Zac: girl on one time and she was in the warehouse just sweating and the fan was so loud I was like we've gotta turn it off but I can tell you're just like dripping sweat but no I can't hear it whatsoever so you're Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Okay, good. Zac: fine. so quick introduction if you've watched it at all. It's built by Liquidation reseller podcast. good I I I love that. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: it all the time. I try to educate myself. Zac: Well listen if I can help anybody like learn from any of my mistakes, then it's well worth the time that we invest in it. You know, I I said this to somebody of the day, like, I really when we started, you know, it was me and it was my ex-wife at the time, and we I got to quit working for my dad, which was like a huge step for me. 'Cause I mean, love my dad, but he's very hard to work for. For me, like, as his son. I'm sure other people love working for him. but it was like This I can resell, I can make money, I can do own thing. I wanna help other people do it. And that's why we started selling palettes. And then from from then to now, like I've missed that. Something's been missing. Like I I don't really enjoy what we do anymore. Like it's reselling, you know, but that's w this is what I know, this is what I'm good at. This is what I'm gonna keep doing. So like the education is kind of a way for me to like hopefully enjoy part of it again because I don't know, the industry's just getting harder and harder. You're getting in at a a really difficult time. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Right. Zac: to n not to give you like a whole lot of confidence or anything, but it's definitely Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Trying to keep it small. Zac: Well, and that's you know, it's it's funny you say that because when we so we started off with fifteen hundred square feet and we graduated Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Mm. Zac: to fifteen tho I think it was fifteen thousand square feet and I wanted to keep getting bigger and getting bigger and I I talked to somebody at the time and he he's like stay this if you're if you're making money you're c you're happy, just stay the size you are. Like, don't get any bigger. And now this guy owns NASCAR teams. Right. So it was like that's really hard to take advice from you when you're you fly private, you've got the NASCAR teams, like you're full of it. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: and so I didn't listen. And we keep getting bigger and we keep taking on more more stuff, and like the it's the whole like the more money, more problems is a real thing. Like, and so the the people that can be content with like the size they are and the money they're making. I'm always like super like I'm impressed by people because I have a really tough time going, Hey, when is it gonna be enough? And when can we slow down? Like I never feel like what I'm doing is enough or like it'll never be enough and so like we just keep going and like never really get to feel the like never get to feel it. so no, if you're content, stay the size you are. I love that. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: My goal is to have a small store where I can actually buy a truckload, but nothing bigger than that. I don't want to be bigger than that. Zac: So you want a st you want a retail front or you just want you want a location so you can get it out of your house? Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Yeah, I want a location so I can get it out of my house and I can have more than two pallets at a time because that's all I can fit in my garage. I can I can receive two pallets at a time and I wanna at least my my goal is to actually buy a truckload. And I don't want a store to be open, you know, all week long. I really want a store where I can receive a truckload. I can have the store open kind of when I want it. You know, I like having it at the house. So if somebody calls and is like Or messages me and says, Hey, do you have this? I can just look. I don't really the store I like doing the lives here and I only do two a week. I post, I make money posting too. so the store is really to be able to have more. I would like to have more and it because it's taking over my house. It's Zac: Yeah, well sometimes you don't feel like it's real until like you get it 'cause we started in my ba my parents' basement apartment. And so Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: like most people are stepping on their kids' Legos and I'm tripping over, you know, air mattresses and ninja blenders. Okay. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Yeah, luckily I live by myself now. But I did have my daughter, son-in-law, two grandkids and two grand dogs living here for almost a year. So it was rough. But but Zac: It it was a lot with all that going on. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: now it's just me. But yeah, I mean I do I just want a very small store enough to like receive, you know, a truck, maybe have somewhere Zac: Yeah. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: where I could do some lives and the stuff that's not selling, put it out. you know, people want to come in. But I just don't Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Zac: When when they come in to pick up, they can also shop some kind of shell. