Thursday, as I sit in my office reading emails, I occasionally get correspondence that is entertaining and informative at the same time. Case in point, I received an email from Chuck who emailed about our FREE Liquidation Boot Camp course, and his experience with liquidation merchandise. I should say at this point, our Liquidation Boot Camp is a three day email course I wrote to help people get started with the idea of buying wholesale customer returns and closeout items. The course is FREE and I would encourage everyone to sign up here.
Let’s get right to Chuck’s email:
Rob, I am excited to have joined your newsletter. I am bit confused by the day 1 and day 2 references as it seems like that it was written as a face to face type presentation. Regardless, I have thought through the Risks. I am willing to take a gamble but I want to increase my odds of winning as much as possible. I am also happy to share information with you as I feel like you have a genuine interest in helping me (everyone) succeed.
I should tell you that I am always skeptical about people who write “follow these steps to be successful” in an industry guides. The biggest factor that causes skepticism is the the following questions: Why would you want to create competition? Do you want to make a career in media publishing not liquidations? Will I see you on an infomercial anytime soon? Are you in need to boost your income with alternative sources?
I’ll stop at this point to address Chuck’s question/comment. For those of you who might not know by now, I spend 100% of my time devoted to (1) our network of sites, (2) writing new informational products, and (3) offering private wholesale/retail consultation. So, I’m not worried about creating competition for myself sharing wholesale industry secrets. And, will you see me in an infomercial? Nah, not unless I can get Anthony Sullivan to pitch our guides.
Now, back to Chuck’s email:
I have visited your site a few times and the format and flow are very similar to many “how to” guides. Bluntly, it caused me to leave your site more than once. You should know that my current day Job is in the eCommerce space. So on the 3rd or 4th visit (good info for your CRO person) I finally noticed something… The information you are selling is not really a “how to guide” as much as it is a “how not to” guide. I am not sure that will make much sense to anyone but me.
I am very interested in this industry. I love the thrill of the hunt. I visit 2-4 local closeout stores every weekend on the hunt for deals and steals. Considering the amount of time I spend in a few, I have gotten to know the owner of a couple and started asking questions. This lead to one of them pointing me to a local company www.fr8auctions.com and www.moneyhouseauctions.com.
I have been to both auctions a two times now and have purchased a few lots. I bought 3 lots the first time and tripled my money. My goal is to find the two auctions’ sources. I don’t mind paying a bit extra for what I purchase but some of the people at these auctions are paying 80% of retail. That make no sense to me whatsoever… I have been doing a bunch of research and found many pallet brokers. Some of them seem a little shady and I am a skeptic so it is a long slow road. I am specifically looking for electronics as that is what most interests me and there is usually fairly good margin as far as I can tell.
These auctions are providing an education for me so I don’t mind loosing as long as I learn something form the loss. I am only gambling small amounts of money at the moment 4k total in purchases and have 2k back with a bunch of things left to sell. I have a 14 year eBay seller helping who has made a good living solely from eBay.
I am excited and willing to put in the work to make this my career. My day Job is truly killing me. Sorry for the long winded email. I am looking forward to more information and thanks for everything you have shared. Chuck
Way to go Chuck, thanks for emailing! You’re correct in your diagnosis of my information, I truly want to educate people using the “here’s what you shouldn’t do” model. I also feel very strongly about allowing others, like yourself, the ability to reveal insight, experience, and industry ideas through feedback, i.e. your email today. I hate to say it, but I really feel like a liquidation super hero at times because I get so much glowing praise and feedback. After reading ego inflating emails, I’m always left with this feeling that I can fly (forget the tights and cape). OK, don’t worry…I’m not going to get on my roof and try. Ever hear of the phrase tongue-in-cheek?
Why am I so interested in helping others? Plain and simple, it brings a sense of accomplishment to my life. Yeah, little ‘ole me, at 44, gets a really good feeling when I help others start a business or help stave off a glowing purchase mistake. Most of the time my words stop people from buying customer returns or shelf pulled items, and it’s this segment of people that probably should be stopped; this type of product sourcing is not for everyone’s sanity and wallet.
Chuck…I like what you refer to as the “thrill of the hunt” because it truly is a thrill searching for liquidation inventory. Not only the search, but the anticipation of a newly purchased order arriving, and then of course, the inspection of newly arrived goods. Gosh, we are crazy folk, huh? Nonetheless, I get thousands upon thousands of [crazy] people coming to this site just like you Chuck…thirsty for knowledge about the liquidation industry. Drink up my friends!
Thanks again, Chuck…please keep us posted as to your success and disappointments; as a community, we learn from both sides of the product sourcing coin.
