Rob and Melissa Stephenson, from Flea Market Flipper, talk about what might be holding you back from starting your flipping business and how to overcome those obstacles.
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What’s Holding You Back From Starting TODAY?
Rob: What's up, Pro Flippers? On today's episode, we are talking about what is holding you back right now from starting.
Melissa: And how we can overcome those obstacles.
Rob: All right. On today's episode, we're talking about how you need to get started in this business. What is holding you back? We're going to discuss a couple of things with you guys today. Excited to be with you and talk about this topic.
Melissa: Yeah. We were just actually at a conference just this week. And this kind of spurred this conversation because there was a lot of people that we met some great people, some amazing people had some great conversations. It was a super fun conference. But there was a lot of people there with ideas for business or something they wanted to do.
And they hadn't started yet. Like we met somebody who has been thinking about doing something for three years and hasn't started yet. And so, we just kind of like why these people have all the great intentions in the world. They're like awesome people, but why are so many of them not going forward and not starting?
And so it relates to flipping too. We meet so many people who want to start their flipping business or like have thought about it or have been learning and listening and doing stuff for a long time, but haven't actually taken that foot forward. So that's kind of what we're talking about today.
Rob: So what is your obstacle?
What is stopping you right now? That's what we want to crush and we want to get you guys in here. We want to get you guys started. We want to get you guys moving forward because for us, this is the most amazing business ever being able to find stuff on your own time. Being able to find stuff that might be worth thousands and thousands of dollars.
We're very partial, but we absolutely love it. We have ten years of track record of running. I got almost three decades. But at the same time ten years of actually doing it at the next level running after those high profits. Finding these items, in our local areas all around the country all over the place.
We've been doing this. So we want to try and push you out of your comfort zone. This is a new year, guys. We're still in the beginning of the new year. We want to push you out of your comfort zone to get you results. So that is our goal is really really. For you to think about what is stopping me right now?
Why haven't I started or why haven't I scaled? What is that? So what does that look like for you right now?
Melissa: And one of the things I think that stops a lot of people, which we do talk about on here and we talk like we've talked about before, but it is analysis paralysis. It's like having to know all the things or having to feel like you've you know how to tackle everything that's going to happen in your flipping business before you even list something on eBay. And that like in reality of course it's great to know and be prepared. You want to be prepared for whatever can happen but the best way to be prepared is to go through it. So like you're not going to get any better training or any better learning thing than actually just doing it because that's where you learn the most. So.
Rob: That is huge. It is so huge and for maybe you're not listing on eBay yet, maybe you're scared, you're terrified because a lot of people that we've talked to, they're like, it's an unknown.
I don't know guys. That's okay. You can totally list one item list a $5, a $10 item, one that's not going to break the bank, one that's not going to hurt you if it does go south, but then what if it does go good? What if you learn the process? What if you learn how to do good pictures? What if you learn how to do good listings?
And you get an item sold that maybe it was $5 or $10, guess what? You took the first step and then you can keep going and going and going with it. And maybe right now you're stuck, you're stuck on finding those $15, $20, $30 items and you know how to do the process on eBay. But you need to go to that next level.
Guys, just start. You have to go. Go to a $100 item. Find a $100 item. Get it listed. Then you can go to $1,000. And you can go on and on and on. But the biggest thing is you will make mistakes. We're going to give you permission right up front. You will make mistakes in this business. It doesn't hurt that bad if you're starting off low.
You're starting off with maybe some five dollar, ten dollar items. It doesn't hurt that bad. You're going to learn from those mistakes and you're not going to make them again. So that is our biggest encouragement to you is just get started. You have to get started before you can get to the next level and we want to encourage you guys to do that.
Melissa: I'll share one of our mistakes that we learned from and that we will never do again.
We shipped out, was a sleep number bed. And we didn't get insurance on it because it's a sleep number. So we sold a bunch of sleep numbers over the years. It's all padding. It's all like, it boxes up really nice in a box. Like it doesn't, it's not a big bed. It breaks down. Anyways, if it's in a box, it's padding.
It's bedding. It doesn't, it can't break. Like it cannot physically break. So we're like, why do you need insurance? But it was a $500 or $600 package. But why do you need insurance? Because there's no way that you can drop it on. What you can do whatever you wanted and that thing's not going to break. Right.
Makes sense. So we didn't get insurance, which was like, what is insurance? Five or 10 bucks. Like it probably was about $10 on a $600 package and they lost the package. So guess what? We only got our $100 that's included with the shipping price and they lost the package. And so we lost about $500 on that deal.
And now we get insurance on everything because everything that goes over $100 gets insured because they can lose it.
Rob: And that was an expensive mistake on our part, but guess what? We learned never again will I ever ship anything in my life without paying that extra couple dollars for insurance. And if you think about it, we have automobile insurance.
We have a homeowner's insurance. We have insurance everywhere to protect us if something happens. Our roof was damaged in one of the hurricanes a while back. Guess what? We had insurance. They paid for it. But that is, that's what you have to realize. And I didn't think about that while we were shipping stuff because like Melissa said, it can't get damaged.
So why do we need to pay that extra $10 for it? You need to pay the extra money for insurance. So that is a lesson that we learned. We learned it on a more expensive item. But if you learn that on a five dollar item or a ten dollar item, it doesn't hurt that bad It doesn't. Well that's included. It is well for everything.
Yeah, you're right even USPS, but still you're gonna learn some of those lessons Something's going to happen just know that something's going to happen and you're going to get better and better. So now we're way, way better at how we ship stuff, how we pay for insurance, everything that we do, every mistake that we ever made in this business.
