flip that sh!tgreenroomuniversity.com/our_content/uploads/2016/08/flip... · 2016-08-05 · my...
TRANSCRIPT
1
2
Flip That Sh!t
Bonafide Hustler
Copyright Chris Dupuis 2014
Published at Smashwords
3
Contents
1. Prologue
2. Chapter 1 – Hustler Beginnings
3. Chapter 2 – What You Need
4. Chapter 3 – Understanding Risk
5. Chapter 4 – Time is Money
6. Chapter 5 – Where to Hustle
7. Chapter 6 – Avenues
8. Chapter 7 – Importance of Quality
9. Chapter 8 – Condition Matters
10. Chapter 9 – Trends Past and Present
11. Chapter 10 – Hustling Your First Item
12. Chapter 11 – Avenues to Sell
13. Chapter 12 – Profitability of a Process
14. Chapter 13 – The Importance of Time
15. Chapter 14 –Inventory
16. Chapter 15 – Shipping and Returns
17. Chapter 16 – Putting It Together
18. Chapter 17 – Wrapping Up
4
Prologue
Humans are an interesting species. Wait, hold on, I am getting somewhere
with this, so hold on. We are capable of huge things and many times we have
everything it takes to get there, just somewhere in the mix we fail to achieve what
we want because we do not have the proper training, motivation, or we lack
something crucial to our success. In my opinion, after the crisis of 2008 things
changed considerably in this country and around the world for that matter. What I
mean by that is the world has changed from a sure place to a very unsure place.
Jobs that were once there and in abundant supply were consolidated, companies
leaned out, and people got a reality check. For some reason or another, the human
race was exposed to all their faults, inadequacies, and ill-planning. Some of you
reading this may be able to relate considerably, but I think 2008 affected many of us
to some degree or another. The key takeaway is that now more than ever it’s
important to know how to make money without relying on someone else.
This book is geared to help you make money and feel really good doing it. I
can’t do it for you, but I will try my hardest to basically give you the “cheat sheet” of
hustling. My goal is for you to be at a Bonafide level to where you feel more than
comfortable with the money you begin to make or are already making. There are
many ways to make extra money out there, but in my opinion for the time invested
and the reward at hand, this is the best gig there is. As always, we are all entitled to
our own opinions, but I have been through many jobs and I can honestly say this is
the most rewarding, enlightening, and fun spare cash thing that I have done.
5
In hustling, there are no real boundaries to what you can accomplish. If
you’re a young guy in middle school and you allow this book to guide your hustling
beginnings, you will more than likely be that guy at 24 that has lots of neat things
and you‘ll also be the guy that everyone asks “how did he get there?” In contrast, if
you’re already an experienced hustler this book will not only motivate you to think
differently, but also it will implant certain phrases or one liners that will make you
cash down the road in one of your own hustles. The way to get the most out of this
book is to allow yourself to be like a sponge. Soak it all up. Begin the reading with a
clear mind and finish the book with your own takeaways. Whether you’re young
aspiring hustler or an established hustler, I am confident that both will find this
book of significant value.
This takes me to my next topic, you. Taking control of your success begins
when you’re motivated, informed, and ready. While I would love to say that your
success begins whenever you say it does, the truth is we all say things we want to
do, but the real winners are those who act and apply what they’ve learned in order
to accomplish something. You see, if you act enough times, you end up
accomplishing more than the person who says a bunch and acts here and there.
While both examples can in turn make money, the first example is a person who
will make more over time, and inevitably the first person becomes a better hustler.
Your success depends on how you act, and this book is your catalyst to act. Let’s
face it, you owe it to yourself to get started, or at the very least fine tune your
current situation.
6
Do it all correctly and do it Bonafide style. What does that mean anyway?
In my opinion, a person that acts Bonafide is a person who is trustworthy, gives out
advice/knowledge, and acts in the best way accordingly at all times. So that’s
basically how I thought about myself when I started the YouTube channel: The
Bonafide Hustler. Through the channel I have been thankful to interact with people
all over the world and help other aspiring hustlers think differently, make good
hustling decisions, and make some easy cash. As I write this now, the truth is the
book was 80% written before the channel even started on YouTube. I decided to re-
write it based upon a conglomeration of all the interactions I have received and my
new knowledge of what the people in the YouTube picking community really want.
My ultimate goal is to show you how I make money, and for you to have the same
motivation as I do in order to execute your hustling dreams in your own hometown.
When I first started the YouTube channel I picked my name based upon a lyric from
a popular M.I.A song called “Paper Planes”. The exact sentence is this: “Everyone's
a winner, we're making our fame bona fide hustler making my name”. Something in
that lyric really followed me throughout my hustling career. As odd as it seems, I
would always sing that one line in my car; I even put the words Bonafide Hustler on
my longboard, and my girlfriend even had Oakley Radar glasses, etched with
Bonafide Hustler, made for my Christmas gift. Call it destiny, but it was clear on
how I viewed myself, and I was only getting better each and every day. Fast
forward 10 years and here I am; now I have a footstep I the YouTube picker
community not only as a hustler, but also a teacher. That’s honestly the best part of
what I do, making sure others can benefit as I have done so successfully.
7
To close this intro I only feel that it’s right for me to explain how I view the
word "hustling". The word hustling has such a ghetto, street-bangin’ association to
it and the way I view it is a bit similar. It’s similar in the sense that you are taking
your feet to the pavement, and making it happen, without looking back. However,
my view on hustling has no drug, violence, or shady parts to it; instead I really
identified with the word in a different sense. So, for all intents and purposes,
whenever I refer to hustling it basically means making it happen, doing it
differently, and getting incredible results. Now it’s time to read forward and never
look back.
-BH
8
Chapter 1 – Hustler Beginnings
It was a regular Saturday morning here in Austin, Texas – yes, that’s the
town I live in. Every normal thing was happening; people were running, traffic was
non-existent, and the sun was shining brightly. As for me, I was just enjoying a nice
day in the central part of town by catching a good breakfast and walking around the
lake with my girlfriend at the time. After we did our early morning walk, I decided to
take a look at a Goodwill store on Lake Austin Boulevard. I had always heard of how
deals were found at thrift shops, and here in this town people always dress a bit on
the weird side. I suppose I was looking to buy some neat vintage T shirts. I was
excited at the very least to check the place out and find out really what all the fuss
was about. You know they say life is full of surprises and you never know what
you’ll find out some days. For me, this day would be the day that would change my
life.
I parked my car and looked at the large Goodwill sign while exiting my
vehicle. What would I find? What is this place? Is this where all the weirdos go? I
was excited because I always love checking out the unknown and this was the
perfect place to compliment the beautiful morning that was already in store. As I
walked up to the door I noticed some bikes to my left. There were about 4 bikes, all
in different conditions, all different brands, and they all had price tags. As I scan the
bikes I notice one that is called “Hoffman”; something triggers in my mind, I have
seen this somewhere. It didn’t take long for me to place this brand with the kinds of
9
bikes that are ridden in sports within X Games and at local skateparks around the
USA. This was a quality brand, I knew that much.
As I glance at the top tube of the bike I see a price, 7.99. I then look at the
condition and determine it needs tubes. My thought process was on the lines of
“hey that’s going to cost about 10 dollars, why not see if I can perform the work and
charge a bit more for this sucker”. To make a long story short, I buy the bike,
perform the duties needed, and sell it the next day for $80.00 locally. Keep in mind
that there was no craigslist 9 years ago so I had listed it in our local paper’s
classified section. Somehow I just knew that I could not go wrong, it had to work.
After the sale, and with more money in my hands as well as pride on my side, I
thought flipping this bike was the coolest thing I had done in a while. Now let’s fast
forward that to the present day, after hustling thousands of bikes, other items,
making tons of cash, and building a YouTube channel, I suppose you can say that I
took it to the next level. I made it bona fide.
Being a successful hustler is a great thing. Having the ability to walk into a
thrift store and pick things out that will resell for more money is a very good skill to
possess. Though my success is a by-product of my experiences, it is also something
that can be taught. It’s a skill that anyone can have if they have the right
information and motivation. Can we all do it? Absolutely! Will we all see the light?
The unfortunate answer is no. It takes a person who is dedicated to learning and a
person who is not scared to apply simple math to assess risk. You see, hustling is
nothing more than carefully calculated trades of cash, trades that involve simple
10
math in your head, and also trades that require you to access your memory often.
Before I get all scientific on you, it’s important that you know hustling in its entirety
is VERY, VERY SIMPLE. If you actively soak up the information in this book, you WILL
make money, it’s pretty much inevitable.
This brings us to the YouTube channel of The Bonafide Hustler and the
reason why it is there for your viewing pleasure. The channel was geared to
highlight the advantages of incorporating hustling into your life. In addition it’s
there for free viewing as a way for me to give back to those out there looking for
more money. The channel is constantly evolving as I am, but in reality it’s there and
it’s free. As the game changes so will the channel, but right now its goal is to help
you out and give you a more than bird’s eye view of what is possible. It is more of a
visual cheat sheet and a tool to incite motivation. Halfway into the channel’s
success, I decided it would be the perfect catalyst for this book, and that judgment
call was made shortly after realizing how many interactions and comments
regarded the basics for hustling. I realized that I knew the answers to many people’s
questions because I had done it before and I had done it with success. While the
channel is mostly known currently for its semi-outrageous intros and engaging
content, the truth is hustling is fun. I live it every day in some way fashion or form.
Hustling works, it absolutely does, and it will work for you if you let it.
The truth is anyone can do this, anyone can be a hustler. My goal is not to
make you a hustler, but a bona fide hustler. By the time you finish this book you will
be able to perform with ease your first hustles, or maybe you’ll fine tune your
11
current game; either way, there’s something here for everyone. I have spent 10
years doing this, and it feels like I just started yesterday. I have been through 5
mobile phones, and 4 cameras while being in this game. Seeing the pictures taken
from each device to this day still blows my mind. Don’t get me wrong, there were
some unsure purchases and some profits gone wrong, but ultimately in the end I
stand here writing a book, fully experienced and still in the game. They say people
come and go in hustling, and I say you can stay here so long as you make good
educated decisions. One of the best decisions anyone can make is to invest in their
own hustling education by buying books, dvd’s, watching thrifting/flipping shows on
TV, or maybe even spending that extra time on Friday night making a garage sale
list. It’s all trades, it’s all investing. It’s basically putting something forward of value
in order to get something of greater value. If you get what I am saying, then you’re
learning. If you don’t, do not worry, you bought the ultimate hustler guide, you’ve
committed to investing something, your time and money. Now it’s my turn to make
sure you get your money’s worth.
12
Chapter 2 – What You Need
In order to be successful in hustling, there are some things you will need.
Having the right foundation is key in building a business, and this is exactly what
you are building, a business. Whether you like to view it this way or not, there is a
cash flow coming in and going out, and you’re the person organizing and running
the show. Want more money? Run the show better. As stated before, there’s
something in here for hustlers both new and experienced. There are some things I
believe are absolutely necessary and also some that are up to you; some of these
things are tangible, and some are not. Knowing how incorporate everything into a
business will take some time, but then again nothing out there is easy right from
the start. You have to put in some hard work eventually. Fortunately, hustling is
relatively easy if you do it right, and basically you end up repeating/fine tuning your
results as you get better.
The highest ranking, most important thing to have when you hustle is a
positive attitude. Although this sounds elementary, I cannot stress this enough as a
crucial piece to the puzzle. Without this, a hustler swims in a small cash pool.
Approaching the game with a good attitude and good intentions allows you to
bathe in a pool of deep cash. Which do you want? It’s all your decision. This brings
us to the truth of the matter- you get what you put into this book. Buying it was an
investment for yourself, now the next task for you is to read it and then act on what
you learned. All of this requires a good attitude, and some motivation!
13
Many people have reached out to me via YouTube and Facebook telling me
that I have motivated them to build a channel, start hustling, or make more money
in general (for the more experienced hustlers). It comes to no surprise that I get
comments such as these because I love hustling and completely urge everyone to
try it. I am motivated by others telling me that hustling worked just like the channel
said it would. That makes me feel good. It’s important, though, to realize that these
people acted on information that I divulged on the channel, and subsequently
found that inner motivation to act, which later rewarded them handsomely.
Motivation is something that you cannot buy, but instead it’s a feeling that incites
action. While you read this book, try to figure out why you bought it; was it for
more money in your future, trying something new, or just to see what the
commotion was all about? Figure that out, and read further while remembering
constantly why you bought the book in the first place. Don’t be afraid to set high
expectations for yourself, and hopefully this book will deliver your missing puzzle
pieces.
Outside of being motivated and having a good attitude, an important thing
a hustler needs to have is a good mobile phone. I do not mean a good brand, but
one that can do internet, email, get apps, has decent battery time, and is relatively
quick. If there’s a tool I use more than any other, it is certainly my cell phone. This
device is the answer to a majority of buy or not buy decisions, routing garage sales,
getting back to customers, seeing what to ship, and that’s just a few of the things
you can do with it. I cannot stress how important it is to have a good phone with a
good media plan. So if you don’t have one get one, and make sure to look at this as
14
an investment in your business. I will highlight in future chapters how the mobile
phone is your best friend.
The other more obvious thing you need in becoming a hustler is cash. Yes,
you will need some sort of start-up capital. This can be something as small as ten
dollars, or as much as thousand dollars. Just make sure it’s an amount you are
comfortable with to begin. If you’re an experienced hustler, then you already know
the value of money as it is the lifeblood of hustling. You can choose to have actual
cash or even start hustling on a credit card. Just be sure that if you pick the latter
that you factor in interest charges or at least know when your bill comes every
month. One good tip I have for newer, aspiring hustlers is to pick a beginning
amount that you are very much attached to. For example, if you were considering
buying a $100 table for your house next week, why not take that $100 instead and
put it to hustling; by doing this, you have a personal stake in the game, which
should translate to more action because you want your $100 back quick! Whatever
amount you choose, your return will be better if it’s money that’s very important to
you.
Another important tool to have is a means of transportation. This helps
hustling immensely and allows you to see more stops in a shorter period of time. In
addition to a suv I also have a cargo bike, a bicycle that has an extended chassis for
taking on larger loads. If I had no car then at least the bike would help me
considerably. I actually ride the bike the post office on nice days to drop off
packages. It suppose that’s the perk of having no boss and hustling full time! There
15
are so many ways to hustle, but having a means of transportation that’s readily
available is a huge piece of the puzzle. I should also mention that a reliable car or
suv is also a plus. To make it even better, having a vehicle that gets good gas
mileage will only translate into the ability to see further places if needed and you’ll
be able to do repeat visits daily to thrift stores if needed without wondering about
the gas charge. Fine tuning your hustler game comes from many angles, and having
an efficient, reliable vehicle only adds more money into your pocket. I must note
that my favorite hustling vehicles so far have been the Honda Element, Toyota
Prius, and pretty much any minivan. That’s just my two cents.
Another good tool to have is a decent camera. Nowadays the cameras in
phones are pretty good, but they still lack when it comes to super close ups and
macro shots. Going back to the original point, having a good camera outside of your
cell phone camera will help you streamline things such as eBay, Amazon, and
posting on Craigslist. It is also important to show detail in pictures in order to get
more people attracted to your post or ad. When I started hustling, I had a small
canon elph, which was about the size of a palm, and in my opinion it took very good
pictures. Ten years ago, the good cameras in cell phones had not been developed
fully, so I had to think differently. Soon after that I finally got a cell phone with an
integrated camera, but the issue then was the uploading of pics to classified
sections, and the upload speed in general. Having a good external camera is
something I have incorporated into my everyday hustling. Often I will spend 30mins
to an hour just snapping pictures of what I had bought from the day’s haul. At night
I find myself uploading 1-12 pics for each ad I make on eBay; so having pics stored
16
on a SD card with the ability to select multiple pics for upload purposes is priceless.
I must say, however, that I was able to get by with very successful hustling from
years 4-7 without having a dedicated camera for my pics. However, as stated before
the camera on your phone will be fine if you’re just a beginner wanting to start
hustling. Back in the day I mainly used my cell phone, and most of my business was
local at that point. Now, my business is much larger and widespread with multiple
sales channels. Being streamlined with an optimized workflow is the most
important thing to me now. Maximizing my hourly rate is always my top priority
and therefore I believe those who are super serious about hustling should have a
separate camera. My camera of choice as of this book writing is the Sony NEX-F3. In
my opinion, it’s the best bang for the buck.
It also helps to have a computer with fast internet at your home. I like
having a desktop computer with twin screens in order to be more efficient when I
list on eBay, do research, or when I route my Sat AM garage sale route. I decided to
upgrade my home internet because I like to have results and information very
quickly, but that’s just me. Having a laptop or something other than the cell phone
is pretty much what I mean by having a computer. You should not rely only on your
mobile phone; having a home base for computing needs only makes your hustling
easier. Take it from me, I have been there and experimented with having it versus
not having it. You make more money when you are efficient, streamlined, and
properly equipped. Also don’t be afraid to invest into getting a better, more current
day setup. Investing in yourself is key, but only if it translates into being more
efficient. That being said, the smartphone revolution is evolving at a rapid pace and
17
at some point in the future, a smaller all-in-one tablet may phase out a full blown
laptop and phone combination.
Building the correct infrastructure early is very important to being a
successful hustler. I understand that the general name of the game is to hustle
lean, and incur few fixed costs; however, consider the fact that you may be actually
hindering a piece of your success because of lack of organization. As it stands in
most businesses in America, if you’re prepared you stand a better chance of
succeeding. If you get by with only doing the minimum, you get the minimum. One
of the ways to be better organized starts with knowing how each piece of the
hustler puzzle interacts with the rest. For example, how does a slow, tedious upload
of pictures to Craigslist affect your view on the next ads you need to do, or better
yet your actual bottom line? It’s a valid question because many resellers and
hustlers out there deal with this very issue. The truth is if it takes too long, you are
less likely to do more ads back to back, and this directly affects your bottom line as
well as your inventory. My point is get your organization and systems down. Make
sure there’s a charger for your phone in your vehicle; make sure you have ink and
paper in your printer. Don’t be all over the place reacting when you can be calm,
composed and acting. Hopefully you see what I am saying.
In summary, the success of a beginning hustler and established hustler is
dependent on how you view situations, what tools you have, and how you organize
your tools in order to give you the best return for the time invested. After all, time
is the most valuable thing to a hustler. If you are constantly thinking of ways to get
18
more time, you will be surprised to find that you could work on your current
operation in order to free up the time needed. Don’t start hustling being
unprepared. Start the game with your tools and know how each affects the others.
Work on your business, not in your business. Last, be open to everything. Look at
things in a positive sense, and never in a negative one. Approach the game with
confidence, poise, and a good attitude; should you do this correctly you will be on
your way to the hustler riches.
19
Chapter 3 – Understanding Risk
In the world today billions of transactions take place every day regarding
the exchange of money. This exchange can be looked at in two ways, spending and
saving. An example of saving would be the person who deposits money in a bank or
places a set amount of money in a 401K every month. On the contrary, there are
spending transactions which range from our everyday purchase of coffee all the
way to the purchase of a home. As a hustler, one of your goals is to spend in order
to save. In this game, there are no guarantees, no set percentage return on your
investment. To most, this sounds like a terrible proposition! As a society, we are
taught so much about consumption and fear, rather than taking chances and seeing
the potential “light”. I am telling you right here right now that hustling is a viable
way to make more money, but first you’ll have to understand this little thing called
risk.
Living in the USA, it is safe to say we live in a very consumer-driven
society, one where consumption is everywhere we go. One of the best perks of
hustling besides the money is the education you receive about the real costs of
goods. More specifically, the better hustler you become, the more money you end
up saving over time just as a direct result. Allow me to explain further. 9 years ago I
was in a peculiar place in life. I had a great income with a fortune 100 company and
had a pretty good life. I did not know that I had been the exact thing I was supposed
to be, a consumer. We are trained to be just this, to buy buy buy. I do not want to
mislead those reading by saying I didn’t save money, because the truth was I was
20
able to save about 15%-20% of what I made, which is still higher than the national
average, but here I was a happy guy with some neat toys, and still hungry for more.
At this stage of my life I would say my knowledge of risk was pretty limited.
After I left my corporate job, I decided to become a day trader, and about
2 years later I decided to leave because I was doing marginally well at it. At that
point I realized one thing about making money for myself, more control is better. In
other words, the closer you are to your money, the more you can make it grow, if
you like to use your brain a bit. In hustling, you are in direct control of your money
as you manage it solely and with the intent of flipping it into more. Kiyosaki and
Trump echo in their books constantly about how control is everything. The closer
you are to your money, the more control you have. Hence, this is one of the
underlying premises of why they are big into real estate, and not big in the stock
markets. They can see their physical investments, whereas the latter is based on
trust of a company, or companies. I am not saying that stock market investing is
wrong. My point is the closer you are to your cash, the more decisions you can
make to grow it in the direction you want.
