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How I made $690 In Less Than 4 Hours This Weekend

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Jakawan

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Hey guys, I'd like to share a small hustle I did this weekend. It was a lot of fun haha maybe you can pull some ideas or lessons from it.

Notice the wristband. Ha!
20170527_121642.jpg


So how did I do it? I bought these dang Fidget Spinner things on DHGate.. and sold them at my local flea market. Posted on Facebook saying "Anyone wanna make some money this weekend?" Picked one and told her to bring a folding table to my house to pick them up and gave her instructions to set up the table and go sell at the flea market. She makes $1 for each one sold, plus 5% of profit. We sold them for $5 each or 5 for $20. Sometimes people would negotiate and get 6 for $20. Cool with me, volume baby! Put their $20 in my pocket. That's the game.

Gross Sales. But everyone likes bigger numbers. :)
Trisha.png

20170527_091944.jpg

Some REAL Numbers
Gross Profit: $690.
Time Invested: About 4 hours
COGS: $329.40
Expenses/Commission Paid: $82.00
Net Profit: $279.19
Return on Time ($$): ~$69.80 per hour

Date Quantity Outlet COGS (ea) Gross Sales Expenses Net Profit Notes
Sales.png

Side Rant About Delegation

I could change these numbers by hiring a second person, assuming they sold 80% as much as I did.. They'd make about $238.40 and their commission would be something like $75.. which would lower my net profit, but would drastically increase my return on time.

In this scenario NET profit would be somewhere around $280, but since I wouldn't have to be there.. return on time would be something like $560 per hour or more once established.

I sold the business as an opportunity.
So.. next.. I briefly posted about my success on Facebook. And said "If anyone has $200 to invest and wants to learn how to double their money tomorrow in 4 hours or less, private message me."

A guy messaged me and said his wife is very interested. I told her to meet me at 6:30am with a folding table and $200. I gave her instructions and told her exactly where to go and what to do.. this is what happened.

My COGS is $1.08 each, I sold her 100 pieces at $200. Which reflects my $92.19 net profit above.
Her husband sent me this pic, got their son involved saying they'll use some of the money to buy jerseys for their baseball team. He's on the right holding up a sign that says $5 each or 5 for $20.
A Couple nice old men even donated a few dollars for his jerseys. Pretty cool of them.

20170528_081222.jpg

I asked him how he did, and this is what he said.
1.png 2.png

I created an opportunity. And got paid for it.
They had no idea this is what they'd be doing on a Sunday morning.
They had faith, and invested $200 with me, and within 4-5 hours made $485..
I made $92 for providing this opportunity. BUT! I'm now their supplier.. and they are coming back midweek to reinvest another $400, and I guarantee this weekend they double that money too.

zig.jpg

A few thoughts and realizations I've had over this weekend while doing this..
Profits are better than wages.
Incentivizing people works. ($ per item sold is more exciting than $ per hour)
Capitalize on trends. I got the idea from a guy on product sourcing 101 Facebook group he said (Fidget spinners is the easiest $10k I've ever made) I got in late, but there's still some to be made.
Create opportunities for others
Focus on return on time, be willing to pay for marketing, employees, commissions and overhead (has been a big mental block of mine for years... this was an exercise to help overcome it.)
Go Bigger. Always.

I partied Friday night until about 4am.. then woke up at 6:30am to run this deal..
I partied Saturday night until about 2am.. then woke up at 6:30am to meet this lady..
We make sacrifices for what's important to us. I wanted to hang out with my friends, but I also told these people I would be awake and ready at 7am to get them started.
It would have been easy for me to sleep in and just not make this money.. but I felt accountable to these people. They were depending on me to be awake and there to do what I said I'm going to do. So I realized.. it's easier to let myself down than it is to let others down.. I can live with less, but I won't let myself let others down.

Alright, so that's it. Hope you got some value from this.
Please post your thoughts, criticism, advice, recent experiences, or success stories, or share ideas!
 
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sage_smooth

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Excellent post!

This is why I'm part of this forum!

I've been interested in marketing these but think I'm too late to the game.

