A Hustler's Guide To Buying And Selling Anything (Part 2)

[RHL]

Yes. Got a cashiers check out with 48 hours notice and went to close. BS detector went off when I started to evaluate the merch. Misrepresented by seller, so I passed.

 

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[Moises]

I just skipped on a galaxy s5 for 200$. I felt that it was just to good to be true. The person was a kid(17) and just did not seem right. He was posting from a Facebook selling group. He kept lowering his price from 280 down to 200. Something told me that it was stolen.

 

[SBS.95]

I just skipped on a galaxy s5 for 200$. I felt that it was just to good to be true. The person was a kid(17) and just did not seem right. He was posting from a Facebook selling group. He kept lowering his price from 280 down to 200. Something told me that it was stolen.

I only like dealing if they are:

a) from a prepaid carrier like Virgin Mobile, Boost, etc.
b) already broken and "for parts"

With the non AT&T/Verizon phones there tends to be far less scams going on. And with broken phones, I'm obviously selling them as-is so there's never any issues. Otherwise I avoid the phones, especially if it's a Galaxy or an iPhone.

 

[Birdie]

Yeah, Terapeak is pretty awesome. I used it for a month when I was posting heavily on ebay and it was exactly what I needed. I was on the $30/month plan so I canceled shortly after but it is a great tool..

@GrumpyCat Thanks for posting this new thread! After reading all of your last hustling thread I did exactly what you've advocated here. I sold pretty much everything that wasn't essential to my day to day living and used the capital to start hustling. It wasn't much but it got me taking action!

I've made some good deals so far on smaller electronics so I have been trying to get into larger deals. Unfortunately, right now I'm stuck trying to move a lot of 20 business VOIP phones that I've had for a month haha. I'll make a great margin if I can get them sold.

They are listed on Ebay and Amazon right now for less than the competition. Does anyone have experience with FBA? Is a FBA product more likely to sell than one that is merchant fulfilled even if the price is higher?

You can move your product much faster with FBA than with eBay. However, the two are very different. FBA is mostly new products only, unless they are collectibles.

I found that I sold out my products in a week, or 2 weeks tops with FBA. People pay a premium because it's Amazon for the convenience factor. In my experience, the FBA seal of approval is more of a guarantee to customers than dealing with fast and lose sellers... Less risk= more purchases. Also, Amazon has final say on returns/refunds and they are the ones to deal with the customers.

It's not hard to send to FBA but the fees are killer. If you are not doing volume or your margins are narrow, I wouldn't recommend FBA.

 

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[TWR]

Good thread idea and execution @GrumpyCat.

Perfect timing for flipping the unwanted/useless christmas gifts.

 

[Threenuc]

I'm selling some stuff to get some cash to work with.
For now it's a TV, do I invite the buyer to my home or what? Seems risky.

 

[SBS.95]

I'm selling some stuff to get some cash to work with.
For now it's a TV, do I invite the buyer to my home or what? Seems risky.

You could show it working in a picture on your ad. For most people, that's enough.

If they want to see it working just have some other people over at your house when they come to check it out.

FYI most of the stories you hear are when people go visit stranger's houses, not when strangers visit their own. The person buying your stuff is often just as wary as you are. They don't know what's going on at your house.

 

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[HighestVantage]

Hi all, I read through this thread. It was refreshing to see others are out there trying the same thing. I have done a handful of hustles in the past, although I never thought about them like that. My biggest was back when I was 19 when I tried to broker a furniture deal and it fell through due to an oversight on my part.

I have a few questions. What websites do you most often use to buy/sell goods? I use craigslist, but I have noticed after spending hours looking for opportunities that all the prices seem inflated. I can generally find things cheaper on ebay, where I would intend to sell on. This doesn't make sense really... Maybe I just need to lowball and haggle more. Thoughts?
I've made most of my money finding free things (dumpsters in apartment complexes) that have value that people overlooked.
Right now my thoughts on finding things on craigslist is that the expense to my time outweighs potential earnings of finding a few deals here and there. At least on the Seattle area Craigslist.

 

[RisingStars]

I mostly buy on Facebook.

On ebay are some items, which are heavily underpriced sometimes, but I dont really want to deal with these private sellers.
What will you do if they dont sent you the item?
Start a sue and wait 2 years to get your money back eventually.

Better meet people (craigslist/Facebook) and sell it on ebay.
Works well.

 

[Birdie]

I mostly buy on Facebook.

