We love learning from different resellers, and today we’re talking to Chris from Reselling Electronics For Profit. Chris sells electronics on eBay and teaches others how to do the same thing.
Chris says he always had an entrepreneurial background; he grew up on a shrimp boat with his dad and helped in the construction industry. His dad worked in the trades, and Chris learned the value of having a trade. When Chris was 14 years old, his dad put him on his boat, and they started crabbing, picking up crab traps, and selling those. Chris went to college for a few years but changed his major often because he didn’t know what he wanted to do. He got an occupational health and safety certificate, but it wasn’t what he wanted to do.
While working at a restaurant, he started learning how to upsell people, and during that time, he discovered YouTuber David Kosciusko, who introduced Chris to flipping phones. He started flipping while still working at the restaurant, eventually turning it into his full-time job.
How Long Have You Been Flipping Electronics?
Chris’ first flip was seven years ago. He left his job when he hit $4,000 in profit in one month because he doubled his income. At that time, his wife was pregnant, and he was trying to find a way to be home with the new baby. He planned to save $20,000 to have a cushion before quitting his job, but as soon as he hit $4,000 in one month, he decided he was done, and he could make it work.
Did You Have A Schedule For Yourself?
Chris says his schedule has evolved. Initially, he ran around town to buy electronics from people and used free ads to generate leads. He often got damaged, broken items. Eventually, he decided to meet people twice daily at the nearby Starbucks, the start of the scheduled meetup model. Every day he would meet people at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the same Starbucks, which helped him manage his schedule better. People could choose which time was better for them and just show up. Chris started having people line up to sell him their devices. By purchasing at specific times, he was making like $300 to $400 within 30 minutes. Developing processes helped Chris streamline his business.
Were You Selling Phones For Parts?
Chris says he doesn’t know how to fix phones. He tried once and found out quickly it wasn’t for him, so he sells things as is and discloses if something is wrong with an item in the description. Chris still profits approximately $80 to $120 for every device, even if it’s broken. Whenever people have broken things like a cracked screen on a laptop, they don’t have an emotional attachment to it anymore, so they’re more likely to sell.
Where Do You Sell Your Electronics?
Chris mostly sells on eBay but occasionally uses Mercari or Swapa. He also developed relationships with direct buyers, wholesalers who like to buy used phones for a reasonable price. It’s basically like eBay but without the fees.
How Are You Finding Free Items?
Chris used to do free ads on Craigslist, Facebook, stories, and groups, but he eventually saw that he needed to start paying for ads because of Facebook’s changes. Now he does paid ads and finds more consistency because he gets more leads, and they run 24/7, so he hits more people than he would organically.
How Did You Progress From Phones Into Other Electronics?
Chris started with phones and moved into iPads and MacBooks. He bought one the other day for $140, and it’ll sell for close to $350-$400 because it’s one of the newer ones.
Whenever Chris buys something for the first time, he’s not looking to profit from it. He wants to learn about it and what to look for.
From MacBooks, he progressed into gaming consoles and gaming laptops. One time someone on Craigslist hit him up about a gaming laptop. The laptop was literally broken in half at the middle, but Chris looked it up for comps and found a broken one that sold for $400, so he offered the guy $100 for it, and he made a profit on it.
What Is Your Return Rate?
Chris says his descriptions are worded carefully, so he doesn’t usually have a lot of returns. A while ago, someone messaged him about a phone he sold as is. The guy messaged that he had fixed the phone, but it had a bad LCD. Well, eBay doesn’t allow someone to alter the item. eBay’s concierge service helped Chris get ahead of the problem.
Chris puts any defects in the description and photos so he is protected. Sometimes people don’t read the description.
What Is Your Listing Schedule Like?
He meets folks at Starbucks to buy the phones or items at the scheduled meetups. He takes photos of the items while he’s there and puts them in his drafts on eBay. Then he spends Saturdays doing all the listings. He lists on Saturday because electronics sell very quickly most of the time, especially if they’re priced correctly and are sold by Monday. Most of the shipping is done Monday.
How Much Would Someone New To The Industry Need?
Chris got started with just $200. He recommends $2,500 for buying power but has seen people do it with $1,000.
Show Notes
Reselling Electronics For Profit
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