A Hustler's Guide To Buying And Selling Anything (Part 1)

[Deleted25642]

We're in the same city

Crap! How did you even know that? I just saw your profile pic and thought "that's not here" lol Well, if you see some PS2 games go up, you'll know who it is.

Kind of feel bad now that you're giving out all this info and here I am in the same city... not that I would be a threat, but just the same.

If you want to ever meet up for any reason, grab a coffee, shoot the shit ect, let me know.

I actually just made the same decision as you, regarding my own job. I was about to go to a "better" company but the job I am at now, allows me to text in whenever I want, and simply not go in to work. For me, the freedom to pursue an idea of mine, when the iron is hot, is worth more than anything right now.

For some reason, I feel like saying this: I'm 38 now and about 8 years ago, I really had my shit together simply by following my gut. I had scalability, systems, provided a service (just lack the control) and then I thought I had to do things the "grown up" way. Things did not turn out well and now I'm going back to what worked before. I can only imagine where I would be if I had stayed true to my own ideals of freedom and low overhead! lol

Anyway, I said that, to say this, "Trust your thinking and yourself" It's seems like you're a pretty strong and secure person. Keep doing what you're doing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser394]

I don't do this anymore, so it's no big deal.

Also self employed at this point.

Sure I'd be down to meetup in the near future.

 

[Deleted25642]

I don't do this anymore, so it's no big deal.

Also self employed at this point.

Sure I'd be down to meetup in the near future.

Right on. It would be great to hang with someone else thinking along the same lines for a change. I actually looked at the post dates for the first time yesterday and realized most of them were 2012. You let me know when you want to grab a coffee or something and I'll be able to make it.

 

[adamhenry]

That would be fun to see a bunch of us take this on as a challenge and post results - even if you don't go buy the item, just see what success you have with replies.

I'll do it!

Hmm, what should I go shopping for...

In case anyone is interested, as an experiment I emailed 14 ads for Samsung Galaxy S4s, and offered $100 less than asking price (they go for around $300 here). Mine has a cracked screen anyway, so wouldn't be bad if I stumbled across a good deal. Will post results.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[bboyu]

[/QUOTE]

I don't do this anymore, so it's no big deal.
Also self employed at this point.

I don't do this anymore, so it's no big deal.

Also self employed at this point.

What are you doing now if you don't mind me asking? What route did you go down once you had the capital generated via hustling?

The only reason I ask is because if someone's already done it there's no harm in letting someone else know some insights regarding such topics as that is what it all comes down to at the end of the day. That's why you created this thread. I have a habit of thinking everything out vaguely if that but I have to get the big picture first before I put the pieces together.

Making money isn't hard as it's trial and error, whatever works keep doing it, scale it if you can.

However once you do have the money now you need to account for it so it "looks legit" when you use the money for bigger and better things. It may be illegal to begin with, fine. But when you're doing well now and are getting serious money coming in you then need to create some sort of a structure that can be after a year 2 or 3 years, but the fact is you can't just keep hustling and then hiding the money?

There's no point in hustling for a while if you aint going to stack the money up. The whole point of it is to make the capital to then pour it into something bigger and better.

Yeah you can say oh it's been gifted to you (if it's five figures or more that you've managed to stack) and then do what you got to with the money, but you can't do that all the time.

I have asked the above question as you said a few times, it aint even a touchy subject but you keep ridiculing. Yeah I might ask "stupid questions" but there's a reason. The reason why I'm asking is because you've done it, I respect it and I respect you , you've created a thread to help other people steer in the right direction. You shouldn't be getting upset if you've made it. You even created a rant thread "is this fastlane" which I love as well.

This is why I ask "stupid questions" coz out of frustration the person getting asked might just come out with something that you wanted to hear deep down but couldn't quite get it to stick.

So if you would kindly shed some light on how you can slowly but surely account for the money and turn it into white if it's black. You've been through this so just a lil something to get the juices flowing.

 

[DeletedUser394]

The problem isn't on my end. It's yours.

I've spelled it out in black and white. Have a nice life.

 

[RBefort]

Who here has advice on ipads? Really worried about things being stolen and not being able to use them somehow, but people seem desperate for cash enough to get rid of pricier items. Obviously if they are giving me $100 for a $400 brand spanken new one, then it might sound a little fishy. But just browsing my area today, I found a few desperate sellers. What type of profit margins do you shoot for on these items? Nice work, Rich Kid!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike Kavanagh]

Who here has advice on ipads? Really worried about things being stolen and not being able to use them somehow

This is what they've sold for on eBay.
iPad 4th gen's in my area are going for $300-$450.

I tend to stay away from things that have to be registered to a certain company, like iPhones and iPads. These things are more likely to be stolen and unusable by someone you sell to.

iPods, game consoles, game boy's and select games are what I stick to.
Find your own niche and you will quickly learn the prices and what not to buy.

