Seller Club Podcast
In the dynamic world of reselling, knowledge and community are key. The Seller Club is your gateway to both. Join three passionate sellers, Anna, Glen & Ken, as they navigate the reselling landscape, sharing their experiences, strategies, and insider tips. The Seller Club covers everything from sourcing hidden gems to maximizing profits and building a loyal customer base. This isn't just about business; it's about creating a supportive community where resellers can learn, grow, and thrive together. So, whether you're a seasoned seller looking for the next level, or you’re just starting out, welcome to the club!
Seller Club Podcast
Episode 67: The Mencius Mindset
Only when a man will not do some things, is he capable of doing great things. -Mencius
Today we dig into this quote from Confucian philosopher, Mencius, and see how it applies to us, our reselling lifestyles and businesses, and more. We talk through what we each take away from his statement and further discuss some of the things we’re willing to NOT do in order to be in the position to do something we consider great. Join us and consider how your own Mencius Mindset is playing out in real time!
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What's up everybody? Welcome to episode 67 of the Stellar Club Podcast. Let's drop that beat. Captain Consistency, Mr. Wingit. How are you guys today?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I like that. We're doing good. I'm consistent.
SPEAKER_00:I don't think of you guys as Ken and Glenn anymore.
SPEAKER_02:I'm here. I'm here for the podcast. Consistent. Here every week.
SPEAKER_00:Here like you always are.
SPEAKER_02:Be consistent. That's what we do. My new trainer told me I'm the most consistent person she knows. Oh, I barely met her like two months ago. I'm not surprised. Oh, it's a new trainer? Yeah, the new trainer. She got hired, I guess, like yeah, like a good two months ago. No, maybe less. Two months.
SPEAKER_00:You better become the most consistent person you know.
SPEAKER_02:That's true. Like you better beat me at my game. Apparently she showed up late now to the people that go to the gym at 5 a.m., they were not happy. Because you know, they gotta go to work.
SPEAKER_00:So if I were at the gym at 500, what? 5 p.m. PM or AM?
SPEAKER_03:No AM. AM.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, yeah. I wouldn't be happy either. No matter what.
SPEAKER_02:No matter what.
SPEAKER_03:Well, they're already mad that they're there. Exactly. So being late just, you know, it's like a double whamming.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because he's just gonna walk up and I don't think she's got a chance to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Dude, I would have walked out. Yeah. I would have walked out.
SPEAKER_00:She'd have to be early with donuts to turn that frown upside down. For donuts after the water.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. She should have brought something else like, man, the line of the donut shop was really long.
SPEAKER_00:Sorry.
SPEAKER_03:True. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I love that.
SPEAKER_03:Not good.
SPEAKER_00:Ken, are you winging it as usual?
SPEAKER_03:Me? Yeah. Uh well, talk about consistency and workout. We haven't worked out in two months. Um but our uh membership, we put it on hold. It resumes next week. Oh. So we will be next week. We will you know us uh March will be our March Madness. Yeah. Um and um I'm excited, but I'm kind of like scared on how sore I'm gonna be for a week or two.
SPEAKER_02:Once you start getting back into it. Do you think resellers get into this mode to where you know they get into business mode that just totally ignore I guess going to the gym and things like that?
SPEAKER_03:I would say how often that happens. Serious resellers. Serious. Growing resellers. Cause I I feel like that just becomes a cop-out overall. You know, like I mean, not just resellers, just people that have work, you know. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I think there's like the sprint version of that, and then there's like the ongoing marathon where it turns out, oh, my life is just really overwhelming all the time, versus like, oh, I have this big goal, I just took in a whole bunch of inventory, I want to process as fast as I can, like doing a big push where you kind of narrow your focus, you know, for a time on purpose. But actually, that's a great uh little nod to what we're gonna talk about today, which you guys don't really know anything about. So I mean you probably do, but you're not aware of our actual topic. That sounded bad. Like you guys don't know anything.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, because I I think this I bring I'm bringing the topic today. You know, like okay, because I'm trying to be like Glenn, but and you know, it's helped me so much being consistent and like the lasting and longer effect of being consistent over time compared to the sprint version of me working out and crash diet, um, is night and day difference. So uh I can't wait to uh talk about our topic today and we'll inject both health, life, and business into this mindset episode.
SPEAKER_00:That's right, because this is the first episode of March, and so we're kicking it off like with some mindset stuff. We've had some really great episodes this year so far. I don't know that we've had like an overtly dedicated mindset episode. Um, but you know, that's okay. We kind of ebb and flow and go where go where the the topics are, go with what's happening in the moment in the community, and you know, it's not always like extremely structured around here, believe it or not. So um, yeah, I'm excited for this mindset episode officially. And so I'm gonna read a quote to you guys. Um and then we're gonna talk a little bit about what it means basically. So this is a quote from Mencius. Some people might have heard of Mencius before, some people might not, so I'll get to him in a minute. But he says, Only when a man will not do some things is he capable of doing great things.
SPEAKER_03:Say it again, say it again.
SPEAKER_00:Only when a man will not do some things is he capable of doing great things. Just let it sink in.
SPEAKER_02:Could it be man-woman?
SPEAKER_00:Could it be I mean he said man, but he was a man, and also he was like a Confucian philosopher, so he's kind of like from back in the day.
