Introduction
I had stopped heavy reselling back in early 2017 or so. I still had some returned items that I was able to return to Kohl’s; however, they gave me back Kohl’s Cash instead of merchandise credit. I then spent way too much time finding items to buy to maximize my Kohl’s Cash. I eventually gave in and bought some iPod Shuffles (this was back in summer 2017.) With fees and shipping, I was only out 10-15% I figured. I had something like 3 of them and posted them on Ebay for $50 or so. That’s where they sat for a while until one day, all 3 sold out immediately. That was interesting I thought. A quick Google search revealed that Apple had discontinued the Shuffles and Nanos. Eureka! I figured there was no use case for the Nano, but I could still see runners wanting the Shuffle since a) it’s very portable and b) it’s only $50.
Buying them all
I knew this would be a long play, and that I’d have to sit on these until Christmas, but I was okay with that. I started buying from Bestbuy.com, Target, com, and Walmart.com. Walmart was the first to start cancelling my orders and banning me. This was only after a few orders too. They are STRICT! I was going strong with Bestbuy.com and Target.com for a while. I started to buy open box ones from BestBuy.com once they ran out of new ones. Target seemed to have the most stock since that’s where I sourced the most. They too started to cancel my orders after a while. That’s when I started having them shipped to my mom. I eventually found Kohls.com and got some there as well.
Locally, I was able to get a few dozen per Apple store. My excuse – “these are for bachelor/[ette] gifts.” Every rep said, “Oh that’s a great idea.” Yes, I know. I cleaned out a few local stores. There is also Fred Meyer, a local Kroger chain. I even bought all of them out. I enlisted my friend who drives around more than me to buy out local stores. Heck, I even made this Google map for he and I – green marker = Fred Meyer, yellow marker = Target, blue marker – Walmart, red marker – store has been cleaned out.
Selling them
Like I said, I had to sit on these for 3-4 months until Christmas rolled around. That’s when I started to sell them on Ebay for $100 gross. Fees were about 15% including shipping. I was selling a handful a week, which I was okay with. Eventually, I raised prices to $105 and they still sold just as well. Then I raised them to $110. Sales steadily came in. I had 1 USPS package go missing on me and had to refund the buyer. I had 1 return because the buyer didn’t realize “how small it would be.” FML. I had a 3rd return because “it stopped working after a few days.” FACEPALM.
Mass sell
After 3-4 months of this, eventually someone contacted me on Ebay asking to buy the rest of my inventory for $90 a piece. I told them I was making $100 net on them and was in no rush to move them. They then agreed to buy them for $100 each. I still had a LOT left and was uncomfortable selling this online due to fraud or chargebacks. Luckily, they were located in Oregon, and I offered to drive down there and drop it off to them if they gave me a CASHIER’S CHECK. They agreed to this, but wanted some time to randomly inspect some of them. That was okay by me. So this past Saturday, I drove all the way down to Oregon and made the sale. I was worried I’d be robbed, and told my friends where I’d be just in case they didn’t hear back from me. I also considered them giving me a bad check, but I figured since they were a business, I could easily go to the police on them. Luckily everything worked out fine.
I figure my average cost was probably $52-$53 each due to Target GC’s, so I was close to a 90% ROI. Could I have slowly sold them all? Sure, but I figure there has to be a ceiling to these iPods. I couldn’t see someone paying $200 for them; maybe $125-$150 by THIS Christmas. By unloading them all now, I could use that capital elsewhere and wouldn’t have to deal with any more customer issues. It’s funny because when I was dropping them off, the buyer also told me they too were trying to buy them all up, but it seems they weren’t as successful as I was (or at least didn’t go as hard as I did.)
Lessons Learned
When Apple discontinues a relatively “hot” item, stock up!
I’ve been following your blog for awhile now, to me this is your most impressive post to date. To see an opportunity that most would have never noticed and then to hit it HARD and yet be willing to sit on a huge inventory until the holidays takes a lot of nerve. I’m speculating this was at a minimum a $20K windfall, very well done!
Thanks David, but c’mon, the Smart N Final run has to be #1.
One thing not mentioned in this post, is how small the items are. That’s a big plus as they are easy to store away in a situation like this, where you knew you’d be sitting on them for a while.
Right; I wouldn’t have done this with monitors
Great job, Vinh
Interesting article. I remember purchasing a new iPod shuffle on Craigslist for $20 a few years ago. You made a bet on the future supply and demand for the iPod shuffles and it paid off.
1) How did you decide that it was a good bet? Selling price on Ebay, Craigslist, etc…vs. purchase price at Apple Store, Fred Meyer, etc?
2) Did you consider traveling to other states to purchase more iPod shufffles?
1) No, it was my gut telling me the Shuffle would have a market by Christmas (also why I didn’t go hard on the $150 Nano since if you’re going to run with a Nano, you may as well run with your iphone.)
2. No because near the end, I was at my limit of risk tolerance.
Nicely done!
I’m glad your transaction involving a cashiers check worked out OK. That said I do tons of in-person Craigslist-type transactions and I accept cash only, NEVER money order(s) nor cashiers checks. I have a friend that sold a truckload of cattle (no kidding) and was paid by cashiers check which later proved to be a high-quality forgery. My biggest in-person cash transaction was $8K (several tix to a major sporting event).
That was a very major concern. Since it was a legit business, I was comfortable taking a cashier’s check. If it was a random person, I def would have wanted CASH only. Did your friend sell to a biz or random?
I don’t know my friend’s transaction was with a biz or not, but I do know that he was left holding the bag to the tune of several thousand dollars.
Impressive!
So how many did you end up selling?
I purposely kept that number out of the post, so I’ll let your imagination run wild.
Considering the effort you put into the Google Map and all, plus willingness to drive to Oregon and judging by the photo, definitely not less than 500
Why?
You declared it as income right? 😮
I count 554 though there may be more in the boxes.