Young eBay seller Purchases 20,000 Video Games (RESELLER NIGHTMARE)

the story of how I Bought out A old game store and what lessons were learned from such a massive deal. If you want to buy games from this buyout join me on whatnot!
whatnot.com/in...
#retrogames #entrepreneur #ebayseller
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[@vookudlak1]

First rule of thumb. If your gut says no then dont do it

[@Thectpicker]

Gotta trust your gut

[@You-gk1el]

@@Thectpickeryea and second rule if the sellers dirty the games probably dirty too lol. In my experience rednecks either have really good stuff for really cheap or completely worthless shit they think is gold and really expensive. They are pushy and make you just want to stop the said deal because they seem like they are trying to pull one over on you.

[@themediamarauder1582]

You did the biggest ROOKIE mistake. I always look at every single game , count them, and see what kind of shape they are in. I would be a lot more patient spending that kind of money. That is crazy. I pass of dead games like that at .50 each. Do you think the worker *might have been the reason some are gone?* I had a chance to buy I had a chance to buy 10,000 DVDS for $500 and passed it up. It was just some resellers left over junk. Slow down.. Spend Your money wisely. That would not be a good deal for anyone. At least you learned a lesson. I have been buying out dvd/video stores for over 25 years. I bought out 6 Family Home Video stores paid ..25 each for every dvd, blu ray, boxed set, and video games.

[@themediamarauder1582]

Just subbed.. I have been a full timer since 1997 on ebay and full time reseller since 1986 pretty much.

[@Thectpicker]

@@themediamarauder1582 really appreciate it

[@chexcollects]

@@themediamarauder1582you would be a great mentor for a guy to have!

[@smerk429]

Exactly thats what i thought when i first saw him. Paying too much

[@SuperBigDog2U]

Always listen to your instincts, if a situation feels sketchy, renegotiate or be ready to walk away to force a better deal you feel good about at time of transaction.

[@Thectpicker]

Live and learn

[@hobson]

40 mins for a story that could have been told in 10....

[@UnplantedTrees]

5 minutes..

[@raydaddy6914]

I skipped ahead and got it in 2.

[@Thectpicker]

Maybe even 60 seconds…

[@masocre]

social skills on cringe

[@gabrielyeamans7289]

Big risk comes can come with big rewards. Sometimes we forget about the risk part of the equation, especially right after a big win. Learning lesson, you're just smarter now!

[@Thectpicker]

No such thing as a failure if you are learning from those mistakes

[@gabrielyeamans7289]

@@Thectpicker I lived in Thailand for a while, over there haggling is common. You learn that you always have to be willing to walk away, when you turn your back to leave, that’s usually precisely when you make the deal. Good luck!

[@seven-11]

having discernment is key in this life. always trust your gut. if it feels off, it is off. costly lesson, but a lesson nonetheless.

[@Thectpicker]

Appreciate the comment!

[@Greg7791]

As a reseller, sometimes you have to "pay for your education" on bad deals. Like you said, you learned a lot with this experience and I guarantee you that the knowledge you gained will save and/or make you more money during future deals.

[@Thectpicker]

Love this comment. Thank you Greg. to your point it already has with another store buyout this year. Appreciate the comment seriously.

[@moonshinegaming]

Sorry to hear about the situation but just the lessons learned from the experience are invaluable! I bought out a game store's inventory about a year ago, a bit of a different situation as all the inventory was left in the storefront and the owner had taken most of the good stuff out. Took me about 4 months to break even but it ended up working out in the long run thankfully!

[@Thectpicker]

Yea the big purchases can take a while to break even on but that’s okay if the juice is worth the squeeze. Unfortunately for me it was not.

[@lacedupantics3390]

terrible situation but you still came out ahead, doesn’t matter the amount or how much time it consumed. it could’ve gone so so much worse, that being said a few things to keep in mind. if it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out take it as a sign and move on do not ever leave what your buying with the seller he could’ve easily taken out the higher value games without you knowing. If the seller is willing to take half of what they’re asking i’m sure there’s a good reason for it. there’s a few other things you realized after that I would’ve said but since you already picked up on it there’s no need for it. that being said take it as a lesson as you aren’t in college (id assume) think of it as that if you lose money people who go to college spend money to make a career so as long as you learn from mistakes it’ll help you grow. I’d also touch on the amazon part id keep selling on amazon as much as possible I get you like the whatnot route and it’s profitable but amazon is just handouts and easy money to be made, ebay not so much do it for items that move slower.

