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

[daivey]

I feel your pain @RBefort. I've done a lot of buying and selling throughout my life but for some reason I am unable to make it consistent. Buying and selling is definitely a tricky process.It appears to me that sellers tend to set their prices above the market so they can maintain their margins from the lowballers. In some cases, sellers also set prices at market value and decline all lowball offers or give you a slight discount which is not enough to make any profits. Here is a hypothetical scenario I find myself in a lot...

So let's say there is a pair of shoes you want to buy. The seller is selling it for $100. The real market value of the item is $70 dollars. You message the seller and make an offer for $60. The seller declines and says "I will do $70". From the buyer's perspective (you), it appears to be a good deal as he dropped the price down by $30. At this point you have to make a decision. Since this is just an example, let's just say you decide to pull the trigger and make the purchase. Let assume you bought the item off Craigslist. At this point, you got the product and everything seem to be going right until you realize there is no margins to be made. You try to put it on Ebay and Amazon only to realize, if you priced it at $100, you are most likely unable to compete. Everyone on Ebay is selling it for $70. As for Amazon, it is an absolute price war. If your listing is not around the top 5, it is extremely difficult to sell. Factor in shipping and fees from Ebay and Amazon and now you got negative profits. If you decide to list it on Craigslist and price it at $100 (just like the seller did to you), you will realize that you are back at square one because now you're trying to maintain your margins and others are lowballing you now. Factor in time wasted messaging seller(30 minutes), time driving(1:30hr roundtrip) , gas (15-20miles),wasted inventory space and now you got a nightmare deal that will end your buying and selling career quickly. Not quite sure how anyone can pull this off consistently.





@Vigilante has an interesting point.This seems like the only solution, but then again, your probability of striking a deal is low which makes this business model extremely inconsistent.

well if it's easy, anyone could do it.

 

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[RBefort]

I find it mildly amusing how cash offers and quick payments work on CL. I'll throw out a lowball offer that I can profit off of sometimes within hours of a post, saying "I know it's early in the ad, and you can wait for more offers, but I can have this gone today for yada yada price." Then, they'll instantly reply and say "No, I can't go that low." Day or 2 later when they get no emails, they drop the price or meet you at your offer. Boomshakalaka.

How do people feel about opinions on the following scenario, which I've encountered recently. I look in other markets 30-40+ miles away, as it isn't all that inconvenient of a trip if I bundle products together to pick up and/or see family. So, I'll offer something and say "I'd pick up next weekend." They say, ok deal, but say they will leave ad up to take other offers until then. Am I a prick to say "No, take your ad down and consider it sold as I am expecting to buy this product?" They will counter with "I'd let you know in next couple days if it sold" to which I say "If you don't take your ad down, then my offer will change later in the week." Feels a little prickish, but then again not...as I don't want them to survey other options, just like on Shark Tank where their offers are based on the hints of desperation/weakness. Furthermore, markets can change in an instant, they can change their mind after talking to people, etc.

 

[DeletedUser394]

I'm reminded today why I don't do this anymore.

I'm selling an item for under 100 (listed at 100). Brand new ipod basically that I never used.

The person emails offering 80 a day or two ago, so I say yes whatever, and we agree to meet up this morning.

Last night I also received a reply from a girl at my uni offering full price, but I say sorry it already has a buyer. (In keeping my word I was losing 20% essentially)

I get an email a couple of minutes ago saying someone offered the person 70 and that they will no longer be meeting me to buy it (never mind the fact that I was actually going to meet this person closer to them than it was to me.)

Oh well, I get to sell it on campus for full value now.

In life, in business, in everything. Make sure your word counts for something. Flakey a$$ lo$ers haha

 

[RBefort]

Yeah, that's bullshit. I stress the importance of this to them in the email. I say I buy products all the time, and when I say I will buy, I will buy; so I expect them to not sell it from underneath me. If they want to wait for another offer, then they should just tell me so.

 

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[Threenuc]

So I don't understand what is your fundamental strategy.
You buy only off people in your area? Like, you live in LA and somebody in LA wants to sell X. You notice X is undervalued by the seller, you buy it and sell it for more or less the normal value?

What's your take on buying from outside your city? Like, you're in LA and you have a seller undervaluing something in TX. Do you go for it? I mean, you can't throughly check the item's quality before you buy it, and you pay shipping fees. So, what's your opinion?