This brings us to risk and what it means to a hustler. We are all little stock
traders in life. You just have to look at it in a different way. For instance, when you
are thirsty and on the road, you are likely to pull over and buy a drink at a
convenience store, and let’s assume that you didn’t have a drink with you already.
There you are, at the counter, purchasing something in order to get something. You
have essentially made a trade of something of less value (your money) for
21
something of higher value (feeling satiated). If the trade works well, after the
transaction is done and you consume the beverage, you should feel better and not
be thirsty anymore. The risk here is the feeling of still being thirsty; if you were still
thirsty, you would have to get another drink, which would then cost you more
money. However, in this situation most of us are pretty good at this trade, we buy a
small, medium, or large drink based on how thirsty we feel. This is a trade many of
us do on a yearly basis.
In hustling, the trades are different, but inherently the same. These trades
involve money and time, and by the end of reading this book you should have a
very clear understanding of both. When I hustle, I put a sum of money forward in
order to get a much larger sum of money in return. The risk now becomes exactly
what you’re thinking, the money. To some out there, this is uncomfortable, but I
am here to tell you that hustling is simple, and relies heavily on statistics and
probabilities. No, you don’t have to be a math major to understand what I am about
to tell you, don’t worry!
Let’s take this from the top. Suppose I tell you to put 2 dollars forward and
in return you may win 10 dollars. Would you do this? If your answer is no, then
shame on you! The lottery in each state has odds far worse than the odds that I just
presented. In the $2 forward $10 in return scenario, there is a 1 in 5 chance that
you will lose, and a 4 out of 5 chance that you will win. Simply put, this is a GREAT
trade. If this trade was present all the time you would make money over time just
based on statistics. In hustling, the more times you can do this trade, or a trade
22
similar to it, the more money you will have for whatever you want to buy. Let it be
known that the trade above is not uncommon. In fact it is more common than you
think if you understand risk correctly.
When I hustle I try to attain odds in my favor higher than the example
above. In reality, using the above scenario once again, if you have two dollars spent
and you stand to make ten dollars, you also know that a possible outcome can also
be the loss of your two dollars. However, with odds such as 4:5 that you will make
money, the chances of losing your two dollars only happens 1 out of 5 times
(assuming you had this scenario above repeated five times). That’s GREAT, GREAT
odds. Suppose, though, you were only to do it one time, and you win. You would
have ten dollars, which is as we discussed, a great trade; but really what happened
is you made four times your risk. Your risk was the two dollars (that you may have
lost), and the reward is the potential eight dollars (of pure cash), together that
makes ten. Two times four is eight. In a winning scenario, or a good hustle as I
would say, you basically made a 400% profit. This is no different than a stock
investor that buys a company at $200 a share and sells it later for $1000 a share.
The only real difference is the scale of money and the amount of control you have
on the investment.
Now here’s the lesson that brings it all together. In the real world of
hustling you will be using this trading methodology all the time, so it is up to you to
make sure you understand it fully. Let’s look at a classic example of how I use this in
everyday hustling. When strolling through the thrift shop I like to mostly look for
23
the things that will make me money. At this stage of my hustling career, I can make
money on many things. While I am not the jack of all trades, I am good at hustling
many things. I may come across a nice bike helmet that catches my eyes. Suppose
this helmet has a brand new market value of 100 dollars. Here it is for 20 dollars,
resting right in front of me on a shelf. For all intents and purposes we assume also
that this helmet is in pretty good shape and can pass for being “lightly used” or
“mint”. I assume that I can probably sell it for 60 dollars. Notice how I said I could
“probably” sell it, meaning that it could not sell also. Before making a decision to
purchase I think about my risk first. I think about worst case scenario. Here, that
ends up being the helmet sold for 10 dollars, which would translate into a 10 dollar
loss. Now I think of the average or best scenario regarding the helmet sale, maybe it
sells for 40 -60. What we have here is a potential trade.
Let’s look at the unfortunate scenario. If the helmet sells for $10, I am out
$10 because remember I bought it for $20. But suppose I think I can make money
here; suppose I know about this item and have done my market research. The trade
proposed in the helmet example is basically this: would I place 10 dollars forward to
get 40-60 dollars in return? Would I risk $10 to make $40-60? This is an example of
a good trade that I would do. I figure if I get the low end of the sale, I am looking at
a 300% profit potential and if I get the high end I am looking at a 500% profit
potential. Yes, I may have to tie up 20 dollars for a week or two, but in reality there
is a good chance I will make money on this trade and there’s even the chance that
the item sells tomorrow (if I make an ad that very same day). As a beginning hustler
you must think of things in terms of risk in order to be good with your money. Risk
24
is a fundamental piece of the hustler game; bypassing the learning of risk will only
lead to marginal hustling results, but being more of a master at risk leads you to
more money and less headaches. One thing to note, risk is very useful for times
where you may be unsure of something or if you are a new hustler. There will be
many times where you find something and instinctively know you cannot lose any
amount of money, and those deals can present themselves to beginners and
experienced hustlers. I decided to write this section on risk more specifically to
assist newer people in the game and also for those experienced hustlers that just
want to make better decisions with their cash.
25
Chapter 4 – Time is Money
If you are a fan of my YouTube channel, often you hear me speak about
the value of time. In my opinion, there are many pieces to the puzzle that is how to
be the best hustler. Time is one of those pieces; it is a resource on your side that
must be mastered. How do we do this? How can we be better at something that we
cannot buy or sell? The reality is that time is something that we all have, and as
mentioned above it is one of the resources that we have besides money and our
own physical capabilities. Understanding time is crucial in becoming a super hustler,
as you will have to make many decisions based on it, and some of these decisions
will involve actually denying cash! Time can be broken down into three distinct
brackets: time as money, time as chances, and time as conversion.
In order to first understand time, I think it’s appropriate to begin with a
simple example of how time affects our basic hustler needs. We are all creatures of
habit in the sense that for the most part, we live repetitive lives. Have you taken the
time to think outside of the box on how you can actually maximize your time? This
may sound funny but it’s completely serious! Hustling effectively answers many of
these questions for those who want to make great money in a short period of time,
and it’s also something that can be shared with loved ones and friends. It’s fun for
everyone to hustle so long as it pays off! One classic example of how I look at time
can be illustrated by how I deny buying certain products that I know will make me
money. You may think why would I ever want to turn down cash? The answer is
simple. I do not have an infinite amount of time so I make the most money out of
26
the time I have; therefore I must prioritize the cash inflow and outflow. Some
amounts of cash are just not worth it to me.
By now you may know where I am going with this. Everything you do in life
takes up time, so it’s in your best interest so spend your time wisely, whether that is
to achieve more love, money, happiness, fitness, or some combination of those. My
main goal is to make full time income with part time hours. Of course, it took me a
long time to get here, but that does not mean it has to be that way for you. For
those more established hustlers, this time section should help you prioritize your
time better in order to maximize your profits. In a gist, time is money. It costs
money for example when a hustler sleeps in on a Saturday AM, when we do not
meet up with a buyer off Craigslist, or when we decide to surf the internet when we
could be listing on eBay or Craigslist. Time is money
The real question is how to make more money in the time you decide to
hustle. Hustling time is the time dealing with finding, researching, listing, shipping,
monitoring, meeting with buyers, travelling, etc. Once you look at it in this respect,
you may start to see how to prioritizing is key for any hustler. I think the best way to
maximize your time is to place yourself where the most money lies and give
yourself the most chances to make a big amount of money. This could entail habits
such as planning effectively the right routes and sales to hit on a Sat AM, hitting up
thrift stores on the right times, or even understanding seasonality at a pawn shop.
While I could provide many more examples, I think you get the point. You are in
control of how much you make and your actions will decide what you make, not
27
just your thoughts. It’s about working smarter and not harder, it is as easy as that.
As a beginner hustler, the most important thing you can do is to find the time to
visit many garage sales and hit up thrift stores. That’s where you need to be to find
your first scores. Keep in mind a sale is a sale and a thrift store is the same thing as
a resale shop or second hand outlet. The important takeaway for those that are
beginners is that you are spending 60% of your time there until you can get a steady
flow of items. A good mix of time would look like this:
- 60% locating items
- 20% listing
- 20% shipping/meeting w buyers on a local level
It will all vary on your knowledge, experience, town, weather, markets, etc. For the
most part, just be aware of your priorities, and make the most out of your precious
time.
Conversion is another way that I like to be cognizant of my time. People
these days, me included, are pretty busy. I was at a chamber seminar a while back
(when I was an insurance salesman) where the session topic regarded taking
control of your time. One of the best takeaways from the seminar was how busy
people were, but when asked about how much money they were making, the
answer was almost always “not enough”. How crazy is this? So let me get this
straight, you’re really busy not making the money you should be making? This is
absurd! We are all capable of thinking on a higher level, but application is
completely different than the thought and desire. An example of this can be all the
28
teaching in the world that physical fitness is a right way to stay healthy, but we also
for some reason live in the fattest nation on this earth. Why is this? Simple, people
know what’s right, but lack the action potential to get there. You can call it
motivation, but I can also tell you I have seen motivated people fail at their
thoughts. That’s why I call it failure to act.
You see, if you act enough, you end up succeeding over time. Much like
hustling, if you make more educated and smart decisions about your time, you will
end up over time making more money. This is where conversion comes in. You can
buy greatest stuff in the world, but if you do not have a sales action plan, you
become a busy hustler that makes little to no cash. In other words, if you want to
make money hustling, then get your buying and selling down. Have a plan! While
this book won’t be able to make a plan for you, I will say that having a plan is
crucial in order to get money converting faster. Without successful conversion, you
end up having a cash problem, or at least eventually you will. No hustler out there
can sustain a business if you’re not at least selling a large portion of what you buy. I
will leave you with these tips on how to establish a good conversion ratio:
- Re-list often and do not be afraid to lessen your asking price
- List often early and soon after you buy the item
- List an item in multiple channels
- Have some buyers on speed dial for certain things you may come across on a
regular basis
29
- List and sell the item with the most profit potential or list the most expensive
product first!
- Take good pictures of your finds and list with those pics.
- Be honest about item condition down to the scratch, blemish, hole in fabric,
etc.
- Leave feedback on eBay buyers on a regular basis
- Ship the item immediately
- Call back local buyers interested in your items very quickly
- Push for an appointment to meet very quickly.
These are just some of the suggestions that I have. I urge you to watch more of my
videos to understand what channels I place certain products, and in general how I
sell an item as well as the way I describe it. I find that those in the game that use
their time wisely are much more composed, professional, and knowledgeable than
the opposite. Make sure you schedule out enough time to get your stuff done.
Time is very important to hustling. Whether you are a beginner or a super
hustler, no one truly has mastered it all; however, there are those that are awfully
close. Write down things you need done, and schedule time accordingly to get
those things done. Most of all never be afraid of trying too hard. Hustling rewards
those that are cognizant of their time, those that use it wisely. It creates a nasty rat
race for those that are unprepared and spur of the moment. This is your business
with no rules, no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t waste your own time!
30
Chapter 5 - Where to Hustle
A large portion of your time in hustling deals with finding the actual items
that you will sell. As much as I would like to tell you to get out there and start
finding good deals, I think it’s important to highlight some things about these
avenues in order to find resalable goods. In addition, consider the differences you
may have in your hometown versus the places that I speak of. The places that I will
discuss are based on my experience, and largely consider time, effort, money and
reliability. After reading this section, create your own plan based on what you think
your town has to offer. Now let’s talk about where you’re going to be shopping!
I think it’s only appropriate to begin with the almighty garage sale. Yes, this
is much like baseball. It’s a favorite pastime and something that a majority of us
have already experienced. It’s interesting for me now as a hustler to look at garage
sales in a different way than when I was younger. My mother always loved garage
sales and did micro hustles back in the day, mostly with sewing related items. She
would often flip sewing machines for more money, but as we all can imagine she
also had a nice collection of her favorites. While I cannot attribute my hustling
beginnings to my mother’s desire to make extra cash many years ago, I use the
example only because at some point or another I believe we have all been to a
garage sale and scored a great deal.
Now it’s time to look at the garage sale as more than a place where you
can get your desired items for cheap, and rather a place where you can make big
money. In some cities in America the garage sale season is year round; here in
31
Austin, TX we have a 1-2 month drastic slowdown around Dec/Jan, but that’s about
it. In other towns there are almost dedicated “seasons” for garage sales. It is crucial
that you understand the importance of this season, because a good garage sale
route at peak season can make your whole week. That’s right; I have had many
weeks that were seriously profitable simply due to my flawless execution of a
Saturday garage sale route that I had planned earlier on a Friday evening. In my
opinion, it’s tough to compete with the cash I stand to make from a 4 hour Sat Am
route; I pretty much, over time, have deducted that the garage sale is either my top
or my second all-time moneymaker.
There are some reasons to why garage sales are such a great place to start
a hustling career, or to fine tune one. First, it’s understood that there is a sense of
urgency to sell the items if you’re the seller. Think about it. You don’t want the
items in the house, and you would rather not take the leftovers after the sale back
inside either. What we have here is an advantage, simple as that. It will be your job
to see many garage sales and capitalize on this wonderful event! People are
basically cleaning out their unwanted stuff. Bring your cash and make sure you
don’t bring large bills; it’s a bit hard to negotiate if you have a wad of 100’s or 50’s if
you know what I mean.
Second, the garage sale is also a place where many pricing mistakes occur.
This is wonderful. As any established hustler will say, the time to make your money
is when you buy the item. I cannot tell you how many times I have had stellar and
epic deals. To be honest, it happens almost every weekend. As a hustler, you will
32
get a lot of deals and some super steals. This is typically a result of pricing error,
liquidation of inventory, or great hustler bargaining skills. Either way, these super
steals are the highlights of a hustler’s career and often spur more drive to replicate.
They are also more likely, in my opinion, to occur at a garage sale/yard sale. That
being said, garage sales are only a part of the places you should be visiting in order
to find items to resell.
Another favorite place where I make plenty of money from is the everyday
thrift shop. These are also commonly known as a resale shop, consignment store, or
secondhand store. In Austin we have two large players, Goodwill Industries and
Salvation Army. We also have a plethora of mid to smaller ones that are spread all
over town. I have made a ton of money off thrift stores and absolutely think they
need to be part of a weekly/daily route. The trick to making a thrift store pay up is
one thing only, frequency of visits at the best times. Some thrift stores here have
dedicated truck schedules, which gives me a bit of an advantage. If I show up after
the new stuff is out on the floor, I have a good chance of finding something good.
Finding out when those times occur will take some asking around to people in the
store that work there. Overall, however, the success of hustling a thrift store mostly
comes from the repeat amount of visits you give it. I have been to countless thrift
stores multiple times in a day and found different items on the second time around.
The important takeaway is focus on the amount of visits.
Thrift stores, much like garage sales, have a good chance of having pricing
inefficiencies. In my opinion this is due to two factors: the sheer amount of items
33
that are donated that need to be processed and the employee compensation
program that most have. The two largest players that I have seen across the nation
have been Goodwill Industries and Salvation Army. Both are operating from
donations from the public. It is not uncommon for there to be a line of cars
donating goods to these two thrift giants. If you think about it, that’s a lot of stuff,
and it all has to be sorted and priced. In speaking to managers at both stores, much
of the material that is donated to a store ends up being resold at that given store,
but there are also distribution/main hubs of these larger thrift giants in town where
the goods sometimes will be sent. By this point you might realize that there is a
large operation of donated goods going on here, and this is exactly what causes the
first pricing inefficiency. I find that this inefficiency happens more at corporate thrift
giants than any other, but that’s merely my observation and opinion. There are so
many items that need to be priced that there is no way the employees can
individually look up every item. This is great for a hustler, and this is reason number
one for why the thrift store is a great place to visit.
Second, the big thrift giants also have employees, and many of these
employees don’t know as much as a beginning to advanced hustler regarding the
real market pricing of goods. It is important to note that a majority of employees in
the larger thrift stores are recovering drug addicts, homeless individuals, or general
people that have had a string of bad luck. They are all very good people inside, but
somewhere in life something went wrong, and I find it very respectable that these
thrift giants open their doors to these people in order to give them hope or just a
second chance. These employees are working there to get basic food and shelter,
34
some wages, and great friends. Typically the ultimate goal is to get these people on
their feet and onto a permanent job; again, I can’t say more about how good this is
for humanity. Going back to my original point, these employees do not have the
knowledge that a hustler has. They do not constantly go to garage sales, check eBay
completed auctions on their phones, meet with people from craigslist, etc. Hence,
this is the cause for the second pricing inefficiency. It’s as simple as a knowledge
difference. Now, the flip side to this is sometimes these individuals think an item is
worth too much, and often you will find some very high prices on ordinary goods.
That is no good. Pass those items up immediately!
Thrift stores are not always giant operations either. For example, there are
many here in Austin that are affiliated with a church, independently owned, or just
a smaller local chain. I find that these smaller thrift stores can yield just as good of
deals as the giant ones, but I often see a better quality of items at a Goodwill or
Salvation Army. It’s a casual observation, and by no means am I saying to write off
the smaller stores. As a very experienced hustler, it’s all about numbers and how
many chances you give yourself to find the items you will need to resell. Chances
chances chances. Remember, garage sales are amazing on Saturdays and
sometimes Fridays. This means you are left with about 5-6 days open to find other
ways to make your money. Don’t be afraid. Just know your other options!
One of the most profitable places I visit on a regular basis are pawn shops.
Yes, I said PAWN SHOPS! I find it very interesting how many people out there are
amazed that I can successfully hustle a pawn shop. It’s really not that hard, but it
35
requires a much higher level of education, psychology, and as much as I hate to
admit, it requires more money in most cases. Pawn shops are absolutely so much
fun to hustle because the quality of goods is very high and the reliance on good
negotiation skills is put to the test. A pawn shop is nothing like a thrift store, and in
fact it’s completely different for many reasons. I think the real reason why a pawn
shop has been profitable to me is because there is a timing inefficiency and a battle
of minds that ensues at these places.
I’m fortunate to have many friends in the pawn industry here in Austin, but
each friendship was built over time, and many of these friendships came simply
because the shop managers would see me walk in on a weekly/bi-weekly basis.
When I first started hustling pawn shops I would go in trying to find bicycles. Over
time, as my education grew, I was able to expand into other items such as guitars,
remote control cars, sporting goods, and various others. My point is that I went in
knowing about one item, and many years later came out knowing about many
items as well as how the business works. Over time I understood the aspects of the
pawn business that complimented my business, and that’s where the opportunity
is.
For the most part pawn shops are very educated on item resale prices,
accurate market values, and the time value of money. They fulfill a very important
piece of the credit puzzle in the USA meaning that they are an enormous
contributor to helping people in tight spots attain funds. Did you know that after
the market crash in 2008 that a pawn shop was the second leading form of credit
36
lending in the USA right behind banks/financial institutions? That’s incredible!
Before going to pawn shops I had a funny disposition that they were places where
shady things occur and were a bridge for many people’s stolen goods. Well, I was
wrong, very wrong! Pawn shops are important to how we run as an economy and
they are great places to find things to resell.
This brings us to the timing of items at a pawn shop. If you have ever been
to a Pawn Shop before, you realize that some shops have breakdown price tags.
These tags show the price reduction of an item at various future dates. The tags
also show that you’re dealing with a professional hustling business. Let’s be honest,
this is no different than a reseller that knocks off money off their item and reposts
their ad on a weekly/monthly basis. In most cases even the bottom price of the
item at a pawn shop at a future date will still pay the shop a decent amount of
money. Therefore, as time passes, this is a good thing for a hustler. Knowing the
time breakdown and the bottom price on the tag is something that we can use in a
negotiation but more importantly it shows a bird’s eye view on what the shop may
have paid for that item. Many pawn shops also deal with seasonality in regards to
the items they sell. Seasonality only adds to this second inefficiency. Here in Austin
there is a definite season for biking and watersports. In peak season, which is
summer and fall, the pawn shops will have a noticeable increase in the pricing of
season-influenced items, many of which are outdoors related goods. In Austin,
when it begins to get colder in the fall I can expect a decent amount of high quality
outdoors goods to be marked down for quick sale, etc. That’s perfect for me.
37
Another advantage for a hustler looking to make money off a pawn shop
relates to negotiation/mind games. If you’re a beginning hustler try not to be afraid
of talking to pawn shop managers or negotiating with them. Confidence and
negotiation are necessary skills to have in order to successfully make profits out of
the pawn business. Let’s begin with confidence. Have you ever tried to lowball
someone when they’re right in front of you? How uncomfortable is that? For most
people, this is just something not in their abilities. I urge you to consider this: the
pawn business is used to this; in fact, they are pros at offering low amounts of cash
to random customers because they need to shelter their risk and make their money
right up front when they buy the items for the shop. What’s the difference if you go
in and do the same thing in reverse? The answer is nothing, absolutely nothing. You
have money, which they need, but you don’t have an infinite amount. They
understand this, but they will try to get as much of your money as possible. In order
to bring things into your court, you’ll need to be comfortable negotiating.