SPEAKER_03:He was he was uh he was addressing the human race.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think it's man in the spirit of like mankind, right?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, or maybe he said after that, maybe right after that he said women are exempt from this, women can do everything and they're capable of everything at once. Maybe he also said that.
SPEAKER_03:I mean that's it. I think that's what it is. I think Minch's wife was just uh know it all and do it all. He's like, uh Minch is like, I'm not gonna address that side, just my side.
SPEAKER_00:He's like, man, listen up. Listen up. Um no, we're not gonna put any words in his mouth.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Glenn. Glenn was very good.
SPEAKER_00:He was a very wise philosopher. Um and so he he is known for contributing to Confucianism, and he has a lot of other great quotes too. But he believed in the inherent goodness of people and the importance of cultivating moral behavior. And so he kind of has this take, right, that you kind of can't do everything well at once. That's kind of another way to say um his quote. But I kind of want to pick this apart a little bit because I think there's some really interesting little nuances about this quote, and really it leads to some really good, I think, points of discussion for the way that we live our lives today. And the way that we live our lives as business owners and resellers, right? Like I think there's a lot that we can kind of dig into, so so we're going to. You guys down for that? Great. Okay. Well, let's just kind of take there's two parts of this quote, basically, two phrases here. So the first part of it says, only when a man will not do some things. And the first thing I thought of when I read that is that kind of implies a choice, right? Like and that idea of like saying it another way, you can't do everything. So why is that though? Why is it that we can't be capable of doing great things if we refuse to not do some things, right? Like if we try to do everything. Why can't why does that keep us from being capable of being great? Like, what do you think about that?
SPEAKER_02:Maybe it has to do with like well, I'm I was gonna say, I guess from this day and age, more for like time constraints and like I mean, there's just too many things to try to I don't know, like if you have that mindset to accomplish certain things, of course, but maybe if you're chilling, it doesn't really apply to you. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Well, right, I guess that's true. Like maybe some people are not trying to do everything, right? But but some people might be inclined to try to do everything. I might relate a lot to that actually. Um but but it's you have to choose because you have limited resources, right? Like your time, that's one obvious one, right? Like your time, your your mental bandwidth, which he didn't know the word bandwidth for sure. But uh your bandwidth, your uh emotional resources, your energy, like right? We have limitations on all of these resources that we have that are the ingredients that get the things done in our life. So you have to you have to choose. Um I really like also, so the second part of it is so only when a man will not do some things, second part, is he capable of doing great things? That also doesn't guarantee that he's going to do great things, right? It's just like opening up that argument.
SPEAKER_03:Give you a chance, it'll give you a chance.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's interesting too. Like, I think it's cool that he didn't like overstate that and say, you know, that's the only way that he'll do great things. It's like, well, he may do great things, but that's no guarantee. Like saying no to some things is not enough by itself.
SPEAKER_04:That's true.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, there's still the work on the other side. Yeah, that I feel like saying no will just get you to the arena of being able to do something great. But not technical you know, it's just your uh it's your parking ticket to the theme park. Doesn't mean you get to go into theme park. It's still you can park now and you can get off what car you're riding and then try to explore new territories.
SPEAKER_00:Uh that's I think that's a really good analogy because it's like it when you park in that parking lot, you're at the theme park. Like you're there. But are you actually on a ride? Like are you actually doing anything, participating, or experiencing anything new?
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe not. You know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you haven't done anything great yet. You've you've got there, you've took your time, right? Um and I think you know, in a business world, yeah. In the business world, you can't be because like we talk about opportunity. There's opportunities everywhere. Uh, you know, in our last episode we talked about the different um opportunities that you can have or that we have right now on selling. There's live selling, regular selling, uh, wholesale, retail, you know, Amazon. Throw all that there. But you have to and that's why I say like you have to master one platform. Um you cannot do and try to be like, I wanna do all. Um and like and I think this is the thing a lot of people think mastering one thing at a time is putting all your eggs in one basket.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I just saw uh somebody post about that today. Uh another reseller post about that. Like they had a a negative experience earlier this month with an one platform and they said that showed me I don't want to put all my eggs there. Maybe still like 80%, but not all.
SPEAKER_03:Um But you can't be you can't you can be good, but you can't be great. I feel like greatness only comes in.
SPEAKER_00:If your eggs are spread around.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I feel like greatness only comes with one. That's why like it's it that's why it's very high risk, but it's very high reward. What do you think, Glenn?
SPEAKER_02:Well, if one man doesn't make a YouTube video for three weeks because they hired an employee. Do I know this man? Trying to. Yeah, it's the more. If a man juice, Glenn's just it's from it's like Glenjush.
SPEAKER_00:I love that.
SPEAKER_02:To lift more on eBay, does that allow him to do greater things on eBay?
SPEAKER_04:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:Again. Mm-hmm.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Ken says yes. That's it makes a cool.
SPEAKER_02:I just have not made any videos since then. Yeah. And it's been, you know, just been listing as much as I possibly can.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I just do not have like not only the time, but now getting into this new like routine to where I'm doing way more shipping now in the mornings because you know, with things selling on eBay, it's different than the whatnot side. I already had like those items put there, what I'm gonna sell on whatnot. They sell, I ship, and then I'm done. So my mornings go a lot quicker where I can like leave, let's say I go to like the stores to you know create content and things like that. But now I'm like going straight to the storage and now I gotta pull these items to ship them out. Then kind of like the day gets started, and by then it could already be a lot later. And so the the YouTube part is not like financially rewarding, obviously, compared to listing 30 items or something like and that's where it gets kind of tough because the YouTube part I've done for so long, but financially just doesn't really make sense right now if I'm trying to like pay an employee to do all these other things. So that's where I'm kind of like stuck on that end.