[@m4dh4dd3r]

Wild story. I thought you were going to say you lost $20k. But for opportunity cost you lost so I feel you. You've learned a lot of valuable lessons here at least.

[@Thectpicker]

@@m4dh4dd3r learned a lot that I applied to the store buyout I did this January and that ended up going well! So it wasn’t for nothing I guess after all.

[@AdventSeth]

This was a very valuable story for me thanks for telling it. I'm on the cusp of buying 1100 games and 60 consoles for 4k but I'm nervous to do it because its all my buying money so if it doesn't' work out I'd be with no buying power until it sells. Its just kinda of fodder titles like asasssins creeds and call of dutys on 360's and a few random good ones mixed in. Consoles are mix of ps3, 360s, ds lite just kind of nervous to spend my whole bank roll I've only been full time for 3 months.

[@Thectpicker]

I would get that pricecharted out and take it from there. Sounds like it can be a good deal.

[@TachibanaTengoku]

Make a rule for yourself to follow. For me, if I can't make 50-60% of my money back with the top 5-20% of the stuff I buy, it's not worth my time. I don't want to have to sell through 70% of a lot just to break even

[@Thectpicker]

@TachibanaTengoku the 80/20 Rule I love it. You should be able to make 80% of your money back with the top 20% of the inventory.

[@AdventSeth]

@@TachibanaTengoku good advice thanks for the tip. I didn't buy the items was to big a purchase to justify for me personally. I've bought quite a bit since this posting and been doing well.

[@theboringchannel2027]

As a partner in 3 pop culture stores that do 7 figures each, on a $40k value with a collection of that size, we might have paid $4,000-6,000 at most, and most likely passed on a load like that even at $2,000 Big piles of "crap" 10% of value at most if even interested.

[@PickUps]

Imagine buying out a game store that closed in the 90s, and getting a 200+ dollar average per game, paying an average of 7 a game, and spending 15k at one time... ya, thats my story. Former game store owner, current reseller, i make youtube videos on the topic too. Im listening to this video, and it sounds like you got blinding by the potential. Sometimes you really really gotta slow down and look at what you are getting. The return on one deal, has nothing to do with any future deals. Always got to evaluate each one on its own merit. If it doesnt feel right, always walk away. Whenever you are doing a deal you have to calculate everything, the cost of the time to open, clean, store, pack, 20k mailers, 20k packaging worth of labels, etc. it all adds up. You must get paid for your time. ill be honest, I dont think you will realize 25 an hour after everything is done.

[@Jack-Mehoff]

If sells international will be fine and should clear a profit. America market is usually the average sale market.

[@Thectpicker]

200$ average my god that’s crazy

[@philliplebron1210]

Good on you for being transparent and honest with your experience. Just gave a follow 👍🏽

[@Thectpicker]

Thank you Phillip 🤙

[@pfromdapab]

Damn bro I could have told this story in 1 short paragraph 😂 you got got homie

[@Thectpicker]

@@pfromdapab your comments are always filled with such intellect.

[@theaussienurseflipper.8113]

I personally wouldn't pay $20,000 for $40,000 dollars worth of stock, if I knew exactly what was there my top price would have been $15,000. And that second year we talked about I would have walked before even laid out $10 grand. They sounded so dodgy without their spreadsheet. How u described when you first went there. Then after going through the first lot you got like you would have been crazy to go back to the rest I then know what you thinking. U whinny at making 20 grand like you should thank yourself lucky. I personally think you didn't do the right sums or you just lying about how much money you make off the deal. I owned business for over 20 years, am I mates come up and say oh I'm making this and that and I'd say mate you full of shit. But in their minds all they could see was the dollarydoos coming in. It was said to see them go bankrupt. To be honest with you if I went to buy that second lot and he said 20,000 items and I could only see 15 Max. My offer would have been 15 grand. If he said no I woukd of walk. Thx Graham.

[@FreeMinds]

I tried to read this 5x & I just couldnt understand 😩🤯

[@theaussienurseflipper.8113]

@@FreeMinds I tried reading it myself. Fark wish I could say I was drunk lol.

[@RetroSho]

God damn. He got you for real man. Always check the games. Bad deal if he's trying to rush you.

[@Thectpicker]

@@RetroSho thanks for watching man. Yup he knew what he was doing. Lesson learned.

[@RetroSho]

@@Thectpicker It’s all good my man! You’re a hustler for real so you no doubt learned from it. Thanks for being so open and honest about it too. I’m sure a lot of people here can also learn from it.