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: We also need a little bit more space because sometimes stuff doesn't sell in one live and you need it you don't always want to give it away right away, so you need a little bit of time, you know, to Dawn Jensen Sorrows: No. Yeah. Zac: to s I like storing a little bit of product, but I don't like storing a lot of product. I think I don't I don't like inventory I at all in our business. but you need you need to be able to Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Yes, I don't either. Zac: buy a little bit more and You know, I I talk about truckload buying a lot because I think everybody wants that's like when people buy a truck, they think they've made it. But when you're when you're that size, you really you get to cherry pick other people's truckloads, right? So like you could go into whatever pallet warehouse you want at any time that you need product and pick their best pallets off their trucks. And I hated customers like like that. When I we we sold pallets for eight years. And it was the same story. Every week somebody would come in and they would oops, might have lost ya. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Are you there? Zac: Yep, I'm there. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Let me see if I can do something real quick. Siri. Zac: No, you're good. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Siri, put my phone on do not disturb. Ugh, it won't let me do it. I don't know if it did it or not. We'll see. Zac: Okay. No, I've listen, I I've got two phones and they don't stop they don't stop going off for anything, so Dawn Jensen Sorrows: I don't Can you see me or no? Is it Zac: You're still off at the moment. Let me see. Whoops. Missed well. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: my goodness. This is his own. Come on, man. Zac: You might maybe hop out of the app and go back right back in. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Okay. Let me try that. Zac: Nope, you're good. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: can you hear me? It's just Zac: I can hear you fine. You d audio's perfect. Dawn Jensen Sorrows: not yeah, the audio. You want me to hop out and cut back on? Zac: Yeah, try to if you have an iPhone just like swipe up Dawn Jensen Sorrows: Okay. Zac: and swipe out and just hop right back in. that's loud. That'll let her in. There we Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: go. Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I put my phone on do not disturb. Zac: Nope. You're good. okay, so more space is is the goal. truck that's what I was saying. Yeah. Everyone wants to buy trucks and really you there's so much value in being able to like cherry pick other people's stuff. When you have the truck, especially I mean I know you're primarily a whatnot seller or live seller. I've seen you on TikTok several times. when you start buying the truck, you have to deal with all of the things the truck comes with. Right. And a lot of time there's no truck out there that fits your platform a hundred percent and you're always stuck with a lot of stuff you don't want and need. and when there's a problem, it's a bigger problem. You know, it's twenty-six pallets of problem versus two pallets at a time. so you know, a truckload is always a cool goal and it's really cool to see a truck backing in in the forklift and everything. I mean, my suggestion if for as long as you possibly can, and it's worth it to you. Let like other people take the truckload risk and just nitpick their pallets. I mean, listen, Dawn Sorrows: Okay. By the palace. Okay. Zac: as a pal a previous pallet seller, I hate this advice, right? 'Cause like that's Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: what would happen to me. We'd we'd buy twenty six pallets, the truck would come in, the first twelve pallets sold right away. The second twelve pallets would sit for weeks 'cause people didn't want them. But it Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: it's the same thing that'll happen to you if you buy a truck. You'll have the first twelve pallets and then the back twelve pallets will just be a death pile that'll just that'll just pile up. so palette people Dawn Sorrows: That's great advice. I I and I will take that. That is great advice. Zac: listen, palette people will hate me for saying that, but it is the truth. Dawn Sorrows: Hi. Zac: And anybody that says it's not is lying to you because there's just there's no perfect truck that works for any 'cause people Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: have called me, you know, I need I saw I'm an eBay seller, I need a truckload eBay. I'm like, it doesn't really exist. You know, there's electronics truckloads, but nobody wants to spend, you know, forty, fifty thousand dollars that you know, for what they what they really need. so I know you got started fairly recently, in the last like six months or so. Dawn Sorrows: Well let me tell you the story. Zac: That's what that's what I was going into is give me the give me the background before you before you started and then why what made you say, Hey, enough's enough at my Dawn Sorrows: I need. Zac: job and let's let's start reselling. Dawn Sorrows: So I really started a year ago, like late April, early May, as kind of like a side hustle. my mom passed away in February. and I needed something to keep me busy. she'd had a stroke and she'd been in a nursing home for like five years, and it just took a toll on me and my sister. it was really rough. And after her passing, I really did. I