SPEAKER_00:So I feel like listening to you talk about that, it doesn't sound like you're stuck at all. It sounds like you made a really conscious choice. Like, I'm gonna choose to set even something that's a good thing, I'm gonna choose to set it aside for a time because it like in service of a better thing, right? And I'm sure you guys have heard the good is the enemy of great, right? And it's like not to say that you know, like YouTube is not worth it or not good or whatever, but for this moment in time and for the goals that you have, like you're just taking responsibility for that choice. Like you're just choosing not to do it right now, and that's totally fine, you know, and it's probably the right choice. I mean, hearing you talk about it, I would agree that it's the right choice. Like, yeah, this isn't just like a whim, you know. So exactly. I that is hard though. I think that's one of the difficult things that comes with like the inherent challenge in this quote from Mencius that we have to say no to things, and it's not just the bad things that we would say no to anyway. It's like some really good things sometimes, and that can be hard, and it can be difficult to like rationalize or um kind of clarify like why we're saying no or which which things really should be set aside and on what basis, right? Um a lot of decisions. I mean, that's one of the hardest things I think about running a business is just there's a constant you're constantly making decisions.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And it's on you. Like that's the good and bad news, right?
SPEAKER_03:It's like I think it becomes hard for a lot of people because one is I feel like a lot of people haven't realized and chased something that they hundred percent believe in that they were willing to sacrifice for it. Yeah, I think that is the the basis of kind of like when you say like, oh, I want to do this, I want to do that, people that are scared to put all their eggs in one basket, people who wanna diversify. I hate the word diversify, by the way. I hate it. Um because basically it's just like oh let's just equal it out, let's balance it out. Let me do 10% here, ten percent there, ten percent here. Um for some people they might be okay with it because it is their comfort level, uh, they're comfortable. If your goal is to be comfortable, I think you should diversify. If your goal is to do something great, you shouldn't diversify. Um because you a lot of people need to experience doing a lot of good things at the same time and spread their selves too thin to a point way too thin to a point they realize they're dropping the ball. And that's that's not a I can say not a lot of people have done that because even when people get to that point, they start blaming other things. Right? They like they they're doing great in their job, they're doing great as a as a home life, they doing great and the business and everything like that, and all of a sudden things starts growing and things start getting to the next level, and all of a sudden they start having to sacrifice things and different app uh uh your health, your relationships, your business, and your work. You have to sacrifice one to do something great at one point, and then the next thing you know, you start dropping the ball on things, and you'd be like, if you don't have self-res uh kind of like responsibility, or you don't take responsibility of your mistakes, then you could just be like, oh it's the it's the market, uh, it's my wife. Right, right, like eBay before. Yeah, right, like oh it's eBay, right? Like it's uh traffic's not there. Uh right, and and and I think that's when people say, like, oh then I need to like uh it cannot diversify too much, but I still need to like bull crap.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think also like there's something to be said for sometimes, I don't know, like you could look at the same uh the same progression and call it diversifying or call it growing, right? Like like multiple platforms is a great example. I still think if you're gonna sell on multiple platforms, you have to master one first. Don't try to learn three platforms at once, right? Like if you're going to add more, at least master one first so that when you're kind of doing as much as you can do in that process, in that workflow, and you can with relatively little effort, like for example, cross list to another platform, you're gonna have a learning curve, you're gonna learn that platform, but you're not starting from scratch on both at the same time, right? So, in a way, it's like that could be seen as a way of growing your business versus spreading yourself too thin. But I want to share something too. Um, when you were talking about dropping the ball, this reminded me of one of my favorite, my favorite like life lessons uh from graduate school, which is a notoriously insane and busy time in your life. Um for any grad student, uh, you know what what I mean. It's just like nonstop um responsibilities and deadlines, and you know, your brain hurts from learning so much so fast, and you have to turn around and implement it right away with people, and the stakes feel high a lot, and there's a lot going on, and you're a person with a family and other obligations and whatever, right? So I remember one of my professors in grad school saying, This is going to be like probably the most intense thing you've ever experienced, um, being in this program for a couple of years relentlessly, and you're going to drop the ball. You are. But when you do, just try not to drop the same ball twice. And I think that was really good advice because it uh it helps you to evaluate your priorities, right? When you know you've dropped the ball, you need to take a minute and evaluate, okay, why did that happen? If you do drop the same ball twice in a row, right, I would say that's a good chance to look around, a good opportunity to look around at all the things you have going on and start start asking yourself, like, what can I set aside for a time? Like, what can I maybe it's not the thing you drop the ball on twice, right? Maybe you drop the ball on something that's still really important, but that's because there was so much other noise. So maybe that's a good time to look around and say, what can I eliminate for now and then reevaluate later? Um but it is, it it can be really busy in running a business, it's very easy. I mean, I hear I hear this from my own internal dialogue, but I hear this from a lot of other resellers too, right? It just it gets really overwhelming at times. And so we all should be aware of like when we are spreading ourselves too thin because then we're we're putting all of this energy out and we're not getting much back for it, right? And that's what you're talking about with diversifying. I mean, that does apply to your platform or to your money, your inventory. It applies to your energy too, and your focus and all of those limited resources. So um I think it's a good call.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I thought Ken was gonna say, uh forget dropping the ball. I'm gonna pass the ball back to him because this is on you. I'm just gonna be dominating this whole thing. I'm gonna go. Here, take it.