Also, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

The Three Rules of Hustling:

Know your market
You make your money when you buy
Never blow your load (never spend your investing money on anything besides investments)


Also, never make an unsafe deals.
Public, cameras and have buddy with you. If you can't get a buddy to go, talk to someone on the phone. Have someone know your itinerary. Don't meet at their house.

 

[RBefort]

Few questions for anyone, and I apologize if they are already in the thread. Read this whole thing a few months ago, but didn't take action. Starting to now, and am getting pretty addicted

1) When you contact a seller about an item and decide to buy/meet up, do you instantly list on Amazon and Ebay both, or just CL again? Or, not do it until after you've actually bought the item? I negotiated a GPS last night, agreeing to meet tonight to purchase... and instantly put on ebay and amazon both, and had it sold this morning before I went to look at the item today. I have a feeling this is both good and bad, because turning away a buyer on Amazon if you decide the product wasn't worth it might tarnish your feedback? I guess what i mean is, what is your usual timeline for negotiating, listing/where, etc?

I live in a smaller market area for CL (10 mi from 40k population with ton of college students), 35-40 min from capital city, and then 2hrs from largest city...so, I kind of put on all 3 CL's to reach a bigger population, and I sometimes visit these places.

2) Shipping on Amazon...do you click all of the 2 day shipping and longer buttons? I see several options, with Amazon showing different reimbursements. I try to say quick shipping in my conditions portion, and say I can get out for delivery that day most of time if within cutoff time. Along with this, Are you always using USPS Priority shipping of some sort, or going with other carriers for different goods?

3) How do you handle conditions of products like "brand new" vs "used-like new" etc? Had a guy tell me it was a brand new ipad air and showed receipt in pics that he just bought mid Sept. So, dummy me priced my offer on a brand new ipad on Amazon and offered $350 (the lowest price on amazon probably 425+). I get there and he had used it a couple of days, as his browser history showed so...however, it was in perfect condition, in cover, etc. This example is just kind of like everything else. If someone has the product for a couple of days, opens it and barely uses it for a day or two, is it still considered used-like new status then? This really changes the offer you can put in on Amazon, and quite a difference between the two.

Again, I apologize if these have already been answered. If they have, I guess I'll start at the beginning of the thread again

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike Kavanagh]

not do it until after you've actually bought the item

Not until I have the item. You could buy the item and it not be up to your exact description.

How do you handle conditions of products like "brand new" vs "used-like new" etc?

I only post as new if it is in flawless condition with the box. Even better with shrink wrap.

Amazon shipping for me is stock $3.99 rate. Something like 2-14 days. I don't mess with other things but I think it would be helpful if you have your own company's item to ship out.

 

[RBefort]

I found a website on google that allows you to type in serial numbers of the ipad to see if the activation lock was turned off. Are these still a threat to getting screwed over? See tons of deals on these badboys.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

I found a website on google that allows you to type in serial numbers of the ipad to see if the activation lock was turned off. Are these still a threat to getting screwed over? See tons of deals on these badboys.

Your best bet is to call and see if the ESN is blocked. Only way to get around that is to have it Jailbroken.

If you don't know anything about this niche, stay away from it. Especially when you don't have at least enough money to buy 8-15 items of a niche you know, to recuperate loss. It's easy to get screwed when you don't know anything about it.

It's why my uncle sells furniture and I sell iPods and Gameboys. We know our respective markets.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Shades]

Your best bet is to call and see if the ESN is blocked. Only way to get around that is to have it Jailbroken.

If you don't know anything about this niche, stay away from it. Especially when you don't have at least enough money to buy 8-15 items of a niche you know, to recuperate loss. It's easy to get screwed when you don't know anything about it.

It's why my uncle sells furniture and I sell iPods and Gameboys. We know our respective markets.

Buying phones has become dangerous. ATT used to not blacklist phones. They do now. So now all phones from any carrier you buy can be useless. And I find often that they are. People willing to really give you a great price on a phone are people who cant pay the phone bill so just sell the phone. Unfortunately the carrier blacklists thats ESN making the phone unable to be activated.

 

[smartman]

having a phone with a bad esn jailbroken will not correct the esn issue. you will need to get it unlocked. Two different things.

 

[RBefort]

What does everyone think about editions/generations when buying a product? Obviously the most hip and new will sell the most, but do you kind of have a self-limitation on how old you go? This could be for a wide variety of goods....game consoles, textbooks, tablets/ipods/electronics.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike Kavanagh]

self-limitation on how old you go?

No. I will sell a NES as fast as I will sell a Wii. Different prices though.

having a phone with a bad esn jailbroken will not correct the esn issue. you will need to get it unlocked.

See, I don't know the market enough to know that. If you are good at cellphones, go for it. If you have no clue what the hell you are talking about, run away.

textbooks

Stay current if you are buying and selling college books. Especially medical and tech books. Cult classic books, like Poor Charlie's Almanack can net you good money if you find them. I recommend keeping the books that are cool to you or invaluable to your niche.