 

[P3HSB]

well if it's easy, anyone could do it.

Agree. There is definitely a barrier to entry with this type of business model.

I find it mildly amusing how cash offers and quick payments work on CL. I'll throw out a lowball offer that I can profit off of sometimes within hours of a post, saying "I know it's early in the ad, and you can wait for more offers, but I can have this gone today for yada yada price." Then, they'll instantly reply and say "No, I can't go that low." Day or 2 later when they get no emails, they drop the price or meet you at your offer. Boomshakalaka.

Been in this scenario. A majority of people still don't drop it to my desired price. They only slightly drop it. Again anomalies do exist and I've also seen offers where people break down completely and say "P3HSB, take it for $150 today" (Sellers Price: $250 Original price, Brand New: $479.99). It doesn't happen to often however, but its gold when it does.

How do people feel about opinions on the following scenario, which I've encountered recently. I look in other markets 30-40+ miles away, as it isn't all that inconvenient of a trip if I bundle products together to pick up and/or see family. So, I'll offer something and say "I'd pick up next weekend." They say, ok deal, but say they will leave ad up to take other offers until then. Am I a prick to say "No, take your ad down and consider it sold as I am expecting to buy this product?" They will counter with "I'd let you know in next couple days if it sold" to which I say "If you don't take your ad down, then my offer will change later in the week." Feels a little prickish, but then again not...as I don't want them to survey other options, just like on Shark Tank where their offers are based on the hints of desperation/weakness. Furthermore, markets can change in an instant, they can change their mind after talking to people, etc.

I'd say this is a little prickish forsure. In the seller's eyes, a DEAL IS NOT CLOSED, UNTIL IT IS CLOSED. You can message the seller telling him "I'd pick up next weekend", but for all he knows, your just another Flakey a$$ lo$ers until you actually show up and exchange goods. If the seller takes down the ad, he/she is bearing the risk of the item not being sold therefore the seller has to waste time and energy to repost the ad. I'd say it is completely fair for the seller to survey other options until the deal is done.

If you want to close a deal bad enough, why would you say "I'd pick up next weekend." This is subconsciously telling them you don't want the item badly enough and you probably have other priorities with your cash. If you lag the purchase, the seller probably assumes you are looking for other deals, lower prices, different conditions etc. I'd say if you see a deal with good margins, close it like boss and pick up the item the same day or next.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

Oh well, I get to sell it on campus for full value now.

Hope she's cute Possibly the only reason I will ever buy pink shit lol

Who says you can't have your cake an eat it too.

I get an email a couple of minutes ago saying someone offered the person 70 and that they will no longer be meeting me to buy it (never mind the fact that I was actually going to meet this person closer to them than it was to me.)

Lol, I hate when that happens. I'm just like, sorry for your loss.
That and when the texts or e-mails or completely illegible. I don't even respond.

 

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[RBefort]

Agree. There is definitely a barrier to entry with this type of business model.



Been in this scenario. A majority of people still don't drop it to my desired price. They only slightly drop it. Again anomalies do exist and I've also seen offers where people break down completely and say "P3HSB, take it for $150 today" (Sellers Price: $250 Original price, Brand New: $479.99). It doesn't happen to often however, but its gold when it does.



I'd say this is a little prickish forsure. In the seller's eyes, a DEAL IS NOT CLOSED, UNTIL IT IS CLOSED. You can message the seller telling him "I'd pick up next weekend", but for all he knows, your just another Flakey a$$ lo$ers until you actually show up and exchange goods. If the seller takes down the ad, he/she is bearing the risk of the item not being sold therefore the seller has to waste time and energy to repost the ad. I'd say it is completely fair for the seller to survey other options until the deal is done.

If you want to close a deal bad enough, why would you say "I'd pick up next weekend." This is subconsciously telling them you don't want the item badly enough and you probably have other priorities with your cash. If you lag the purchase, the seller probably assumes you are looking for other deals, lower prices, different conditions etc. I'd say if you see a deal with good margins, close it like boss and pick up the item the same day or next.

Meh, 30-50 miles away and going that direction on the weekend for a wedding. Would be a waste of $10-15 in gas. Trying to save on my profits lol. Wish there was a way to have Craigslist included on paypal terms of service in regards to paying and then if seller sells an item before you can come look, you can file complaint.