needed something to keep me busy. You know, I'm I've been divorced for ten years. I live in the house by myself. And so it was kind of a funny story. I used to go to Dollar General and try to do the penny shopping and I had all Zac: Okay, the couponing. Dawn Sorrows: this stuff in my garage, all these pool floats. And so at her memorial, my daughter was like, Mom, you just need to open a store. And then I fell upon whatnot. And I was like, this is pretty cool. And I had been buying off of a lady on Facebook. She did some live sales. And I used to sell Tupperware a long, long time ago. And I, you know, wanted to see if she wanted to buy all my Tupperware. And she just said, Well, why don't you do a live sale? I was like, Really? So I did a live sale and it just kind of fell like that. And I thought, you know, this might be fun. It'd keep me busy, keep me occupied. So I started doing it. I had a job. I'd been in logistics for over thirty years. I did ocean imports and exports. I was in sales. and so I kind of did it as a side hustle just for fun. And then in February of this year, I got laid off my job of over ten years. Zac: Wow. Dawn Sorrows: I'd been with my company for ten years, never been laid off of a job or fired in my entire life. I'm fifty nine years old. I didn't know what I was gonna do, but Zac: The huge shock. Dawn Sorrows: I I was so shocked. And I had plenty of job offers. You know, I was in sales, so all my customers, competitors are reaching out to me and I talked to some friends who have been helping me do this for fun and family members, and I was like, you know what? I think I'm gonna take a chance. I Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: think I'm gonna do this full time. And I did, and I've had so many family and friends that have reached out, helped me for nothing. Like just for, you know, a friend of mine who I've been friends with for 40 years helps me every week and I don't pay her a dime. No, of course she'll say, hey, can I have this? Can I have that? you know, my Zac: That's a for sure, that's the best kind of like label. Dawn Sorrows: my nephew helps me with my lives every week. He goes to college full time and he comes every night I do my lives and he puts stuff in people's bins for me and I've been doing it full time since February, since I got laid off. And I'm gonna tell you what, I was scared to death, but I'm here to say I said I was gonna give it six months and I can pay my bills. I've been I have twelve grandkids and I have been able to do so much. My son is in the military, he was deployed, he was in the middle of this war, and I was able to go to his homecoming and surprise him. I, you know, I have been since February. every month I have been somewhere out of the state. my granddaughter made it to the junior Olympics for gymnastics. I was able to watch her compete. I've got to do so much that I would not have been able to do with a regular job. Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: I've been beyond blessed. I'm glad that I took this chance. I'm gonna continue to do this and the community, we call it the Deals with Dawn family. Zac: Hmm. Dawn Sorrows: They're amazing. every Christmas, well, this is our second Christmas. My Zac: Mm-hmm. Dawn Sorrows: other son, I have twin boys. My other son works for Butts County Sheriff's Department. He's a canine officer. We donate to their Christmas drive for the kids at Butts County. Zac: Uh-huh. Dawn Sorrows: We do raffles. we donate clothes, shoes, toys, everything we can. and so they donate, they'll donate you know, a certain dollar amount, we start doing it around July, August. And then Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I do raffles and they get all kinds of good stuff. So Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: I feel like my customers are my family. They're my friends. they show up like my my gate to my fence needs to be repaired and I have a customer Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: that's gonna come do it. Like we're just a big family and being laid off was it was a blessing. You know, I miss the coworkers that I had, but doing what I do, I enjoy it so much. Zac: You've got so much freedom, it sounds like. Dawn Sorrows: it it really, really is, but I love what I'm doing. And I've helped people. We do we've done Families of the Month where my customers donate and we've been able to help families in need. Zac: Well. Dawn Sorrows: and we I've kind of stopped doing that right now because we're doing for the Butts County. Zac: Mm. Dawn Sorrows: But we've been able to raise thousands of dollars for families in need. I have them do up a story, I post a picture of them, and I'm telling you these people come together for families in need. And it's it Zac: That's amazing. Dawn Sorrows: it it's very heartfelt and it makes Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: me feel good to know that I have these people that come together. It's a good feeling. Zac: Well it's it's awesome and it it sounds so like what's interesting to me, you know, when we first started and it you know, we started with you know a Facebook group and selling individual items and it definitely felt more like you said, it was more of a community when we're selling to like the people who use the item versus wholesale. but the power of social media, right, because all of your stuff is on social media, your Facebook, your your Dawn Sorrows: Yes. Zac: whatnot, you're on TikTok, so like you're building this