Is that the same guy who sells the photocopied Cho outrage covers?
No. Different guy
Sounds messy for sure.
Dang, Gem Mint down bad. Guess that WhatNot $$$ dried up….
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I have been doing this for over 13 years, there have been some boom years, there have been some bust years. In all that time I have never over extended myself. Just because money is coming in doesn’t mean it is always coming in. Yeah I have made some foolish purchases but have stayed humble and not started spending like the money will always be flowing. Rookie mistake man.
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Yup, as soon as I realize I might be overreaching I take a step back and cut back for a while. Sometimes
a breather is the best thing. Never let any collecting habit or anything for that matter get out of control.
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My original rule for myself was, read everything you buy. When I got to the point I could not keep up with the amount of books I was buying and the reading stack kept getting bigger and bigger, I scaled back big time.
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Rules I stand by when you start working for yourself (I’ve done it myself as independent contractor for tech jobs):
- Establish your own realistic salary and don’t pay yourself more than that.
- Any additional income from your business goes back into the business for future salary when the cash flow slows down for any reason, slow sales or business, etc. Especially if you have employees cause you expanded such business.
And the biggest regret I see everyone do is buying a huge house they don’t need! My sister did this when she did her own business years ago along with just spending all the extra cash coming in to go on vacations… it only lasted about 2 years, house foreclosed and she’s asking dad in her 30s for money to pay the bills because she didn’t invest back into her business.
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I have no sympathy for the Whatnot crowd.
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lets talk about current state of whatnot
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Online yard sales…
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I completely forgot about this app and their publishing line
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I’d like to hear people’s opinion that are buying / selling on there currently as well. I’ve been watching (more like listening) some streams while doing other things, and it appears to be a grind for sellers. I’ve seen books go by where I thought damn I should have bought that, but I didn’t. I’ve seen other books with starting bids / BIN higher than what you could buy for elsewhere. On cheaper books I have no idea when the stream is going to end or if another book would pop up that I want. I’m not looking to buy a single $3 book and pay for shipping on one book. Is there a selling model that still works on Whatnot without taking a bath on what you’re selling or running through 100 books with only a couple sales?
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Hi! Whatnot is an interesting beast. I’ve observed it from the comic side of things from pretty much day one (as a buyer only). Really have seen the good & bad.
It just really comes down to who is doing the selling. I have a few sellers who are absolutely amazing. There are some I follow for just buying & a few I sometimes tune into because I do enjoy their knowledge & banter.
Having said that…the poorly run streams certainly outweigh the well done ones (imo).
I know some of the gang here have sold on there (and they did a nice job which resulted in me buying from them).
You can get some nice deals or you can let your ego get in the way and over pay for everything.
If I’m going to tune in and buy a book I’ll likely stick around and buy more as I’m going to make the most of the shipping.
If a seller talks too much or has that timer set for anything longer than 30 seconds (I prefer 15) I’m also out.
Trying to unload dollar bin drek=I’m out.
My thoughts from a buyer perspective anyway
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Thanks for the perspective. I watched a new seller today trying to sell $4-$5 books for $2 and nobody was biting. I felt bad for him, but I had no idea when the stream started and when he was planning to end. Sure enough about 6 books after I joined he was ending the stream. Some people just have generic $2, $3, $5, etc listings so you have no idea what’s coming up next. Which I get for that cheap of a book that you may only sell a small percentage of how much advance effort should you put in? I’m definitely learning from watching other peoples streams. At some point I’ll be giving it a try.
I used to be a big fan of selling on Whatnot. I got in as a seller earlier on two or so years ago when the comic category wasn’t too saturated. I cleaned up and loved it. Then more and more sellers appeared with the mystery boxes I despise or tons of viewers for their, “All giveaway,” shows they could do as, “Influencers.” It flooded the platform and made it hard for anyone who wanted to just pop-up and sell decent books without any silly mysteries or hyping up their Instagram page. A lot of other folks I knew quit and now I rarely sell anything there. I’ll try shows and get nobody unless it is some random hockey cards I have as that market is still smaller. Comic shows are a bust for me. I still enjoy watching folks in various categories and getting great deals on comics I sell somewhere else. Sometimes there are good sellers on there now and then and I can source some goodies from the shows with a small number of viewers.
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I always tried to follow David’s shows so we could cross promote. I had some fantastic days and then it started to dwindle down. Got to the point that the big guys took over and I couldn’t move anything. Shame. Hoping eBay lives comes about and I can do sales there. They need to show on the home screen what books are being sold.
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Those were some fun (and profitable) times with Tony.
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