I don't have a Facebook account but if anybody knows of up-and-coming markets - industries or how to research them pm me!

GOOD WORK JAKAWAN!
Love the motivational pics and screenshots as well! [emoji106]


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steelandchrome

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Well done! Great example of how to hustle, take advantage of a fad, and help others make some quick cash at the same time. Kudos to you

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V8Bill

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Here's what's happened since I read this thread.

1) WTF is a fidget spinner - you tube
2) I want a fidget spinner - gumtree (our local craigslist)
3) I want a fidget spinner - google search + YouTube
4) Changed my mind, I want to make a fidget spinner...out of an old hard drive
5) CBF - Back to "I want a fidget spinner"
6) Rang around to find a local one - sent a message, they didn't get back to me
7) Found a store in town that seemed to have a large range. Sent messages asking for prices, features...etc. They got back to me immediately with an address and business hours which was until 8PM.
8) Drove 100 miles and back to buy the fidget spinner I wanted. Solid Brass, 6 arm 3 minute spin time - love it!
9) Gave advice to seller about marketing it better (see below).

2 interesting things happened that surprised the hell out of me.

1) I got a beard trim at a new barber shop that was advertising fidget spinners (found them from their ad)
2) Drove into the back streets of a dark suburb to find a small deli (snack bar, convenience shop) to buy my spinner - advised them on better marketing.

Lesson:
1) The Barber only advertised fidget spinners and yet I bought a hair cut
2) The Deli only advertised fidget spinners - I bought a coke too

These two shops rarely advertise. How can you advertise a local deli? I spoke to him at length about how he sourced them, how much he was making on them and what reaction he was getting. He said the first day they advertised they had people lining up in in a circle inside the store, crowding around the counter and all the way out the door past the next shop and out into the car park. They also sold lots of extra groceries.

The barber shop didn't get my fidget spinner because although they were cheaper they were also branded to the barbershop and of the ordinary plastic design - no sale. He said he had lots of really cool designs and to come on down. They didn't. They had one design, 4 colours and branding.

How many lessons in marketing and customer services were there in this little excursion? The one that sticks out to me is the deli, there's no way in hell I would have snaked my way through dark streets in a suburb over 50 miles away (I live in the country so it's normal for me to drive long distances for stuff). They had one ad with 10 pictures and poor copy. I advised them to place 10 ads with a new fidget spinner for each ad (they had more than 10 designs for sale) and also include the other 9 spinners in the pics for that ad. Add some words of how fun they are and features (ceramic 8 minute bearings, blue-tooth spinners with speakers in them (!)) and many totally different designs...etc. Mention in each ad that people are travelling from across town and in the country to buy their spinners because they have the best range (not the biggest or the cheapest - just the best) and to include some special grocery deal if they buy multiple spinners plus get a discount on the spinners.

The guy (a recent, enterprising and enthusiastic and grateful immigrant) was gob smacked! Speechless and super grateful. Called me "my friend". I replied "is this a great country or what?!" he replied "yes my friend, it is, thank you for your help.

I asked if that was his best price, he gave me 10% off so I made $2.00 selling marketing advice and did a good thing. My first marketing advice sale.

I decided to practice delayed gratification and didn't spin or touch it all the way home (a 45 minute drive), prepared dinner while staring at it, ate dinner, did the dishes, all the time looking across at the spinner in anticipatory agony. Brushed my teeth and did other things to delay the sweet experience of my first play. Now I have an awesome spinner (it's quite fun), a story, a good deed, a long drive and a deal...all because of this thread.

Did I mention I'm half way around the world? Ask me how much I love forums.

fastlane-spinner.jpg
 
Last edited:

Leo Hendrix

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Excellent HUSTLE, you saw the opportunity and executed.

Nothing much to add or say but that was awesome!

I wonder how I could replicate something similar online/digitally. I cannot currently do some flipping like this locally, so besides the service business I am looking for clients for, I need something to make cash fast. (Besides upwork etc while I still have a little time.)
 
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pfalcomer

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Profits are better than wages - I've heard (and read) Jim Rohn say that many, many times. It's so true! Awesome hustle man, well done!
 