SPEAKER_04:Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I I I think a lot of people um don't realize and value um the things that we're capable of as a human being when we're just focused. I think that I think like I've experienced that in two different uh maybe three different avenues and moves in my life in my life that I was like wow, like looking back, it's like I I don't know how I did that. You know, like just me like one one of the f biggest move that I made was like packing my bag, selling everything I own in the Philippines and be like, okay, let's let me start an adventure with JC, move to a different country with two suitcases. Yeah. Like I'm looking back at it now and I'm scared. Yeah. Right? But that was just I was just so focused. Everything around it I just didn't pay attention to, you know, like just and then you know, you start like, okay, let's move into a bigger house, you know, double your rent, get a house, but this will give you four times the space. Let's see if you can fill it up. And then now we're thinking about trying to build racks in the garage. Yeah. And I'm just like, whoa, you know, like how did that happen? And I feel like Yes, there are a lot of things that I do different, but a lot of that was just sheer focus. And sheer like and just stuff that I just didn't do. You know, like, okay, I'm I'm not gonna do that. Like and and you just get things done.
SPEAKER_02:But I think at some point you have to really dedicate to like what am I not going to do and what do I have to do no matter what. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So that's where like that's your that's your master master's degree there. So talk tell tell us what are the things that that you have not done and just discounted that help you get you here.
SPEAKER_00:Well I know the first one.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I would just think that well, like with me and you, like, I know it's like a different thing to where like for me, like the gym is like an every week thing. Where it's almost like a must. A must to where like even the wife is like, come on, like if we have to go somewhere at this time, you're still gonna try to squeeze in like 30 minutes of gym before that we go here, like you have to not do it at some point, or like it's okay if you don't do it.
SPEAKER_00:Commitment or is it a compulsion at that point? What is it?
SPEAKER_02:I I I mean I think it's a commitment, but I guess I just don't feel right when I don't do it. Like I feel like it's like a missing kind of like throws off my day, or like it's a missing part that it's like been ingrained.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_03:So that's just like developing the habit, right? Like, but what are the things that you've had to say no that you can name off top of your head?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, you obviously you're definitely like part by a Ferrari event, like you didn't buy a Ferrari yet. Yeah, no, didn't buy a Ferrari yet. Um those things for you.
SPEAKER_00:Rustaining from that Ferrari?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like buying fancy things. I mean, I could have done that as well, and you know, just being disciplined with like the money that goes back into the business, the timing with we said like birthday parties and events and things like that I had to say no to. Um even well, this time we didn't go anywhere for like Super Bowl, but there's been past Super Bowls where like family wants to like get together and I'm like, I'd rather list. Like, I'm not like you watch that wherever you want. Like if my favorite team's not in there either, so why am I going to really dedicate three to five hours of eating and watching football when you could, you know, list I don't know how many items during that time. I think the listing part as an eBay seller gets to me too when you go somewhere that maybe you don't necessarily want to be, and you're like, man, how many listings could I be knocking out right now? Right. That's other stuff that uh people probably don't really care for if you're not an eBay seller, but if you are, it's probably in your head somewhere where you're like, man, I could really be you know catching up on this right now.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm sure you know FOMO, right? Yeah. The fear of missing out. Have you heard Jomo?
SPEAKER_02:No, it's Jomo.
SPEAKER_00:It's the j it's the joy of missing out. Uh-huh. And that's where you like embrace saying no to things and you enjoy that you're missing out. I feel like you are the poster child for Jomo, basically.
SPEAKER_02:JOMO.
SPEAKER_00:But in service of your business, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, at some point you're and I don't know, do you guys get this? I feel like, well, I like to have a flexible like schedule. I a lot of times in in many of the lives of like my friends and family, I'm like the one of a handful of responsible adults who doesn't work a nine to five job. So it's like I'm the go-to person for like, can you go let my dog out in the middle of the day or whatever, right? Like, oh, I can trust you, you're dependable, and you're actually available during the day, or you can't be flexible. Yeah, flexible, which I love being able to do that stuff, but I can't say yes to all of it. Like, and I don't, you know, I don't say yes to all of it, but I feel like there's kind of the the part of that that spectrum of like flexibility where it goes too far and people are just like, oh, you like you don't work, right? It's like uh no, I work like 80 hours a week, actually, but I just have flexibility, not like free. Yeah, but I think flexibility is available.
SPEAKER_03:I think that is a reward ready of the things that you have done, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Um for sure.
SPEAKER_03:And I think a lot of people think owning a business means they're flexible. No, it's like it's but not all the time. It's owning a thriving business, not a surviving business.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_03:If your business is just surviving, you're not flexible. You've gotta be there 24-7.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna push back on that a little bit because the reason that I run a business instead of working nine to five is so that I can enjoy my life more. So, like, yeah, there are times though where I'm going to go 110 miles towards my goal in my business, and I am gonna say no, and I'm not gonna enjoy my the rest outside of my business life very much at all until I hit my goal or whatever. But like that's part of the flexibility, right? Like it kind of it it works together. I'm not gonna say balance because you hate the word balance.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But there's a rhythm for growth, and there's a rhythm for you know, sustaining or maintaining whatever. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So I I I think the you know, like I I guess the thriving part is already the later end of the I think at that point you've been great. You've done great.