social presence. It's not just the bit it's you that people are falling in love with. And I think something, you know, there's pros and cons to live selling and you know, I've got my opinions and but at the end of the day, like you're building you you have a brand. You are the brand. Like they they're falling in love with you. The the product is is a secondary thing. Like they're getting a great deal and they're super excited, I'm sure, but people are coming back for you. And I think anybody with a good personality that has a that has hustle in them can can be a reseller. There's no you know, we We talk about education and I can tell you what I made mistakes on, but like at the end of the day, reselling there's no special sauce. You just you either can resell, you're a reseller, or you don't understand the concept and your customers love you and which is awesome. I mean you're building all of that and you're able to do a lot of good and that's really cool. I love I love the story. You know, it sucks you got laid off, but it sounds like it was the right thing for you. Dawn Sorrows: Was Zac: And i you honestly you answered one my questions, right? Because a lot of people in reselling when they start the f they start at full time, their families aren't always super supportive because some people don't consider reselling a real job. it sounds like your family was the complete opposite and just jumped in to just like, where can I help you? Which is that was how my family was. You know, my but my parents were super supportive and we couldn't have done it without them. so it's really cool you had a similar experience and people just Dawn Sorrows: really did. Zac: still helping. Which is awesome. Dawn Sorrows: I have and I have to tell you this. So we have, you know, I've got five grown adult children and we have a family group chat and yes, and my ex husband's in it too. That's who was calling me when I when I only got Zac: That's so funny. Dawn Sorrows: disconnected. so I took a screenshot of your invite for this and I said, fam I got invited to be on a podcast and so after I sent that, my oldest daughter literally called me and it it it it made me tear up and she was like, Mom, I'm so proud of you. And when one of your kids tells you they're proud of you, that's like I'll get teary eyed. I mean, that would that was like a huge thing to me. Like to have your kids tell you they're proud of you. It was huge for me. It really was. It made me feel really good. Zac: Yeah. No, it's a a hundred percent. I mean, I don't I'm thirty. My y my youngest is six. I I got to experience that a little bit. a few years back. I guess they had some kind of something at school about leaders and they asked they were asking, you know, is is mommy a good leader or daddy a good leader? And they asked my youngest, Is mommy a good leader? And he immediately goes, No, but my daddy is and I was like I just you know Nothing else mattered the entire day. You couldn't have like convinced me of anything else. It was the biggest thing for a long I mean, I sh I don't know how many people I sent that video to, but Dawn Sorrows: That's huge. Zac: it means a whole lot more when your kids are proud. Dawn Sorrows: It it really does. It really does. But I have had so much support. Like I could not do this without my friends and family. I really, really couldn't. Everybody has stepped up to help me do this. Zac: Well, I think it's awesome. you know, I think I've watched you the last few months and you know, it's really important to me. A lot of people Dawn Sorrows: Thank you. Zac: have you know, I wanna s I want people to learn from people who have done it, but it's been twelve years since I started and we started on Facebook and with the Facebook groups and you forget some of the challenges that you had when you first started out. And so you're trying to teach people, and I can teach people today what my challenges are, what I remember, but like You know, you you forget hauling the first pallet into your home. Like we didn't have a garage. We had double doors and we ha I mean, we're, you know, dragging crap inside, right? So you forget some of that twelve years later. And so I love talking to people who are just, you know, within their first year or two, 'cause they're dealing with the like the the first the first things. So, you know, that's that's w to roll into a question is What was the first major challenge you had? Fast forward after the after the Dollar General or the floats and stuff, but your first palette, when did you like I don't know if I did the right thing here. Dawn Sorrows: Think learning Like stuff that doesn't sell and it starts accumulating. my gosh, what am I gonna do with it? How am I gonna get rid of it? that was my biggest struggle is what do I do with stuff that's not selling? Getting creative. and I will tell you, I I know that I've reached out to you several times for you know advice. What do I do with this? What should I do? I watch your videos. I'm always watching your Facebook post. and thank you for for the advice and thank you for that. And I do try to educate myself as much as I possibly can because I am brand new to this. you know, liquidation is liquidation. You know, when I first started out, I think I thought, everything's brand new. No, it's not. They're store returns, they're open boxes. and I and I, you know, I learned some hard lessons with that. and I don't know if you know this, but my first two palettes I purchased from you. One was an