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

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DeletedUser394

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I've been clogging up the other thread, so I'm going to start my own. In here, you will find tips, tactics, and strategies as well as my own personal successes and failures (akin to a diary, but far more interesting) in learning the game of 'hustling'.

For many people (and probably the origin of the word corroborates this), 'hustling' has a negative connotation. I don't live in the ghetto (okay..well I kind of do haha), but in my opinion hustling is an awesome and empowering word. To me it simply means that you can make money in almost anything you do. (provided legal).

Back to topic: The greatest thing about this, is that you can make money ANYWHERE, selling almost ANYTHING. There may not be a market for the stuff in your particular area... but guess what, there is an entire world at your fingertips when you buy and sell online.

I see no reason not to buy stuff in your local area, if only to resell online to some guy 1,000 miles away. It's all about the pursuit of the $$$.

I'm far from an expert yet, but if in one week I can purchase over $1,000 worth of stuff with no initial investment, there's really no reason you can't either (unless you're an idiot... which is entirely possible :groove:).

$1,000 for a few hours of work (6 hours maximum I'd say it took me) sounds good to me. In fact I only left my house ONCE for business purposes, even though I put together at least a dozen deals. What I'm getting at is... this is just a start.

I'm going to build this up to great heights, eventually clearing $1,000+ on every deal. But everyone has to start somewhere. I'm taking you along for the ride, and you're welcome to emulate any strategies and tips you'd like.

There's plenty of money in the world to go around! ;)

-Ryan
 
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Clenjamin

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Hustlingggggg Good thread idea as i myself will start doing this since i am a college student and could use some extra $$ while im learning and developing a fastlane business.
 
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DeletedUser394

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Also, if anyone has any questions, please post them here instead of PMs (already received a few, so it's nice to see that many people want to get started).

That way it can benefit everyone, and hopefully lead to a discussion.
 
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DeletedUser394

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How To: Value Your Items

I received a question regarding how to find the value of an item you have for sale.

This is really easy and simple to do (provided your item is not one of a kind). EBAY!

The market determines what something is worth, it doesn't matter what you may think it is worth, or what you want to sell it for. If you are not within the average (give or take a few % either way) you probably won't get any offers. There are certainly exceptions, but rare.

I've been dealing primarily in videogames (I also sold/buy/sell, fitness products, books, dvds, EReaders, GPS equipment) because they are cheap, and for the older games bring back a nostalgic feeling which everyone can relate to (which means higher than average demand for the product).

When valuing a game I use two sources: Ebay and Videogamevalue.com. For example, let's take the game 'Super Smash Bros.' for N64.

Punching it into Ebay you get prices ranging from $20-$80. (I generally include at least 50% of the shipping cost into the price of the game, even if I'm only listing it on craigslist) So I split the difference at $50. Then just to make sure, I punch 'Super Smash Bros.' into Videogamevalue.com and the average used copy price is currently $43, so I know that I'm in a good price range.

Disclaimer. I sold a copy of Super Smash Bros. for $50 two days ago.
 
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DeletedUser394

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Was looking for a appraisal website and only found one so that might be a fastlane idea hmmm just skip the buying and selling and just tell people what to sell it for.

There are dozens for every conceivable kind of item, look harder ;)
 
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DeletedUser394

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what we need to make is something that searches craigslist then amazon and ebay and finds deals thats you can make value off of.

The coding already exists. I don't use it though.

When I expand enough, I'm just going to hire some of my friends to do it manually.

You can find dozens of deals in minutes... if you can't find any deals, make them. Lowball everyone until someone agrees.
 
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DeletedUser394

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I can't give away every 'secret' but you can either make your own code, or use one of the one's already out there. If you search this forum you'll find one.
 

Sky

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Hustling: Taking something and giving high value to someone else. The hustler takes the cut from between the true value and the perceived value of the item, service, or information.

Scamming: To sell something of promised high value for a low value, to which no value is to be had.

Politicking: Tricking people into what has value.
 
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D

DeletedUser394

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Hustling: Taking something and giving high value to someone else. The hustler takes the cut from between the true value and the perceived value of the item, service, or information.

Scamming: To sell something of promised high value for a low value, to which no value is to be had.

Politicking: Tricking people into what has value.

...ok?



Anyway... Made a $115 profit while hanging christmas lights outside of my house 15 minutes ago. The guy drove up and we made a deal.

50/50 chance of making another deal tonight, just working on the numbers with another person.

