Expose yourself to the fear
Even as garage sale season started to heat up, it just felt right to take a step back from listing like a madman to focus on the other sides of business.
I've been telling myself for a long time now that sprinting around during the hours outside my full-time job will never make me enough money to build my own business. That and I don't want to rush around with a scarcity mind like that. There is gold in them their hills, but the process matters.
Maybe I haven't tried enough or maybe it's just the nature of the game. Either way, I'm convinced I need to do something else than purely buying, listing, and reselling. And that something has been to slowly build an audience, a community, that wants to learn how to sell and sell more toys, games, plush, and movies. Myself included.
By the numbers
Spend: $307
Gross profit: $1,091.74
Net profit: $784.74
Listed on eBay: 68 (98 last month)
eBay rating: 99%
What Sold
Highlights
Taking a small step back in listing was absolutely worth it to finally finish my first reseller guide. I shared a short list of 5 toys to pick up and 5 toys to avoid. And not only was it fun and interesting to sit down and study some toys I already knew, I had the opportunity and necessity to experiment with making some high-quality Canva Instagram images to highlight some toys.
To be honest, there wasn't great engagement from the beginning, but I have to remind myself it's not all going to come with one single blog. I need to keep writing, keep sharing.
I've had two VCR machines sitting around, waiting to be tested. I procrastinated quite a bit, imagining the hook-up would be a major pain in the ass. But the VHS collection has started to grow so large, I knew I needed to get to work. Finally, I was able to test a machine and, wouldn't you know it, it did work! Now, the question is how much of a VHS tape do I need to watch before I can consider it ready to sell?
Failures
After I finally published my first reseller guide, I was a bit lost about what to tackle next. I have plenty of ideas but I was hoping one would jump out at me. And then I lifted my head to notice the month had gone. Writing more quality content is definitely on the to-do list for July.
To be honest, I'm a little uneasy not knowing that this is a sure bet for making some extra income. Deep down, my hope is that there are people out there like me that crave some high-quality, consistent information about what to buy and what not to buy. But even deeper down, who knows!?
I found a quote by American economist Herbert Simon while flipping through my copy of The Four Hour Work Week, as you do, and it made it all kinds of sense for this situation - "It is impossible to have perfect and complete information at any given time to make a decision."
Going forward
First, we need to do some maintenance.
Freshen it up
My apartment has been filled for too long. Some inventory is getting pretty stale and it's time to change it up. There are a number of things I can do. I could tweak the eBay listings right now - change the pricing, end the listing and make a fresh one, or start launching some auctions to get things moving out the door.
The other option might be to lean into other platforms (more on Facebook Marketplace or something new like Mercari).
Garage sale
In addition, I know I want to have my own garage sale for the products that aren't going to move digitally. I've been stockpiling some things at my parents' house and it would be good to pull the trigger there.
Focus
But more than all that, I need to focus. I need to write and make friends. Pretty simple, right?
Pardon me while I try to write myself away from the procrastination of fear.
I can't expect a certain result without putting in some effort. I must be subconsciously ready to make new moves because I accidentally started to gathering motivation this month to push myself forward.
I heard stand-up comedians Whitney Cummings and Tom Segura talking about fear on Whitney's podcast Good for You. It reminded me of a quote I wrote down from a podcast years ago where James Altucher had Seth Godin on:
“If you believe that your job is to avoid fear, then staying in your comfort zone is a brilliant strategy because it is the best way to avoid fear. On the other hand, if you believe that the thing that you are going to get paid for is exposing yourself to fear, that putting yourself in a place where others and you are afraid, then that’s your job. And once you get that, then you will seek out ways to get out of your comfort zone without an asterisk next to them, which is “How do I get out of my comfort zone without feeling fear?”
A successful business won't fall into my lap if I don't offer something to people. That's business.
And from a book on sales funnels titled Dotcom Secrets, Russell Brunson wrote, "People want to plug into something bigger than themselves, so it's your job to create that vision."
Feel the fear. Do it anyway. Let's go.
