102: So You Wanna Sell On eBay - Casey Parris

Casey AKA the Rockstarflipper is a full time Ecommerce Ebay & Amazon Reseller. Specializing in clothing & electronics the rockstarflipper sources locally from thrift shops pawn shops, goodwills and Salvation Army stores. Interesting Notes Casey saw his father and older brother worked all their lives. Both do have good lives, but they don't have the freedom. So, he decided he did not want to work for anyone. He did not want to listen to anyone. He wants the freedom to be what he wants - be it a $50,000 per year or $50M per year guy. He does not want to have limits. He wants a limitless life. He used to work for a reseller who had a communication niche. His work gave him a full-time paycheck to build the money he needed to start his own business. While he was working, at night time, he did his research and learned. He started working for his own store. He started to sell a few items to have the feel of having his own business. He had a niche for several times and turned his vision into ex-merchandise. He realized that when you are good at something, you can be really good at it. But when its market slows down, you have nothing to rely on or fall back on. That is when he opened his horizon. In 2012, he saw how cheap you can get merchandise from thrift stores, garage sales, and goodwill. A day before this interview, Casey went to a store. It was around 10,000 to 12,000 sq. ft big. One corner is furniture, while the other is house goods. But most of the store is filled with clothing arranged per sections like men, women, children, maternity, etc...He tends to gravitate on the men's section and works his way up to the store, row by row. He went around the store in an hour or two and move on to the next one. Casey calls himself a flipper because that is what he does for a living - he flips things. Almost seven days a week, wherever he is, Casey goes sourcing for inventory of his stores. He spends 7 to 8 hours a day sourcing. He has 2 stores - eBay and Amazon. He has to keep his stores supplied seven days a week. He uses BMW I8 hybrid electric car when he goes thrifting. He can put 3 or 4 garbage bags worth of clothes in his car. Casey loves the thrill of the hunt. He loves going out and sourcing. He loves finding an item for a dollar that is worth a hundred dollars. A day before this interview, he bought a coat for $10. People are watching it for $250. He sold before a 1920 fire truck doll. He bought it for $60 and it was sold for $900. The weirdest thing he sold on eBay is a shrunken head in a glass. It came from South America. He paid 10 bucks for two items. He sold it for 50 or 60 bucks per piece. Casey's fiancee helps him in the business. She is the one doing the "behind the scene" tasks while Casey is out sourcing. She can get the things bought the previous day photograph and listed in just a day. He has a small office, about 600 sq. ft size where some of the items are stored. In their garage, they have 40 storage bins for clothing and crafts. The bins can hold 30 to 40 items. Each bin is labeled with letters and numbers. So Casey knows what bins to go when an item sells. He can pull items in seconds. Casey wants to continue to grow his inventory. He plans to buy in bulk. And with that, he needs to search for suppliers. He also considers hiring 2 employees who will come full circle in their office. By that time, Casey would get a full-time warehouse for his employees to do everything in a system where Casey won't have to be there physically. Casey loves to go around and he will never stop his circles in thrifting. Advice, Tips, and Tricks Even though Casey has sold many things, he still does research. He admitted that he does not know everything. He does not know a lot of things. So, he always uses his phone to research on some things. For a unique item, he suggests to put it on the auction. Start at the lowest price you would want to take it for. If no one bids on it, then you will know that you have overpriced it. If they bid on it and you make money, then it's great! Casey does one-day shipping. That means, everything that sells before midnight has to go out the next day. In the evening, before going to bed, Casey and his fiancee print all the labels for the next day shipping. When he woke up the next day, he pulls the items and put them on top of the labels. His fiancee would stick the label and the shipment is ready for pick-up. On refund issues, Casey suggests that if you made $15 to $20 profit, send it to the customer. Because the amount of time you are about to waste on a $15 refund, can make you a sale for 3 to 6 times or more. So, it is best not to waste your time and then move on. But if refund issues happen over and over again, you need to fix what you are doing to prevent it from happening again. He suggests to schedule your pick up for your packages even if it is a two or a day. That way, you don't have to leave your house and line up for hours in the post office. Casey noted that most of the times that he lost money is because he was not careful and did not take the time. Like when bought a video game system and forgot to fully test them. Later on, he discovered that the joysticks were not working. Now, he learned to slow down and take his time. Quotes "If you have to do something, be a Rockstar at whatever you do." "If it is cheap and you can sell it, by all means!" "As you gain experience, you can go thrifting quicker and quicker." "One of the most important thing about being a thifter is planning." "You can have all the inventory and all the profit in the world, but if you don't have a system, you will crash." "Take your time. Nothing is worth losing money over." "If I make it, it's because I did it. If I fail, it's because I failed." Contact Information YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsVWcWpjU-G4dCoBrMu_Ww Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockstarFlipper/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RockstarFlipper Instagram: @rockstarflipper Sponsors Premium DIY eBay Template