[@9TNS-28]

Good news is you’ll never do it again. It’s only up from here. A hint is to pay super close to people’s language. If someone makes a point to say “it’s brand new”, it is usually used. In this case when he was saying there were other guys, there probably weren’t. When he kept pushing how many there were, he knew there were less. Him rushing you, meant he was hiding something. Him being afraid you wouldn’t come back, meant he knew exactly what he was selling you. People who put the hard sell on you almost always say the opposite of the truth.

[@Thectpicker]

Very well said. Luckily I did learn from this and have already used the lessons in multiple other deals. Appreciate the long thought out response.

[@vookudlak1]

This is why i dont deal with resellers at all

[@Thectpicker]

I have good experiences with other resellers in general!

[@vookudlak1]

@@Thectpicker it depends . Video games is a fucked business bc of how dishonest most resellers are. Nothing worse than buying a like new game to find out it's been resurfaceed and not told.

[@Thectpicker]

@@vookudlak1 agree if it was with a shitty jfj but the machine I use is the best you can get by elm usa and it does make the disc look brand new.

[@vookudlak1]

@@Thectpicker that's the problem,they are not new so you can scam customers. I'm not saying you personally I'm just saying In general

[@FreeMinds]

Grocery stores are resellers, just a heads up 😀

[@calebaguirremusic]

Personally, I would've taken the L when the listing was first taken down haha. Thanks for sharing your story.

[@Thectpicker]

@@calebaguirremusic yea would’ve saved me a lot of trouble but I wouldn’t change a thing at the end of the day was a great learning experience.

[@Earthling247]

Trust no one. Shell out no money until you take possession of merchandise.

[@DynastyWarriors6]

Just saw this video and I am sorry you went through this. One thing it sounds like you fell into the sunk cost fallacy.

[@Thectpicker]

Yup That’s exactly what happened actually

[@refroggy]

I would approach a big buy like a picker next time. Walk the collection, pick a wide swath getting a number the entire time, audit it at home then decide if you want to go back. If the seller isnt into that, it isnt an immediate deal breaker, but they need to do work to decrease your risk.

[@Thectpicker]

@@refroggy love it. 100% agree.

[@papertimemachine3865]

He probably took the best games and sold them to someone else during the 2 weeks.

[@Thectpicker]

i dont think so

[@joeldyer6925]

Reseller rips off another reseller. Cycle continues, trickle down economics.

[@Thectpicker]

@@joeldyer6925 yea it’s a sad world isn’t it

[@Fastxfords99]

30k profit for 1000 hours isn't bad. It's your business, so you put in the work, so then you make profit.

[@damiengunit9788]

All ways make sure you see your profit!!! Respect GGG-unit let’s go!!! 😅

[@Thectpicker]

What’s ggg-unit ?

[@damiengunit9788]

My why showing respect my G !Games Game Games!!! plus I like hiphop gangster rap G-unit 50cent Eminem just my why standing out I. The comments !

[@Thectpicker]

@@damiengunit9788 love it !

[@guywilliams6569]

20-30K profit is AMAZING on a "bad deal"...

[@Thectpicker]

@@guywilliams6569 was maybe 10-15k profit. Have to watch the full video to get context tho( ik its long lol). Took 5-6 to break even! Tied me up for wayyy too long. It was a bad deal for anyone.

[@guywilliams6569]

​@Thectpicker making profit off of what would have been TRASH even 20 yrs ago, no matter how long it takes, is ALWAYS a WIN! That "dealer mentality" of thinking "I SHOULD be able to buy it today and sell it tomorrow, for a HUGE profit" is why I can't stand them. WE have to wait for something to be WORTH what it is (not 60-80% of its calue), so why should dealers get to bypass the wait when they CHOOSE this field to begin with? Imagine walking into a grocery store and telling them you want to pay 20-40% LESS than asking price, BECAUSE you want to go outside the store and sell it for MORE than they were originally asking!??!! That wouldn't fly ANYWHERE and videos like this only prove how INSANE dealers think and how STUPID we are for perpetuating them. I don't knock anyone's hustle, whatever you CAN do to make that money... but to hear someone cry about 20k PROFIT, because it "took to long" (6 months at the most) is irritating! It's not like this was the ONLY thing you had going on, so an extra $3.5k per month, on top of ALL of the other things a good "dealer" would HAVE to have going on, sounds like a pretty great DEAL to me!

[@TheBargainBoxer]

Did you say, “Long story short???”…..