 

[Kingmaker]

Got burned buying electronics from CL to sell on eBay today because they turned out to be counterfeit. High-quality fakes sure, but not going to risk my eBay/PayPal w/ them. The moral of my $300 "lesson" is if you're buying an electronics item from CL check the serial number on the company's website (takes 2 seconds, can be done on your smartphone on the spot) or call the company and verify the serial.

 

[Vigilante]

Also with buying and selling property you would definitely have to pay tax wouldn't you?

Are you the same guy that keeps asking about paying or avoiding or evading taxes?

Listen. Pay your taxes. This is not some game. We're not interested in discussing how to not pay taxes. Stop asking people about how to not pay taxes.

If you have a business, and you generate a profit, and you live in the United States or Canada, you pay taxes. So, there is nobody on the forum that is going to talk about not paying taxes.

Pay your taxes.

 

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[Vigilante]

I know you don't pay tax on each sale, what I know as I have asked this question a gazillion times is - this method of earning money is illegal because we are "hustling" and just stacking up money for bigger ventures - we can't turn this into a legitimate business as we're just buying and selling anything we find for a profit on an adhoc basis - now if you are buying and selling for a profit then you have to pay taxes or prove otherwise if this is all you're doing when starting out.

I want to be able to prove otherwise but no one seems to spill the beans on how they do this - when selling online everything tracks everything - and you can be found out if you have been selling a lot of items frequently - especially if those items keep propping up on your profile as things you are selling - blatantly you've acquired more stock to sell to generate profit. My question is when selling through such avenues do you tell the customer's its cash in hand on arrival? or do you pay minimal taxes? if you don't pay taxes and don't ask for cash in hand on arrival and get paid through paypal etc then how do you get away without paying tax?

My question is not to you with much respect RickKid, as you

Pay your taxes.

 

[Vigilante]

I don't know if this question has been asked here before or not but here goes. What is the main avenue to sell through if you want to do this in a legitimate way but create a structure for it for tax purposes? i.e pay less tax on your income? Do you plan for tax before embarking on this?

If not then how can one hide well? do you keep your transactions levels low? you don't sell online at all? only sell offline?

If you sell offline all the time where would you sell the things you have? If you sell online everything can be tracked so what's the inner workings of something like this?

I know I may get the advice to go to an accountant but everyone who has made at least a 1000 a month from their own ventures on the side know this is something one can actually live on as small of an income it maybe and may be taxable so if I can get some sort of an indication regarding the above please thanks.

Pay your taxes.

 

[DeletedUser394]

lol @Vigilante , you posting those back to back to back just highlights how ridiculous it all was. A+

 

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[SBS.95]

Got burned buying electronics from CL to sell on eBay today because they turned out to be counterfeit. High-quality fakes sure, but not going to risk my eBay/PayPal w/ them. The moral of my $300 "lesson" is if you're buying an electronics item from CL check the serial number on the company's website (takes 2 seconds, can be done on your smartphone on the spot) or call the company and verify the serial.

#1 reason why I avoid iPhones right here

I'd much rather sell a PS3 or something of equal value, even if it is a PITA to ship.

 

[RBefort]

Got burned buying electronics from CL to sell on eBay today because they turned out to be counterfeit. High-quality fakes sure, but not going to risk my eBay/PayPal w/ them. The moral of my $300 "lesson" is if you're buying an electronics item from CL check the serial number on the company's website (takes 2 seconds, can be done on your smartphone on the spot) or call the company and verify the serial.

More RBefort hustling stories. Drove 50 miles (was picking up a couple other products along the way) to pick up 5th gen ipod touch that I might have paid too much for. Met at Walmart entrance, and it is like a 16 yr old chick and her bf. Oh lordy...she told me in the CL emails that she rest the "Where's my thinga majiggy a long time ago, and actually hasn't used the ipod in awhile...and already reset." I still asked to see it anyway, but couldn't sign in on the setup process with my apple id. So then, I asked her to connect to her wifi and she logged in under her name. She showed me it was "Off" and then she deleted her acct from the ipod, and reset to factory settings. I took it as ok, although a little skeptical. I searched the serial in a stolen database and came up with nothing...then verified the serial number on apple website just to make sure it was legit. I didn't check to see what covg or whatnot, just that it was the 64gb and for sure newest model. I asked the bf while she was doing all this if he bought it, and she chimes in and says "Actually, this is my friend's ipod and I'm selling it for her...she's giving me some money to do it." I was like ahhh fkkk....what am I doing? Anyhow, I figured if she stole it she wouldn't be going through all this hassle, and she had the original case+headphones. Gave me a new, offbrand cheap charger, but meh. Praying it works.