On ebay are some items, which are heavily underpriced sometimes, but I dont really want to deal with these private sellers.
What will you do if they dont sent you the item?
Start a sue and wait 2 years to get your money back eventually.

Better meet people (craigslist/Facebook) and sell it on ebay.
Works well.

In my experience, the system works.

If you use PayPal, there is a lot of protection for the buyer. If the seller does not give a tracking code with your goods, or if for some reason he tries to scam you, you can open a dispute with PayPal.

Disputes keep sellers honest, because they can close down their account if they have many negatives, and their reputation also gets hurt.

There has been people banned from eBay too... I honestly don't know what they did wrong, but probably didn't play by the rules.

Hope this helps you in understanding more of the system

 

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[RisingStars]

In my experience, the system works.

If you use PayPal, there is a lot of protection for the buyer. If the seller does not give a tracking code with your goods, or if for some reason he tries to scam you, you can open a dispute with PayPal.

Disputes keep sellers honest, because they can close down their account if they have many negatives, and their reputation also gets hurt.

There has been people banned from eBay too... I honestly don't know what they did wrong, but probably didn't play by the rules.

Hope this helps you in understanding more of the system

Yes they can shut down theier account and close their ebay. But will it help you? Will you get your money back soon?
What if they just dont care? "okay close my paypal, I dont care the 600€ for the iPhone is on my bank account now"

Some people are so desperate they dont care if they get sued by the police, they have drug debt or smth.

Other example: You buy a phone on ebay with a big scratch on it, seller tells ebay there were no scratch, you tell there were. Will you start a sue? For a scratch? That will cost alot of money. Maybe you win but then you get the lawyer money and product money back in 2 years cause the guy is bankrupt.


In my experience its better to see the product first.

 

[MakeItHappen]

Yes they can shut down theier account and close their ebay. But will it help you? Will you get your money back soon?
What if they just dont care? "okay close my paypal, I dont care the 600€ for the iPhone is on my bank account now"

Some people are so desperate they dont care if they get sued by the police, they have drug debt or smth.

Other example: You buy a phone on ebay with a big scratch on it, seller tells ebay there were no scratch, you tell there were. Will you start a sue? For a scratch? That will cost alot of money. Maybe you win but then you get the lawyer money and product money back in 2 years cause the guy is bankrupt.


In my experience its better to see the product first.

It's all a numbers game. This stuff doesn't happen this often. If you buy via PayPal you usually get your money back very fast. Also you can just buy from established sellers with good ratings.

If your bankroll is $500 you shouldn't buy from an unestablished seller via bankwire but if your bankroll is $5k it really isn't a big risk to buy something for 250€ after all it's only 5% of your bankroll. Also the times it will work far outweights the times it doesn't.
I have trouble with a seller 1 in 30 times which is fine because the 29 times I make way more money than the 1 time something goes wrong.
Like I said it's a numbers game and as long as you don't invest to much of your bankroll the risk is very limited.

 

[RisingStars]

It's all a numbers game. This stuff doesn't happen this often. If you buy via PayPal you usually get your money back very fast. Also you can just buy from established sellers with good ratings.

If your bankroll is $500 you shouldn't buy from an unestablished seller via bankwire but if your bankroll is $5k it really isn't a big risk to buy something for 250€ after all it's only 5% of your bankroll. Also the times it will work far outweights the times it doesn't.
I have a some trouble with a seller 1 in 30 times with is fine because the 29 times I make way more money than the 1 times something goes wrong.
Like I said it's a numbers game and as long as you don't invest to much of your bankroll the risk is very limited.

I agree with you that its very unlikely for sure, but for ME its better to buy locally and sell on ebay.

I already lost money with my first purchase over the internet from a private person (He didnt sent the item, keept the money)
Still chasing my money back with the police. So maybe its because of my bad experience, I just want to warn you guys

 

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[Ninjakid]

I have my own line of products that I sell on eBay. Should I liquidate my stuff with that eBay page, or would it look unprofessional?

 

[BlakeIC]

I feel it is just me that doesnt have a keen eye for flippable items
so my post

what are some products you guys specifically look for? also sections and or keywords
i seen the "lots of" keyword with no luck though

edit: i did find a LG 26lx1d 26" TV for $95 i am iffy on it because the manufactured date of the TV was in 2005 and LG no longer has that tv in production and has newer models

Also when i searched "lg 26lx1d" it came up with quite a bit of repair kits and troubleshooting url's

i also can buy and resell only on craigslist no amazon or ebay

 

[RisingStars]

I have my own line of products that I sell on eBay. Should I liquidate my stuff with that eBay page, or would it look unprofessional?