SPEAKER_00:Um and because you can really enjoy it because you're like things are going great. I've put in the work, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, like you know, like when kind of like in the in the business of like let's just say retail, right? And we're in the retail space, we we're just online retailers, basically, right? If you own the inventory and you have X amount of inventory sitting there and it's listed and just waiting to be bought, you technically don't have to work.
SPEAKER_02:Because you think things are slowly daily, I mean little by little.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, they're just gonna trickle in, right? Because it's like that's gonna like I look at that as a investment, right? Like you've invested all the time up front, you've bought the stocks that you think is gonna pay out once it's listed, you sit down and the only thing you have to do is ship.
SPEAKER_02:That's all you're gonna do. And send offers and yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Is that and uh what that's like two hours of your day.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And that's I think that's true for a while, but I think because the market changes and platform algorithms and selling down your inventory, like it can't last forever, but it can get you through a long period.
SPEAKER_03:Nothing lasts forever. Yeah. I think that is uh true. Um, but brand new inventory will, if you got it at a cheap price.
SPEAKER_00:Um, it will take you pretty far, I think. Yeah, I think so. Okay, I want to ask all of us, not just Glenn, but definitely including Glenn, uh about like so some of the things that maybe we are choosing not to. do and then what are the great things that we are choosing that we are now capable of doing because of that like just kind of applying it full applying ourselves applying the entire you know saying to like our lives but um the first thing I want to ask is like what are some and just think back through your whole life as a as a seller right what are some time or energy cluttering kind of things that you've eliminated from your life like maybe from your workflow but maybe just from your life in general like um things that would you know take up your decision making power or take up your time like one thing um which I should be thinking of my own but the first thing I thought of when I was kind of crafting this question was Ken had almost a capsule wardrobe at one point so he didn't have to make a lot of decisions about his clothes. Like that's that's a popular one right in business kind of to like simplify or like the red nails thing for like corporate women like they always get red so they don't have to make a choice all the time like that. But there are probably a lot of practical things right like okay I have one that is that is my business I just thought of some people um I've heard always take all of their packages to the counter right when they're shipping stuff. They always take them all there so they can see each one get scanned and of course that's fair like if you have problems with your carrier who picks it up doesn't scan everything or you've had a bunch of late packages or whatever like I understand that. But for me the daily like time suck that that would be to take stuff in person to the post office when 90% of my packages go through the post office and they'll pick it up for free from my doorstep I eliminated that one as soon as I heard about it and I just schedule a pickup every day. For your pickup yeah yeah because it's it's little enough of a risk for me if if they don't get scanned right for some reason that it's not worth every day wasting time on that task. Like for me it truly would be a waste. For everyone that's probably not true.
SPEAKER_03:But you're so close to the post office too. I know I can walk there but but the crit but the thing is like what I've um what we've done is just have a back access to the post office then there's zero weight.
SPEAKER_00:Um but would you stand and wait there and watch them scan?
SPEAKER_03:No no no you have to get back access.
SPEAKER_00:Glenn does I don't Glenn they don't have you back up I didn't know I was talking about some people on this podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Well at one point the post office I did go to they gave me the scanner and was like hey if you want to scan on maybe here you go. That's the bad um but at that point I was maybe doing like I don't know eight to twelve packages a day. Right, right. It's not bad. But now with the combination of whatnot like I took 93 packages on Tuesday at that point it's like could a carrier even pick up 93 packages? Like that's probably too much right oh man they get full real quick just from what I take them. Yeah and so they're all you know having to like empty that out and so um they will give me a receipt or they'll scan it with the scanner but I do like I guess having that confirmation that it is on its way right away. Yeah. Does it do you not have backroom they don't let you guys back in the back no they not not at that post office that I go to but it's always empty the one that I go to it's like that's why I switched to go to this post office because it's like hardly ever like packed very wait you don't have a you don't have a skin form? No I don't like I don't know I don't like this I don't like the fan either I don't trust them.
SPEAKER_03:And I've I've heard people have problems with them but I don't know it actually would work in your advantage oh for the whatnot side no or just in general because if you have a bunch right let's say you forgot one and it will scan that it got shit. Okay got it yeah because like I've had like some some stuff fall out of like my my bags and everything like that and I was like why is this not moving? And then but it didn't my car yeah you didn't it won't ding you right or or if you're like in a tussle and like I've had before like I ran out of an item and I had to buy it you know from a different store to like fulfill it. Um but uh we've haven't had any issues and I think a lot basically what I'm trying to do there for that is uh just building a relationship with uh postmaster that way if something goes wrong he'll know who I am and um we've had a few things that um got lab the label peeled off and they know it's mine because they know what my packages look like and the tape that I use. So that was kind of cool. I was like okay but but now um what are the things that we eliminated um well I think for us recently was just uh going out to eat. I think there was like a season where we were just eating outside nonstop um and it was fun and it was delicious. It was fun to explore new things but I feel like if I didn't stop it would just be a waste of time. Why would I eat the same thing over and over again and it doesn't bring that the same experience of the first time. Um so we've eliminated that so I think both time and finances it help a lot.