However, I was set up to buy a new ipad 4th gen today, and already had it sold on CL basically before I even picked up. it was still in wrapper (around the box), so I verified it was legit. Got back home and took it straight to the new buyer, $130 profit. might have even had him overpay a bit, but he seemed ecstatic about the purchase...meh.

If you don't live in a really booming market, this feels a little bit too hassle-ish for my liking. Granted, I live 15 min outside of the target market I'm dealing with, but unless they meet in this one location, it's going to be kind of a pain. We have a military base I can score some sweet deals on, but unless they meet in the target city, it's really a half hour drive. Maybe today was just a long drive zigging and zagging all over, but really only worked an extra hour more than my normal travel back home from the wedding. Also hate doing such high priced electronics, so I'm definitely going to look for some other niches to get into. Feels a little too risky, although they have some good profits involved. Looking at my sheet, I'm running 30-50% margins on what I've sold. Not really feasible to score electronics at half off what they cost on Amazon...people seem a little more cognizant, when it comes to selling Apple products.

Random thoughts; tl;dr

 

[SBS.95]

@RBefort I'm not in the middle of the city either, it's about a 20-30 minute drive to get to the well-populated area I make most deals. I've found the ways to make the most of it are:

1. Get them to meet you halfway so you are each only driving 10-15 minutes.
2. String deals together, so you aren't driving 30 minutes to meet one person, you are driving 30 minutes to meet the 1st guy, then 5 minutes later meeting the 2nd guy, and then 5 minutes later meeting the 3rd guy, etc.
3. Schedule your deals when you already have to drive someplace. Need to pick up milk? Meet them at the grocery store. Been meaning to change your oil? Meet them outside AutoZone.
4. Arrange a discount for your time/money/gas. If they say they don't have a car, I will often say "Okay that's cool, but I'm going to spend an hour round trip picking it up from you, so we can knock [$x] off the price for me driving out there." If you tell people where you're coming from, a surprisingly high amount of them will level with you. Especially since you bring the promise of cash to them.

 

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[Mike Kavanagh]

• Arrange a discount for your time/money/gas. If they say they don't have a car, I will often say "Okay that's cool, but I'm going to spend an hour round trip picking it up from you, so we can knock [$x] off the price for me driving out there." If you tell people where you're coming from, a surprisingly high amount of them will level with you. Especially since you bring the promise of cash to them.

Still

HAVE THEM MEET YOU IN PUBLIC!!!! A BANK OR MCDONALDS OR SOMETHING INDOORS WITH CAMERAS!!!!

I cannot stress this enough.

 

[RBefort]

Haha I think everyone is as cautious about CL as the person on the other end is. Most of time they've brought another person, especially since I'm usually dealing with women somehow. I usually use the gas trick, although this one gal said I am the one buying from her and already getting a good deal, so I should be making it worthwhile to her. But, she turned out to be 16, so I can understand the ignorance.

 

[cdrag]

Here's a free tip/suggestion - I use when selling on Ebay/Amazon.

I buy and sell collectibles - mostly video games, comics, collectible toys etc - and I always check ebay vs amazon seller prices. I have seen numerous instances where a comic that I bought for $5 is selling for $10 on ebay.. You think great, double your money well that's not the case - In this case, the same exact comic is selling for $25 on Amazon - 5x profit

So one thing to take into consideration - always make sure you research the best place to sell your item. Oh and for the record, I don't waste my time with 1 $5 comic - i typically buy 50-100 which definitely creates a bigger profit than making $5 off one comic. This is something I am doing for a comic right now while it is hot before it drops in price

 

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[Villain]

Nobody uses CL in the UK, but gumtree is popular.

I sat and made 30 offers today but made no deals. For the first 20 I offered about half of the ebay selling price, then started offering more like 60% - 70% of ebay selling prices.

Still nothing

I picked up £10 worth of video games at a charity store but it's not a lot to show for a day's work! I think I'll make £10 to £15 on these.

I will have a read through this thread but any tips on what I could be doing wrong?

edit: actually I nearly made a deal for some other video games but the guy lived too far away...only a few £ profit in it after fuel cost.

 

[P3HSB]

Nobody uses CL in the UK, but gumtree is popular.