[@Thectpicker]

probably could've went longer lol

[@stevenmoulson8199]

I hate it when someone longs out a story for ages. Just get to the point. After 5 to ten mins i already want to leave

[@Thectpicker]

@@stevenmoulson8199 sorry to disappoint Steven

[@George_Gilbert]

I would have gave up when they didn’t answer for a month even though it was very very tempting.

[@Thectpicker]

Ehh I disagree sometimes people jerk you around a bit so you gotta stay on top of them.

[@BillyPlaysPS2]

“AI, give a summary of this”

[@Thectpicker]

I use chatgpt daily so can’t blame ya

[@johnwilliamson8367]

Good God dude that is a nightmare situation. I couldn't just drop $50,000 like that. Triple up for sure. Inventory is a definite on a buy like that.

[@Thectpicker]

Yep, for my experience now a minimum triple up because of the thousand plus hours of work. Unfortunately this was nowhere in the universe of that.

[@johnwilliamson8367]

@@Thectpicker I definitely get that. I couldn't imagine throwing a thousand hours and having to see a wall of Sega sports man talking about a good reason to cry a tear or two. Bit surprised though you didn't try to hit a local video game Facebook group with the heavy hitting titles to up the ante on the games by trades. That could of helped some granted that usually means more hours.

[@jaredhighlands4604]

Seemed fishy from the start

[@Thectpicker]

A little bit right

[@rickyweston7394]

homie was tryna get 50% off to profit "6 figures" xD greed makes us make the wrong decisions, and i wouldn't depend too much on whatnot

[@Thectpicker]

Thanks for the financial and business advice

[@helixxofluclin]

Should have counted everything and looked at everything. Dude was playing you

[@Thectpicker]

@@helixxofluclin I agree

[@chuck396]

Keep grinding bro😊👍✌🇬🇧

[@chuck396]

I just got screw did notice plate for metroid prime weren't it box and the controler had stickshift

[@Thectpicker]

UK! Thanks for watching means a lot

[@chuck396]

I've subscribed bruv from manchester city keep up the good work

[@sos13sunshine]

What kind of Resurfacer do you use?

[@Thectpicker]

Eco master

[@GamerEmporium49]

$43k is a down payment on a house dude or oaying off debt, or paying off your vehickes!.... man, ive been watching to much Dave Ramsey!😂

[@Thectpicker]

@@GamerEmporium49 got no debt! But yea it’s definitely a lot of money. I’d recommend most to watch and listen to Dave’s stuff so good on you 🤙.

[@NinjakX]

Didn’t know you were a KZbinr. Cool

[@Thectpicker]

@@NinjakX ehh more like a reseller who makes KZbin videos. Lol.

[@imjustkey]

Damn this is a wild story. Luckily you’ll still profit off of it. How long have you been reselling games?

[@Thectpicker]

Exactly. Shoot for the moon and land among the stars sorta thing. Started in the summer of 2020 and went straight into being full time.

[@MindFoolOfMusic]

Gotta chalk it up. Could've been much worse. At least you're still pretty new - I think I read a comment that you're about 3.5 years into this. Make this your biggest and last mistake and you'll never fail.

[@Thectpicker]

Yea about 3.5 years in. Agreed and I have learned so much from it. Thanks Michael

[@MindFoolOfMusic]

@Thectpicker I always try to find the good in every bad situation. Your situation is only terrible because the expectations you had about it. I'd rate your situation like a 6/10 lmfao. You expected an 8.5/10 so of course you're a bit agitated. Can't wait to hear all the things you've learned. Listening to your newest video now while I do random work shit. Remember no one likes you when you're 23. Thug it out. Your best years have yet to come.

[@tavo24vv27]

Thanks for sharing. Definitely learned something here.

[@Thectpicker]

Great!

[@RootFooted]

Cut to the chase!

[@Thectpicker]

It’s a long story for sure!

[@kathleencory4998]

Loved this! Thanks for sharing. It helps to hear real stories that give caution.

[@rustilldown3955]

i have a huge snes collection i would be looking to sell too

[@Thectpicker]

@@rustilldown3955 reach on on Instagram if you have it @thectpicker. Dm me. Or if you wanna do email. [e-mail].

[@rustilldown3955]

@@Thectpicker emailed you

[@tacotodd398]

Bro took 30 minutes to say I bought a lot of shit, I spent too much, I’ll still make money, but, it wasn’t really worth the time and effort.

[@Thectpicker]

@@tacotodd398 most popular video by far. Alot of people enjoyed it and hopefully learned something.

[@TheBargainBoxer]

Just sell it all to Chase and you’ll be good…..he’s a huckleberry…..Since you work for Chase, in the future, just ask Chase what he would pay for the collection and then pay a little more than Chase and it’s all good. Chase knows what he’s doing…..