However, one of the first tasks will be to establish some rapport.
Oftentimes as soon as you walk into a pawn shop, staff will greet you and ask what
you are looking for. Don’t tell them what you are looking for! Just look around and
say “I’m just looking” – which is basically the truth, especially if you’re a beginner.
Whenever you end up at an item that you are thinking of hustling (assuming that
you see a price that is already decent, just not perfect) ask the person what’s the
best deal you can get on the item “out the door”. Saying this implies you are
interested in rock bottom with tax included. They will then tell you some price,
which sometimes is already super good, but other times it just won’t be low enough
38
for you to buy the item. Next, I find it important, regardless of what they say, to
walk away or stop touching the item (if you were handling it). This demonstration of
walking away is similar to being at a car dealership and just saying “well, we will just
continue looking”. More times than not, what do you think their reaction is after
you walk away? If you guessed that they come back and ask you what price you
were thinking, or something on those lines, then you are correct. This scenario
happens many times at a pawn shop. I can’t tell you how many times I have been
asked “well, what price were you thinking?” At that point, it’s relatively easy to
close the deal. Just negotiate a bit more and you will have the item at a very good
price.
Remember, almost every shop has daily, weekly, and monthly sales goals.
If you happened to come in on a slow day it’s very obvious in how they act, you will
be able to tell. I find that the best days to visit a pawn shop are Monday through
Wednesday, and the best times to go are between the hours of 10am and 2pm.
That being said, I have also made large pawn shop purchases on Saturdays as well. I
tend to place them in my route if I am out garage saling or if I happen to be close to
one in the afternoon.
When the weather is better and not so hot here in Austin I like to go
picking. Picking to me is the bargaining and deal making with another person on
their actual property. Picking also is very good to find older, one of a kind, and many
times vintage items. It is different from a garage sale in the sense that it is typically
not advertised. Simply put, you have to find the picks yourself. This takes some sort
39
of advertising showing that you are a picker. It can be word of mouth, a flyer, or an
ad in a local paper/craigslist. Most times I would just post on craigslist and attach
several pictures of property that I would like to pick. These pictures I would find off
the internet, but they serve as a guide for those out there wondering if they have
some of this stuff that I want to buy. Again, when I get into picker mode I am trying
to find old, dirty, junky, and rusty, one-of-a-kind items, the kinds of items that I
seldom find at garage sales. These items are perfect for my antique booth or eBay.
While not as prominent as garage sales or everyday thrift stores, picks are there as
a place to find stuff, and that’s what is important. It’s just a bit more difficult to find
them as opposed to finding a garage sale, for example.
Picking is a very fun part of hustling especially if you are prepared. In order
to be prepared to pick you will need some items and concepts to ensure you have a
good picking experience. One of the first things that you will need is an open
personality. Picking on someone’s property is great and you want to make sure you
are invited again, especially if you end up finding lots of things your first time. My
very first pick I ever did was at a town about an hour away. It was way out in the
rural part as well. I did very well at my first pick and collectively made about $400 in
profit. I enjoyed my finds and the experience so much that I called again a month
later to pick more. My second visit was even better and I began to bond with the
owners of the land. You always want the person on the property to be comfortable
with you there. When I pick I basically rummage through someone’s land, property,
junk piles, etc. Many times I will have a conversation with the person while I pick
and sometimes I uncover things that they thought they had lost or forgotten!
40
Having an open personality and being respectful is the best way to pick and be
invited again! It pays in the end so pay the respect forward.
In addition to needing the open personality you will also need some things
in order to be an efficient picker. I always take shoes or boots that I don’t mind
getting muddy or wet because many times I would find myself picking in muddy or
overgrown grass situations. Having a raincoat is also a plus for the times when it
rains while you pick. I think one of the most important things to have is a good pair
of gloves in order to pick up pieces of wood that are in the way of your goods, or for
shifting things around so you can get somewhere. Gloves are also an absolute must
because you will be in contact with many dirty items. I also like to carry an LED
flashlight that can fit in my mouth so I can bite it while using my other two hands to
sift through a pile or crevice. Lugging around a large flashlight or lantern really gets
in the way when picking, so I stay away from those when I go out.
Another place I visit to find items that are vintage and in demand are
antique malls and antique fairs. There is a distinct difference between the two! An
antique fair to me is an event that is staged for a certain amount of time only. Many
times this is a weekend or two including the week in between. Antique fairs, in
many cases, are held outside and have many vendors in their own little booths.
Sometimes the fairs are many miles long with sellers all up and down a stretch of
country road! Finding Antique fairs is very easy with most of the information being
right on the internet or on flyers in the center of rural towns.
41
An antique mall is quite the opposite from a fair. An antique mall is an
establishment, is typically covered and has A/C, and has many individual booths
inside. Each booth has items from a different vendor and sometimes you’ll see
vendors that have multiple booth spaces. These booths in the mall are typically
unmanned, meaning the vendor is not present, but you are welcome to peruse
through their items. At the entrance of the mall there is a cashier that sells the item
to you; the tags on the item show the booth it came from, and the booth owner is
compensated for that item later.
In my hustler experience there is money to be made at fairs and malls, but
you have to be good, real good. In fact, I would venture to say that while not a
viable place to regularly find items, both the antique malls and antique fairs are
very good places to get a free education and be hands on with items that one day
you will find. I really think that as a hustler there are better places to find stuff. That
being said, I never like to write malls and fairs off as both are very fun half-day to
whole-day affairs. As a whole I have made money at booths and fairs but certainly
not remotely close to the magnitude of cash I have made from garage sales, thrift
stores, and pawn shops.
Every now and then I find myself visiting a liquidation sale for some
corporate store. Examples of these can be open box item sales, store returns, or
damaged items. These types of sales do not come around often enough to rely on
them, but many times these liquidation sales of certain merchandise can be
profitable. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open as well as have your
42
social media channels turned all the way up. What I mean by this is be subscribed or
“like” the pages of your local corporate stores; this way you can get the early jump
on sale news.
Black Friday is also a place to get stellar deals! Some will argue that it is
getting more and more risky to hustle electronics at that part of the year because
the profit potential is very unpredictable, but for me I like to hustle items such as
clothing, watches, shoes, longboards, active gear, etc. I really try to stay away from
electronics as a whole, unless it’s something such as a newly-released video game
system. Those do well when the supply is very bleak, but demand is super high.
Although black Friday is an amazing time to get deals, the profits come with a price
– waiting in line, nearly getting in fights, lines for paying, crazy parking lots, etc. I
used to do it a lot, now I choose to sit back a bit, but that does not stop me from
performing precise hustler target hits. Precise hustler hits are stores with
merchandise that I know has a huge profit potential but basically no customers.
Those exit, trust me. I think everyone should try to hustle a black Friday; it’s almost
a knighting of sorts! Make sure to bring your smartphone with you. That’s certainly
the most important tool to have at that time of year.
Auctions are terrific places to get your hustle on. There are many different
types: farm, police confiscations, thrift store, city wide, airfield, property, storage,
etc. There are honestly too many to even put in here. An auction is a place where
items are sold to the highest bidder. If you have knowledge and the right amount of
cash, you can be one fortunate hustler. Many auction hustlers will tell you that the
43
experience is a rush, and that you can find some really neat items. The downside to
auctions is now the competition and widespread awareness of how to hustle them.
Many TV series are to blame for this, but die hard auction hustlers still make their
profits nevertheless. As a new to intermediate hustler you may want to try one, but
to me auctions are very time intensive and occur at very odd times of the week. I
personally do more of the thrift store auctions, but on those I just place bid in a
book for what I am willing to pay for an item; sometimes I get the item sometimes I
don’t. For those auctions that involve buying lots, as in many items, remember to
consider your transportation/space requirements for when you win one of those!
Sometimes they can be overwhelming! As a whole, I think auctions are a large time
commitment and personally at this stage of my hustling career I generally decide to
pass on most of them.
Every now and then I will find myself watching a dumpster diver vid on
YouTube. While I do not actually do this, I find it pertinent to mention it only
because it’s a way to attain items to hustle. Many times I have checked the outside
of a dumpster after a liquidation sale and found great goods, but I never go in the
dumpster itself. I think it’s worth a shot if you have a corporate store that liquidates
some inventory, but see for yourself on YouTube what people are finding in certain
store dumpsters and judge for yourself whether it’s for you.
Another way to find items to hustle is by telling your friends about what
you do. Let them know what you love to hustle the most and here’s why: eventually
they will come across something and you will be the first they call/text. Many
44
neighbors know that I am a big bike geek and a hustler too. I can’t tell you how
many times I have been told to go pick up a bike on the curb over here, or check out
the bike at this one Garage sale close by. Trust me, it pays to tell people close to
you about what you do and what you love to hustle. Also, don’t be afraid to show
them your workspace or examples of what you love to hustle; this way they can get
a visual that ties the item to you! Remember, not all people learn by hearing, many
learn by seeing!
One of the last places that I will mention where you can find stuff is
specifically at a storage auction. I personally do not do these because of the time
aspect and space aspect that storage unit auctions require. This does not mean the
business of storage auctions is unprofitable. For me, I just have enough to do with
my current business and my YouTube channel that it basically does not fit into my
schedule. Many people out there on YouTube talk about storage auctions and if you
search enough, you’ll find opinions on both sides of the business. While some
remain adamant with the notion that it is very profitable, others contest that the
storage auction business is on a decline, partly due to the media and television. The
television show Storage Wars was wildly successful for A&E and became a
syndicated show. In my opinion this show really highlighted the storage auction
business as a viable way to make money. As with any Hollywood type show,
however, the good is mostly shown, and not much of what happens in the
background. There were other types of storage auction shows that echoed off
Storage Wars but the vast amount of storage auction exposure was due to Storage
Wars itself. I do believe that if you’re exceptionally good at what you do,
45
competition matters only to some extent. It takes a Bonafide mindset to endure the
waves of business, that’s for sure.
So by now you have an idea of where to start looking for items to resell.
There are places all over to find stuff. Pick your favorite ones and go check them
out. As stated earlier, if you’re a beginner and hungry for some money, start at a
garage sale or thrift store. Make a route and start seeing some places, but only after
finishing this book because I show you how to do it later in your reading. If you’re
already a more experienced hustler, see if you considered all the avenues I just
discussed. If you haven’t been on a pick before, for example, make an ad on
craigslist saying you buy vintage and older items. See what happens. Try as many
avenues as you can, because the cash is at one or more of those. Nothing comes
easy, but fortunately hustling is fun, especially when you have favorite places to
find your stuff.
46
Chapter 6 – Avenues for Resale
Once you acquire items for resale purposes, one of the next steps after
researching the item is to determine the avenue in which you will sell the item.
Understanding your avenues is crucial in both the turnover of money and how
much profit you will make. Knowing your avenues of resale will also determine in
some cases whether or not you buy the product. Some of you reading may not
know what an avenue is exactly, but think of it as this: an avenue is the place where
you finally sell your item. Most times, you will make money if you hustled correctly
and sold correctly, but also let it be known that you can lose or break even due to
an incorrect avenue assessment. Let’s begin by knowing about the most common
avenues that are around us.
One of the most widely known avenues out there is eBay. This is a buy and
sell website that is now in 30 countries. Learning Ebay is very important! When I
consider eBay as an avenue for resale I am looking at world exposure. That’s
amazing when considering all you need to do this is a computer, internet, and
access to UPS, FED EX, or USPS. I have helped countless amounts of people
regarding eBay and many other people on just starting eBay altogether. It is not
hard to learn. Learning something new is always a bit scary, but I can say with
confidence that the eBay learning curve is very quick and well worth it. I can’t even
imagine how much cash I would have missed out on had I not started eBay. For
those that are new to this avenue or are thinking about getting into it, consider
what’s to lose in a money sense. For example, it is not uncommon for me to flip a 5
47
dollar item for $50-100 on eBay. Again, it’s very easy to get started if you’re a
beginner. There is certainly a need for eBay if you’re on the Bonafide track.
Another avenue that is widely used is Amazon. I have not delved with
amazon in great detail as I have with eBay but I can attest to the fact that certain
items will fetch more on Amazon versus eBay and vice versa. By the time this book
is produced I may have delved more into Amazon but I as of now I am more of an
eBayer. Other friends of mine such as The College Picker on YouTube will confirm
that Amazon is a very profitable avenue, more so than eBay. Then again we hustle
some different items altogether. Do your research on whether Amazon is for you,
but know inside that it is a valid, widely-used avenue to sell goods.
Perhaps the avenue I enjoy the most is the avenue that nearly started the
whole hustling thing for me, Craigslist. I started using Craigslist about a year after
using newspaper classifieds to sell my stuff. Craigslist is a local, free type of
electronic classifieds that is in many towns across the USA and around the world. I
use craigslist for larger items such as bicycles or furniture, mainly items that would
cost a good amount to ship had I placed them on other channels such as eBay or
Amazon. That being said, there are many items on eBay that I will have listed on
Craigslist simply because listing on Craigslist is so easy and nearly effortless. The
same pictures uploaded to eBay can be used for Craigslist and same with the text. I
like craigslist because I understand my town and what people want. Therefore it is
easy for me to look at an item at a store and determine whether it belongs on a
local channel such as Craigslist or on something with more exposure such as eBay.
48
Typical items that I sell on Craigslist are bikes, retro furniture, sporting goods,
outerwear, among other items.
Craigslist has its obvious advantages which I will discuss further. I enjoy the
ease of use because the listing and research platform is very user friendly. It takes
me about 1-3 minutes to list an item from my cell phone and even less time when I
am in front of a PC. There are also apps for both the android and apple market. In
addition, there is also the notion that people almost all the time adhere to your
schedule, and your rules. Simply put, you decide where to meet and what time to
sell the item. This is a huge plus considering that as a hustler I am out and about
finding stuff all the time; many times I have met buyers while on my own hustling
route. How great is that, hustling and making money all the same time! Most times,
though, I meet buyers at my house. Is it creepy? No, not really, but then again my
town could be different than yours. Meet buyers at your own discretion. Another
advantage is also the potential money conversion rate being very short. It is not
uncommon for me to post an item and hours later it is sold. Now that’s fast
conversion; that’s super Bonafide. I like that fast cash that’s for sure!
Although I am a complete advocate for Craigslist, there are some
disadvantages, just not many. The most obvious disadvantage is the exposure of the
item. Selling on craigslist will highlight your item to your town and surrounding
towns, but that’s pretty much it. There are some rare cases where I have sold items
across state lines, but those items were super collectible and I believe that’s the
only reason why someone from another city in another state would buy from me
49
from a local Craigslist ad. A majority of the time I sell the item to someone else in
my town. Another disadvantage with Craigslist is the widespread amounts of people
that will bargain on your item’s price. I have tactics to prevent this or at least
mitigate the amount of negotiations at hand, but don’t be surprised if you list on
Craigslist and get a bunch of emails or texts asking if you will take less for your item.
Assume that there will be some sort of negotiation and place your asking price
accordingly. Now there’s a Bonafide tip. Nearly everyone that buys on Craigslist will
try to haggle with you. It’s just my casual observation again.
One of the most popular Craigslist questions I receive on YouTube or
Facebook is whether it is safe to meet up with people. Frequently I get asked how I
handle strangers and where I meet them. This is another disadvantage with
craigslist; most times you have to meet up with a person, one who you will not
know. How do you know which ones to give your time and which ones to keep at
bay? Unfortunately there is no real answer to this question because there are so
many factors that matter when selling to a stranger. The most concern I run into is
whether to meet the buyer at my residence or away from my residence. If you are
not comfortable with strangers coming to your residence, the easiest place to meet
then would be a well-lit shopping center or gas station. As stated earlier, most
people I will meet at my residence or on my hustling route, but then again there are
those that I just get a weird vibe from on the phone, and I am the kind of person
who listens to a hunch. Those people I certainly meet away from my place.
50
Another of the channels I use is my antique booth. Antique booths are
great places to move vintage items, both large and small. As stated in a previous
chapter, an antique booth is a dedicated, unmanned space, which you pay rent for
in an antique mall. Upon your items selling, commission is taken by the cashier at
the exit of the mall itself. An antique booth generates income based on sales. Not
only is my booth one of my money generators, I look at my booth as also a storage
unit for older vintage, antique stuff. Since I am paying booth rent every month, I
figure I can pile up just about anything old and neat at any price I desire. Some
things sell, some sit there for months. As a whole, the booth is a wonderful way to
learn about your local vintage and antique market. I was able to grasp what people
wanted, not necessarily what I wanted, and thus over many months my purchases
changed to meet the customer’s demands. In the beginning months of having the
antique booth my main goal was to make my rent and then some profit; fast
forward to today and not only do I still love having the booth, I am also on the hunt
for another one, but that in itself is hard to attain here in Austin.
Many of my subscribers sell their goods at flea markets, mainly weekend
ones. A flea market is a neat place to sell your stuff because it can get exposed to
thousands of people in a single day. I have seen flea markets that are very small,
almost nomadic at times, and I have also been to ones that were highly organized
and have dedicated days of operation. I personally do not sell at a flea market due
to the time investment. However, by no means does my opinion mean it cannot be
profitable for you. There are many people out there that swear by flea markets, and
51
understand the time sacrifice in order to make money. It is important, though, at
the very least to mention it as an avenue.
Another great avenue to sell your stuff is to have a garage sale. I see plenty
of households here in Austin that have garage sales nearly every weekend. I assume
they get their hands on a lot of products each week and having the sale helps them
move through inventory. The garage sale is a great avenue to sell stuff! I typically
have one sale a year in order to sell and wash clean of items that just did not do so
well on. Unfortunately, I do not make through the roof profits on EVERY item I buy,
but many I do! I like having a garage sale, but I am always hesitant to have it on a
Saturday morning for obvious reasons. In the past two years I have commissioned
my girlfriend and her friends to run the sale, and truthfully it’s something they love
to do anyway. I pay them a little just to sell through my products while I go out and
hustle because that’s where I shine. All in all, the garage sale is a must to sell your
stuff or purge your inventory.
Friends are also a wonderful avenue to sell your products. Don’t worry, it’s
not uncomfortable. As stated in a previous chapter, letting your friends know what
you are good at, or what you love, is important because these friends become
another set of eyes to assist you in finding items to sell. Let your closest friends see
your items, your inventory. If they are interested in one of your products, give them
a deal better than a market such as Craigslist and eBay. Hook them up. Though you
may not make as much on a sale, you help a friend with a good deal, and believe it
or not it will come back to you later. I let my closest friends in on what I do and
52
there have been countless times where I have helped them out. In return I have
received tips on sales, home cooked food, and even outings! Treat your friends as
you would like to be treated and the circle of good karma will come around to you
eventually.
Every now and then while scanning craigslist on a Friday night to make my
garage sale route I will come across an ad where someone is having a storage sale.
This is typically a sale that occurs right at a storage unit. This is an avenue that is
used if the seller has an abundance of inventory from other storage auctions, or if
the seller is about to close down the storage unit and wants to lessen the amount of
items he/she will end up taking out. It’s important to talk about this as an avenue
because many of my subscribers have units with inventory. Many times it is difficult
to list things from a unit due to the distance of the unit from home, Wi-Fi concerns,
or because of weather issues especially if the unit is an outdoor one. Either way,
having a well-advertised storage sale is a great way to drive traffic to a unit and only
be there for 4-6 hours.
In the early stages of my hustling career I was using Craigslist and local
classifieds to move my bicycles. I discussed Craigslist as an avenue earlier but here I
want to talk about classifieds. Typically, classifieds are ads that are found on local
newspapers or publications and are also many times in their own dedicated
sections. Before craigslist was around, I remember my mother listing on local paper
classifieds as well as on a publication called The Greensheet, which I believe is still
around. Classifieds are a great avenue to use especially if you live in a small town
53
that has a small publication. Many times, Craigslist won’t even exist in small towns,
so a seller is forced to resort to other avenues such as eBay, Amazon, Garage Sale,
or a local classified ad. Items that do well in classifieds are larger ones, those that
cost a lot to ship. When I first got started with classifieds I would sell bicycles and
sporting goods such as snowboards and wakeboards. At that time, Craigslist was
not nearly as large as it is now, so classifieds were the way to go many times.
Another avenue that is more accepted with those that deal with vintage or
antiques is the antique fair. These fairs can be monthly, every weekend, bi-annual,
etc. There is no typical fair as the schedule is so different between many. In my
experience I have seen fairs that come into Austin every month, and then there are
those much larger fairs such as Red Top or Marburger Farms, which come around
twice a year in a town that’s about an hour away from here. The much larger ones
that span for miles and such are many times nomadic ones, where the seller travels
the country going to large fairs to sell their products. For example, I know some
individuals that come from Missouri with a packed van and trailer just to sell at
Marburger for the week. In addition they also attend other fairs around the
Missouri area when they are close to home. If you are interested in selling at a fair,
look up the fair on the internet (do this early because spots do fill up) and inquire
about the cost of booth space. It’s important to note that Antique fairs are
sometimes indoors at an event center or coliseum, or they can be spread about
outside such as the one at Red Top and Marburger, which are close to the town of
Carmine, TX. Pay attention to the weather, especially the heat, because it can get
rather uncomfortable to sell items if you’re not in the right state of mind.