SPEAKER_02:Um so that was gonna say he eliminated kind of like traveling for like events and stuff.
SPEAKER_03:I mean you've been doing more traveling for sourcing than I was gonna do I that was I think that was the next one. Really the biggest time suck was travel. Right like I think it was uh I think it was like we took 90 flights in one year one time with I think it was 2022 two yeah you took that is wild U and JC Yeah and um you know I feel like but also to I've had to say no to a lot of things to be able to do that. Right? Like no to like growing my business and yes to building the brand um you know on on the company's dime not on my dime. The only thing I had to sacrifice was my time. So I was like you know I was like was it worth it to sacrifice my time on their dime to build my name um I think it was a yes. Um but I also like you always have that thing it's like man how big would have your business been if you put that effort there and I was like I can't play that game because that's happened but let me do it now and I'll see what hap what would have happened.
SPEAKER_00:Well and you also like you only have the information you can only work with the information you have at the time right and like correct me if I'm wrong but I think from what I understand like the times that you've traveled the most you weren't necessarily seeing the opportunities to buy amazing inventory at amazing prices at the volume that you're kind of seeing it now.
SPEAKER_03:So like there was I've had to say no it was the hardest thing because I was in a different c state in a different city. Well like that's what I mean you were already like in it it was yeah but you couldn't do it right like yeah mid lane you can't do it at the same time and I've yeah I've pretty much just like kind of like ignored the the the clues that there were gonna be good buying because I'm gonna be in a different city anyway. Um but but I think that's one of the other things you can just say yes and no to the opportunity and do this now because it's what's available and what you think is kind of like cool uh which is like the most available. Right like when when when we traveled with whatnot and all the other things that was the money was there for marketing and I m took advantage of that because that was available that time. And if I waited and said like oh I'll do it next year I wouldn't have done that. It would be available. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Opportunities are sometimes pretty like time bound right so you have to make those decisions in the moment.
SPEAKER_02:But also the importance of like networking at that time too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know and the people that you have met and also learning about like the business and the things that they sell or even the opportunities to buy from other people and I know a lot of eBay sellers that are like hey I'm not here to make friends with anybody I'm not here to network for anything. I just want to like focus on my lane, sell, and that's it. But I also think that's only going to take you so far too because you never meet anybody new even from not saying you have to be buddies with every reseller that's in your area but it's also good to keep those enemies closer if that if they're sourcing the you're sourcing that's also good too.
SPEAKER_03:Enemies closer thanks Glencius that's a great one so I think it's a complicated exactly you get a like also a better feel of like and sometimes when you talk to them they let some things uh spill out a little bit of uh we're else they're sourcing or maybe things you didn't have before so that's not hilarious I I I have I I I would say uh early on I was just feisty glan Glenn knew this um I would just not mess with any sell reseller even because knowing that some of them are already cocky to begin with and they've already had some issues right like I kind of like I feel like oh if this guy has issues with them then I'm gonna have issues with him too that was kind of like my my take but maybe you know like there's two sides of the story or three um but is my truth baby what actually what I've I've been doing now is like the harder it is to like the person and the more bad things I've heard about the person I actually force myself to find something that I can learn from that person.
SPEAKER_00:I was like that's how we started this podcast why because you heard so many bad things about me and Glenn obviously I'm gonna learn so much from you jokers.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah that those are the worst of the worst like and I get so much joy I was like man that's my competition and I just learn from that guy and oh that guy's hated and I just learned from that guy I I I I giggle after I learned something. And I I just tell baby I would tell JC like babe did you know that guy that we hate it's like what did you do now? What do you do now? No babe I just learned something from him the guy that you hate but uh but it's cool I I think uh yeah I I I agree like that that was uh uh definitely uh see like that's one of the things that you cannot do if you didn't say no to the other things right like the networking side I mean even early on when me and Glenn traveled um with sneaker cons we're just looking at each other I was like you know when when you think you because like the the you have to get to the bigger circle right like they they like they always say like if you're the smartest in the room you're in the wrong room or eventually you're just gonna dumb down to hang out with the same people in the same room. Gonna average out yeah and then I'm just like until I got to meet these people right because sometimes like oh this is the high life or this is they're doing good but now you start evaluating it's like oh if there if there's anything that we've learned we know we've we've learned a lot of things that we're n we don't want to do. You know what I'm saying? Like oh that guy's doing this and he's you know popular and he's flashy he has a lot of money and you start getting to know the guy it's like oh I definitely don't want that. And then you know it's just like it I it it opens your eyes to to be able to like block those things and eliminate those things because they doesn't line up to you.
SPEAKER_00:I can think of several things that I have actually said no to that I used to do on a regular basis. And they're all things that are not I'm trying to think outside the box of like my business, right? Because obviously for like the sake of efficiency, like the post office example, um there's a bunch of things that I've eliminated kind of in that spirit. But in my personal life um a couple things that I really love and hope to you know do again someday that I've kind of just eliminated for simplicity now like two that kind of come to mind right away are uh baking. I love baking and I have baked like one thing since I've lived in my what is now my new house and I've probably been here seven or eight months at this point. Um and like I literally have a bunt pan collection because I love to make bunt cakes yeah she does. Yeah and it's so fun and it's like a really awesome hobby that I love and I'm not like giving up on it forever but for through all of the yeah put it on pause for now through all the chaos of moving and then doing a big uh push here at the beginning of the year in my store it's just something that I care about but it still doesn't rise to the level of importance with as everything else. So I have like consciously chosen to you know kind of take responsibility for that choice and say I'm I'm intentionally setting this aside. I'm not you know going every week going by going oh I wish I baked something this week it's like no this is just a this is a period of some months where I'm just not baking and that's okay. It's worth it.