 

[DeletedUser394]

What does everyone think about editions/generations when buying a product? Obviously the most hip and new will sell the most, but do you kind of have a self-limitation on how old you go? This could be for a wide variety of goods....game consoles, textbooks, tablets/ipods/electronics.

I made most of my money with N64s... nostalgia is a big money maker

 

[RBefort]

When you list on Ebay, do you primarily use auctions or fixed prices? Just sold my Ipad air I hustled this past week, but set it at a 5 day auction. Got no bids until the last 1 min 30 sec (obviously). I started it at $385 just so I could get my money back if only received one bid and a BIN of $540. Seems like a huge waste of time to have auctions, unless it is a cheaper, more popular item? Although, responding to lowball offers all day long with a fixed price is kind of annoying. Set a book lowest on Amazon at $95, so I threw it on Ebay and was getting offers for $60 a few times.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike Kavanagh]

fixed prices

30 Days with offers. I over price items like this so I get offers coming in all of the time.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

Practice what you preach. Started again few days ago.

Need to bump the speed up a bit.

 

[Shades]

30 Days with offers. I over price items like this so I get offers coming in all of the time.

Do you find the days matter at all? Ive always set to 5 day BIN. Listings are free now so you can always relist it. My thought was if someone is in ending soon view then at some point a 5 day BIN item will show up on first pages of their search. A 30 day never will. Does it make a difference? Who knows.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike Kavanagh]

Do you find the days matter at all? Ive always set to 5 day BIN. Listings are free now so you can always relist it. My thought was if someone is in ending soon view then at some point a 5 day BIN item will show up on first pages of their search. A 30 day never will. Does it make a difference? Who knows.

That's an interesting thought. However, when I've run auctions, I've found stuff not selling or getting views.
Also, everything shown above, was posted and sold within 4 days. My last item left I have priced in the middle and not so great pictures. That's why it's not moved yet.

I price my items slightly lower so I can push things out quicker. I don't want to hold on to inventory for more than 7 days.
[HASHTAG]#Turn[/HASHTAG]&Burn

 

[Jinxus]

Practice what you preach. Started again few days ago.

Need to bump the speed up a bit.

Nice tab, "Elon Musk's 14-Hour Work..."

Please link me! Elon is awesome.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

@RichKid Been having some trouble today finding some sales.

Do you find it better to do this towards the end of the month or does it matter?
I know there are deals out there, just not seeing them today.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RBefort]

I am sucking with the shipping. Only 2 products I've sold, I've spent more on the shipping than what I had in the ad. I had $8.xx listed on ebay calculator and spent $12+ with some extra insurance included on the ipad air.

Do you guys check out the trade in values at best buy or on amazon before negotiating? I kind of use these as a hedge against my buy, just in case I somehow can't sell it. Or, do you just do worst case scenario decently below the lowest Used price showing (if that's the condition)?

 

[SBS.95]

Do you guys check out the trade in values at best buy or on amazon before negotiating? I kind of use these as a hedge against my buy, just in case I somehow can't sell it. Or, do you just do worst case scenario decently below the lowest Used price showing (if that's the condition)?

You have to be confident that what you have will sell. And for video games or electronics that isn't really a big deal because those types of items are always in high demand.

Generally for video games I will go to Amazon and find the cheapest used price, let's say it's $30. So the maximum I would pay for that is $15. And for a profit margin of $15 (which is really only about $8-9 after fees and all) I won't even leave the house unless I am buying multiple games at a time. I'll happily take +15 margin (+8-9 profit) on 7 games. That's like an hour of work, and more than a minimum wage worker earns in an 8-hour shift flipping burgers.

As for trade-in prices, I never look at them. However I have a few "wanted" ads posted on Craigslist. One of my ads is for video games and I have written "Will pay more than GameStop" which is really easy to do being as GameStop offers people approx 25-30% of the item's value, so all you have to do is offer 35-50% and you are beating their offer and you have a nice margin.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

Starting to see that low end consumer electronics are more about turnover with low margins.

As for shipping, get a scale if you plan on doing this long term.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RBefort]

When buying consoles, do you actually go to the person's house with someone and test it out, or is there some way to meet in a public place? Not sure of the best/safest/most reliable way to go about this.

 

[RBefort]

Buying phones has become dangerous. ATT used to not blacklist phones. They do now. So now all phones from any carrier you buy can be useless. And I find often that they are. People willing to really give you a great price on a phone are people who cant pay the phone bill so just sell the phone. Unfortunately the carrier blacklists thats ESN making the phone unable to be activated.

Would a safe way to check this be to meet up at the store of the carrier they are using and check to see if anything is shady with the product? Can't imagine how many people are popping off the iphone 5's with the iphone 6 coming out.