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

[DeletedUser394]

Ryan, I like the fact that you have market control in your area. But if it is small enough for you to control, it probably means its small enough to backfire on you one day. Just sayin think about possible problems =)

Definitely, I'm always thinking 3 steps ahead I control it completely and it only makes up about 50% of my current inventory (becoming less and less as a percentage as time goes on).

Moved on to Ipods now. Bought a 1st gen touch for $40. Probably going to keep it and sell my 5th gen nano. Ipods are my main thing now.

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Know your enemy. Or in this case competition.

Sent off a quick email to my main Ipod competitor to a) Get his email address (so I can punch it into facebook) and b) To see how far he's willing to negotiate on his prices.

So using sleuth/stalker (lol) skills I know he's in his mid 20s, etc. It's great to put a face to the name.

Now that I know what I'm dealing with, makes it easier to take over his market.

And scored my biggest deal (on the sell side) so far since starting!!!! Funny how the day before I get an email saying my prices are outrageous (they aren't) and then today some awesome man picks up 30% of my inventory and doesn't even haggle. Just pays what I ask.

This 1 deal makes up for the 6 or so that fell through in the last 3 days.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Not going to update this every day, mainly going to stick to whenever I make a big deal. Today is the biggest one so far.

Got a $600 store credit (never expires) for $320. Going to sell for somewhere between $500-$550. The person didn't realize that this particular store offers 50% cash value on store credit... so if I can't sell I'll just recoup my money.

The word 'no' means nothing to me. Received probably 20 complete rejections, 5 counters, and 1 bite. That 1 is the only one that matters frankly.

Need to parlay this indifference to the dating game... although now that I'm doing well (financially and otherwise) I don't want a gf to bleed me dry of my money. So that'll wait.

Haha, the takeaway lesson is don't give a flying fart (lol?) about rejection. There are a thousand different sayings that I could quote 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take', 'the best hitters in the world miss 70% of the time' blah blah blah.

If you want to succeed doing anything, you can't be afraid (or at least you can't let fear control you) of rejection.

Do any of these people's opinions matter? Does a random two letter word really mean anything? No. (lol)

What the heck do you have to lose by asking? Pretty much applies to anything. If you didn't have something before and you receive a rejection when asking for what you want... well you didn't have it to begin with so who cares.

Become one with the 'no'. To me 'no' simply means try again, try harder, and try more often. But as Master Yoda so wisely said: "Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"

 

[theBiz]

Yeah like many people have been saying, its not all about the low ball. I think some of the highest profit margins ive ever made generally i knocked them down 15% when i got there. Dont let the mental idea of "thinking" you have to negotiate to get a good deal, a good deal is a good deal regardless. Ofcoarse try once your there but its not a must.

I used to drive away and then call them back down the street.... but guess what, 1 out of 5 times that works and you get a crazy deal especially when your in the 10k+ market.

 

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[wade1mil]

Ryan, do more of your purchases come from negotiating with people whose ads have been posted for a few days, or jumping on the new ads as soon as they are posted?

 

[DeletedUser394]

I make so many deals it's hard to say. Not neccessarily more deals from ads a few days old, but it's just easier to make a deal with people that have had an ad up for a while because that usually means they can't find a buyer. Because of that I offer a lower price than I would typically on an item that's just been posted.

I can afford to hold onto items for a long time (because I've got so many) so it doesn't concern me too much that they haven't yet found a buyer.

Like the store credit guy in my last post. Saw the ad on the weekend, and it was reposted every day with a progressively lower asking price, so I offer him 50% of the value and we closed at ~55% of the value.

Unless people have iphones, it usually takes them 6+ hours to get back to me when I make an offer anyway regardless of if I give them an offer 5 minutes after they post, or 7 days after they post. It's just easier to make deals with people that haven't been able to sell whatever they have in a while.

 

[oddball]

Thought I would share one of my latest transactions.
I bought an iPhone 3G 8gb 2 weeks ago for $60 (helped a friend out, should have only paid $50). But about 2 or 3 days ago I found a computer on CL for $200. On ebay and other CL ads, people were asking $300-$350+. I offered $150 because he said he really needed cash. He claimed offers of 170 and 185 but I knew he was bluffing. He asked if I had any AT&T phones which I have several. Got him interested in the 2 iphones I have, the 3G and a 3GS. I told him I would add $50 with the 3G or do the 3GS straight. He came back with a counter offer of the 3G and $120. I said $75 was my tops with it, he tried to get me to $100. I told him $75 was my tops, the offer stood and to lmk.