Amazon Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: palette and one was a Hamilton Beach appliance palette. And they were Zac: Okay, from a whatnot show. Dawn Sorrows: great palettes. They were. They were they were, you know, lessons that I learned, but they were not bad palettes. They were great palettes. I I think a lot of most of the stuff that I first bought, I bought from you. Zac: No her. Dawn Sorrows: but I think that was the thing is when stuff doesn't sell, it starts sitting in a corner and I'm st like I'm staring at a shelf right now. Stuff that's not moved and I'm like, Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: What am I gonna do with it? And then I just push it over here and push it over here and I you know, I'm I am trying to get creative. I just started doing something two weeks in a row now where I call it What's in the bag Wednesday and I'm filling it with stuff that, you know, hasn't sold, but I also put at least one good item in there and I'm made a golden ticket with a fifty dollar gift certificate in it and I'm only selling ten at a time. And yes. Yes. Zac: So mystery bags instead of mystery boxes. huh. Dawn Sorrows: But but it does at least have something good in there like Zac: Good in it. Like Dawn Sorrows: a a Lulu wristlet or a timeo hair tool or something something of value. Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: But it also has at least 10 random things. Zac: It has the crap that I need to get rid of. Dawn Sorrows: And then a gold a golden ticket. Yeah. And I call it what's in the back Wednesday. Zac: So how many of those do you sell in a week? You said ten. Dawn Sorrows: I'm only selling ten a week and they're twenty five dollars. Zac: Have you now you just started the last two weeks? Are you selling out or it's gone? They're gone. Well, that tells Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. I'm s people aren't getting Yeah, it they're gone. They're like Zac: you that it's probably underpriced, but it also tells you like people like them. So like it gets rid of your stuff, and that's that's huge. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. It's getting rid of it. Zac: It's better to to figure out how to move that when it's a shelf versus Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: you know, we're doing we're liquidating a thousand pallets for somebody right now, and they should have had a what's in the bag deal. five years ago and they didn't and Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: then now this is our problem to to to do. So like inventory I tell people it's not you know we had a at our biggest we had 150,000 square feet and we had a huge target subcontract when it was it was COVID and it was it was target case pack. And we were paying it was three fifty a pallet or three twenty five a pallet as long as the pallet was six foot tall. If wasn't six foot tall, we paid half price. Paid 175 a power. and we were just making we were able to sell just enough to pay for the product to come in the following week. It was 40 trucks a week. And I would you know, I wasn't really making any I we were making money, but we couldn't feel it because all of it was going back into inventory. And I remember I I Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: would walk the warehouse and I would count my pallets and I'd go, okay, well, I have at least this much money in inventory. And it you're lying to yourself, right? Because say I think every pallet's worth $300. Well and I've got a thousand pallets. Well, I'm telling you right now, if someone walked in and offered me two hundred dollars a pallet to take everything, I'm taking that money right. That's a hundred thousand dollar difference. And Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: people trick themselves, you know, into counting their inventory before it sells. It doesn't count till the money's in the bank. Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: you know, so you're you're I love the what's in the bag because you're, you know, you're you're going ahead and you're you're getting you're taking care of it before you get your big warehouse space. because the bigger space you have The more that product's gonna accumulate, because you have the space to store it. and every time, you know, I we started off with 1500 square feet, and every time I walked into the new building that was that was bigger, I walked in, I will never fill this building up. 150,000 square feet later, when we stopped taking the target contract, there was no space. We were literally having discussions about tarping it outside in the parking lot. You know, like that's a lot of that's a lot of product to fill up a building with. so fast for backing up. So that was your first palette. That's your biggest your first real big struggle is accumulating inventory. have you lost money on a palette yet or is everything you've just been making money left and right? Dawn Sorrows: absolutely lost money. yeah. The shipping is killing me. Zac: Okay, so you're shipping a lot of stuff in right now. Dawn Sorrows: I'm trying not to. I've Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: you know, found local, but Zac: I saw the tool palette we bought last week. That went well. I see the Lowe's Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, yeah, that went well. Zac: toolbox behind you. I'm guessing that was a palette purchase. did you buy it? Dawn Sorrows: a purchase. That was that was my big girl purchase. Zac: That