I made more money this weekend than I could make in a week at one of my jobs (I have 3).
 

Sky

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Sorry, might have went over your head with that one. Good hustle.
 

theBiz

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Ive been doing this for a living for over 5 years, straight craigslisting it like its my day job.

what we need to make is something that searches craigslist then amazon and ebay and finds deals thats you can make value off of.

i do this, wake up with a cup of coffee in front of my computer.... scan my deals and get on the phone.

Paying your friends most likely wont work out, it costs too much, i outsourced it and it didnt work either $2 per hour, i tried 4 different companies, there is constantly a learning curve and this business is 100% in your mind and negotiating.

The biggest problem with this business is it is far from scalable, even with my program, I SET THE PERIMETERS, when the market changes i have to know when and go in and edit it etc.

The bigger you go with this, the harder things are to sell, when you sell something for $5,000,10,20 etc. it takes longer so you become more cautious.

When your laying out 20k you seem to do a better job scanning websites rather than someone else. Its not fun, its fun to do it once every few months, but it takes massive research and it becomes stressful.


If you want to get into this let me give you a great example. Whatever the next thing you want to buy will be, iphone, car, computer, whatever try to get the best of the best you can for your money. So if you have $5,000 and you want a civic when most civics are going for $5,000 with 60,000 miles try to get one with much less like 20k.

When you buy your next item STRETCH your dollar for yourself as far as you can.... then try and sell it, if you dont there was no risk because you wanted it for yourself anyway. That's how i personally started.

There's no science behind automating it, many programs do that already, its a simple RSS feed, everything for me was free to set up, make it happen.

But before anyone automates anything put in some hard work and learn what your doing before you set parameters you thought were correct that you might end up losing money with.
 
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Sky

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Probably, but more so because you're 30 years old.

True. Age is something is something that is earned and is a poor measurement of character. In the same context, One could say someone who is 19 could hardly understand what it means to be a "hustler".

My initial post was to fortify your definition of a hustler as someone who is in positive respects as modern society shuns the hustler as someone who takes advantage of those who are simple minded. I was confused by your remarks and your offense to my comments. I was merely trying to expand on your idea and give it some insight.

The fact you would ignore me and not have a healthy discussion about the art of hustling,(I do live in the ghetto.) shows me you have still some growing to do since even from people you disagree with, there is knowledge to be found. I wish nothing but the best in your endeavors and know better to get in a bickering battle on a forum with someone as established as you. Though you have already ignored me, I doubt this post will find you but I hope its message you reach you in good regards in due time.
 
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DeletedUser394

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Another $100 profit. Person is coming by in a few minutes.

Another tip, is that you generally do not want to deal with people under 18. 95% of the time they say 'oh that's crazy I'm not paying that much' or something similar even though I only list things at fair market value (ie what the market has determined them to be worth).

I seem to by far get my best deals with people aged 20+ (oldest person so far was probably in their 60s and I had no problem with them either)

Young people generally don't have much money to begin with, and even if they do, they aren't willing to pay up.
 
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DeletedUser394

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Start off by figuring out how you can take $160 and turn it into $200.

Really the figures and size of the deals don't matter. Just start.

Wishing will get you nowhere, but by actively pursuing your goal(s) you'll get to the point where you can flip a car for $4K.
 

Clenjamin

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No i understand and I am I was looking for deals for an hour ( found some) before i saw that one at the end of the search.
 

oddball

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If you want to get into this let me give you a great example. Whatever the next thing you want to buy will be, iphone, car, computer, whatever try to get the best of the best you can for your money. So if you have $5,000 and you want a civic when most civics are going for $5,000 with 60,000 miles try to get one with much less like 20k.

When you buy your next item STRETCH your dollar for yourself as far as you can.... then try and sell it, if you dont there was no risk because you wanted it for yourself anyway. That's how i personally started.

Of this whole thread this is one of the few parts I read (I'll reread it tomorrow when I'm more awake). But that is exactly what I did. Well, I didn't do it to start. I wanted a sports car which I bought at a price I can resell it for more come spring. I'm going to put it up for sale and if I make money, I win..if I keep it, I win. I love my car, took me years to find a good deal on one I wanted, but its just a car and a lot out there. It is easier to acquire a car then money.I also bought a bunch of parts for it encase I keep it but if I sell it, I will sell the parts. When I bought them all I got them all on sale or used to the point I could make a lot of money on the parts alone, I already did on some I decided to sell anyways.
 

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