Fast forward to today. He emailed me back asking if I was still interested, told him I was. Ended up trading tonight for my 3G and $75. The laptop is going up for $374. Like Ryan, I can afford to sit on it so I am going to try and milk this one. I think I should be able to get $300 for it though. So all in all, I am only in it for $135 so not bad, through trades I made out better than my cash offer.

 

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[Jcapuano]

Even found 2 goats (the actual animal) that you could flip for 100% hahahaha.

If I am ever in the need for farm animals I know who to call... lol

 

[Jcapuano]

Become one with the 'no'. To me 'no' simply means try again, try harder, and try more often. But as Master Yoda so wisely said: "Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'"

This was in another forum, a member named Les said he did a test in his class. He dropped a pencil on the ground and asked a kid to "try" to pick it up. The kid went over and picked it up. He repeated, no "try" to pick it up. Nobody knew how to counter that haha

 

[Shades]

Like Ryan, I can afford to sit on it so I am going to try and milk this one. I think I should be able to get $300 for it though.

I guess I just have a difference of opinion here.

I think trying to sit and milk anything in this price range makes no sense and just loses you money. How long do you want to hold something trying to get an extra 30 bucks out of it? Keep the money moving. The goal should be to buy stuff at a low enough price where you know you can pop it on ebay and it will sell within 48 hours.

Just my opinion but I wouldnt shoot for having a bunch of inventory. Thats just money sitting on the shelf doing nothing. Better to get the actual cash back in your hands as fast as possible. Now if we are talking more expensive things like cars, then it could be a different story. But things under $1000 it just doesnt pay to sit on. Not if your buying it at the right price.

 

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[oddball]

I guess I just have a difference of opinion here.

I think trying to sit and milk anything in this price range makes no sense and just loses you money. How long do you want to hold something trying to get an extra 30 bucks out of it? Keep the money moving. The goal should be to buy stuff at a low enough price where you know you can pop it on ebay and it will sell within 48 hours.

Just my opinion but I wouldnt shoot for having a bunch of inventory. Thats just money sitting on the shelf doing nothing. Better to get the actual cash back in your hands as fast as possible. Now if we are talking more expensive things like cars, then it could be a different story. But things under $1000 it just doesnt pay to sit on. Not if your buying it at the right price.

Sure I can pop it on ebay and get $30 more but pay fees. So is it really worth it? I'd rather get the cash for it, not pay fees and whatnot. Plus, its not like its holding me up from buying other stuff. I still have plenty of cash to buy anything else that comes up. Also, I RS looks at pp accounts with over 20k in sales/year, I'm avoiding paypal as much as I can.

It's not like every item I buy to sit on, some I have sold before I even get them home, some sell without ours or a couple days. Always have cash coming in with other items.


And I don't mean sit on it for months, I mean like an extra week or so, not gonna break me.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Surpassed $2,000 today!

Inventory: $1,762
Cash: $325

Total: $2,087

Breakdown;

Games/Consoles: 48%
Cash: 15%
Musical Instruments (lol I buy everything): 14%
Multimedia: 10%
Electronics: 7%
Sports Memorabilia: 2.5%
Watches/Accessories: 2.5%
Fitness Equipment: 1%

**First day that I made no deals (Took inventory today, that's how I went over $2k). Although I'm waiting to hear back from 4-5 people that contacted me today**

No longer going to bother with anything that I can't flip for at least $50. That makes my offers for lower priced items ($200 and below) a lot easier, because they either take it or they don't, because I ain't countering.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Spoke too soon, made a deal (on the buy side) before midnight, so my 'at least 1 deal a day' streak is still on!

AND IN ONE NIGHT I PASSED $2,500!!!! Quarter of the way to my goal, with over 165 days remaining.

Inventory: $2,392
Cash: $125

Total: $2,517

Sold 3 more things tonight (deliver/pickup tomorrow) so I'll have a fresh new infusion of cash to use.