Depends on what kind of products you sell. If you for example sell phone cases and buy used phones on craigslist or whatever then it still looks professional for me.
Otherwise I would start a 2nd account or ask a friend if you can buy his.

I feel it is just me that doesnt have a keen eye for flippable items
so my post

what are some products you guys specifically look for? also sections and or keywords
i seen the "lots of" keyword with no luck though

edit: i did find a LG 26lx1d 26" TV for $95 i am iffy on it because the manufactured date of the TV was in 2005 and LG no longer has that tv in production and has newer models

Also when i searched "lg 26lx1d" it came up with quite a bit of repair kits and troubleshooting url's

i also can buy and resell only on craigslist no amazon or ebay

Check out Facebook as a buy/resell location.

I normally only look for the "hot" stuff. Stuff I am tempted to buy (Or I was before I found this site and read the book ).
So: iPhone 5-6, Samsung Galaxy s5, Newer ipads, xbox one, ps4

Thats the stuff where I get the most money from.
Maybe GTA5 and other top games too, depends on the money you got to invest.

Why cant you sell on ebay/amazon?

 

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[BlakeIC]

Depends on what kind of products you sell. If you for example sell phone cases and buy used phones on craigslist or whatever then it still looks professional for me.
Otherwise I would start a 2nd account or ask a friend if you can buy his.



Check out Facebook as a buy/resell location.

I normally only look for the "hot" stuff. Stuff I am tempted to buy (Or I was before I found this site and read the book ).
So: iPhone 5-6, Samsung Galaxy s5, Newer ipads, xbox one, ps4

Thats the stuff where I get the most money from.
Maybe GTA5 and other top games too, depends on the money you got to invest.

Why cant you sell on ebay/amazon?

i have a twin brother who got suspended from both so i got hit with a suspension too (he lives in the same household as I)

 

[RisingStars]

i have a twin brother who got suspended from both so i got hit with a suspension too (he lives in the same household as I)

Damn that sucks. Maybe ask a parent or friend to get an account for you, then you get passwort and stuff, change the email.
I use the paypal of my dad (he created it for me) since I am not 18.

 

[Ninjakid]

Damn that sucks. Maybe ask a parent or friend to get an account for you, then you get passwort and stuff, change the email.
I use the paypal of my dad (he created it for me) since I am not 18.

I can probably sell it on my page. If anything it will get me a wider audience.
Thanks for the tips @RisingStars and @BlakeIC

 

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[Dennis Steenoven]

Cool thread so far!
Makes me wonder, anyone hustling big ticket items here? (Lets say 5k+ profit margins per item or more)
Would love to hear some stories of you guys on what type of merch you're selling, if you're zoomed in on a niche or diversified etc.

 

[HighestVantage]

Cool thread so far!
Makes me wonder, anyone hustling big ticket items here? (Lets say 5k+ profit margins per item or more)
Would love to hear some stories of you guys on what type of merch you're selling, if you're zoomed in on a niche or diversified etc.

I'm not sure I would call it a hustle... but I bought a sailboat for 10k when I knew it could sell for double. I've had it up for sale for awhile, highest offer I've gotten is 17k, but I turned it down for a few reasons. 1. I live on it and work from it sometimes, which saves me money on renting an apartment. 2. I know it's worth more than that and with a little work and investment I'm looking at a 25k Sale. Rough net profit, 10k. Even after Moorage and other costs.

 

[RisingStars]

Thats awesome.
How did you found the deal with the sailboat and what to look for?

Would be nice if you can tell us how you get your knowledge about boats. Are there many of these deals, what do you think?

I guess if you can do it with 1 boat you could do it with many right?

 

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[HighestVantage]

Thats awesome.
How did you found the deal with the sailboat and what to look for?

Would be nice if you can tell us how you get your knowledge about boats. Are there many of these deals, what do you think?

I guess if you can do it with 1 boat you could do it with many right?

Haha, Lots and Lots of looking, and having 10k ready to spend in cash. I'm still not sure if I would call it a hustle, being that I was looking for a boat to live on, but I've always had an eye for value and I knew this boat was being sold cheap for what it is.

I got my knowledge of boats over about 3-5 months of really intense obsessive study, like anyone not born to boats would have to. It's surprising how many people are born into a floating world, though most of them (ill include myself in this) look at boats more often as tools and not investments.

I think there are many of these deals, BUT I am not saying to go out and grab em up. Moorage is expensive and the sailboat/motorboat market is so sluggish you might be sitting with it for a long time. But if you're interested in living on it... and working on it, then go for it. It's quite the experience.