Jakawan

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I wonder how I could replicate something similar online/digitally. I cannot currently do some flipping like this locally, so besides the service business I am looking for clients for, I need something to make cash fast.

Why can't you flip things locally? I think locally is the quickest way. I flip cars in my spare time, and I used to flip ipads and iphones and macbooks and silver coins.. but the margins are lower. The more money make the more "lazy" I become. I want more "return on time" now.
So what came to mind of how you could do this online is.. wholesaling..
You can negotiate and buy bulk items from China, get on Alibaba/Dhgate and negotiate the lowest price possible, and continually try to lower that price while keeping quality.. and then create lots.. lots of say 100 pcs, and list the lot on Craigslist and eBay and Facebook product sourcing groups and product sourcing forums. Any time there's a trend.. there's people wanting to capitalize on it. So be the connector. Help them. Be their supplier.

For example with these fidget spinners.. you could buy them at $1.08 shipped to your door. Sell lots of 100 for $200-$250, include free shipping.
You can take payments on stripe or with square reader or through ebay or shopify or paypal.
Your cost is $108. You sell for $250. Shipping is $22. Your total COGS & Shipping is $130. You profit $120 on the transaction, and it probably took you less than 30 minutes. That's a great return on time if you're currently making a wage or have lots of free time. Hope that gets the juices flowing
 
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Napoolion

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There are some great festivals coming up and of course celebrating midsummer here in Estonia. I am going to few parties with my friends anyway, so I bought some party led stuff in bulk from dhgate. Will see if I can sell them. Makes it much more interesting to me.

By the way, a great video on how to improve your business this summer by Valuetainment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKP2eCveL_Q
 

sage_smooth

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Why can't you flip things locally? I think locally is the quickest way. I flip cars in my spare time, and I used to flip ipads and iphones and macbooks and silver coins.. but the margins are lower. The more money make the more "lazy" I become. I want more "return on time" now.
So what came to mind of how you could do this online is.. wholesaling..
You can negotiate and buy bulk items from China, get on Alibaba/Dhgate and negotiate the lowest price possible, and continually try to lower that price while keeping quality.. and then create lots.. lots of say 100 pcs, and list the lot on Craigslist and eBay and Facebook product sourcing groups and product sourcing forums. Any time there's a trend.. there's people wanting to capitalize on it. So be the connector. Help them. Be their supplier.

For example with these fidget spinners.. you could buy them at $1.08 shipped to your door. Sell lots of 100 for $200-$250, include free shipping.
You can take payments on stripe or with square reader or through ebay or shopify or paypal.
Your cost is $108. You sell for $250. Shipping is $22. Your total COGS & Shipping is $130. You profit $120 on the transaction, and it probably took you less than 30 minutes. That's a great return on time if you're currently making a wage or have lots of free time. Hope that gets the juices flowing

I just wanted to say that this post is quality material! Thank you so much for including sources to buy and numbers for other people to visualize, you are contributing some great material to this forum!

[emoji108][emoji108][emoji742]️[emoji809]


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Jakawan

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I just wanted to say that this post is quality material! Thank you so much for including sources to buy and numbers for other people to visualize, you are contributing some great material to this forum!

[emoji108][emoji108][emoji742]️[emoji809]

Thanks man, I truly appreciate that. This forum is my equivalent of Netflix and Facebook combined.. Haha, entertaining, educational, inspiring, fun, addicting, and it's awesome to follow other peoples success. If I can contribute something that helps one or two people take some action and learn some skills that will create references for their future and build on their success philosophy.. I'll be more than happy.
A guy asked me.. Jakawan.. why do you post so much about success and travel and money? Do you just want to be "known" as the guy who travels all the time and has money? Are you bragging? And I said no.. I'm sharing my successes and what's POSSIBLE. If nobody would have ever posted about their lifestyle and their successes and what's possible... and nobody ever sold courses and held seminars on real estate and eBay and sales... I'd still be a correctional officer.. probably making $2800 per month working 60+ hours per week and never would have traveled out of the country and backpacked Europe and had a FRACTION of the experiences I've had over the past few years...
I love this poem labeled our greatest fear: Our Greatest Fear – Marianne Williamson

"And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others."