54
Another of the avenues for resale, which is shown heavily on TV, is the
storefront. Having an actual brick and mortar store is also an option to sell your
items. This, however, is more of an advanced avenue simply because of all the fixed
costs and lease terms that face the seller. It often requires a very steady cash flow
prediction and a bit of savings. In addition, there is also the decision on who to hire
to run the business, so you can be out and about finding items. TV shows such as
American Pickers, Storage Wars, and even Pawn Stars show the perks of having
storefront. Then again, the shows are only showing the good stuff, never the
rigorous time and effort spent to actually run the business. I am not saying that it is
misleading; I am just emphasizing how much work there is behind the scenes. Do
your research accordingly if you’re headed in the direction of having an actual
store. How will you constantly bring in more inventory? How will you advertise?
Think about who will run the establishment when you are not there. Being
prepared for the unknown is your best asset in a new endeavor.
No matter what avenue you pick to sell your goods, it’s important to
understand that having many avenues ready and operational will inevitably
decrease the amount of time involved in selling an item. Frequently I will have an
item on both Craigslist and on eBay. That’s correct. The item will be in two avenues.
In addition, if it qualifies, the item is placed in my booth as well. Giving yourself the
best chances to sell your item not only makes you more money in the long run, but
also it makes the game fun. After all, this is just a game involving calculated risks
and the reward is real cash. If you’re good, the cash becomes substantial and worth
55
your time. Know your avenues of resale and become an expert on the ones that you
use most. If you’re a beginner, get accustomed to Craigslist, eBay, and Amazon.
56
Chapter 7 – The Importance of Quality
One of the most important aspects to learn in hustling successfully is to
learn quality. Simply put, quality is the craftsmanship of the product, the durability
of the construction. It is the difference between something that lasts a long time,
and something that breaks or fails early. As a whole, there is more money in buying
quality goods, because true quality is not as prominent as mass produced stuff. In
this chapter I will discuss branding, knowledge, psychology, and how you can start
looking for the right stuff in order to make some fast cash. Pay attention to this
section, I have always thought that I had an inner gift in relation to spotting quality,
but after teaching people close to me how to do it, I realize this can be taught.
At the pinnacle of hustling items correctly three things typically need to be
in place: the right price, quality, and demand. There are some exceptions to this
rule, but for the most part 95% of good hustles encompass these three things. As
stated above, quality is the difference between something that lasts and has good
construction as opposed to something that falls apart and was constructed rather
quickly. A perfect example of this is your standard cone water cup that you find at
various service departments around the USA. The cone cup lasts for a few drinks of
water, but after a while it begins to warp, distort, and eventually fail. In contrast,
Starbucks has recycled cups that are more cylindrical in shape and do a much better
job at holding water, coffee, or other beverages. In addition, the cup from Starbucks
tends to last a long time, even with liquid inside or in direct sunlight. If you had to
pick one of these cups to last three days which one would you pick?
57
In the scenario above it is clear to see that one product was built for short
term use, while another was built for much longer time periods. The same pertains
to items in the field when you’re out hustling. Being able to spot quality will bring
you cash, it’s inevitable. When you become an expert, you will be able to learn
about new brands and goods just by feeling items and objects. I will give you a
classic example. While perusing a Goodwill recently I found myself in the bags
section, the part of the store that contains backpacks, shoulder bags, luggage, etc. I
feel around, and use my eyes to look at things such stitching and zippers, all while
looking for my favorite bag brands of course. My eyes catch a glimpse of a large
zipper, one much larger than I am accustomed to seeing. After digging out the item
I determine that it’s a shoulder luggage bag, has three zippers, and has a logo of an
old DC-10 airplane with the words “Tom Bihn” above it. The weight of the bag feels
good. It’s not too light, and not too heavy; it’s perfect for travelling. The zippers are
branded YKK and upon closer scrutiny I realize that they not only work fine, but are
also set under a little weather stripping that protects the zipper from the elements.
So here’s my thought process on this bag:
-It’s weight feels good.
- The zippers are tough, and have a weather stripping over them.
- One pocket on the rear has backpack straps in it – for back use rather
than using your hands.
58
- The inner compartment reveals a tensioning strap to keep your clothes
pile snug.
- The shoulder strap is unbelievably comfortable and the ends are rather
reinforced, and large.
It is important to keep in mind that upon my perusing of the bag, I had no idea what
the brand Tom Bihn was. After seeing all of the signs of quality construction, I
decided to look up the bag on eBay completed auctions and regular auctions as
well. There I saw that the brand Tom Bihn basically starts at 40.00 an item and ends
up at about 300.00. Upon glancing at the sticker on the item I see that it shows
4.99. Deal is done. I buy the item and then list it later in the day when I get home.
Three hours pass and I sell it on eBay for a buy it now at 200.00.
Sales like the one above are not uncommon when you hustle well, but I
also attribute much of my success to the ability of spotting quality. If you’re a
newbie hustler and on your first months in the game it’s important to start looking
for quality goods first. When I say this I also mean across all types of items. Of
course standard advice applies and in the beginning you should only be buying and
selling things that you already know a lot about. However, understanding quality is
one of the safest ways to experiment outside of what you know. In addition, if you
pair this with your smartphone research it’s a very safe way to get into hustling
things you know little about. As of now you should have picked up on the fact that
quality products are the safe and best items to hustle. That brings me to the aspect
of brands. Knowing the quality brands is the next step in becoming a faster hustler
59
while at a garage sale or at a thrift store. The faster you are, the more money you
make.
Quality brands are important because it’s almost the cheat sheet when it
comes to making money. I could make an entire book on brands alone and it would
be a very large book. The solution from me is to provide you with the psychology of
why you would want to learn your brands. When hustling items at a sale, your eyes
should be looking for brands that you already know. But what if you don’t know the
best brands on an item? What if you find yourself scared on risking your money on
something like that? You will need to be doing basic research on eBay and Amazon
continually in order to see nothing more than the frequency of brands. Allow me to
explain further. In your downtime it’s very profitable to casually look at items on
eBay that you see at your regular everyday thrift store, garage sale, etc. For me, this
includes researching jackets, shoes, sporting goods, various electronics, bags, toys,
board games, books, household goods, and many others. From here I basically just
sort by highest price on eBay, for example, and learn which brands have the highest
resale capabilities. I look for brands that are pretty much at the top, those that have
many bids as well. This is basic brand research, and not only is fun, but also it will
make you money later as in down the road. Consider it an investment that’s free.
By doing basic premature research like this above, you begin to eliminate
the fear of risking your cash on incorrect hustles. The more you research the more
you make over time. Doing basic research is doing nothing more than programming
your brain with simple picture and word association. The more pictures and words
60
you tie together with a brand, the better you know the brand even before you find
the item. Typically the quality brands will always be at the top of all lists and
auctions. So study the top brands well. It’s basically the same as studying with flash
cards for an exam in school except that this exam will pay you cash and the grade is
how well you execute your buy, research, avenue knowledge, and final sale when
you have an item for resale purposes. I am just trying to get you an A!
Another way you can learn about quality is by simply using your senses of
touch and sight. Learning about quality happens at research level and also at sight
level, as in when you’re at a sale looking at an item, or maybe at a thrift store
looking at a pile of clothes. Frequently you can find me at a thrift store looking and
touching rows of clothes, shoes, bags, bikes, and many others, just finding
opportunities to make money. The same applies for any garage sale, yard sale, flea
market, swap meet; I am constantly looking for the right brands and touching items
trying to find quality. In the paragraph above I show you how to research and find
what brands to look for, but what about the other quality items you may not be
researching? How do you find those? Simple, you start touching and using your eyes
to decipher among the mass of other items which one to look at closer.
One of the best ways to do this is to first understand construction of items
and how this is important. Items are constructed many ways whether it is a shirt, a
bike, a toy, or a shoe. Typically you will see that in order to be intact, materials are
typically welded, molded, stitched, glued, snapped, or fused together. This is where
your sight and touch journey will begin. As a beginner hustler, I was already
61
accustomed to bikes. I knew them backwards and forwards. Naturally I make great
cash hustling bikes, but at the core level of the hustle is the truth; a majority of the
bikes I have bought and sold were quality bikes. When you take this a step further
and look closer, you begin to see the materials used, the welds, and the overall
construction as being better than mass produced cheap bikes that are commonly
found at larger retailers such as Wal Mart, Target, K Mart, and Academy just to
name a few. To no surprise the superior-in-quality made bikes had better resale
because they last longer and function better than mass produced ones.
In the beginning I was making cash by hustling quality bikes, but for you it
may be different. Think about what you know a lot about. What are the top brands
in the things that you know? Then, can you tell a difference by touching the quality
item versus the cheaper item? In most cases there will be a definite difference in
construction. This difference carries over to other items if you think about it. For
example, if you have ever held and played with an IPad versus a generic tablet the
differences in quality are stunning. First, an IPad feels together, and fused correctly,
with all edges being smooth and the software functioning well. A generic tablet
costing 50% of the IPad's cost feels cheap, fused in a hurry, and is usually quirky,
meaning it doesn’t execute what you need it to execute every time. Sometimes the
screen quality is not that great either. Now, some may argue that the saying “you
get what you pay” is the difference. When it comes to hustling the right items to
make big money, you have to know how to touch and see quality so you can in turn
sell the product to a buyer that’s looking to pay more for a quality product.
62
Always be looking and touching the construction of the item you are
looking at if you can. It trains your mind to associate the feel of quality to a certain
brand. Many times you can find great hustles just by touching an item or seeing a
sign of quality and then whipping out your smartphone to research the profit
potential right there on the spot. It’s exactly how I made cash on that first item I
discussed at the beginning of this chapter. The Tom Bihn bag was an item that I had
no prior knowledge of before I saw it at the Goodwill. I only found it because I had
prior experience with quality bags in the past, and I had also taken the time to
touch these items before I sold them. I felt the zippers, the stitching, the edges, and
tested the overall functionality of the product before shipping it off. When I found
the Tom Bihn bag my mind associated previous quality successes and from there I
was prompted to do some fast on-the-spot research. I encourage you to do the
same if you have some high quality goods lying around. Think about all the things
you own: your clothes, shoes, your hobbies, your furniture, your electronics, etc.
Touch and see the construction of the things you currently have and see if you can
determine whether you have quality or mass made stuff. From there, figure out
what those differences are between cheap goods and quality goods. Train your
mind. Also, it’s free education!
63
Chapter 8 – Condition Matters
As a hustler of ten years now, I have sold items from baby strollers all the
way to stuffed animals. To this day I have successfully sold all types of conditions as
well. I have sold items that are brand new to items that are broken. Now you might
ask “why are you buying and selling something broken?” The answer to that is
because I know I can make money on it. Some subscribers ask me how I determine
the condition of something, as in “what’s the difference between mint and lightly
used?” By the end of this chapter you should know how to accurately classify an
item and how to also place a value on condition, as it affects the resale value of the
item in most cases. Understanding condition helps build a better, more accurate ad,
which in turn leads to more confident buyers. So let’s have a look at some of the
more common conditions that you will see while you’re out hunting for goods.
Of course at the top of the condition chart we have the easiest and best
condition which is new. New goods are always the best to hustle because, well,
they’re untouched and unused! Everyone, especially the buyer, likes that. As an
experienced hustler I find new goods fairly often, but certainly not enough to where
I can rely on it. Typically I find new goods when I decide to do some retail arbitrage,
or if I am at a garage sale messing with piles of board games, shoes, or video games.
For some reason I find more new goods in those categories than any other. New
condition is great because it basically simplifies your process of buying and selling,
provided you have done a bit of research about the resale potential. A new item in
my opinion is one that either has a box or has no box, and is clearly unused. Many
64
times I will find a new shoe or boot and the box is missing, but after looking at the
item closely I am able to tell that the sole has never seen the ground, and there are
also no bends in the leather or fabric that indicates a foot has been in the shoe (not
even to try it on). Across goods, of course, this will all vary, but new is many times a
condition that you can perceive, a condition that triggers your brain by telling you
“hey, this looks unused and new” On certain objects such as the shoe example you
can also smell the new scent on the shoe. Remember, try and train your senses
always while hustling!
We all like it when something is new. A new car feels so perfect, smells
good, and brings us comfort. A used car is a usually not the same exact feeling.
When I come into contact with a new item I keep my ads very simple and in the
description I will place simple sentences such as:
- New, unopened. In box with tags. See pics
- New in plastic. Unopened see pics
- New condition no box see pics.
It’s really that simple. The key is to take good pictures and get all angles of the
product. It also helps to copy and paste the item specifications from the
manufacturer’s website onto your ad, but then again I really can’t say that it’s
crucial because I have had great success with new goods and simple ads.
Remember, in order for an item to be new it must have no use on it. Take the item
and carefully scan it over looking at all seams, undersides, top, etc. Sometimes,
when dealing with electronics, for example, the item may look new but upon
65
further inspection I find that it is factory refurbished, which is certainly not new.
When your buyer sees this, you can bet on bad feedback or a call back if you sell the
item locally. Always scrutinize and look at the item carefully; in all honesty, I try to
find something wrong when I speculate something’s new. It places my mind in a
state that dismisses the elation and joy and instead replaces that with skepticism.
You can save a lot of money and headaches if you train your mind not to get super
excited at certain times. Try it out!
Echoing off the previous discussion of new condition, there’s also the
condition called new without tags. This essentially means that the item is new,
never been opened, and comes without the tags. Items with tags can pretty much
be anything, and remember that a tag doesn’t necessarily mean a hanging tag, it
can also mean a sticker with the sku and price as well. Finding an item that’s new
without tags is in most cases just as good as finding a new item. The only real
drawback is that some buyers like for the item to look like it was bought new at a
store, as in a scenario where the buyer gives the item to a friend as a gift. New with
tags plus a box just looks better. In addition, a buyer may want a manual or the
papers that come with a new inbox item, and many times an item that’s new
without tags will not have that. In my selling experience, however, finding
something that’s new without tags is always pleasing and I never complain. It’s still
the best condition of all and I’m here for the cash. When listing the new without
tags, make sure to disclose that the tags or box is not included, and then for
example on sites such as eBay there’s a drop down selection under condition that
has new without tags.
66
I think for most people condition starts to get complicated when one
ventures out of the classification of new. When an item is not new it means that
there has been some use and determining that use makes it complicated when
trying to classify the item as mint, light use, or used. I will talk about mint condition
first. In my opinion, mint condition is the item that was used once, maybe twice,
and then never used again. Many times I will see this in shoes all the way to items
such as winter goods. With shoes for example, a seller may have tried them on,
walked or ran around for a day, and then decided that the fit was not right; maybe
their life got too busy to return it within 30 days to the store where they bought it
from and thus it ended up in a closet and then later down the road at the garage
sale or thrift store that you visit.
In order to call something mint you have to use your intuition and eyes
very carefully because your classification of mint may not be mint to a buyer. This is
always where it gets complicated and tends to freak people out, especially new
sellers or hustlers. When I describe something as mint I know it’s mint because for
example I look at things on items such as the size tag (has it even been washed?) of
a shirt. On shoes, I look at the soles (does it still have the little nubs on the tread
nubs?). If it’s a bike, I look at the cassette (is it still very shiny?). I look at the places
on the item where the wear will be most evident and from there I make my
condition call. Finding mint items happens more frequently than finding new ones
so being able to look at the wear spots first will greatly assist you in making your
decision. If in fact you have found a mint item, one of the safest ways to protect
your feedback rating or local reputation is to place many pictures of the item
67
especially on the places where it will show its first signs of wear. This will only
protect you more from a buyer that may disagree with what’s mint and what’s not
mint. There’s always the chance that no matter what you do, and no matter how
many pictures you place in your ad, the buyer may disagree. That’s just part of the
game, so prepare yourself beforehand and try not to get offended. It is what it is.
A condition description that’s close to mint is light use or lightly used.
Frequently you will see this in people’s ads all over craigslist. Many times you’ll get
the hint of light use when you speak to a person having a garage sale while you’re
holding one of their near mint items. People at garage sales love to tell you how
much use something has especially when it’s their own item that has collected dust.
Lightly used to me means a product has been used maybe a handful of times or
slightly more. Keep in mind that an item such as bike that’s ridden about ten times
will appear newer looking than a shirt that’s been used about ten times. This is
where you have to make a judgment call between mint and lightly used.
Remember, mint may have been an item that was used once or twice whereas
lightly used may be one with five or more uses. It’s a little difficult to determine, but
over the course of time you will be able to tell this difference. Experience helps a
bunch. If you’re new, just remember to look at the wear spots of an item and
determine from there if the item has a bit more use than mint condition. As always,
to protect yourself, make sure to take many pictures and let the buyer determine
whether it’s lightly used or not. This is the easiest remedy to the issue if you are
worried about your personal condition judgment call.
68
The most common condition that I find is used. It’s the condition that
basically means that the item has use, but the intended purpose or structural
properties of the product are still good. I try to not buy overly used, but a decent
used product still has great resale. It all depends on what you’re looking at. Used
items can sometimes have something wrong with them, but it’s sometimes very
small. It may be a small hole in a fleece, tires that have some tread left on a bicycle,
a snowboard with some nicks on the edges, or maybe even a graphing calculator
with scratches. Used is not bad! If your mind is telling you not to look for used items
because they’re dirty or unprofitable, you’re wrong! Used items have great resale
assuming you research and use your eyes appropriately to scan the item. For
instance, people buy used cars all the time at car dealerships. These cars have
varying mileage, and their interiors have at the same time had other people and
cargo inside, yet the vehicle can still get you from point A to B, which is the
intended purpose. Dismissing buying used products from your hunt will cost you
money in the long run, it’s guaranteed. Be OK with used items!
When dealing with used products the most important thing to determine is
whether the item is still functional for its purpose. For example, can the fleece with
the tiny hole or some smudges still keep a person warm? Can the snowboard with
the nicks on the edges still safely bring a rider down a mountain without noticeably
slowing down? Can the graphing calculator with scratches still help a student get
through college? By asking yourself these types of questions, while looking at the
item, you will greatly increase your confidence in buying the item for resale.
69
Another best practice to include is to check Amazon and eBay prices for
the item, as both sites deal with goods that are both new and used. A buyer looking
at a used item is going to typically buy based on whether or not the item can carry
out its intended purpose and for how long. When dealing with more slower
degrading materials, a used item may last very long such as a well-made bicycle, or
a storefront porcelain sign. In contrast, a used shoe or remote control airplane may
only have a year or two left in it before it’s deemed for inactivity or display
purposes…or the trash. Many people look for used goods such as items that are
vintage, older, or antique especially if there are no new ones available. A majority of
times these items will always be used unless you come across buying from a person
that collected over years a bunch of one particular item and either displayed or
stored them all. Buying from a collector is a great way to find used or lightly used
items that are not produced current day. Then again, if they’re a collector and
selling their collection, they probably know a bit about the item’s resale. As a
hustler, I try to find better places to find my used goods as a whole, but I never rule
out buying from collectors, it’s just not my favorite way to make money.
One of the most unbelievable conditions that have resale capability is
when the right item for the right price is broken. I cannot stress enough how many
people, including my parents, have been impressed with how I have sold broken
items successfully. I think the overarching truth to this matter lies in this Bonafide
statement: if you buy right and have done your research, there’s always someone
out there who is looking to fix a broken item or use the item’s pieces to fix their
own item. This especially is the truth for items that are not readily found anymore.
70
Examples can be items such as old Tamiya remote control cars, older toys, old
bicycle parts, vintage leather goods with holes, or old electronic goods. Upon
inspection of a broken item the main question is whether the item still has potential
to be reconstructed or whether the item has profit potential in relation to all the
other parts that are still intact. For example when I see a broken vintage light
fixture I am asking myself questions such as:
-Can someone with electrical experience get this thing working again?
- Could someone use these parts to build their own vintage light fixture?
It’s as simple as that. The main thing to remember when buying a broken item is to
buy super low. This is because at a broken stage, the item gets classified as being
for parts and not working. Sheltering the risk of the item being broken can only be
done with a super low buy in price. Think of a super lowball offer; after all, that’s
what has to be done. There are exceptions to the rule of course, and typically those
exceptions occur when a good deal of research has been performed, thus leading to
a fair price being paid for the item because the broken condition is still heavily
desired. The example that comes to mind is a broken scooter or an item that carries
great resale in poor condition because of the parts market available to fix the item
back to usable condition.
Condition is certainly an important part of hustling. It saves me a ton of
money because I am constantly asking myself “who would buy this in this
condition?” Making correct condition calls takes many senses into consideration.