SPEAKER_03:You know it's a it's a trade-off that's worth it because for some people it makes them sad because they're just terrible because you're literally putting yourself in a situation where you gave up something to build something great and all of a sudden you have to keep reminding yourself like oh I gave this something up it's so depressing I was like that's kind of like I know you should have not given up at all because now it just brought you down.
SPEAKER_00:I think the difference there really is like is is almost the responsibility piece right like if you feel victimized or like it's not fair that you had to give it up did like did you actually choose to give it up is your choice. You know but maybe people reluctantly make the choice you know I understand that I mean I would love to have been baking this whole time if there were 29 hours in every day but there's not and I am looking forward to intentionally building that back in. I actually did at the beginning of this year I set a goal to do like a bunt of the month and every month bake one. And I guess tomorrow if I bake one tomorrow then I could start in February. But January came and went and I and I saw that like that was my little micro goal of like I'm gonna get back into doing this regularly but I realized like no it's too soon. So I just I'm like it's fine if that starts in Q2, you know maybe that maybe I'll bake nine times this year in in the way that I like love to do it as a hobby. I mean I I like cook and bake stuff all the time to just like live and eat but you know like for fun or for an event or something. So there will be a time that I say yes to those things again. The other one is um getting my hair done oh my gosh so I had red hair for like 10 years and with some breaks in between to be blonde I've also had blue hair I've also had really dark brown hair I've had like every hair so I used to love getting my hair done all the time and I know Glenn can relate to this because he had pink hair. Yeah but um I have this is like my natural hair color that you listeners cannot see but I have never had my natural hair color since I was like in high school.
SPEAKER_03:So why was it just because now you don't have the time to get it done?
SPEAKER_00:Well it's kind of it's a simplicity thing.
SPEAKER_03:Like I wanted to just like how Glenn's rocking black t-shirt now.
SPEAKER_00:Yes I wanted to you know spend less time and less money maintaining it and like and also like I don't think you have to be you know dress to the nines full hair and makeup to like be comfortable with yourself or feel pretty or any of that stuff. Like you know I just wanted to have kind of a more natural phase of my life where I don't have to like stay on top of getting my blonde roots touched up every eight weeks or yeah right and it does cost time and money and it's like not like I wouldn't enjoy it if I was still doing it but especially with you know your hair color and growing out your hair if you have like long hair whatever it's like a really intentional choice and you have to like stick to your guns like like this is the longest my natural hair has ever been. So um it's pretty cool. It was a but it that was like years of a decision playing out right where now if I go and like dye my hair it'll be like kind of starting over um in a way. And maybe someday I will like I love having like fun colors in my hair and stuff and I actually love being blonde too like that's really fun. It's just a whole different vibe. But um I'm sure that I will not this will not be the last of it but for now I'm very glad that I don't have to maintain it and I can just like enjoy like my hair this is the Jomo thing the joy of missing out right I can enjoy my hair as like natural as it is for now. And I'm glad it's a good it was a good choice. I fully own the choice and you know maybe I'll do it again someday. I'm sure I will but I I don't feel like I'm missing out or like I'm bummed that I can't do it. Like I could I'm literally choosing not to on purpose.
SPEAKER_03:So that was my choice and I made it for a little bit so in the in the lines of missing out Glenn um how are you feeling with not being able to upload YouTube videos? I know I in my in my mind when you were like uploading a lot in the back of my mind with this guy's consistency if he chooses not to upload a video he his business is gonna double yeah because I know how long it takes it better it's gotta be worth the sacrifice well well it's not even that because the sacrifice monetarity is not even the same yeah I think doubling doubling his business with what no but imagine his YouTube YouTube imagine being Glenn the sacrifice is not monetary for Glenn the sacrifice is the consistency right it's the it's the fact that he's done it so long it hurts his feelings do not do it. Yeah that is true there's a little bit of pride in there that it's like come on that is true because you've you've you know you've hit 130k subs and something like that. That was a big journey. Yeah um I I so so what's that for you now that you don't get to do that?
SPEAKER_02:Well I think what makes it hard is that um not I mean guess I would knock out two birds with one stone right I would I would make a video and sores and so I'm finding items to sell and at the same time I'm making money on the videos. Um but if I'm going kind of more for like casual slash entertainment slash semi-reselling but it's really for content and not necessarily all in on the reselling part. It's kinda hard to stay committed to that because you know I could and should be sourcing you know who knows what other items during that time instead of being out there recording. Um the I don't know the editing part isn't that difficult because I've done it for so long. I think it's just the the time to like go out of my way to hit certain stores and to drive even though it's not incredibly far and I think I'm not going like cross states or cross or even different cities but it just takes time out of your day when you know so many other things can get done.
SPEAKER_00:So well and focus and I I keep reiterating that because to me focus is just a very hot commodity in my daily life. I need a lot of it and I need you know like I need it to be there for me all the time. I need it to be able to rely on it.
