.579 --> 00:33:22.900 oh, yeah, I guess so. I guess I'll do this. You 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:25.140 need to sit down and you need to do what people 00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:27.480 do when they get diagnosed with cancer or they're 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:32.799 80. 100 things to do before I die list. And then 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:35.140 figure out if your business can do those 100 00:33:35.140 --> 00:33:38.460 things. If not, readjust your business. If you 00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:41.259 want to go see Niagara Falls or the Great Wall 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:44.019 of China, those are, depending where you live, 00:33:44.180 --> 00:33:46.900 can be expensive trips. Figure out if you can 00:33:46.900 --> 00:33:50.059 see all the Niagara's and Great Walls of China's 00:33:50.059 --> 00:33:52.599 in the world, whatever that 100 item list is. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:55.140 Add up all the numbers. What does it cost today? 00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:57.740 What's it going to cost? 10 years from now, add 00:33:57.740 --> 00:34:00.680 some inflation in there. Give yourself some conservative 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:02.799 number buffer because it's going to be more. 00:34:02.859 --> 00:34:06.299 You can't do all 100 in year one unless you plan 00:34:06.299 --> 00:34:09.159 on doing that at 80. I've given myself a cutoff 00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:10.900 time at 80 years old. We're doing the bucket 00:34:10.900 --> 00:34:13.400 list. So now you're giving yourself a timetable, 00:34:13.420 --> 00:34:16.000 right? From whatever your age is now until 80. 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:19.440 Can I make my business be able to do that so 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:24.670 I can go take my 80 years old vacation? I agree. 00:34:24.750 --> 00:34:26.869 We're going to wrap it up here. Just start thinking 00:34:26.869 --> 00:34:29.769 about what the end game is for you, even if that 00:34:29.769 --> 00:34:31.849 is, you know, pivoting to another business altogether. 00:34:32.329 --> 00:34:34.889 I think resale is a beautiful opportunity and 00:34:34.889 --> 00:34:36.690 we'll talk to you all in next week's episode. 00:34:37.389 --> 00:34:39.369 Thanks for listening to another episode of the 00:34:39.369 --> 00:34:42.190 Reseller's Mindset Podcast. Today's full episode 00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:44.550 and all previous episodes are available to all 00:34:44.550 --> 00:34:47.050 YouTube members along with the weekly Zoom call 00:34:47.050 --> 00:34:49.530 and private Discord. Head on over to youtube 00:34:49.530 --> 00:34:52.469 .com backslash to use book guy and consider joining 00:34:52.469 --> 00:34:54.070 for as little as $2 .99 a month.