71
You need to be feeling and seeing a shoe under sole, listening to a bicycle shift
through gears, or looking for cracks in a remote control car before you buy. These
are all instances where an accurate condition call determines the future profit
potential of a product. Conditions can be many different classifications, but a fair
amount of questions and scrutiny should assist you in making a sound judgment
call. As always, don’t forget to do some on the spot research if needed to help you
decide things such as demand, market, and profit turnover potential. As a general
rule, when making your ads to list a product make sure to include plenty of pics so
the buyer can make a sound decision as well. When both sides make the right
condition calls, everyone’s happy and you make cash.
72
Chapter 9 – Trends Past and Present
Remember back in the day when you were at school and it seemed like
everyone had a certain similar thing; maybe it was a brand of jeans, or a some
brand of backpack, but regardless it was all over the place. Everyone had one. It was
called a trend, and those that participated were called trendy. I think we all know
items from today and the past that are definitely considered trendy. Trends are
great because to a hustler it means one thing only, demand. This of course assumes
the item had some good construction or served some artistic value. Even today,
there are trends all around us. Take a look at all the UGG boots you see around the
fall and winter or how about those café racer motorcycles that every gear nut is
starting to get into. The interesting thing about trends is that they are catchy,
they’re widespread, and they equate to some unbelievable profits if you’re into
hustling.
When a buyer makes a transaction on eBay or Amazon they are buying
something of worth to them, not anyone else, but just them in that one moment in
time. If you knew what everyone wanted, hustling would be a cakewalk all the time,
but unfortunately the cash that a hustler makes doesn’t come in this easy. With
that in mind a hustler needs to be in the know, be in tune with what is needed, and
know what’s of value in order to make educated hustling decisions. Trends are a
great place to start because it’s almost a cheat sheet on where to attack first. By
figuring out what the current trends are, a beginning or intermediate hustler has a
73
bit of a guide on where to start looking first. One of the ways to figure out a trend is
to start paying attention.
When I spot a possible trend, I then try to find more instances of that one
particular speculation over and over. I use my eyes and carefully look at what
people are wearing. I look at the accessories, and I look at the material items that
these people keep close. Whether that is a phone, a scooter, a stroller, or a car, I
am constantly trying to find similarities while paying attention to seasons and the
time of the day. For instance, in the summertime I may see some surfers in
California wearing a certain style of boardshort and then when the day is done I see
them hop on to a little skateboard and weave down the street until they’re out of
sight. My mind starts to look at the shorts and the skateboards. I’m looking for
brands, similarities, and a connection. Where there is a connection, there is cash to
be made.
Deciphering a trend is much easier than you think. We are all capable of
finding some extra cash in our respective towns if we just tune into our sight a little
bit. Finding similarities and connections is almost a game, and it’s a game that you
can get very good at. It’s also a game where there’s a good pile of money in the
end. I started hustling UGG Boots only after I saw a good deal of women walking
around with them in the fall and winter. Once a trend has started, there’s typically a
phase where it seems like an uncontrollable wildfire has occurred because it nearly
infects everything. I knew my first 7.99 UGG buy at a goodwill was a good one when
I had prior knowledge of how much these trendy boots cost the average consumer.
74
When you suspect a trend, the first thing you need to do is to research it until you
become a bit of a knowledge geek about it. Know why it’s trend, why is it worth
what it’s worth, and know the features. With the UGG boots I knew that they were
stylish, incredibly warm, and very comfortable. I knew this because I went as far as
trying a pair on at a store just to know what the rage was all about. I love trends.
Having a dedicated demand for an item makes it very easy to start looking for the
item itself and it’s almost like you know exactly where to buy/sell as soon as you
find one at a thrift store or garage sale.
Enough about current trends! Let’s now talk about what was going on
when you were young. Here, I want you the reader to take a bit of time, close your
eyes, and think of middle school as well as high school. It was at these times in most
people’s life where having some cool stuff mattered a lot. This was a time where
clicks were prominent, self-esteem was vulnerable, and fitting in was very
important. In some way, fashion, or form we all can remember certain items that
everyone had back then. Maybe it was even certain items that people used to carry
out their hobbies. What were yours? In my Bonafide life memory I distinctly
remember items such as Reebok Pumps, Girbaud jeans, Swatch Watches, NES, BMX
bikes, Yaga clothing, Stussy shirts, Charvel Guitars, Casio calculator watches, Mike
Stewart Bodyboards, Powell Peralta skateboards, and various others, just to name
some. I did not even own an item in most of those brands, but some I did. I
definitely remember my parents saying no way to the cost of most Stussy shirts or a
pair of Reebok Pumps, that’s for sure. Back then, not fitting in felt devastating!
Little did I know that everything around me that I wanted was only because I
75
wanted to fit in, I wanted in on the trend, and never wanted to feel out of the “in
crowd.” While my childhood may have been drastically different than yours, the key
takeaway here is how powerful a trend can be.
In hustling, a trend is one of those things that can make you money. The
trend itself does not need to be current either to make cash. Many older trends are
capable of making you money just as much as the current day ones, but the older
ones in my eyes depend more on the quality, art, or contribution of the item itself.
Allow me to explain. A good example of a quality trend back in the day would be
the surge of good steel frame bmx competition bikes that was very prevalent in the
late eighties. These bikes could withstand a beating, and at the same time they
were built to compete as well. Nearly every kid wanted one of these bikes and so
the trend was born. An example of a more artistic trend, and one not based on
quality, would be the swatch watch trend of the late 80s and early 90s. This trend
was based on individuality and art, but the watches inherently were very cheap and
not very durable. Yet, everyone wanted one, and they were heavily customizable,
so that only added to the fad. Last, many video game consoles can be considered a
trendy thing, especially ones that really started the whole video game revolution.
While some may argue that the Atari system started it all; in my opinion I would
have to lean towards the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as the system that
nearly every kid had in their house. To me, this was the first system that had
everything right. There were all sorts of accessories that you could buy and at the
same time Nintendo heavily marketed this system. It even went as far as making a
magazine called Nintendo Power. Nintendo was a very forceful trend that spawned
76
competition, and later led to the creation of amazing systems such as PlayStation,
Genesis, N64, and Xbox. The NES was a huge contributory factor to these other
consoles being produced. Therefore, the past NES trend still lives today and the
resale market on many NES things is very good.
Now we must talk about those trends that depend on quality. One that
comes to mind is the heavy insurgence of the Patagonia brand into the younger
generation across the globe. While it is not clear where this trend started, it is clear
that it is on track to replace the mighty The North Face trend that is still going on in
regards to outerwear. The introduction into trendy functional outerwear for
youngsters was something that North Face accomplished many years ago. The
North Face is primarily an outer garment brand that made extremely high quality
products, the kinds that can tackle mountains such as Everest or K2. They were
most known as being a mountaineering company until the younger generation
started wearing their fleece garments. Fast forward to the current day and you can
now find North Face all over the place. The sad part is it’s being worn by people
who are nearly clueless about the great outdoors. It’s a shame, but then again it’s a
trend; go against it and make no money, or go with it full steam and crush profits.
Being a subsidiary of a publicly traded company, The North Face just jumped into
action with the trend, especially with their fleece line. You can’t really blame them
for the direction they took. Recently, however, there is starting to be a shift in
quality. I am now seeing more outdoors people pick the brand Patagonia as the
brand of choice in the functional outerwear segment. There’s good cash to be made
here. Whereas a year ago I could sell a 5 dollar (garage sale found) North Face
77
Fleece for 35-45 bucks, now I cannot. But if I substitute that with a Patagonia fleece,
I will get about 45 and up.
When one trend begins to die, it seems as if there’s always another to pick
up. In the case of The North Face trend, it is only a matter of time until something
of better quality comes along and reaps the profits. Personally I can see a better
craftsmanship in Patagonia clothing and that alone is huge. At the same time their
clothing is not meant to be flashy, but rather meant to be highly functional and
serve a purpose.
I think we are on the beginning of a quality trend shift, personally. But no
matter what trend it is out there, make sure to analyze it to see whether it’s smart
for you to get into it. Primarily, current day trends are created by demand, it seems;
this means they are trendy because there’s a fair amount of advertising and simply
not enough product. Examples of this are PlayStation releases, Christmas Elmo
dolls, tablet releases, new Jordans, just to name a few. It’s easy to make money
here, but many times the cash you make has to be worth the time you spend in line
waiting for the product. High demand situations are almost always paired with
media coverage, lines, and general craziness. Be prepared for that. The good part is
you can make a lot of money doing it if you’re good. Always think of the potential
cash made as being worth your time. If it makes sense, go for it.
Knowing about past trends and current trends can greatly increase the
amount of money you can make through hustling. It’s important to not associate a
trend with a market. A market is a stable place where the item has been regularly
78
bought and sold. A trend is a scenario where an undisclosed amount of time exists
where you can make extra money flipping the item. Sometimes it’s only a few
weeks, and other times it nearly lasts forever. No matter what time frame you’re in,
always make sure you’ve done the appropriate research to establish the viability of
the trend itself. You definitely don’t want to be the person with 20 Christmas Elmos
in the middle of summer due to a misjudgment of demand and store
replenishment. Mistakes happen in trend research, but many of this can be averted
if you just pay attention to what’s going on around you. Remember, you ought to
be going around your life analyzing the clothing that people wear, the footwear,
and the items that they regularly bring with them or have with them wherever they
go. These items can be something as simple as Vibram Five Fingers shoes to a B.O.B
stroller, but what’s important is to have the ability to make connections in those
items you see. Where there are connections, there are trends, and where there are
trends….well, you know the rest.
79
Chapter 10 – Hustling Your First Item
Now we have finally arrived at the chapter where you get to put some of
your learnings to use. For those that are already intermediate to expert hustlers,
this may not be a chapter of interest to you, but then again I designed this book to
have many hustler cheats in it, and likely you’ll find another subtle cheat just by
reading on. Hustling your first item can be scary, but hopefully the information I
have divulged to this point is going to bring you some confidence in your first
endeavor to hustle. I have taught many on how to do this, and nearly all have had
success quickly. However, let’s not get ahead of what needs to be done. In order to
successfully hustle your first item for profit you have to know some basic rules, and
these rules you can revisit when times get tough in hustling. The rules I will give you
are more of a foundation, and you can’t make substantial side cash without a good
foundation.
The pinnacle of profit will always find you with the items that you know
too much about. These are the items that inherently you have amassed a great deal
of knowledge on simply because you care about them, and at a root level, they
excite you. Think about what makes you happy, what moves you, your hobbies, and
the things you read about behind the scenes in order to know more. These are the
items I am talking about. For most of us, our first hustles are nearly written on the
wall, and they’ve been items that we cared about for a long, long time. For me, my
most natural item was a bicycle. When I was a little Bonafide boy, my parents
basically locked me out of the house after school and encouraged me to make
80
friends and be active. Looking back I understand why they did this although at the
time I wanted to play some NES and just be inside. They saw a different generation
of kids emerge before their eyes, kids that were spending less and less time outside
and instead were inside glued to a TV with Mario music playing on the speakers. My
parents decided to embrace more of the things I liked while being outside, and they
noticed that I liked messing with bikes, jumping bikes, and skidding the tires all over
the place. Naturally, I suppose, I was drawn to the freedom of the bicycle and it
later became the item that I would first start my hustling career.
It was never really a question of what I would have picked to start hustling
had someone mentored me much like this book and the YouTube channel is trying
to accomplish with the viewer. Bikes were something I just knew enough about; I
knew how to work on them, what made a good frame, and what people wanted,
among other things. For you it will likely be different, but I urge you to start thinking
about your passions and hobbies right now in order to understand how you can
make extra money by hustling them. In fact, try to find three items that you know a
lot about in order to successfully hustle your first item, because your first hustle will
end up being one of the three that you know. Remember, these items can be
anything from board games to fur coats. Just take a second to find out your three
items, and then proceed to read further.
The first task at hand is going to be to do some basic research. This is
important because we need to see how far and wide the market is for your item. Do
this research on Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist. Amazon will show you the spread of
81
the resale prices of the item. On eBay, you will want to sort the data by sold items
and also use the sort by highest function of the filter. On craigslist you want to be
seeing what the asking prices are across other Craigslist cities. You can get basic
research done on these three avenues and the best part is it does not cost a penny.
While researching, start looking at the top brands of those items you enjoy. Look at
the bidding activity, the hard to find models, and the number of items that sell
regularly. In short, you goal is to start making connections on what sells, and what
to look for, within your specific item. So if your item happens to be beanie babies,
then start looking at the highest sold ones, the most frequently high selling ones,
whether there are more auctions or buy-it-now ads on eBay, and how many beanie
babies are selling above the 50 dollar mark, for example. Basically, by doing this
research you’re making connections with pictures and words. It’s much like the
game of memory and having a bunch of face down cards in front of you. Your task is
to locate the matching cards by associating pictures with locations. The same
happens when you research past selling prices of items. Research is free and in the
end it saves you money by educating you on what sells, as well as what does not
sell.
Once you research the items that you are passionate about, you may want
to write on an index card the brands and models to look for. So if you’re into hiking
shoes ,for example, you would probably write Zamberlan, Asolo, Vasque, Salomon,
Kinney, TPS 520GV, Fugitive GTX, etc. Basically those are the good brands and some
of the good models as well. Do this for all the things you are passionate about. If
82
you have more than three, then make yourself a little cheat sheet for each item.
This cheat sheet is what you bring to the table when you hustle.
Now you are almost ready to hustle your first item. Before we get to the
fun of buying the item, we first have to figure out where to find it. There’s no better
place to start finding your item than at your everyday garage sale or thrift shop. I
should also note that if you have a regular flea market or swap meet that would be
acceptable as well. You want to find yourself in a place that already has good pricing
and/or gives you the ability to negotiate a bit. It’s quite easy to line up some garage
sales, but for some people these sales can be many miles from one another. Don’t
forget to throw in each thrift store along the way as well, because thrift stores have
a good amount of items. However, In all honesty the deals are generally better at a
garage sale and a good flea market or swap meet.
The goal here is just to show up. Woody Allen, an acclaimed producer and
actor, said “80 percent of success is just showing up”. That’s seriously the truth
about what I do. I make sure to be there at a sale or thrift shop no matter if I am
tired or if the weather is not favorable. Showing up is everything; each time you
show up you rack up experience. Hustling is no more than a game and it’s a game
where the most money driven people succeed because they have systems in place
and they know the value of being out there in the field looking for items. This is
your first system, to show up! Make a list, and place enough stops in there to take
up about 2-4 hours of your time.
83
Many people through YouTube and Facebook ask me about how to
develop a super Bonafide list. What’s interesting about how I make my lists is that I
make them to purposely give me a high chance of succeeding. Basically, my lists
make me cash. When making a list, however, you need to know about the tools
around you. When my mother was a micro hustler in Houston TX, there were these
things called classifieds, and they were found in the newspaper as well as a
publication called The Greensheet. She used a bit of those tools and also made sure
to stop by each and every garage sale sign she saw within a certain radius of our
home. That’s how she did it. Fortunately it’s much easier now, and the tools for use
are not only free, but they’re also very easy to use.
The tool I use the most for preparing a list is craigslist because the search
function is very good on it. I get on craigslist, tap into the garage sales section, and
on the top portion there’s a search bar where you can look up any item you want.
Upon submitting “search”, any sale with your particular word will pop up. Fantastic!
Now all we have to do is look up words that pertain to your chosen items. If we take
the previous hiking boot example, you would place in words such as hiking,
camping, Asolo, Salomon, etc. If you noticed, I placed also the word “camping” in
there. I think the reason why is very obvious. There’s a good chance of finding
hiking boots at a place that has camping goods because they go hand in hand. The
craigslist search engine is amazing and has made me so much cash it’s not even
funny. One thing to remember though is to place all word variations of your
particular item in there. If you’re into guitars then your word search might look like
84
this: guitar, guitars, Epiphone, Gibson, Les Paul, Dean, Jackson, 12 string, classical,
Ibanez, etc. Once you get to use the search function you’ll see what I mean.
Craigslist search function is my number one thing I use to make a list, but
there are other tools that I need to mention only because they have also made me
substantial amounts of cash by directing me to various sales where I have found
stuff. One is a website called yardsaletreasuremap.com. This site allows you to see
on a map the garage sales around your area and also allows you to mouse click the
sales to see what they have. On a geographical standpoint, this tool will show you
what’s closest to your home. The only downside is that it does not pick up on all the
sales that, for example, Craigslist would have. In a business where one sale can
make your entire day, I recommend beginning with Craigslist as your primary list
maker, and then finalizing with yardsaletreasuremap.com. I also should mention
that the Yard Sale Treasure Map app is decent as well. The app is for use on your
smartphone/tablet, should you have one. I resort to the Yard Sale Treasure Map
app when I have exhausted my Craigslist list first. It’s a bit of personal preference,
although there have been days where I relied heavily on the app in the field and
made cash. The importance here is to know about the tools around you.
It is also important while making your list to search for flea markets, swap
meets, and thrift stores as well. Include these on your list especially if you’re not
able to find enough garage sales or yard sales to visit. In google make sure to type in
and do some basic research on where your thrift stores are. Lookup Goodwill,
Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, etc. Then repeat this by looking for flea
85
markets and swap meets. Route these stops into your list, and always remember
that 80% of the success will be just to show up. Once you’re in front of the sale or at
the flea market, you will see the action of buyers and sellers, and it’s very
exciting…especially when you get into it! Showing up is completely different from
spending money. Showing up is crucial to getting accustomed to the game. Much
like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play, and with hustling you win more
often than the lottery if you just show up. So, are you now ready to see what’s
next?
After building your magnificent list you’re now ready to get out there in
the field. Adequate research on your items is now complete. Now it’s time to start
looking for items. The next step naturally is how to proceed when you’re at a sale.
Mastering a sale, thrift shop, swap meet, or flea market takes a bit of finesse and a
whole lot of psychology. Don’t be afraid, none of this is complicated, but pay
attention because it makes you money by saving you from spending more. If you’re
a beginner or intermediate hustler this section will greatly help you out. Profitable
hustling happens both when you sell and when you buy. If there’s a more important
place to spend your time learning about hustling and cash, it’s certainly should be
spent on understanding how to negotiate properly. As I have made several videos
about this one topic, I will do the justice by explaining it here in full.
It’s very exciting to go to garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, and any
other place that has a good chance to make some money. When you become an
experienced hustler it seems as if you think about hustling no matter where you go.
86
Constant thoughts regarding making money on this item or on that one is not
uncommon. You begin to wonder whether you can resell a new item for more cash
and vice versa. It’s a bit of an addiction, but a healthy one. Most addictions cost
money; this one will make you money.
So there you are at your first stop. After making a list and researching your
items and stops, the next step is to find your items for a good deal. This can be easy
or tough depending on what kind of person you are inside. I believe most humans
on this planet love to shop, it’s in our blood, and being dubbed a consumer-driven
society is pretty much dead on. In fact, when I am at a sale I am doing just the exact
same thing. I am shopping and consuming, but I do it for profit. That’s what is
happening here when you’re at your first sale or first round of sales. Start looking
around and don’t forget to dig too. Get into the sale and look for what you know. If
you determine quickly that what you are looking for is not there, then leave. Make
sure you do this every time. Shopping for yourself is meant for later in your hustling
career. Now is the time to focus and get some fast cash under your belt. Whenever
you are at any of the stops on your list, look only for your items and then leave; try
to keep conversation between you and the seller at a minimum if you find nothing
at the sale. But what if you find something? What should you do?
If you’re executing your list and find yourself in front of an item of interest,
it’s time to take the next step and that is certainly not to buy it. It’s time to inspect
the item to determine the condition. Take extra time to scrutinize the item and if it
has moving parts try to make them move. If the item is electronic such as a
87
camcorder, see if you can plug it in and turn it on. Play with it for a little bit. The
inspection process is crucial because it not only saves you money by finding flaws,
but also it prevents you from being at home and finding a flaw later. When you look
over an item at a sale, you’re looking for flaws and reasons not to buy it or a reason
to talk the price down. I mean, you should always talk the price down even if there
are no flaws, but if you find flaws and the item is still desirable, the flaws are almost
like negotiation ammunition.
Assuming there are no flaws in the item the next step is to get the item for
as low as possible. If you’re at a corporate thrift store, pay attention to the color
tags (if applicable) that show the day’s discount. Maybe there’s a student or senior
discount. Know what’s available for you before you decide to buy. There are certain
corporate thrift stores such as Goodwill where prices are nearly fixed unless you
end up finding an item with no tag, and you just happen to know the manager. For
the most part, you’ll need to know about some basic negotiation skills. Negotiation
is crucial because the profit is made when the item is bought. You make your
money when you buy. It’s as simple as that.