 

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[theBiz]

great job, im excited for you to get into bigger things, some people get lazy in this game but your going strong, always keep looking forward and researching how to bring it to the next level. Youll turn that 2,500 into 10k in no time if you keep bringing it up a notch every buy/sell.

 

[johnny84]

First sale as yet.
Bought guitar $175 (a while back). 2.5 days to sell.

Sold via eBay for $370 total.
Profit (est) $154 after fees.

 

[johnny84]

Shortly I'll be investigating and experimenting with other eBay payment services instead of paypal.

A fun fact that I came across-and it's stupidly obvious if you think about it-eBay gets an enormous amount of traffic on Sundays. Check it out, here. Just type in eBay and narrow it down to a smaller time frame. Which works out well for your auctions if you time it right.
i.e.-Last week I put up a Macbook Air and a Gibson les paul which will be closing tomorrow. The guitar has 58 'watchers' and the Mac has 11. And at least one bid on both. We'll see what happens.

Once I build some kind of inventory, I plan on pushing more on C-List for convenience and expedience sake, but eBay is an almost-sure-thing. I'm part of the quick turnaround camp-I really don't want to be sitting on merch for longer than a couple weeks. But I'll stay open minded, esp since the holidays will be coming to a close soon.

 

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[oddball]

Shortly I'll be investigating and experimenting with other eBay payment services instead of paypal.

A fun fact that I came across-and it's stupidly obvious if you think about it-eBay gets an enormous amount of traffic on Sundays. Check it out, here. Just type in eBay and narrow it down to a smaller time frame. Which works out well for your auctions if you time it right.
i.e.-Last week I put up a Macbook Air and a Gibson les paul which will be closing tomorrow. The guitar has 58 'watchers' and the Mac has 11. And at least one bid on both. We'll see what happens.

Once I build some kind of inventory, I plan on pushing more on C-List for convenience and expedience sake, but eBay is an almost-sure-thing. I'm part of the quick turnaround camp-I really don't want to be sitting on merch for longer than a couple weeks. But I'll stay open minded, esp since the holidays will be coming to a close soon.

Most definitely. Sunday is by far the best day to end an auction. There was a website I read that showed numbers to prove it and after that I never ended anything at a time other than Sunday evening. At the same time, you can use the timing to your advantage for buying. Sometimes I will find items that end in the middle of the night during the week and place max bids or stay up for them. I've picked up some really good buys that way.

 

[seomatic]

Thank you so much for this thread! I made my first deal this week and i feel great
Bought the item for 19,90 and sold it the same day on ebay for 27,31 = 7,41 profit / 37% ROI :banana:

 

[LightHouse]

I just read in the last page of this thread, sorry i didnt get to the rest of it. But i noticed two people saying they sit on items..... The logic that you are making extra money by sitting on items if you arent talking about several thousands is flawed.

You have to factor in your time and energy to make the deal. The goal in the flipping business is to move products in and out as fast as possible. Less time vested in each one, if you make a slimmer margin you ultimatley are making more money because new opportunities arise. Your profits compound through time vs sitting on something a week to make $50. That whole tactic makes no sense.

I imagine you guys have read through the threads on lambopower about CL flipping?

 

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[Shades]

I just read in the last page of this thread, sorry i didnt get to the rest of it. But i noticed two people saying they sit on items..... The logic tha tyou are making extra money by sitting on items if you arent talking about several thousands is flawed.

You have to factor in your time and energy to make the deal. The goal in the flipping business is to move products in and out as fast as possible. Less time vested in each one, if you make a slimmer margin you ultimatley are making more money because new opportunities arise. Your profits compound through time vs sitting on something a week to make $50. That whole tactic makes no sense.

I imagine you guys have read through the threads on lambopower about CL flipping?

Yea I agree with this.

Ryan - Im a bit confused as to what your goal is. Is it $10,000 in inventory or $10,000 in cash? By your update posts it seems like your trying for 10K in inventory, as it looks like you have very little cash in hand and a ton of inventory.

 

[oddball]

I just read in the last page of this thread, sorry i didnt get to the rest of it. But i noticed two people saying they sit on items..... The logic tha tyou are making extra money by sitting on items if you arent talking about several thousands is flawed.

