When we purchase truckloads from big brand stores we don’t really know exactly what we are getting. All we know is that its from a specific store (for example, Sears). We know that whatever it is, Sears’s product buyers determined it was a good item and therefore they have already done the legwork for us. So, when one of our buyers tells us the items they bought from us “aren’t selling” it makes me wonder: Sears thought it was a good item, then you thought it was a good item (otherwise you would have purchased something else), yet somehow you determined the item is suddenly bad in some way? Hmmmm….

It made me realize, a lot of the time the issue isn’t with WHAT you are selling it’s HOW you are selling it. I can absolutely assure you that there is a market for EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT including the ones you think are hideous, stupid, irrelevant or outdated. That means you have to treat the products you like with the same care, dignity and appreciation as the products you can’t stand. If you learn to look at all of the products as money instead of objects you learn to like the stuff you dislike more. So, let’s now stop saying “products” and instead say “investments”. If your investment isn’t generating additional wealth, you have to change your investing methods. This could mean a simple change in investing strategy (such as revising your product photos, listing template or price) or this could mean something more complex, such as changing your investment platform. I discovered that by moving my savings account (CD) from Chase bank to Ally bank I was able to earn $700 more per year via interest! Yes, $700 per year for free, just by switching banks. In regard to products, maybe you need to switch the platform you are selling on.

Here’s a couple major changes we have had to make over the past 15 years:

Switched website hosts 3 times. This means essentially starting over...not once, not twice, but three friggin times!

Moving our warehouse 4 times. Four gigantic, expensive, painstaking moves. It would have been so much easier to just stay in the first space but it wasn’t the “right” thing to do if we wanted to grow.  Watch us build our current warehouse in this 4 minute video:

Changing our listing templates more times than we can count. Something that makes sense in 2009 likely wont make sense in 2019, so you have to change with the times.

Changing our company name in 2019! This is probably the biggest change of all time.. And the scariest too!

These are just a couple of the changes we have went through, there are many, many more. Like one of my employees once said, “You have to adapt or die” - and he’s totally right. If you do not evolve you will remain stagnant, then ultimately fizzle out. 

NEXT, go to Part 3: Good Advice vs Bad Advice and Avoiding New Seller SCAMS