Damn! I knew I should have got into the fidgit spinner bandwagon when it was still fresh ;-) Good stuff man!

Hey man it's not too late!!! I just bought 950 more pieces.. LED ones.. I think of it as an investment. I read on here once upon a time that.. the goal is to learn to spend $1 and receive $1.40 back.. once you figure out how to do that.. how many dollars should you spend?
So right now with these fidget spinners.. On average for every dollar I put in, I'm getting $1.79-$1.88 back. This side gig alone can pay for my living expenses.. then my real estate and car sales goes into an account that I use for down payments on more real estate or testing products.. I need a mentor to teach me time management/organization/and how to scale products on either shopify or amazon though.. hard to choose what to do with my time as I'm a shiny object chaser... Real estate.. commerce.. flipping cars.. BLAH! lol
 

sage_smooth

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Thanks man, I truly appreciate that. This forum is my equivalent of Netflix and Facebook combined.. Haha, entertaining, educational, inspiring, fun, addicting, and it's awesome to follow other peoples success. If I can contribute something that helps one or two people take some action and learn some skills that will create references for their future and build on their success philosophy.. I'll be more than happy.
A guy asked me.. Jakawan.. why do you post so much about success and travel and money? Do you just want to be "known" as the guy who travels all the time and has money? Are you bragging? And I said no.. I'm sharing my successes and what's POSSIBLE. If nobody would have ever posted about their lifestyle and their successes and what's possible... and nobody ever sold courses and held seminars on real estate and eBay and sales... I'd still be a correctional officer.. probably making $2800 per month working 60+ hours per week and never would have traveled out of the country and backpacked Europe and had a FRACTION of the experiences I've had over the past few years...
I love this poem labeled our greatest fear: Our Greatest Fear – Marianne Williamson

"And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others."



Hey man it's not too late!!! I just bought 950 more pieces.. LED ones.. I think of it as an investment. I read on here once upon a time that.. the goal is to learn to spend $1 and receive $1.40 back.. once you figure out how to do that.. how many dollars should you spend?
So right now with these fidget spinners.. On average for every dollar I put in, I'm getting $1.79-$1.88 back. This side gig alone can pay for my living expenses.. then my real estate and car sales goes into an account that I use for down payments on more real estate or testing products.. I need a mentor to teach me time management/organization/and how to scale products on either shopify or amazon though.. hard to choose what to do with my time as I'm a shiny object chaser... Real estate.. commerce.. flipping cars.. BLAH! lol

Wow this is synchronistic!
I'm currently a supervisor in the Netflix customer care center.
The only thing I care about is this forum and opening up a Shopify online minimart of sorts where I sell all kinds of products that I get from Ali Baba and DH gate.

You may see a progress thread coming from me soon due to this thread and you motivating me!

The best part is that with your most recent post I now know that I should be making 40% profit on every dollar, I used to work at Apple and this is common for that company, to make 40% on every product in profit. Your post just confirmed this for me and now I'm moving forward!!! [emoji383][emoji383][emoji383]


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Jakawan

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Wow this is synchronistic!
I'm currently a supervisor in the Netflix customer care center.
The only thing I care about is this forum and opening up a Shopify online minimart of sorts where I sell all kinds of products that I get from Ali Baba and DH gate.

You may see a progress thread coming from me soon due to this thread and you motivating me!

The best part is that with your most recent post I now know that I should be making 40% profit on every dollar, I used to work at Apple and this is common for that company, to make 40% on every product in profit. Your post just confirmed this for me and now I'm moving forward!!! [emoji383][emoji383][emoji383]

Haha do it man! In several eBay books I've read.. they talk about the 1/3rd rule. Or 3x rule. Your product should at minimum sell for 3x cost. Because 1/3rd goes to cost of product, 1/3rd goes to shipping and fees or expenses, and 1/3rd is profit. Obviously 5x or 8x would be better. But 3x minimum.
 