You have to factor in your time and energy to make the deal. The goal in the flipping business is to move products in and out as fast as possible. Less time vested in each one, if you make a slimmer margin you ultimatley are making more money because new opportunities arise. Your profits compound through time vs sitting on something a week to make $50. That whole tactic makes no sense.

I imagine you guys have read through the threads on lambopower about CL flipping?

With the item i was taling about I could throw it on eBay for 250 and probably sell it in a day or wait maybe an extra week and sell it on cl for $300. So 250-fees or 300 cash for about an extra week of sitting on it. Percentage wise you are talking a huge difference. Sitting on it for another week won't make me broke or prevent me from buying other items.

 

[LightHouse]

With the item i was taling about I could throw it on eBay for 250 and probably sell it in a day or wait maybe an extra week and sell it on cl for $300. So 250-fees or 300 cash for about an extra week of sitting on it. Percentage wise you are talking a huge difference. Sitting on it for another week won't make me broke or prevent me from buying other items.

exactley, that time spent dealing with the people from CL, flakes, driving, wheeling and dealing for an extra $50 is the biggest waste of resources. You'd make more in the long run by taking the cut, making one deal that you dont have to do near as much work for, and free that 250 for the next deal already. The volume makes up for the bit of loss.

In reality it is your deals so I don't care whichever way you choose to do it. I am simply stating that the logic doesnt make sense to me, and this is what I would do.

 

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[DeletedUser394]

I'm not 'sitting' on inventory for more money. I buy things in lots therefore I can't sell 20 of the same item to the next person.. unless they are buying bundles/lots as well.

The goal is $10k cash... I funnel all cash back into more expensive items and repeat, and repeat and repeat. When I reach a certain amount of inventory (as a $ value) then I'll mostly stick to individual items for quicker turnover.

Yes, read the lambo thread.

Perhaps I'm not really flipping, but I see little other conceivable way how I could have gone from $40 to $2,500 in two weeks.

The strategy as I go on is to sell off inventory and stick to bigger and bigger items ($ wise).

Happy with how I'm doing it.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Learned a valuable lesson today.

Do not leave the city on the weekend before Christmas :smx4:... made 11 deals so far today and I'm 100 miles from home. I get back in the morning so Sunday and Monday is going to be a nightmare!!

But at least I will have moved a lot of product.

 

[Denis]

Could someone post a link to the flipping threads on lambopower? I would like to take a read through them.

Great job Ryan. I found this forum through the original craigslist thread, that you were a big part of. You motivated me to look into CL as a money-making opportunity.

Some advice that I recently learned, which in hindsight should be obvious. If you live in the suburbs or a smaller area than a large city, make SURE you list the surrounding areas in your location.

I live in a relatively small town and when I posted just that town as my location, I received almost no responses.

On that note, has anyone had success reselling on craigslist when not located in a large city?

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Here you go https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/bu...at-bootstrapping-thread-how-create-money.html There is a link to it in that thread.

Population here is 1.1 million. Moving to a city with 4.5 million in about 6 months so that'll be a huge market. Would also be interested to see how people in smaller markets do it... although ebay and the internet makes location largely irrelevant.

 

[Denis]

Here you go https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/bu...at-bootstrapping-thread-how-create-money.html There is a link to it in that thread.

Population here is 1.1 million. Moving to a city with 4.5 million in about 6 months so that'll be a huge market. Would also be interested to see how people in smaller markets do it... although ebay and the internet makes location largely irrelevant.

Irrelevant in what way?

True, you can sell off your stock on eBay but I thought the success you had was through a big market for games in your general area? I do not know your exact margin of profit but I got the impression you would not have made anywhere near it by reselling on eBay.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Irrelevant in the sense that you can buy lots/bundles of anything online and resell them individually or in packages online for more than you paid for the lot.

Or buy things on craigslist for cheap and sell them online, or vice versa.

There are endless options, most of which are not location dependant.

 

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[biggeemac]

I have a question. Once we graduate from small deals =<$500, is cars the next logical product? There are a lot of cars out there, im just not sure how to determine how much I should offer for a car that will allow me to flip it in 1-2 weeks or less. I bought a honda civic several weeks ago that I was SURE that I could double my money on. Barely scraped my way out of that one with $50 in the positive. Any thoughts on this from anyone?

 

[roc]

This is such great thread man, i appreciate you sharing infomration with us. Roc