On another note I've had some funny interactions with people while trying to sell the boat. One Polish guy offered me a christmas tree farm with a rented house for the boat as down payment. That would have been interesting. He used to own a million dollar seaside hotel, (the bank really owned it, he just held the debt) and lost it in the real estate crash.
Some colorful characters I did meet...
http://blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2007/10/lap_dances_at_the_anchor.html

 

[RisingStars]

Thank you for that.
Great post.

Well you can make so much out of flipping..
I mean if you start with 100$ you can flip games. Later phones/consoles. Then may transition to laptops when you got 5k.
After that with 10k you can start buy and sell luxury watches like Sean Corroon does.

After that with 10-20k cars.
With 30k you can start to buy boats maybe and sit on them for a while. (For 10k profit you can sit on them for a month or even more)

After boats maybe homes, luxury cars, whatever.

I love that, there is so much potential in flipping.

 

[Threenuc]

Thank you for that.
Great post.

Well you can make so much out of flipping..
I mean if you start with 100$ you can flip games. Later phones/consoles. Then may transition to laptops when you got 5k.
After that with 10k you can start buy and sell luxury watches like Sean Corroon does.

After that with 10-20k cars.
With 30k you can start to buy boats maybe and sit on them for a while. (For 10k profit you can sit on them for a month or even more)

After boats maybe homes, luxury cars, whatever.

I love that, there is so much potential in flipping.

Don't get me hyped up lol.

I've seen the spreadsheet you posted earlier, that's pretty amazing. How do you manage to get 20 euro profits on videogames? Do you just lowball people on FB?

 

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[RisingStars]

its sooo great


Thank you. Again its the spreadsheet from Ryan Befort (my deals but he created the spreadsheed and I used and adjusted it a little bit for my deals)

Actually I dont lowball them lol well the thing is I get alot more when I sell on ebay, since I am a reseller (ebay guarentee, powerseller etc.)
Sometimes I lowball a little but most of the time only 5€ or smth.
Also I watch out that I get the "hot" games. I am not a gamer, but I analyse a little bit which games are great.

Hope it helps.

 

[Threenuc]

its sooo great


Thank you. Again its the spreadsheet from Ryan Befort (my deals but he created the spreadsheed and I used and adjusted it a little bit for my deals)

Actually I dont lowball them lol well the thing is I get alot more when I sell on ebay, since I am a reseller (ebay guarentee, powerseller etc.)
Sometimes I lowball a little but most of the time only 5€ or smth.
Also I watch out that I get the "hot" games. I am not a gamer, but I analyse a little bit which games are great.

Hope it helps.

So you buy at a normal price and then sell higher on ebay? Don't you run into problems with selling when competing with the big guys? Especially with hot games (GTAV, FIFA15 and so on).

 

[RisingStars]

So you buy at a normal price and then sell higher on ebay? Don't you run into problems with selling when competing with the big guys? Especially with hot games (GTAV, FIFA15 and so on).

The "big" guys sell new games. I sell perfectly conditioned used.
So if they for example sell GTA5 for 39,99€ I sell for 36,50€. I still make alot profit. I think I make way more on each item then them, cause the margin is higher.
Also my ebay looks really professional. The customer see not that much difference between me and the "big" guys.

And facebook prices are not "normal". they are heavily underpriced.

 

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[Dennis Steenoven]

I'm not sure I would call it a hustle... but I bought a sailboat for 10k when I knew it could sell for double. I've had it up for sale for awhile, highest offer I've gotten is 17k, but I turned it down for a few reasons. 1. I live on it and work from it sometimes, which saves me money on renting an apartment. and other costs.

Cool stuff you guys!

Love the idea of living on a boat to cut rent. I do wonder, what are roughly the monthly's for maintaining and living on such boat?

 

[Dennis Steenoven]

Thank you for that.
Great post.

Well you can make so much out of flipping..
I mean if you start with 100$ you can flip games. Later phones/consoles. Then may transition to laptops when you got 5k.
After that with 10k you can start buy and sell luxury watches like Sean Corroon does.

After that with 10-20k cars.
With 30k you can start to buy boats maybe and sit on them for a while. (For 10k profit you can sit on them for a month or even more)

After boats maybe homes, luxury cars, whatever.

I love that, there is so much potential in flipping.

That's a nice outlook, thanks for the inspiration!
Anyone here followed such path or know anyone who did?
And if you did what was your journey like and where do you stand on the hustle vs building a real business?