We've gotten better and better how to navigate those things so much better just by going through those mistakes.
Melissa: And I'll name one more that I know we've done in the past. It's been a while. And I know people, this is one that happens kind of when you're first getting started is if you have two packages going out at the same time and you swap the labels and they go to the wrong person, that is kind of a common one.
That now, after you do that one time, you will double check those labels and make sure they're going to the right place. And so, you know, you do it once and then you don't do it again because you're like, okay, it happened. It's not going to happen again. I did want to also add, I know we're talking about like getting started, like.
Taking that first step forward, but I do want to challenge. I know a lot of our members listen to this podcast. I want to challenge people who have been in the freight group who wanted to ship freight to get their first freight item listed. So if you're in our group and you are, have been thinking about, I know some people have posted recently, like, I'm going to challenge you to, to get that freight item listed and of course as it sells, we'll help you in the group.
But I just want to, throw that out there. So, because that is another big step for a lot of people. Get those, get the scary stuff done, go through it and do it. And if the mistakes happen, it's okay. Like you'll learn from it and you'll grow from it. So.
Rob: Absolutely. And you cannot grow if you do not try to do it.
So even the conference we were just at, it was not a cheap conference to go to. There's a lot of people there, but so many people have been sitting on the sidelines for years wanting to do this. And it wasn't just about eBay or selling or reselling anything like that.
Melissa: It was like the general business and
Rob: business stuff, even starting YouTube channels or starting an online business or doing different things like that. And it was just a network of cool people that we got to hang out with for a couple of days. But at the same time, they've been thinking about this. They've been contemplating, they've been really trying to get stuff lined up. And they just haven't done it because I think it really boils down to analysis paralysis.
You're thinking about all the stuff that can go wrong before it even goes wrong. And that's what paralyzes you. But guess what? What if it goes right? What if you do this and you start getting the results that you, you were attracted to this in the first place? Why were you attracted to reselling or flipping?
What if it actually goes right? And you start learning and you're getting better and better and making more money. Then you thought that you were originally going to do what if it goes, right? So think about that instead of all the stuff that's going to go wrong if you really really start you can start building this business and it is an amazing business.
Melissa: I will also I wrote down in my notes too when talking about this is Rewiring your brain. That we talked to Nick about that at one of our events. And he, talks about rewiring your brain because after 35, like we've created these neural pathways in your brain that are going to do the same thing over and over. So you create these habits and these patterns and they're hard to get out of after 35.
And so, and most people who are listening to this are probably over 35. I mean, we are too. And so it's harder to change habits later on. And so if you've been, you know, thinking about, getting your thing listed or thinking about going to do it, but you haven't done it. What do you, what habit do you need to change to go make that happen?
So, I think that could be very powerful because maybe, like for you, I know I've said this before, but for you, after we heard him talk about that, you're like, okay, I need to get my listings done at night or I need to go, you know, I, but I'm tired and I, instead I just sit and watch Netflix, which there's nothing wrong with that, but at the same time, you're like, okay, I'm going to go do 10 pushups. Then I'm going to get some stuff listed. Then I can go watch Netflix. So that it was just a change in your pattern, a pattern interrupt. And that helped a lot.
Rob: And that's how you change those habits. And if you want results and something's got to give too, cause I know a lot of you guys who listen to this, you probably have full time you're trying to do this on the side. It's okay, guys, we flip on the side. We're flipping five or less hours a week is what we're spending on our flipping business. And we're still making crazy, crazy bank with that time that we're putting towards it, which means you can too, but you have to start somewhere.
That's the biggest thing. I got sidetracked on where I was going with that,
Melissa: where are you going to get started rewiring your brain? Was it something on
Rob: rewiring your brain? Exactly. If you come home from work and you're tired, everybody. That's what everybody deals with. If you have a full time job in doing that for us, it's kids, it's coaching.
It's so much other stuff out there, that gets in the way, but you have to start rewiring your brain, figuring out how to get to that, making it happen. So you can reap the benefits after you do it. Where did we just listen to that long ago about sowing seeds, planting and sowing seeds?
Melissa: What was that? Was it a podcast?
Rob: It might have been a podcast. But anyways, that's what you have to start. You have to start sowing those seeds. I bet it was Russell.
Melissa: Yeah, I think it was the other day.
Rob: He was talking about planting the seeds, planting those seeds. Now.
Melissa: That's it.
Rob: Don't plant them. And I have one of my favorite shirts that we, we actually send out sometimes is a year from now, you'll wish you had started today.
And that's one of my, and I get so many comments when I wear that shirt, just because people are like, that is so true. And it's true about a lot of stuff.
You wore it at the conference and people took pictures of it.
So that's one of the things that you're going to regret not starting today, whatever it is, don't put it off any longer, get to it, get it done. And you will be so happy that you did.
So, that's our encouragement for the day. Encouragement. We love encouraging as we love helping you guys get to the next level. So hopefully this was helpful for you guys to really think about it. One of our last podcast, we were talking about doing something scary. This might lie, fall into the same thing of what is, what is it that you need to get done that you are scared to get done right now?
And you keep putting it off. We're going to encourage you. We're going to challenge you to do that again, do it. Don't put it off because you're going to be so thankful you did in a year and a week and a month, whatever it is, you will be happy that you did it. If you start taking that first step. So.
Melissa: Thanks guys for listening. You're awesome.
Rob: You guys are amazing. Have an amazing day and we'll see you on the next episode.