Negotiation is one of the most heavily requested aspects of hustling that
YouTube subscribers ask me about. I am naturally good at it. I suppose a large part
of that confidence comes from my professional background, which has always been
in some sort of consumer service, consulting, or sales type position. Talking to
people is easy for me, and coercing someone to act on something feels almost
second nature. At heart, if I believe in something, I can assist others in believing the
88
same thing. Now I know that not everyone is like me, but you also don’t need to be
like me to score some great cash. That being said, the best hustlers out there are
always looking for the best deals, and they’re not afraid to offer out prices to
people. Negotiation can be very uncomfortable to some people, and a large portion
of the discomfort comes from the unfamiliar surroundings and the fear of rejection.
By the end of this chapter my goal is to take the worry away by letting you
know about how I deal with negotiation and also why I do it each and every time. In
order to understand negotiation completely you must first look at it from a bird’s
eye view. From up top, negotiation looks huge, daunting, and seems like too much
to learn so quickly. I can understand. You’re about to delve into learning something
that will affect your life forever. It’s too hard to learn it all right now, so you’ll need
the cliffs notes and the most important things, those that will encourage you in the
future to always try and make more money. That’s what’s going on here.
Negotiation is the #1 skill to make cash after all the research and visiting the sale is
completed. Now you’re there, at the sale, or at the flea market, and you’re looking
at an item that interests you. It’s time to get a deal!
Negotiation, like any skill, will take ongoing practice. Once you think you’ve
learned the skill, there’s still the psychological/analytical aspect of it that is not
talked about much. When you started driving a car you certainly were not as good
as you are ten years later. Finesse kicks in over time, and the same applies to habits.
In order to make negotiation work for you it’s important to understand that it’s just
like any other skill you have mastered, it just takes practice and you can do it. That’s
89
right YOU right there reading this book can do this and get very good at it. But then
again you might be asking why do I need to know this? You may be thinking “I know
how to find a great deal already, this doesn’t pertain to me”. But in reality it does.
Life is an ongoing process with a definite end. You can come to the end
with satisfaction, pride, and a legacy. Or you can arrive at the end and wonder what
may have happened if you had changed this or that about your life earlier. The
same applies to negotiation. Don’t come to the end or realize in ten years, for
example, that you can talk people down more successfully than you have before.
That time is now, and every time a price is not fixed in stone you ought to be
practicing. Any one of us can become the expert. As stated multiple times in this
book, my ultimate goal is to shorten the time it took for me to become the Bonafide
Hustler for you. I want you to get on a Bonafide level in 6 months or maybe a year.
The hustling game is for anyone that likes money, but to attain more money you
need to know about negotiation.
Negotiation, in my experience, pays me about 20-40 percent more than
what I would have made originally had I not asked or offered for a better deal. 20-
40 percent! If I told you that there was a stock that could pay you 20-40 percent
each year on any amount invested would you be interested? Negotiation is that
stock. It is the key to making more money. I wish I could show the reader a year of
my business where I paid asking price for each item, and then compare it to a year
where I use negotiation regularly. The results I’m sure would be astonishing. The
key takeaway here is to leave with the understanding that negotiation alone will
90
make you money aside from the money you’ll already make from hustling
successfully.
This finally brings us to the negotiation tactics you’ll have to use when
you’re in person at the sale. The first general rule of negotiation is to not show
excitement. Never be all about an item, especially in front of the seller. If you get
excited about an item, the seller will see a connection, interest, and the overall
want by your actions. As a general rule, the more interested you are in an item the
more set in stone the asking price becomes. Instead, you need to look patient,
confident, and even borderline aloof sometimes. You must remember, the seller in
most cases wants these items sold, and the last thing they want is to haul it back
into the house. Therefore the less interest you show, the more the seller becomes
desperate and begins to wonder how they will sell their stuff. A majority of what’s
at a garage sale will be fluff, unless you’re at one where you find something, or
multiple items of value. When you end up finding something you’re interested in,
try to find the price of the item even before touching the item. If you cannot do
this, simply ask the person, without touching the item, how much the item is. If you
see the price, calculate that price with 25% off, because a majority of items sold
already can be bargained down to this level. The next part is to recite one of these
lines:
“What’s the best price you’ll do on this?”
“What’s the best deal you can do on this ____?”
91
“What’s the best cash price right now you can do on this?”
Notice how the line is not “What’s the lowest you’ll go on this item?” or “What’s
the rock bottom price you can do on this?” Generally, a seller that hears the words
lowest and rock bottom is thinking “this person wants this for nothing” “this sounds
like a lowballer.” It reduces your chances of a super amazing deal. You want the
seller to remain reciprocal and open to other prices on the item, so it’s important to
keep the question neutral. Remember, by using the word BEST that’s a good
sounding thing to a seller. Best is great, when has it ever not been? No matter what
they say, your next step is to keep negotiating. Yes, we’re out to get this item for a
very good price and put money in your pocket.
After the seller gives you their best price, it’s important to know that in
about 50% of the cases it’s truly not the best price. Yes, you can get the item for
lower! The next step is to keep acting uninterested and then place the item down. If
you were holding the item, put it back where you found it. Many times when this
happens the seller will give you another lower price, or simply ask “what do you
want to pay for the item.” This is good. We want this. Then just tell them a
respectable price you are willing to pay and the most important thing is to have
some sort of cash showing in your hand. It does not have to the exact amount of
what you want to pay. It just has to be some cash. Try not to pull out a wad of 100
dollar bills either, because then you look like a moron. Making your offer after all of
this negotiating is crucial to do it with some money in your hand. The seller
perceives two things going on here: one, they can get some cash for their item and
92
not bring it back into the house, and two, they can say yes and the uncomfortable
negotiation process is over. Remember, negotiation is uncomfortable for most
people, so the seller is likely to feel discomfort while you try to get the best price.
However, what if after you ask for the best price the seller says that’s the
best price, the price they stated. What do you do then? Simple, the best thing is to
offer a price that’s close to their price, and then close it with “and I can take it off
your hands right now.” So the whole conversation may look like this: (and let’s
place an asking price of $20 on the item)
Hustler: **picks up item and looks at it**
Hustler: “What’s the best price you’ll do on this?”
Seller: “I would take 18 and that’s a deal”
Hustler: **places the item down**
Seller: “It’s hardly been used”
Hustler: **Showing a little cash** “I tell you what, I can give you 15 for it
right now and take it off your hands”.
Seller: “Okay I can do that”
That’s negotiation and hustler psychology at its best. In the scenario above, you
have just made an extra 5 bucks because you asked and negotiated. Practice will
turn it into a habit, and before long you’ll be amazed how much less money you will
93
spend at the end of a Saturday garage sale run than if you just paid asking price.
Asking price is for chumps. I’m training you to be a hustler.
So this wraps up the chapter of hustling your first item. Always remember
to get the best deal for the item that you have so diligently studied. Negotiation is
key for placing more money in your pocket and at the same time it allows you more
wiggle room on the item in the case that you find it has trouble selling or if
someone negotiates with you. Both of those things happen every now and then, so
be sure to negotiate all the time so you won’t have to worry as much about your
profit. If you do your research right, and negotiate correctly, the natural next step is
to bring your item to market. This is very easy and in the following chapter I will
show you the most efficient way to do it.
94
Chapter 11 – Item to Market
Successfully selling your product is a rather easy process, but that being
said I have countless questions about where to post, what to say, most importantly
what to charge. From beginners to advanced hustlers, I receive these types of
questions every day. The good part is the marketing part is relatively easy. If you are
buying decent items that have a market, and you’ve acquired them for a great
price, then the marketing portion will be easy. Follow these suggestions, and
remember that it took me 10 years to master marketing the product.
I always want to bring you birds-eye, looking down from the top, when we
go over important sections of hustling. At the pinnacle of marketing your product
you have the reason behind correct marketing versus the opposite. If you do a good
job of listing your product, your product will get page views. If you showcase
properly, it will get seen at an antique booth, should you end up getting one of
those down the road. Effective marketing is easy to do once you understand why it
should be done a certain way as opposed to another.
Knowing your avenues to sell is the first part of deciding which ones to use
to bring your product to the eyes of the potential buyer. That’s correct. I said which
ones, as in plural. Placing a majority of your items in two channels gives it a better
chance of selling. The three channels that I use most frequently are eBay, Craigslist,
and my antique booth. Many of my items are double listed, and even some are
triple listed – meaning they’re on Craigslist, eBay, and sitting in my booth! The most
widely used avenues out there in a hustling and reselling sense are eBay, Amazon,
95
Craigslist, and flea market. No matter what item you may have, one or more of
those avenues can move it. Knowing which ones to pick can be daunting if you are
beginner and eager to hustle your first item(s). Let’s talk about the four main
avenues now and the pros and cons of each.
One of the best avenues to sell is eBay. It’s basically an online marketplace
that can expedite selling your product in a very easy fashion. It will require you to
pair up with PayPal, which is basically a transaction giant. So think of eBay as the
marketing platform, and PayPal as the executor of the financial transaction. That’s
basically it. The most obvious advantage to bringing your item onto eBay is the
exposure. Millions of people visit eBay every day to purchase items. If your item is
there, it will get massive exposure, but only if you know what to place in your ads.
The disadvantage to using eBay, most will concur, is the fees. There are sometimes
fees for listing your item, but the large fee occurs when your item sells, and it’s
based upon the final selling price. If your item sells for more, eBay makes more, and
vice versa. Another common hatred for eBay seems to be how they side with the
buyer in instances where a dispute arises between buyer and seller. I can
understand all of this frustration, but I can’t say that I share in the resentment. eBay
has made me a ton of money and continues to do so. I look at it as a solid avenue
that contributes each month to my overall hustler goal. I have never been super
burned by eBay, and I suppose that may be one reason why I do not have any
negative sentiment for them. I figure 11% of my item’s sales price will travel to both
eBay and PayPal collectively, and to me that’s completely reasonable.
96
Amazon is another place where you can list an item. As of this book writing
I do not mess with merchant fulfilled Amazon but recently they have developed
another business called their Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) which has recently taken
off with serious steam. FBA is basically Amazon taking more responsibility on the
item and all you have to do is send the item(s) in using one of their heavily
subsidized shipping avenues. Amazon will then build the listing, handle the
customer service, and most importantly they will send the item to the customer. I
recently started FBA and I can see that it is a great resale avenue for items,
especially new ones. The process to get started with FBA is very easy and should
you choose to start using this avenue, the app Profit Bandit is very good as well.
Profit Bandit helps you scan items that have a bar code to see whether they’re good
for resale on the existing Amazon market. It’s a must have.
Think of FBA as a worker. Just like any business, you have to pay in order to
attain assistance. FBA takes about 30% of your items selling price, but that’s also
because they do a majority of the work for you. All you have to do is find the items
you want to sell and then send all of them off to Amazon. I send off about 30 at a
time now and many times the boxes are heavy and large! As stated earlier the
postage is subsidized heavily so in the end it makes perfect sense. Amazon will
handle the rest once they receive the box or boxes. It’s amazing! As for regular,
merchant fulfilled selling on Amazon, I know countless other YouTube hustlers that
engage with that avenue and see amazing profits. I will leave it at that. Check it
both FBA and merchant-fulfilled Amazon as an avenue if you wish.
97
Perhaps one of the most amazing market avenue tools that we have
around us (in most small-large cities around the world) is Craigslist. Ah, the almighty
Craigslist! I certainly cannot live without this avenue. It has made me more than
eBay and my antique booth combined. Craigslist is an online site that allows you to
place local ads for your items for free. The buyer typically lives close, and meets up
with you to acquire the item. Now that‘s simple. One disadvantage to using
Craigslist is it won’t have the immense reach as eBay or Amazon when it comes to
the marketing aspect. Another disadvantage with Craigslist seems to be the
weariness about meeting up with people and such. The remedy is simple, meet at a
well-lit place and when you head home check your rearview periodically. It sounds
funny. I have never had any issues with Craigslist and I have had tens of thousands
of meetups with complete strangers. Another small disadvantage with craigslist is
the high incidence of being talked down, or negotiated. If you hustled your item to
its lowest point possible, then ultimately you can decide whether to entertain their
offer, counter offer, or just place in your ad that the price is firm. It’s your choice.
Craigslist is amazing. With all confidence I urge you to get accustomed to it if your
town is a decent Craigslist type town.
Many of the resellers on YouTube sell their goods at a flea market. I
especially see resellers that have bought lots of stuff, as in large quantities of one
item or maybe a storage locker through an auction, as using the flea market as an
avenue to sell their goods. I have visited many flea markets around the country and
as a buyer I can find just about anything I am looking for if I go to enough of them.
There are no real rules to a flea market. It’s a bargaining mecca at its finest. If you
98
decide to sell at these places, you will find that the best negotiators come either
early in the morning or right as the flea market is closing. Those negotiators are
resellers and hustlers mainly. General public and those that are not as well-versed
on negotiation will come in the middle times. It’s a great place to sell items,
provided the slip fee is reasonable and the weather cooperates. If you are more of
the type that wants to pack up a truck or car with items and go to one central
location for 6-8 hours to sell your stuff, then a flea market is for you. It’s not for me,
personally, but don’t let that hinder you from at least experiencing the flea market
as a possible avenue in your own home town.
Now that you know the most important avenues for which to market your
product, the next step is to build an ad. This is very easy, but I have seen too many
people do this wrong, and the result inevitably is their item not selling in an
appropriate time, or just a general lack of the right buyers not even seeing the ad in
the first place. An effective ad has to capture the prospective buyer almost
immediately and this is done by having two things perfect right from the start, an
effective title and an effective main picture. This is because you only have so much
time to capture someone’s attention when they’re shopping. Hitting the main
points and having an amazing picture will assist you in getting your item(s) sold. In
the title line it’s important to place words that highlight Brand, Model#, Gender,
Size, Condition and possibly the color. Sometimes placing in keywords in the title
helps also. If you’re on eBay there is a word limit in the title portion, so it’s crucial
to hit the high points very quickly! An example of a proper ad would be something
like this:
99
Men’s Asolo Fugitive GTX Hiking boot. Size 13. Brown Black. Super condition
Another example would be something like this:
Trek Carbon 9.8 Mountain Bike. Size 19” Frame. White Red. With Extras. Good
condition
If you have an item that has been customized, it’s sometimes important to place
“with extras” on the title line. The prospective buyer expects to find a more detailed
description of what the extra things are in the description portion of the ad. No
matter which site you use, you will find a place for title, description, and in most
cases a place for pictures. Amazon has some variations, but altogether ads are
generally pretty simple.
People ask me many times about how to improve their pictures. With any
picture you take, whether it be for personal use or resale use, the impact of good
lighting and clarity makes all the difference. Your item is destined for more
recognition if you have a good lead picture and a good title. One of the most
inexpensive ways to get amazing pics for your ads is to either take your pictures in
the afternoon/evening time or to build some sort of spotlight/backdrop. A decent
spotlight can be built on the cheap. I am talking maybe 10 bucks. Here’s what you
need to get:
A cheap tripod – go to enough garage sales you’ll find one at 5 dollars or
below
100
A cheap clamp on lamp – very cheap at a garage sale
Shower cap - 1.00 anywhere you go: Walgreens, CVS
Some tape – you already have this
A backdrop can be a cloth basically on a wall. Put it all together, shine your light
down or straight using the tripod adjustments, and you have yourself a low budget
lighting system that will greatly enhance your pictures. In addition take pics of all
sides and under your product. Get far, get close, and show all imperfections. Attach
the pics to your ad. There, done!
So now you ought to have some direction on where to sell your freshly
found item, and if you’re more of an experienced hustler already, you may have
learned some things. Put these plans into action immediately. Know the possible
avenues you can use to move your products, and then build some great ads. If you
hustled correctly and picked the right item for the right price, you should see some
activity on your ads. Maybe you will get a call back from someone locally, perhaps
you get some bidders on your auction, or maybe you just sell it the old fashioned
way at a flea market. No matter which route you take, always be looking for more
avenues to list your product and be looking to list in more than one avenue when
you can.
101
Chapter 12 – Profitability of a Process
Real hustler money comes when you have a goal, and a process to get to
that goal. In this game, anything can happen, and the best of us go full time, that’s
right, we have left our normal jobs to pursue hustling. Can it really be crazy? I can
tell you with partial confidence that most of the full-time hustlers in the game now
had real jobs in the past, and at some point they found out about hustling and
started dabbling with it. It may have been a hobby, let’s say. Then the hobby started
making them money, and with experience they eventually fine-tuned their personal
game. They had some processes in place and eventually the decision was made to
go full-time. What makes a good process? What can a part time hustler do better in
order to do it full time?
For me I have always wanted to own my own business from the start and I
believe inherently we all want to do what we want to do, not what some company
tells us to do. The problem is that as a society we have spent beyond our actual
means, and now we are victims to a vicious, slow rat race. That sucks, really it does.
So many of us are capable of amazing contribution and here we are, most of us,
living a live we don’t even want to live; we work for someone else. Well, hustling
gives you a taste of a better life, that’s for sure. When I started hustling 10 years
ago I was making enough each week to go eat sushi and buy my friends drinks
nearly every weekend for the first year. Then I started to visit nicer restaurants in
general. After that, I was heavily into bicycling, wakeboarding, and remote control
cars/aircraft. RC as a hobby is a huge, but fun, money drain. I figured it would be
102
cheaper than rebuilding and juicing up a car, only because I had prior experience
with that. My point is my corporate salary was not sufficient enough for me to
afford all these other things that I thought I really need to experience and have.
And that’s why I started hustling more and more. I was addicted and it
seemed like everywhere I went I could at least find a bike, some wakeboard stuff, or
some other sporting good to resell. I had made more in the first year not even
trying than my own corporate bonus. It only made sense to continue the hobby.
And somewhere it just clicked, and I started to develop a process, one that would
help me locate the places and also help me sell the products.
My first task was to build a small spreadsheet that included what I items I
had bought, the time of day purchased, and where I bought the items. I needed
data, because when you have data, you can measure and look at performance. I did
this religiously for about six months, and then mysteriously I started making more
and more cash. Since I was constantly inputting data into my sheet, my brain was
already making connections with the parts of town that were most profitable, and
most importantly my most profitable places to find goods. It turns out there was a
pawn shop on South Congress St where a good deal of my profit was coming from.
So naturally I started to visit it more whenever I could, sometimes multiple times on
a Saturday. The data also pointed out that the Goodwill and Salvation Army across
the freeway from my house were also super profitable. I figured this was because I
religiously passed by those stores before I went home each day from work. So I
went more often, and found even more stuff.
103
Having some good data will certainly help you build a process and
eventually a goal. A good goal is something measurable, attainable, and most
important realistic. In my second year, instead of wanting to make 14K again, I
decided would shoot for 18-20K. My goal was not to make 50K because I had to be
honest with myself. That amount was unreasonable. Next, I had to look at whether I
could measure the goal. That was easy. Since I had my data I could just start
another sheet for the second year and measure it that way. What’s interesting is
halfway through the year again I stopped tracking, because I already knew it was
working and I would be surpassing my 20K goal. Last, I had to ask myself at the
beginning of the second year if the goal was attainable. I already knew that it was. I
had reliable transportation, decent amount of cash built up, and the hunger to buy
some cool wakeboarding stuff for personal use. Make some goals for yourself and
don’t forget to track your progress for a while. The visual connection your brain will
make to a religious data entry each time you hustle will eventually lead you to find
out where your time will be best spent.
A good process will in fact pay you handsomely and cause you make more
in a shorter amount of time. That’s why you need to track your sold items and
where you find them. In the end it will save you from going to that unprofitable part
of town, or maybe that one pawn shop or thrift store that never gives you deals.
The more time you save, the more time you can reallocate to the profitable stuff.
It’s basically that simple.
104
Getting organized is also a huge part of a process. When I first started out I
sold all of my stuff locally, and later got into eBay and the booth. I had no processes
for eBay or the antique booth. I remember looking all over the place for boxes to
ship my eBay finds and I was buying tape at Office Depot and Costco. At the booth I
was dropping off dirty items and not doing extended research on most of the items
before bringing them to market. I decided to get organized. So I built a process. I
was tired of frantically trying to find boxes, I had the speculation that I was paying
too much for tape, and I wanted more sales out of my booth. I decided to get
serious.
I started buying tape, 50 rolls of it, off eBay. I got myself a decent scale, a
good tape gun, 100 bubble mailers, and I each time I went to Costco, I made sure
to take some extra boxes home with me. Over time I felt less stressed and since I
was buying supplies in bulk I knew it would end up being cheaper over time. I
started to look at my hustling as a business. I was cutting costs where I could and I
was finding more and more stuff. It was great. Instead of going straight to the booth
after garage saling, I instead came home, analyzed what I found, cleaned where it
was necessary, and did some brief research. I made sure to visit my booth more
often, mostly to tidy up and rearrange things. Business went well, and my process
was making me more money and more time for hustling. It was weird. I got more
efficient and I could hustle more.