SPEAKER_02:I'm sure that's true for you right and I think Oh I would just say that if you're I we talked about this before but if you're looking for um possibly having uh a child uh focus is uh out the door that's all I can tell you okay great throw that out there I wish it was for me but at this point it is uh not I want I would want it to be but uh it was it was funny I mean it was we we want to have kids and I feel like I've been pushing really hard in my business here at the beginning of the year and I literally feel like I think I said this to you the other day Ken I feel like it's been a constant barrage of interruptions.
SPEAKER_00:I've been trying so hard to focus and it like gets under my skin at times. But honestly I do feel like that is somehow cosmic preparation for having children. So I have to learn how to handle that better, you know handling the chaos. Yeah and well I'm pretty good at handling chaos. I'm I think I'm the master of chaos but but it's like the focus part of it that gets me so bad. Okay but yeah I I think it's it's interesting like as you're talking about like the the trade-offs right about and what it what goes into kind of making those videos it's you're like it's not even that much it's not even that much time it's not even that far away but but that's the point it's like all those little things like nickel and dime your resources to death and it costs you a lot more than those little bits and pieces right so yeah I think it's it's just worth pointing that out that it's it doesn't have to be things that are like already consuming a big chunk of one of your resources.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah no that's a good point very good point on that.
SPEAKER_03:No I I think to kind of like round it all up I think it is a what Mincha said was very true. Um and greatness doesn't have to come with um you know like all the things that other people see as see that are great.
SPEAKER_00:It's what you want to get to define it for ourselves yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Right. I think it's the great meaning is like you know just having the opportunity to do your best. I think that's it. Because you know every one of us is a different different you know background, different goals, different situation but um but my it reminds me what my mom always said that because I we always you know butt heads because I was like oh this is already good you know it's good enough. She hates the word good enough by the way um that's why I probably hate diversity or I hate balance.
SPEAKER_00:Um and why you never settle.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah and she always just said one one one question that always stumps me when I when she knows that I'm just bullcrapping around just like well at the end of the day did you do your best and then when I cannot answer that I'm just like I'll just go I'll just you know I'll just leave I lost you know you tuck your tail between your legs you're like yeah exactly I just like oh you're right again mom right mom see us uh so I I feel like that's that's the greatness to kind of like a lot of us because you know sometimes like when we hear great it's like oh the great you know Michael Jordan the great Kroby Bryant was like it's like so much accolades of like you know like we don't better than everyone else right right but also have to be better than everyone else to do something great. In fact you probably aren't so no and nobody is right because it's so hard it's so hard right like um um so I think like having just the opportunity to do your best and if you don't put yourself in situation to do your best and have the time and the energy to do it then you're robbing yourself from you know reaching your you know full potential.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah I mean you're setting yourself up for failure.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah yeah and I think um and that's where regret comes in because now you realize like man a lot of these things I had control of but I just didn't and I hate that feeling. You know it's like man I should have said no to this should have said no to this now you're in a situation where like now you just gotta fulfill this because you're in a contract you're in uh uh you know you're you've overpaid for something you've you have a mortgage to cover you have a car payment to cover right like you're just like toast right like it's like you can't do anything um don't put yourself there all right and anything else we want to uh end the show Anna one special announcement before we go yes well actually two the first one is a little more time dependent so as we're releasing this it's the beginning of the week here at the end of the week on March 7th is the Spring Cellar check-in um I will definitely be attending that but it is a virtual event totally free that eBay is hosting and we have a registration link in our show notes um and it's from it's at 12 p.m Pacific time which would be 3 p.m eastern time and I'll let you guys do the math for the in-between time zones this time.
SPEAKER_00:But totally free you you do have to register for it and there's going to be a lot of really great topics and updates product updates you can ask questions directly to from eBay and they can answer your question on the spot which is super cool. That's I feel like a really underrated part of these check-ins it can be super helpful. So join us there you can also network with other sellers like us. So join us there on March 7th and then the other announcement which Glenn was alluding to is that we are doing a little March madness ourselves but actually we're calling it merch madness because there are some prizes involved of course we've been a little soft on the giveaways this year so far and so we're going all the way with it in March. We're doing um basically four weeks of challenges that are going to get your business going um and growing right here to end Q1 really strong. We were talking about this earlier off air but the three of us have been working really hard in Q1 working on our businesses we've been seeing all kinds of growth and it's been great. Whether you're in that boat with us right now or not you can get in it in March. So get in that boat take our challenges and get entered by doing so for some really awesome merch related prizes um every week of March. So you have to go follow us on Instagram for all of the details about that and that's kind of where the where the the merch madness is going to live it's gonna be on Instagram. So go follow us there at Seller Club Podcast. Ken what else do we need to add here?
SPEAKER_03:Make sure you follow eBay for sellers on Instagram and also our other sponsors seller ledger make sure you're follow them taxes are coming up make sure you sign up you get free no credit card required for 30 days we have used it and I know for a fact that this year it's gonna be the easiest tax prep ever because of seller ledger.
SPEAKER_00:Yes so we will see literally the best I'm already done already done oh that's I love it so much.
SPEAKER_03:That's over achieving right there. No that's just how easy it is exactly there you go there you go so guys thank you guys for hanging out with us let us know if you have any questions uh registration link will be on our bio and also on the show notes follow us on IG we'll see you in the next one peace see ya bye