[@Thectpicker]

i definitely do not work for chase. but i am in his discord and we frequently chat lol

[@handyhenry991]

What is that squeaky??

[@Thectpicker]

Squeaky ?

[@handyhenry991]

@@Thectpicker i am hearing this squeak in your room every minute

[@Thectpicker]

Ahhh probably my disc resurfacer running

[@rosejohnson9957]

I'm sorry but I cannot even get through this video It is so slow. I'm sorry but I wanted to listen because I'm from Connecticut also, just couldn't.

[@Thectpicker]

@@rosejohnson9957 all good being my most popular video with 1,300 watch hours others were able to watch it just fine sorry you couldn’t. This was also my first KZbin in 3 years. I’ll work on it.

[@pete1853]

I watched it at 1.5x speed. That helps.

[@Thectpicker]

@@pete1853 a great solution!

[@ResellerzParadise]

Scared money don’t Make no money .. all you had to do was sell each game for $5 .. 15,000 X $5 is $75,000 .. simple! Rookies These Days 😂

[@Thectpicker]

Right it’s that’s easy! Clearly you’ve never done a deal of this magnitude.

[@BillyPlaysPS2]

Honestly kept my attention tho

[@Thectpicker]

I’ve been told otherwise so good to hear haha

[@Opochtli]

What happened

[@Thectpicker]

@@Opochtli things

[@Opochtli]

@@Thectpicker dammnnnn well lemme subscribe

[@VetejDEDU]

Bulk sale the cheap or combine with console 30k would been better

[@Thectpicker]

Looking back now I overpayed by atleast half.

[@Thectpicker]

Yea looking back I overpayed by atleast half.

[@janeadams1627]

Sounds like u got scammed big time

[@Thectpicker]

Essentially

[@janeadams1627]

@@Thectpicker never pay cash, always be ready to walk away. If he’s in a rush to get the $50k then run. Put money in an escrow account with a contract that payment is dependent on final selling evaluation after 1 year

[@eliasarechiga1927]

Rambling

[@Thectpicker]

Kind of the point of the vid don’t ya think?

[@anonanon7235]

You're rambling. I shut it down at 9:18

[@Thectpicker]

@@anonanon7235 for the average attention span 9 min straight is actually pretty good lol. Definitely agree there is some rambling though.

[@ScottEOsSportsballCards]

Stop, drop, and roll!

[@SmokeyBones-c8s]

Why would you hate to get a job?

[@Thectpicker]

Can you give me quotes of what I said I don’t remember lol then I can explain

[@SmokeyBones-c8s]

@@Thectpicker oh sorry. I dunno at one point u just said “I would hate to get a job” while talking about doing this for the last 6 months and would basically hate to have to get a real job. I’m from Mass also and that’s a big problem around here is nobody wants to work. Everyone wants to be either a reseller or influencers now. All hobbies have been ruined from resellers and kids all think they can be influencers so they’ve never even touched grass. We still need people to learn trades and keep America going. I don’t have much faith in this newer generation. Sad to say. I wasn’t meaning to pick you apart. Sorry rant over 😝

[@Thectpicker]

@@SmokeyBones-c8s I know what your saying and agree. Fortunately I am apart of that small % that can do this full time. For most I recommend it as a great part time/ hobby. I’ve been doing this for 4 years full time now. It’s not easy but for me well worth it.

[@SmokeyBones-c8s]

@@Thectpicker nice bro glad your making it work for you and you’re able to provide enough off just that. Marketplace is a joke trying to find something right now. Everything sells within 5 minutes just to be resold. Smh. Seriously considering just giving up my hobbies. Action figures trading cards and video games are exploited hobbies now which just makes it pointless to collect for. Resellers have literally dragged these hobbies through the dirt and ran them into the ground. When is enough, enough?

[@ruffasportscards]

CATRP CREW?

[@Thectpicker]

yessir

[@nickpapagiorgio2253]

@@Thectpicker You got burned by them?

[@_asidy]

@@Thectpicker Wait all these games came from ChaseAfterTheRightPrice? I'm confused

[@Thectpicker]

No this was not purchased from chase. I am part of catrp crew tho.

[@_asidy]

@@Thectpicker Oh I didn't know that! Idk if I've seen you in a video. Very cool!

[@Kdrama_Flex]

ughh boringggggg

[@Thectpicker]

@@Kdrama_Flex glad you felt the need to comment that my friend.