Fast forward to today and in my garage you will find a shelf full of packed
boxes ready for shipping, a ton of bikes, and anything vintage will already be at my
105
booth. I try to not have things out of boxes unless I am making a video about it on
YouTube, creating an FBA shipment, or if I am about to list some things on eBay. All
the boxes on the garage shelf are ready for shipment with the items already inside
and listed. I still have a ton of tape rolls, boxes, and my same tape gun. My process,
that was built many years ago, is still going strong! I now list items then pack them
up immediately so I don’t have to see them again. The only thing that sucks is when
someone needs more info or a measurement of some item. Yes, I have to unpack
items every now and then to get buyers their odd info, but aside from that I would
not give up my organization and process for anything.
Now I have certain times when I list my items and I won’t list one item
alone unless it’s something like a bike. I try to have a bunch to list, and then I list.
After that I spend some time packing everything. It’s really no different than a
factory if you think about it and a factory is nothing but a bunch of good processes
put together for mass production of an item. Think of your hustling game as a
factory and treat it the same way. It’s amazing what the mind can do when it
focuses on one thing. When I am in picture mode, all I do is take good pictures.
After that I get into making an ad mode. That’s where I just make ads, sometimes
building templates (on eBay) to speed things up. Then I get into packing mode
where I am boxing, weighing, and measuring my packages. I finally get into shipping
mode where I bring shipments about 3x a week to the post office. It’s all in the
process and with a good one you’ll simply make more money. Develop your
processes early and stick to them.
106
Chapter 13 – PMT
One of the deciding factors, by far, of an efficient hustler versus one that
spins wheels is how they deal with time. When I worked a corporate job about five
years ago, my district manager would always say at meetings how we all had
resources: people, money, and time. In order to become the best, you must be able
to understand how you can leverage your resources to your advantage. In order to
succeed, you need to take steps towards mastering these three resources.
People as a resource can mean you, but if you think about it more, it’s hard
to be a mega hustler just by relying on yourself. So it’s important to think outside
yourself as in “how can you leverage someone else to make money for you?” It’s
rather simple to find other avenues to sell an item and have people work for you.
With me, I have the antique booth. It is unmanned meaning I do not have to be
there to sell my items. The front desk at the antique mall does that work. Boom,
there’s some people resources right there. Of course, there is a cost to it, but that
cost is worth it to me considering I do not have to be there during the hours of
10AM-6PM, which are the hours of operation. Then, there’s also the Amazon FBA
program that I engage in. That program allows me to send in all my hustling finds to
Amazon and they do everything else – list, pack, ship, and customer service. There
is a cost to it, but it’s well worth it because I can now spend more time finding more
FBA items. These are ways that the resources of people and money can come
together to assist you in finding more …TIME.
107
Have you ever found yourself thinking “if I had more time I could
get it all done?” In reality we don’t have all the time in the world so instead we
prioritize. Life is nothing but a large timer that simply runs out at the end. Yes, it
sucks to say that, but truthfully that’s how it is. Why not make the best out of your
time? Why don’t you do the things you want to do and buy some of the things you
want? The answer is that it costs money and takes time, and many of us do not
have either to spare. Hustling will help you here. It will give you that extra income
you seek, it will allow you to cut back on your current job, and it will give you
answers to many of life’s frustrations. You can do it. So let’s look at time a bit more
to see how you can maximize it and make some serious cash.
Ever heard the term “time is money”? Unless you’ve been living
under a rock your entire life it’s likely that you’ve heard this numerous times either
in real life or maybe while watching a movie. Time indeed is money. If you have
more time, you allow yourself to make more cash. It’s pretty simple. The truth is we
don’t have all the time in the world. That leaves us trying to budget the time that
we have every day. How does one do this? Prioritizing! Oh no, here we go about
priorities again.
After I was done working in the field for the company that I was
with several years ago, I would take the same way home each day. This was
basically my life on repeat, the rat race, etc. Luckily I had known about hustling as a
legit source of income and each day I would find myself going across the freeway to
the Goodwill and Salvation Army before heading home. I can’t tell you how many
108
times I was thinking about just taking a nap at home, or just playing with my dogs,
but something else motivated me to take a bit of time to hustle each day. It was
cash. I looked at everything in a time standpoint back then and I figured that it was
worth my time to invest 10-15 minutes to see these two thrift stores each day
before heading home. I had figured at this point that it was merely statistics at play
in relation to cash. The more I stuck to the plan, the more cash I made. Once every
three visits or so I found myself finding items that I could hustle and make an extra
100 or more. It didn’t take long before this became a habit, because I knew the
outcome.
In the example above I had figured that it was worth my time to
not go home each day and instead see the two thrift stores. By investing about an
hour a half a week of my time to visit the stores, I was making about 200 or more.
Think about it; is that worth it to you? If it’s not, then maybe this book is not for
you, but for many reading I am sure your mind is starting to click a little bit. Think
about where you are spending your time every day, and then think about where
you can go each lunch break or on the way home to make potential cash. When I
would visit those two thrift stores I remember regularly seeing this one guy with an
Orkin Army shirt. Apparently he had figured it out as well, and I could only put two
and two together. I figured he lived close and this was the end of his workday as
well. Going to those two stores at the end of every day was merely an example of
one thing that I did to make big money in a short amount of time. Think about
where you can do this. Let your mind think and come up with some ideas.
109
In order to hit home a bit more let’s break down that example
above into a weekly wage. If I invest an hour and half (10-15 minutes each day x 5
workdays) finding the items, and let’s say about 30 minutes to research and list the
items, that means in about 2 hours I was making on average about $100. Is that
worth your time? One hundred dollars an hour. Think about it. Fast forward. Later
the Salvation Army relocated a bit further down the road and got much larger/more
prominent. It became harder to make the $100 average, so my average today is
about $50 an hour after doing those two stops. I still go a bit further down the road
just to see that store, but that’s still not that bad. I’m not worried. I have many
tricks up my sleeve to compensate for the money lost. When you constantly think
about maximizing your time you cannot help from inevitably becoming more
efficient.
For some of you out there maybe there isn’t something as close to
the home as what I had. This requires you to drive a bit out to some stops. In
general, there are many towns in America that may not have it as good as I do here
in Austin, with all the places to make potential cash. I don’t have it the best, but I
certainly don’t have it bad. For those of you that don’t live close to thrift stores, or
maybe garage sales are a bit more spread out than you would like, there’s hope.
Make sure you know about all the stores around you. Think of donation centers,
pawn shops, stores with huge clearance items, etc. Always be thinking of how you
can hustle a bit every day. Just make sure to always calculate in your profit
numbers the gas and transit time. For my example above, seeing those two thrift
110
stores took up 1.5 hours each week and total it was about 15 extra miles to travel.
Not a big deal. But for some out there it will be much different.
Don’t forget to factor in transit time and gas time in your profit
and see if it makes sense. I would say if you’re making 20 or above on average an
hour then it’s something you may want to keep doing. Always remember that you
can also take a lunch break to hustle. Many of the people I correspond with on
YouTube are doing this now. If you live in a city that has some profit potential
relatively close to your work, consider making your lunch and eating it in your car.
Trust me; the money you could be missing out on might be significant. Who cares if
you don’t chit chat and gossip with everyone else at the break table at work. You’re
the one changing your life one hustle at a time! Before long, you’ll be the one
paying off your home faster, or maybe you’re the one taking bigger and better
vacations each year because you can now afford them. Think about it. These cash
realities exist while most people are stuck in their everyday ruts. How bad do you
want out?
I will leave you with this. Time is money and you have to strive
each and every day to work smarter, not harder. For those out there that are a
beginner or intermediate hustler, really take some time and figure out how you can
maximize yourself in regards to the three resources of people, money, and time.
Fine tune your successes and think of where you can save time and cash, while
making people potentially work for you. Time saved in a day can be allocated to
more hustling, more time with family, and more time to think about your next life
111
step. If you’re thinking you don’t have enough time, you’re already in a circle and in
a position where nothing will change. Hustling can be the answer to many issues
out there, but only if you find the time to do it. So get out there and make that
money. It’s out there.
112
Chapter 14 – Inventory
Inventory is a very interesting subject at hand when you become a hustler,
because inevitably it is part of the situation. In this chapter I will tell you about how
I started handling inventory and what I have learned over the years to ultimately
end up where I am right now, with a very appropriate level of it in my home.
Inventory can certainly get out of control, because once you start hustling, it’s very
hard to stop. As you become a mature hustler it seems as if the deals scream at you
from all sides. Inventory builds up and if you’re not careful, it can get out of control
real quick. I have been there, trust me. Stale inventory is not good for your mind,
your relationship with loved ones, and overall starts looking very hoarder-ish. So,
here’s how to not become a hoarder, basically.
As stated above when you start hustling you start to accumulate inventory,
or basically goods that have not been sold. This is normal. Sometimes items sell
same day and sometimes they can take a bit longer. It all depends on demand,
market, your ad, etc. Assuming you control most of that stuff and you did a decent
job to research past sales prices and such, the item will end up selling. That time
period it takes to sell is unpredictable. The only way to make the time shorter is to
hustle good items all the time, items that are in high demand and have relatively
good cash profit payout. Unfortunately, especially when you first start out there’s
that learning curve. For me that timeframe was several years. Yes, several years.
Not to worry, this book will shorten that considerably for you. It is the cheat sheet
to hustling.
113
When I first started out I was hustling bikes from thrift stores, garage sales,
and pawn shops. Ever since the first sale of that Hoffman BMX, I was hooked
because I knew the profit potential was very large for me to continue and get
better. So that’s what I did, and I started thinking about other items that I could
hustle. This led me to start experimenting after my first year of bicycle flipping
success. For bikes the market was strictly classifieds and craigslist. Luckily I lived in a
very fitness-oriented town that was full of bicyclists and people wanting to get into
riding or acquire another bike for themselves. Profits were good, but anyone would
have done what I did. I looked for other items like the bikes that could make me big
money. That’s where I got my first taste of having some true inventory.
Austin is a hot town for most of the year. Yeah we get our winters, I
suppose, but to whine and moan about lows in the 30’s for about half a month
every year seems ridiculous considering what others in the country have to go
through with all the traffic, snow, delays, blizzards, etc. I mean come on, let’s be
realistic here. Austin’s heat frequently shoots over a hundred degrees for a
majority of the summer, and it’s a bit nuts because I store the bikes I sell in my back
yard. Some sell quickly, some take a couple weeks, but each one is hotter than hell
when I bring it up for sale. Unfortunately when I started experimenting with other
items, I had to consider the heat of our town when deciding where to store the
item. To no surprise the newly acquired wakeboards, stereo stuff, and mainly
remote control cars ended up in my garage. Those items could not be in the sun for
days on end. It did not take long before a small pile formed, and then a much larger
114
one. Soon after, I was in a Bonafide crisis, and I started parking my vehicles outside
of the garage. Look, money was good, but I wasn’t doing something right.
I was so caught up on the money and acquisition of goods that I nearly got
in over my head. I was asking way too much for much of my stuff. It’s not that it
would not sell; it’s just that it would take longer. My money was being locked up for
longer periods and hence the pile would start forming. One of the best ways to
combat inventory is to be realistic with your prices. Don’t try to home run
everything. Try to have an item sell at a reasonable time, and certainly not weeks
and months later. I would find myself acquiring more desirable stuff many times,
and the stuff I already had just seemed not that interesting. I would let ads lapse ad
revisit them many days later. I just was not being smart about it.
Inventory issues will hit all hustlers at some point in time. If it never gets to
you I applaud you. But if it hasn’t happened to you, it may also mean you aren’t
doing something right. It’s part of the hustling game to have inventory and to be
able to manage it. It’s almost as if a beginning hustler needs to feel the pain of stale
inventory in order to grow. After reading this chapter I hope to leave you with
some great pointers on how to reduce the stress of inventory and instead replace
the inventory with money, good feelings, and overall positive sentiment. If you have
inventory and it’s always listed, always churning and burning, then you will make
very good money. I always make sure that 90% of my stuff is listed or has buyer’s
eyes on it. Here’s how I do it.
115
First I pay attention to trends. They are important because they are similar
to the current of the ocean, if you swim with it you get farther faster. If you swim
against it you burn energy and travel small distances. Trends are the same way. You
want to go with trends for profit reasons and also for inventory reasons. Examples:
Don’t be buying the new PlayStation in bulk after Christmas passes and stock is
replenishing at stores, don’t be buying vintage Girbaud jeans if clearly people are
looking for vintage Jordache, and don’t be stocking up on baseball cards if the
market is eroded. Be smart about trends and you’ll in turn be smart about your
inventory.
Seasonality is also a large thing that can contribute to some unwelcomed
inventory. For me I learned this when I bought snowboards and skis in the middle of
summertime. I figured hey it was winter somewhere else in the world so why not. I
would still try and sell locally, but that basically never worked well. So I was forced
to place ads on eBay and such. It didn’t take long before I realized that shipping
would be the largest nail in the profit coffin. I decided to stop buying larger winter
goods during the summer at that point. Coming into my garage on a hot summer
day and seeing both snowboards and skis on the walls nearly each day really started
getting to me. I decided the punishment would be to wash clean of the winter
goods, to make nothing on the deal, and that’s what I pretty much did. I’m glad I at
least bought in and sheltered my risk correctly! I still continued to sell smaller
winter goods such as boots, jackets, and gloves. It was all the larger items that I had
to stop buying. My point is, pay attention to seasonality especially if you’re in a
116
town that experiences seasons. Seasons are not a bad thing, because within
seasonality there lies a trend altogether. Remember that.
About three years ago I decided I needed an avenue for older items that I
was finding at garage sales, estate sales, etc. Before getting into my antique booth, I
was finding great deals on all sorts of items, but I steered clear of amazing older
goods because I knew I had no market for it. I had to turn them down and that
really sucked! I decided on the booth and basically self-taught myself the vintage
trade. Sure there was the help from the American Pickers and some Pawn Stars, but
overall it was me figuring out what sold here in this town. After all, the booth only
had exposure to whoever walked around the antique mall and I had to always keep
that in mind. I noticed two inventory issues soon after getting into the booth, one
dealt with holes on the shelves, and one had to do with vintage things at my house.
If you go into any large corporate owned retail goods store, you’ll notice
that the shelves are stocked very nicely and organized. It’s done this way for many
reasons including buyer perception, store reputation, marketing, and ease of
shopping, just to name a few. There are even area managers of these stores that
have a large portion of their role dedicated to looking over presentation, plan-o-
grams, and inventory. So as you can see, if they find a hole in the shelf where an
item or items are supposed to be, this would not be a good thing. The same
principle applies to a booth or retail space that you may have. You can even go as
far as those people at a flea market selling stuff on tables. Look closely at a flea
market table, there are hardly any open spots because the seller wants as many
117
chances of selling his/her goods as possible. Take this and relate it to your space,
your booth, if you have one or get into one. Make sure there are no holes when you
visit your space, and if you have a store, make sure there are no open places. I
would rather have some unorganized parts of my booth than have holes. Holes are
missed opportunities in my opinion.
The concept of holes can also be carried over to Craigslist, eBay, or
Amazon. Those avenues are the shelves of your virtual store. Make sure you stock
your shelves right, place lots of ads, and have no item unlisted. You have to think of
it like this! Master your inventory and the cash mysteriously starts flowing in. If
you’re listing all your finds in as many channels as possible, the cash will certainly
come in. It’s fine to have a little inventory or a lot, just as long as it’s being rotated.
Many of us hustlers have good amounts of inventory, but it sells slower than we
would like. There are ways around that, you just have to be honest with yourself
and then remedy the issue. There are worse problems in life than inventory issues,
let’s face it!
Another way to combat inventory problems is to sell the most profit
potential item first. Get some money and pride under your wing, and then instead
of getting complacent with the cash, find more things and list everything you have.
While you find more things, the listings of your previous other items will be selling
through. It will be cash rolling in while you repeat the process. That’s one of the
best parts of hustling is getting paid while you shop for more profits. Sell the
highest profit item first is a true hustler rule.
118
Hopefully now you have an idea of what’s to come, or maybe you’re
already in bad inventory position as we speak. Remedy the bad habits now, and
move through your items. If you’re a beginner, remember not to freak out when
inventory issues come your way. Review this chapter and see where you’re going
wrong. We all go wrong at some point. My goal is for you not to be like me when I
had inventory issues. I crawled my way out, and had to resort to much personal
introspection in order to do that. What I have told you here is what I found out
after many years of great cash and some issues. Make it your own because we are
all not the same. We hustle differently and we all live in different places with
different buyers around us. Be smart about how you attack inventory because the
steady flow of money awaits those that know the value of churn and burn. It’s
hustling and it’s called hustling for a reason.
119
Chapter 15 – Shipping & Returns
Many of the questions I receive through Bonafide Hustler Facebook deals
with the issue of shipping. Before I started eBay I was basically selling everything in
town and in my booth; therefore shipping was of no concern to me. Once I started
eBay I then realized that there was a learning curve to the shipping and return
process. If you take the time to learn a little it will pay you back over time. In this
chapter I will briefly go over some of the shipping and returns practices that I use as
well as some of the pitfalls that you can avoid. I have made shipping mistakes, and
it ended up costing me money. I have taken returns here and there. So let’s make
sure this doesn’t happen to you.
I found myself one day buying a bike from a pawn shop in East Austin. The
bike was a 1994 Manitou FS, a vintage mountain bike that’s incredibly rare and hard
to find. After scanning it up and down I found evidence that it had a crack welded at
the head tube. At some point I suppose the previous rider had noticed a crack in the
front of the bike, and more than likely took it somewhere to get re-welded. The
weld was decent, but upon finding this out I decided it could be a major profit killer.
Many of the parts on the bike, however, were hard to find parts; so I decided to get
into the bike at $100 simply because I knew that the parts inherently were worth
about $200 or more already.
As usual, I came home and perused the bike, while admiring some of the
neat features of its vintage construction. It was in decent shape for a used bicycle,
but I was betting on the rarity for the most part. I listed the bike and about a week
120
later I had a buyer in San Francisco for $400 or so. It was time for this sucker to get
shipped, and that’s where I got my first taste of a shipping mistake. I went to a local
bike shop and asked them for a box; they willingly gave me one at no charge. While
I was there I asked about the rates on shipping a mountain bike to various cities in
the USA. They quoted me an average of $150. My first reaction was shock, of
course, followed by the natural decision on the lines of “I’ll just pack and ship it
myself”. Big mistake.
I failed to realize that the bike shop was a professional place that
dealt with the building, selling, repairing, and shipping of bicycles. They’re
an expert at that. I instead decided to cut a corner and make more money,
and in the end it didn’t end up in my favor. After packing up the bike in a
decent fashion I took it to an Office Depot here in town and paid for a UPS
Ground rate shipment to San Francisco. It cost me about $50. Wow, I
thought, I just saved some cash. A week passes and I receive a message in
my inbox. It’s the buyer in San Francisco. Apparently the bike made it
there, but half of it was coming out of the box when he saw it there on his
porch. The seat tube was crushed and later in the letter he asked for
money back or half of the money back and he would send me back the
frame.
The lesson learned here is to first be aware of much larger
shipments and the job involved getting them to the end destination in one
piece. As an item becomes heavier and larger, the more you will need to
121
decide on how it gets shipped. In a gist, if something is too large and very
heavy I involve professionals. It’s plain and simple. I am not an expert on
shipping super large things, and I also do not want to invest the time and
materials space to become an expert. There are times where you just need
to disclose the shipping rate as a large rate, or just roll the shipping rate
right into your item’s asking price.
That being said, the story had a happy ending. In the end I only
made about 15 dollars out of the entire deal, and that was largely in part
due to my buy price (remember, you make your cash when you buy) being
very low. I let the buyer have some money back as well as I let him keep
the frame. I wanted to be done with the situation and at the same time
leave the buyer with a token (the frame – which he probably fixed). It was
a great learning experience for me to say the least.
Currently I deal with shipping when I sell items on eBay. If it’s a
bicycle I now have a good deal with a local shop, and all of my bicycle
shipments go to that particular store. For other items I use the shipping
companies that eBay deals with. As of now, those companies are USPS and
Fed Ex. I mainly use USPS and every now and then I will use Fed Ex. It’s
very easy on eBay to ship an item and the site basically walks you through
how to do it. You print labels from your home, place them on your box and
either schedule a USPS pickup from your home or drop them off at your
local USPS branch. It really is that easy.
122
Many ask me about whether I do free shipping or do I charge for
shipping. My answer to that is I place free shipping now on all my ads. First
of all, eBay likes this and will stamp your ad with a “fast and free" logo, and
also the buyer is more likely to see your item as a deal as opposed to
others. Free shipping to me entices people to look and act on your ad;
therefore, I see it as an asset that you can use that can make your ad stand
out above other competitive ads. I roll my estimated shipping price into my
item price or auction price. When I deal with bicycles, I roll my $100
shipping charge into the item’s asking price and to this day I have never
had an issue with any buyer regarding that. The same pertains to other ads
that I have on other items outside of bicycles.