I sat and made 30 offers today but made no deals. For the first 20 I offered about half of the ebay selling price, then started offering more like 60% - 70% of ebay selling prices.

Still nothing

I picked up £10 worth of video games at a charity store but it's not a lot to show for a day's work! I think I'll make £10 to £15 on these.

I will have a read through this thread but any tips on what I could be doing wrong?

edit: actually I nearly made a deal for some other video games but the guy lived too far away...only a few £ profit in it after fuel cost.

Doubt your doing anything wrong. Many of us on here had many days/months where we would go cold turkey. You just have to continue to search the market, make offers and take the opportunities that do arise.

 

[GuestUser140]

Hmm, maybe I'll try that on my next listing.

I did experiment with trading a couple of times - listed a bike for trade without a dollar value.

Traded a bike for an iPad mini, then traded the iPad mini for a Canon T2i DSLR.

Had $90 in the bike, would've sold it for about $150. The T2i was worth about $600 at the time.

One Red Paperclip

 

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[GuestUser140]

Nobody uses CL in the UK, but gumtree is popular.

I sat and made 30 offers today but made no deals. For the first 20 I offered about half of the ebay selling price, then started offering more like 60% - 70% of ebay selling prices.

Still nothing

I picked up £10 worth of video games at a charity store but it's not a lot to show for a day's work! I think I'll make £10 to £15 on these.

I will have a read through this thread but any tips on what I could be doing wrong?

edit: actually I nearly made a deal for some other video games but the guy lived too far away...only a few £ profit in it after fuel cost.

You're not doing anything wrong, you're starting small. That's a good thing.

Before you know it you'll buy £100 worth of product and make £100-150 on it. Is that not a lot to show for a day's work?

Just understand that it won't be possible to make £50 on one video game. Either you buy more and more video games - talk to the charity shop - or sell higher priced items.

Aka: it's easier to make £50 on a £300 smartphone.

 

[adamhenry]

Aka: it's easier to make £50 on a £300 smartphone.

Yep, try to make 10-20% on whatever you're buying, and repeat rapidly.

If I try for 20% on an item, I can often flip within 24 hours. When I get greedy and try for more, that's when the item sits for days/weeks.

Plus you learn a lot more faster by rapid flips, than by sitting on one item for weeks.

It's hard to control myself to do so, but my rule is:

Relist immediately for 20% more. Flip, rinse, repeat.

 

[adamhenry]

As an example, if the phone normally goes for $300 on craigslist, I'd try to source one for $225, relist immediately for $275, and hope to sell within 24hrs. If I got an offer for $250, I'd take it.

 

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[GuestUser140]

You're not doing anything wrong, you're starting small. That's a good thing.

Before you know it you'll buy £100 worth of product and make £100-150 on it. Is that not a lot to show for a day's work?

Just understand that it won't be possible to make £50 on one video game. Either you buy more and more video games - talk to the charity shop - or sell higher priced items.

Aka: it's easier to make £50 on a £300 smartphone.

A good start.

(if you're in Edinburgh, that is.) Don't hesitate to PM me if you got questions.

 

[Villain]

I'm in glasgow.

I was flipping phones before, but got into bother when one of them got locked after I sold it on Amazon.

I might try it again, and just sell locally or on ebay with a disclaimer.

 

[GravyBoat]

even if you don't go buy the item,

Going in person is how you get the best deals. You can cut the price by more than half in some cases.

 

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[smartman]

going in person is great, but sometimes when you are grinding out 50 dollar profits on items, you can't spend your entire afternoon on one flip, just to drive out and have your low offer refused. you'd make more money working at walmart. When I flip apple stuff, I always just hammer out the price and get the details on quality over text or email.

you can't sell phones on ebay with an as is policy, and expect to make it profitable. just have the ESN's checked at time of purchase. Occasionally, some bad shit is gonna happen(like a person reporting the phone stolen immediately after they sell it to you), but hey, commuting an hour each way to and from a candy a$$ office job seems a lot worse to me.

 

[smartman]

what has everyone flipped this month?

I had a great streak with some ipad air's recently, but since the price has dropped based upon the newest model being released soon, I've hit a lull with availability/opportunistic price. my most consistent flips have been some galaxy s4's. still some value there on ebay, great bargaining positioning for a flip since the S5 has been out for a while now. I prefer not to do progress posts because this is richkid's thread, but I've had a pretty average month.