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V8Bill

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And I said no.. I'm sharing my successes and what's POSSIBLE. If nobody would have ever posted about their lifestyle and their successes and what's possible... and nobody ever sold courses and held seminars on real estate and eBay and sales... I'd still be a...
^^ THIS! ^^

I'm currently a supervisor in the Netflix customer care center.
The only thing I care about is this forum and opening up a Shopify
As a Netflix customer may I request you spare a little bit of care for us too while you're there? Haha (he said, only half joking).
 

Leo Hendrix

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@Jakawan Thank you very much!

No 'real' reason why I can't flip locally except that I am a foreigner in my current location.

But I think I will give it a go and try something similar to what you did, I just have to find someone willing and able to sell them at a local market/stall here. Will see how it goes but I just saw a local malls facebook page regarding spinners and they said they are selling like hotcakes.

I just have to do a bit of market research and ensure I buy the right types of spinners at the right price points to ensure they sell, I noticed that price is a key factor in consumer considerations here locally.(The more affordable the better usually, for the majority)
 

sage_smooth

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^^ THIS! ^^


As a Netflix customer may I request you spare a little bit of care for us too while you're there? Haha (he said, only half joking).

JUST YOU when you call in that's the only one l care about! Hahahaha
 
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G

GuestUser241z

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Nice hustle there man! Keep it up..it's so interesting to know what other people are up to. This is true entrepreneurial spirit! So inspired!
 

Leo Hendrix

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@Jakawan

Did you order or ask for a sample first to test the quality of the product or just shipped them in lots?

How did you test for quality?
 

Jakawan

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@Jakawan

Did you order or ask for a sample first to test the quality of the product or just shipped them in lots?

How did you test for quality?

I didn't think you could really mess up quality that bad HA so I bought from 3 different suppliers at first. Two of them was 500pcs and one was 400pcs. I took a little bit of risk.. but I thought, how bad could it be? And if they're SUPER bad I'll just sell them at cost..
So the first supplier was not the cheapest, they were in the middle with price, but they have been the highest quality so far, so much that I've ordered another 600 recently. The second 500 was great, but they only gave me like 4 colors.. and over 150 of them being green :\ and the 3rd run was 400 pcs at $0.87 each. This was the cheapest. But also the lowest quality.... turns out AT LEAST 20 of them were broken!! the plastic is cheaper and cracks.. which caused breaks. Had returns and exchanges. Not worth it. So I'm sticking with the seller that sells them to me at $1.01 each for medium price, but highest quality, and they ship them with more care in 3 boxes instead of 1 ugly crunched up box... by shipping in 3 separate boxes the boxes hold together better and don't get dropped and banged up, so less chance of having crushed boxes and broken product. They're really good..
You just gotta try a few. Maybe pay a little more and do test orders of 100 pcs. Take the risk. But also tell them you're wanting to build a business relationship and will be a repeat customer so they take care of you.
 
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AFMKelvin

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Hey guys, I'd like to share a small hustle I did this weekend. It was a lot of fun haha maybe you can pull some ideas or lessons from it.

Notice the wristband. Ha!
View attachment 15015


So how did I do it? I bought these dang Fidget Spinner things on DHGate.. and sold them at my local flea market. Posted on Facebook saying "Anyone wanna make some money this weekend?" Picked one and told her to bring a folding table to my house to pick them up and gave her instructions to set up the table and go sell at the flea market. She makes $1 for each one sold, plus 5% of profit. We sold them for $5 each or 5 for $20. Sometimes people would negotiate and get 6 for $20. Cool with me, volume baby! Put their $20 in my pocket. That's the game.

Gross Sales. But everyone likes bigger numbers. :)
View attachment 15016

View attachment 15012

Some REAL Numbers
Gross Profit: $690.
Time Invested: About 4 hours
COGS: $329.40
Expenses/Commission Paid: $82.00
Net Profit: $279.19
Return on Time ($$): ~$69.80 per hour

Date Quantity Outlet COGS (ea) Gross Sales Expenses Net Profit Notes
View attachment 15013

Side Rant About Delegation

I could change these numbers by hiring a second person, assuming they sold 80% as much as I did.. They'd make about $238.40 and their commission would be something like $75.. which would lower my net profit, but would drastically increase my return on time.