Whenever an item is small or light and in addition maybe super
heavy, I always start thinking about flat rate boxes or first class rates. I am
sure you’ve seen the commercials about flat rate boxes on TV. They always
have that saying “if it fits, it ships”! You can order supplies like flat rate
boxes and bubble mailers from USPS.com, and many times the cost is free
as well. In regards to first class rates, these are low rates for any item that
is 13oz or less. For example, many times for me when I ship off Vibram Five
Fingers or calculators I will use first class rates. There are so many items
that you can just throw into a bubble mailer and ship off for a very low
cost. Make sure to visit your local post office for the rates on the flat rate
boxes, as well as first class rates in order to get better accustomed to what
it will cost you. Remember, eBay is simple enough to where you can just
123
ship from there and it’s very easy. They let you select between USPS and
Fed Ex, so once you have measured and weighed your package, you can
play with the shipping tool and see what’s the best rate and option for you.
I also receive many questions about how to ship globally. To many
people, shipping globally is a bit scary and I honestly didn’t do it until one
day someone from another country won one of my eBay auctions and
asked me for an invoice for shipping. I try to do all my global shipping off
eBay because the process is very easy and certainly beats waiting in line or
filling out a customs form with a weird foreign address at the USPS. That’s
the worst! Taking it from the top, it’s important to note that you as the
seller can restrict certain countries or just ship within continental USA, etc.
Since you have the item and you’re paying eBay a fee at the end for selling
an item, you also have the control of your entire ad. This is another place
to just play with the options; I can’t tell you what to do. As of now,
however, I will tell you that I offer my products to nearly every country and
I use a 3 day handling timeframe. I have yet to get super burned on any
deal, and until that day comes I run my business as widespread as I can.
As you become a better seller on eBay, there are all kinds of
rewards they give to you. There are stars and badges that you can earn,
eBay logos that incite buyers, and also shipping discounts that you can be
eligible for. While I do not dabble too much with Amazon merchant
fulfilled much, I am sure they have equal or better deals in relation to
124
eBay’s deals. Last, I will also mention that eBay has an algorithm in place
that favors certain sellers over others; do some internet research and you
will see what I mean.
I also get many questions on how to handle returns, and many
even ask me if I take returns in general. The answer is yes. I take care of my
customers when it comes to eBay and the antique booth. Most of the
returns I deal with will come from eBay, though, so I will talk about that
because at the Antique mall the front desk takes returns as a policy. On
eBay, however, your prospective buyer is the most important thing to
consider. Prospective buyers turn into actual buyers if you get back to
messages and the questions that they may ask you. Even after you take the
best pictures and disclose everything in an ad correctly, you may get a
disgruntled buyer. Many times the unhappy buyer will open a case through
eBay against you. Don’t worry; this is a normal procedure for any buyer to
follow once they deem your item did not meet their standards. Many of us
hustlers go wrong in what happens next.
Once I get an unhappy buyer I do just about anything to retain a
positive feedback rating in the end because once it’s over the buyer still
has the authority to rate you and the entire transaction combined.
Attaining bad feedback is not good for your seller rating and eventually will
end up placing you in eBay handcuffs, basically. There are all kinds of limits
that eBay can place on you as well as shipping discounts being reduced or
125
eliminated altogether. So in fact what can happen if your unhappy buyer
carries out his/her mission of tarnishing your rating is a much larger money
hit for you down the road. Think about that before you retaliate, even if
you know you packed the item right, or if you know you disclosed that one
imperfection, etc. Do you want to make more money and have repeat
customers? Want to spread goodness? It starts from within.
I could care less about my pride and such when it comes down to
having returns and such. I take care of the customer at all costs. I get back
to the customer fast, even if I don’t know how I am feeling about the
situation. In many instances I offer full refunds or I refund partial money
back. Sometimes I will refund partial money and let them keep the item. I
have had unhappy customers give me positive feedback in 90% of cases
just because I restore their happiness while compromising my own. I am
fine with that. Real business is run this way. Have you ever had a drink
order at a Starbucks become completely messed up? Have you noticed
that they give you a free drink card in most cases AND give you your
original drink order for free? Seriously! In any customer service job I have
ever been a part of, the customer is always right. If you contest this, you
have a very good chance of bad feedback or an unfavorable yelp rating (if
you own a second hand store, for example). Don’t fall victim to aggression
or being right all the time; it will cost you more out of your pocket in the
long run.
126
Hopefully by now you have a good idea of how to ship an item
and also deal with an unhappy customer. Make it your own and consider
the advice I have imparted upon you to guide you in your journey. There
are many ways, really, to handle shipping and returns, but I choose to have
a system for handling both. I try not to get all complicated because after all
I have to run the YouTube channel, the booth, craigslist, eBay, FBA
shipments, as well as my own Bonafide life. Systems and being simple is
what I am all about. I try not to get too technical when life does not
require it.
127
Chapter 16 – Putting It Together
And now, we’ve come to the end of all the teaching, all the Bonafideness,
all the cash tips. Hey, it has to end at some point, right? Here is where we review
what we have learned by taking examples of items and situations and then placing
them all together. Think of this as a role play. If you’ve ever worked in corporate
America, you’ll know how this goes. Basically, we need to play out scenarios that
you can expect to encounter in the real world. How should you proceed? How do
you know to buy or not to buy? This is where you can put what you’ve learned thus
far to the test. Don’t worry, though. If you’ve stayed with me this far, you’ve
learned something. Plus, you can always reference earlier chapters whenever you
like.
Let’s start by creating a hustler and a town. We’ll call our hustler Margaret
and give her a home in Hustlertown, a beautiful mountain city of around 500,000
people and plenty of lakes nearby. There are a few other towns nearby, each with a
population of 80,000 – 100,000. Hustlertown has Wal-Mart and Starbucks stores
everywhere, and some decent sized freeways. It isn’t large enough for a
professional Football team, but there are informal minor and club teams within the
city. The people in Hustlertown are pleasant, generally active, and concerned with
city politics for the most part. Margaret earns $45,000 a year working a decent but
boring 40 hour a week job. Margaret is very good at her job and likes to reward
herself. She enjoys browsing for fine things, such as home furnishings and gadgets,
128
and cars that are out of her budget. She even dreams of taking a vacation to
someplace exotic.
Though Margaret has a stable career, she is hungry for change, financial
gain, and overall personal happiness. In this example, Margaret can be a beginner
or intermediate-level hustler. It really does not matter. What matters is that
Margaret got word of an amazing book coupled with a YouTube channel that
piqued her interest. A fire brewed, and the flames have now transformed into
action. Margaret is ready and motivated to reach new heights. She remembers now
to think about what items she is most familiar with, and that happens to be jeans,
golf clubs, and Nerf guns.
Margaret’s knowledge of jeans comes not only from having owned so
many pairs throughout her life, but also from constant exposure to emblems,
stitching, and various colors and wash styles of denim in the general public.
Margaret plays golf regularly and is a member at a small country club about 15
minutes from her house. Her parents taught her to play golf as a child, and,
throughout the years, Margaret has not only become good at golf, but has also built
a sizable social network from playing on impromptu teams and in some
tournaments. Margaret has two kids, who frequently buy Nerf guns with their
allowance money. When the guns break or become jammed, Margaret is usually
able to fix them. Margaret often watches her kids play with their Nerf guns, and
notices many times how they interchange scopes, clips, tripods, and assemble and
disassemble the guns themselves. Without even knowing it, Margaret has secretly
129
become a bit of a closet Nerf expert, all because of basic proximity and exposure to
these toys.
Margaret, being motivated, decides that she is going to put some of her
newly acquired knowledge into action by going to some garage sales this weekend.
It’s currently Wednesday and the whole family is in the living room watching a
television program. Margaret’s husband is sitting on the sofa working on his laptop.
Margaret decides the first step is to do some basic research. After breaking out a
tablet and propping her feet up on the coffee table, Margaret pulls up eBay and
types in “jeans” in the search bar and presses go. An overwhelming amount of
information populates the screen, none of which seems to be sorted in any order.
Margaret looks all over the place trying to make some sense of the information, but
it’s a bit overwhelming.
Margaret then remembers that she needs to look at the sold and
completed market only, because in reality that’s what matters. She then presses
some buttons and, voila! the information is sorted by “sold” and “completed” as
well as “sort by highest first”. The data shows what has sold recently and is also
sorted showing the highest selling prices first. Finally, this is data! Margaret starts to
see what’s in demand and the names and styles of the popular sold jeans. She
recognizes many of these brands and also notices that certain ones from back in the
day are also selling for very good amounts of money. Incredible! Not only does
Margaret start tying together pictures with brands and sales prices, but the
research results also reveal to her that older, vintage jeans have a large market.
130
Who would have known? Now Margaret takes out some paper and jots down some
notes. I must add that if you’re more cell phone savvy, the app Evernote is amazing
as well. Over the course of the next hour, Margaret takes down brands, names, and
models of the reasonable good sellers in the marketplace for not only jeans, but
also for the golf industry, and for Nerf guns. The research time is not only fun, but
very eye opening, due to the simple wow factor on the money potential in all three
categories. Extra motivation, Margaret thinks.
By the time Friday evening rolls around, Margaret is not only starting to get
excited, but also prepared after having spent some time on Thursday researching
random things that came to mind. She decides to get equipped for the following
morning by doing a little more preparation. Again, everyone’s in the living room
watching some TV. It’s the perfect time to research some garage sales. Margaret
pulls up Craigslist on her tablet and presses the garage sales tab. She then grabs a
pad of paper and a pen and keeps them nearby. Browsing through the sales,
Margaret notices the search bar at the top and types in ‘jeans’ and then hits the
‘search’ button. The data that follows is relatively uncomplicated: no pictures, just
lines of information showing the types of sales and where they will take place.
Margaret narrows her search down to the sales that appear to be within a 30-
minute drive of her home. All she sees on her screen now are sale listings that
contain the word ‘jeans’. After writing down some sales on the paper along with
start times, Margaret then retypes in the search bar “clothes” and after seeing that
data, and also decides to search the words” Nerf guns”, “Nerf gun”, “kids toys”,
131
“golf”, “golf clubs”, “golf gear”, “sporting goods”, and “clubs”. I think it’s obvious
why.
Now, Margaret’s paper is populated not only with hastily written start
times, but also with some quick turn by turn directions for each sale. The list looks
as if it has 15-20 sales. Margaret is pleased with this and then proceeds to check her
purse to make sure there’s some cash ready for the next morning. Upon awaking
the next morning, she remembers not to dress too nicely, but also not to dress too
shabbily. Perception goes a long way at a garage sale by the way. If you dress nice
in real life, try to tone it down, especially while visiting garage sales, because you
tend to get better deals if you look like you don’t carry much cash. Margaret puts
on some regular clothes – something average that does not stand out – and heads
off in her SUV that she has meticulously unpacked so as not to convey an image of
wealth.
As Margaret cruises out of her neighborhood, she glances at the sheet
from the previous night and looks for the closest sale with the earliest start time.
It’s currently 7:45AM and the first one is only 10 minutes away. “Perfect, I can get
some coffee at a Starbucks, since it’s so close by”. After nailing down a doppio,
Margaret is now pulling up to the sale. It looks like there’s stuff everywhere – boxes
overflowing with clothes, tarps on the ground covered with kid’s stuff, toys, tables
erected with electronics, some housewares, and even some furniture. Margaret
takes all of it in with a smile as she shuts the door to her SUV. As she walks up,
Margaret notices that the sale is even larger than she expected. She thinks to
132
herself: “Ok, look for what I researched, what I know”. Before the thought is even
done, she notices some Nerf guns in a box under one of the tables. Among them are
some guns that are a bit harder to find and some from the list she created last
Wednesday evening. Margaret gets excited, but remembers to not look the part of
an over-zealous cash-making maniac, so patiently she calls over the main person of
the garage sale to ask the prices of the Nerf guns. Before asking, however, she
remembers not to touch the items and instead to act very nonchalantly, as it shows
the seller that there is interest, but no attachment. The seller then quotes a price of
two Dollars per gun. Upon noticing that the box has 6-8 guns in it, the real
excitement starts to hit Margaret. Like a trained member of Seal Team 6, however,
she maintains composure and instead says “What’s the best you will do on the
whole box?” Yes, that’s right. Go for the kill if there’s a bunch of items that are all
drastically undervalued. The seller quotes 10 Dollars for the whole box. Margaret
skillfully replies: “I tell you what, I will give you $8 right now” and makes sure to
flash some cash at hip level where the seller can see it. The seller then says “sure”.
Overwhelmed with joy, Margaret takes the box and starts walking around
the rest of the sale with it, periodically placing it down while perusing for some
jeans. The excitement is fresh, and visions of cash start infecting her mind. This is
common, I tell you, but cease the thoughts immediately and proceed onward and
use caution. Elation, while more than likely stimulating a release of oxytocin, needs
to be contained, because too much will often cloud judgment for other items.
Margaret decides to pull it together and continues sifting through some jeans that
are folded nicely and resting on the tarp. She then notices some Seven for Mankind
133
jeans and also a pair of Rag and Bones jeans that both appear to be in very good
condition. After inspecting each one like a hawk, she decides that they are in good,
saleable condition. Repeating the process she used with the Nerf guns, Margaret
strikes up a deal with the Rag and Bone jeans which happen to sell for 5 dollars.
Throughout the next 2-3 hours, Margaret enjoys finding such great deals,
but this is only half of the battle. What lies ahead is where many go wrong, and so
she races herself and remains calm. The ride home is pleasant, much credited to the
fact that there were so many great scores, and also to all the great successful
interaction with all the sellers throughout the day. Next up is listing the items as
well as testing the Nerf guns. In order for this to go smoothly, Margaret decides to
lay out all her finds on a table at home. After testing out all the guns, she sees that
there’s one particular place on the table that looks better than the others in regards
to light and decides to place the guns there for the picture. After taking the pictures
with a digital camera, Margaret takes out the SD memory card and places it into the
computer.
For the jeans, the best market seems to be eBay, and so Margaret begins
making an ad that includes a good title. The title is as follows: Rag and Bone
Women’s Jeans. Size 4. Dark wash. Boot cut. Excellent Condition. Several pictures of
the jeans are uploaded and the main pic is one of the jeans sprawled out on the
table. Since a majority of jeans of this particular brand and in this condition sell for
about 79 dollars, she decides on a starting price of 39.99 with a 7 day auction. After
134
finishing the eBay ad, Margaret repeats the process on Craigslist and posts another
ad within 2 minutes.
After posting her ads for the jeans, Margaret gets to work on the Nerf
guns. While perusing craigslist for a viable avenue of resale, she realizes that there
are many Nerf lots up for sale. While these lots are a bit less in cost to those on
eBay, she also realizes that there’s no shipping involved, nor are there any fees
associated with selling the guns locally. This alone would allow for good savings if
packing were not part of the equation. A quick glance at eBay Nerf auctions also
shows that there are two guns in Margaret’s Nerf pile that seem to do well just
being alone on auction on eBay. Margaret separates these from the bunch, makes
ads appropriately in both channels, and moves on down the line to all the other
great finds from the day.
The next day comes around and there’s a phone call. Someone is
interested in seeing the Nerf gun lot that’s posted on Craigslist for 40 dollars. A
meeting scheduled for two hours later is made, and Margaret decides to place the
box of Nerf guns in the SUV. She then checks the mobile eBay app and finds that
there are watchers on the all auctions that were placed yesterday. This makes her
happy! After meeting with a gentleman from Craigslist at a local gas station,
Margaret comes home with some extra cash. It turns out the Nerf pile, excluding
the other two guns placed on eBay, sold for 35 Dollars. “Hey, it’s good money with
me” Margaret thinks, and proceeds on with the day. After a week, she ends up
selling the jeans for 66 dollars and the Nerf guns for about 30 each, including
135
shipping. She also sells other items bought at the last garage sale. Armed with more
cash and a sense of pride from the previous success, Margaret returns to the field.
She is not only a bit richer, but also more educated and experienced. Fast forward
three years. Margaret now has an extra $30,000 saved up in the bank, in addition to
all the other great things the rest of the money has brought to the family.
Collectively, they have gone on an average of 2 more trips a year and have started a
small college IRA for each of the kids. All this extra money had been sitting there
the whole time! Margaret looks back and thinks “Had I only known about this just
ten years ago, I would have…” and the thought stops there. She thinks “True
hustlers don’t dwell on the past. They crush it now, for the future”. And so that’s
the story of how someone begins and how someone gets better. The game rewards
the dedicated and those who want more freedom. What do you want?
The purpose of this chapter was to illustrate a hustler life from start to
finish. It’s easy to do this on your town. Think of all the places you can find stuff.
Yes, think of everything! It may not be Nerf guns or jeans, but maybe antique
lamps, furniture, rugs, or even old military machinery. The categories are endless.
From there, it’s mostly about showing up on time or early. I speak from experience
and have fine-tuned my own game. I have found that there are many places to
make money. You just have to do and execute. It’s as simple as getting into your car
and going, even if you don’t want to. It’s crucial to execute after reading this book,
because I can tell you with the utmost confidence that it’s the difference between
your life and a life with hundreds of thousands more dollars. Think about it. What
would you buy, what will you save, where will you go? These are all questions to
136
which you will find answers if you begin hustling and stick with it. So, now that you
know how, go get it done!
137
Chapter 17 – Wrapping Up
If you got this far, I applaud you. Not only are you bestowed with more
information than you need, but you’re also ready to go make some serious cash. It’s
unbelievable what hustling has brought to my life, and to this day I am so lucky to
have found this skill. If you think about it, once you’ve started and become
successful, it’s a skill that no one can take away from you. The world can go into
collapse mode, much like it did in late 2008, and you can still make money. In times
of strife, the American public trades down, and in effect has less money for the
same goods that they were accustomed to having. Internally we are born
consumers, so when times get rough we still consume. A hustler survives in each
economy because people innately love to get great deals, and that’s what we do.
We locate the deals, make money off the items, and pass the deal to the customer.
It’s very easy.
In the future I aim to build my channel even larger provided YouTube
maintains its creative lifestyle. I suppose it’s also worth mentioning that if YouTube
ceases to operate for some reason, I have most of my videos backed up and ready
for any other site. I urge each and every one of you out there to watch the channel
and subscribe to it. It’s that important. Five minutes of a majority of my videos will
teach you something. If you don’t learn something on a hustler level, you will
definitely learn that life needs to not be so serious, and my channel shows that. Be
honest with yourself when you hustle, and when you become good be sure to share
by either helping someone in need with some cash or maybe building your own
138
channel. YouTube has been the charity I have always been looking for. I always
wanted to give back somehow and I made the channel to share the money with
others. The proof that it has worked wonders for people all over the world lies in
my inbox on both YouTube and Facebook. When someone far away decides to
hustle something that I had taught them on a video, they often write me back a
letter. In the letter I have seen a common theme and it goes a bit like this: “I cannot
begin to tell you how much money you have made me; I sold that xxx for $200 on
eBay!" Thanks Bonafide Hustler!” and also the “I want to send you some money
back for what I have made”. I decline the money every time and instead
congratulate. I am proud of the hustlers that I create.
There are also other amazing channels out there on YouTube that you
ought to be watching. Over the years these channels have proven themselves
worthy of teaching you something so I certainly support these others:
The College Picker
Raiken Profit
The Urban Diggers
Glendon Cameron
Katie Patton
There are many more that also come to mind, but the ones mentioned above are
established channels that have a good message. They are channels that understand
139
the game properly and the gist of hustling is alive in each one. Remember, YouTube
is free so if you’re into watching some great free content, I see no other better
place to invest your time. Some of those channels above also have products
available for purchase or membership-driven websites. That’s there for anyone
wanting the fast track into getting money quicker so I urge you to remember the
philosophy of a trade I discussed earlier in this book when deciding whether to
purchase other goods from other YouTube. The trade there is to buy a product and
reduce the amount of time it takes to make more cash. Think about whether that’s
something you want. It’s a good proposition, a near no-brainer!
Look, the money is real and it’s out there. It’s for you to have if you want it.
I am happy I have made people money and in return I only ask for support! Yes,
comment on my videos, interact with me on Facebook, hit me up for a consultation
session on Skype, or maybe buy my next book! That’s what I want in the end – more
people happy and supporting each other. As a human race we are separating
farther and farther from each other due to work, digital devices, and overall lack of
communication. Hustling is fun for all people to do and make sure to include others
when spending your profits!
If you liked the book, don’t forget to write a little review on Amazon as I
am sure it will help me out a bit. I wish you the best of luck and now I want you turn
all this new hope into cash. Tomorrow is your day. Actually, today is your day! Go
make some money as soon as possible. Execute what I have taught you and later in
140
your hustler career just make sure to get back to me on how it all worked. I know
you’re out there and I read everything I get. You’re ready now. Hustle on.
141
142
Copyright 2014 Bonafide Hustler: no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means without the prior written permission of the publisher