In this scenario NET profit would be somewhere around $280, but since I wouldn't have to be there.. return on time would be something like $560 per hour or more once established.

I sold the business as an opportunity.
So.. next.. I briefly posted about my success on Facebook. And said "If anyone has $200 to invest and wants to learn how to double their money tomorrow in 4 hours or less, private message me."

A guy messaged me and said his wife is very interested. I told her to meet me at 6:30am with a folding table and $200. I gave her instructions and told her exactly where to go and what to do.. this is what happened.

My COGS is $1.08 each, I sold her 100 pieces at $200. Which reflects my $92.19 net profit above.
Her husband sent me this pic, got their son involved saying they'll use some of the money to buy jerseys for their baseball team. He's on the right holding up a sign that says $5 each or 5 for $20.
A Couple nice old men even donated a few dollars for his jerseys. Pretty cool of them.

View attachment 15017

I asked him how he did, and this is what he said.
View attachment 15018 View attachment 15019

I created an opportunity. And got paid for it.
They had no idea this is what they'd be doing on a Sunday morning.
They had faith, and invested $200 with me, and within 4-5 hours made $485..
I made $92 for providing this opportunity. BUT! I'm now their supplier.. and they are coming back midweek to reinvest another $400, and I guarantee this weekend they double that money too.

View attachment 15020

A few thoughts and realizations I've had over this weekend while doing this..
Profits are better than wages.
Incentivizing people works. ($ per item sold is more exciting than $ per hour)
Capitalize on trends. I got the idea from a guy on product sourcing 101 Facebook group he said (Fidget spinners is the easiest $10k I've ever made) I got in late, but there's still some to be made.
Create opportunities for others
Focus on return on time, be willing to pay for marketing, employees, commissions and overhead (has been a big mental block of mine for years... this was an exercise to help overcome it.)
Go Bigger. Always.

I partied Friday night until about 4am.. then woke up at 6:30am to run this deal..
I partied Saturday night until about 2am.. then woke up at 6:30am to meet this lady..
We make sacrifices for what's important to us. I wanted to hang out with my friends, but I also told these people I would be awake and ready at 7am to get them started.
It would have been easy for me to sleep in and just not make this money.. but I felt accountable to these people. They were depending on me to be awake and there to do what I said I'm going to do. So I realized.. it's easier to let myself down than it is to let others down.. I can live with less, but I won't let myself let others down.

Alright, so that's it. Hope you got some value from this.
Please post your thoughts, criticism, advice, recent experiences, or success stories, or share ideas!
Can you tell us more about the shipping process. How long did it take you to get samples? How long did it take your order to arrive? How much was the shipping cost? And did they deliver to your house or did you have to go pick it up at the port?

Thank you and I appreciate you telling us how it's done.
 

Leo Hendrix

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Thanks! @Jakawan

Yeah, I mentioned the ongoing business relationship to my first preferred supplier on dhgate already, just waiting for her reply and we'll see how negotiations pan out.
 
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Jakawan

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Can you tell us more about the shipping process. How long did it take you to get samples? How long did it take your order to arrive? How much was the shipping cost? And did they deliver to your house or did you have to go pick it up at the port?

Thank you and I appreciate you telling us how it's done.

I always get quotes and bids and look at it as an overall price. Like.. for 100 PC's if it's $79 for the items and $36 for shipping, my to the door price is $115 or $1.15 each pc. And if your quotes range from $0.89 to $1.86 to the door price.. you can get an idea of where your cost needs to be. Maybe $1.15 is a good price to maintain quality. So I'd pick the best or second best supplier based on customer service and years in business and try to negotiate to my target price of $1.15. ask if they can make shipping cheaper or if you buy more pieces can we reduce cost to $0.XX?

And usually shipping is through DHL. So if they ship quickly it can be to your door in about 5-8 days.
 

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