is so funny because I had to buy one just like it for my girlfriend. Dawn Sorrows: Love that. Zac: It the same thing. And but w what's worse is the next week we were buying Lowe's and I had two I had two come in on a palette. So Dawn Sorrows: No. Zac: right I literally it was like I think those are five ninety eight. I just bought one. So now instead of one toolbox, I have three pink toolboxes in my shed. Because she wanted all Dawn Sorrows: You first. Zac: of them. So and she gets what she wants. So there's no Dawn Sorrows: Well I d that's right, you'd be good. Zac: There's no saying no. Dawn Sorrows: I got it on clearance and I got a girl that that helps me out. She works at Lowe's, so I got the Lowe's discount too, so yeah. Zac: Okay. Nice. Well they're super cool. I like them. I think they're I do think they're cute. I like the one that has the American Eagle like a across the side. Dawn Sorrows: Love this. Like I just got it Saturday plus. I had to have something nice in my background. Once it's not so hot, I'm gonna redo this garage and give it a whole makeover with the neon sign and all the good stuff. Yeah. Zac: Yeah. Well that's cool. I like the I like the toolbox. I think it's neat. Do you put in Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: shipping supplies in there or you putting actual like tools in there? Dawn Sorrows: I got shipping supplies, I got a couple of tools in there, my box cutters and I got a little bit of everything in there. Yep. Yeah. Yep. I'm trying. Zac: Yeah, well you're organized. That's what matters. So you've lost money on a pallet. What palette? What kind of palette did you lose money Dawn Sorrows: for sure. Zac: on? Dawn Sorrows: I've lost money on a bedding palette. I've lost money on like a palette that has, you know, the big appliances. Zac: Hmm. And you think you lost money because the palette was just it was a crappy palette, or you think you lost money because it wasn't meant it was just a crappy palette? Yeah. Okay. Dawn Sorrows: yeah. A hundred percent crappy crappy palette. Yeah. Zac: You think it was mis misrepresented or you think it was just like luck of the draw? Dawn Sorrows: Had it happen both times. Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: One was definitely misrepresented. I mean, yeah, there was like Calvin Klein bedding on top, and it was a twin comforter. And nobody Zac: Mm. Dawn Sorrows: would even, it was like a $225 comforter. I couldn't even get $25 for. Zac: Betting's always been difficult for us, right? 'Cause like it's always on sale. Dawn Sorrows: It it I mean, it's hit or miss for me. You know, like I bought I paid two fifty for the palette and then four fifty for shipping. Zac: Who are you using for shipping right now? Dawn Sorrows: I mean, if I buy a pallet on whatnot I can't pick the shipping. Zac: They're doing got it. So you're buying your so you're buying your palace through whatnot right now. Okay. Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: Have you looked at Mike Levine up there at Med City Auctions? Dawn Sorrows: have I bought a couple palettes from them Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: they weren't bad but they do a lot of sands so I don't know Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: I like I do like the Target stuff Target stuff goat does really well for me Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I the I can th I can sell the threshold and the castle all day long. Zac: the the bedding. Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: Got it. The Casolina I've got a lot of Casluna stuff in my house. it's really nice. It's expensive stuff. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: that's the problem with bedding and it's a problem with a lot of product, right? Is and we deal with this a lot with what we do and we you know we we liquidate for brands and one thing that people don't always understand is that MSRP doesn't always correlate with what I'm gonna sell it for. You know, it's a Dawn Sorrows: Exactly. Zac: five hundred dollar comforter set. You know, most people in today's economy I've you know don't have five hundred dollars for a comforter set. They have fifty Dawn Sorrows: But now. Zac: bucks for a comforter set. And they don't care Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: if it's a Walmart brand comforter set or Calvin Klein. They want something to throw on the bed, they've got fifty bucks, and that's it. And so, you know, you have to set that set that expectation. And we said that expectation all the time with with our clients and hey, I don't care what you thought you could sell it for, it's what someone's willing to pay for it. And especially in the discount, you know, resale market that we're in, our customers are always looking for a bargain. So we Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: have to, you know, we have to find that. And betting's a tough one because a blanket for most people is a blanket. And they want to pay ten dollars or five dollars. And those Casolin ones are nice. but Dawn Sorrows: Exactly. Yep. They are nice. Zac: most people I forget we were somewhere. Is it pottery barn? We went to Pottery Barn last last Christmas I think for for bed sheets. Don't Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: go to Pottery Barn for bed sheets. I was sick when we left with our bed sheets. I was very unhappy. Now they're really nice bed sheets, but like I slept on, you know, Target brand or Walmart brand that d I can sleep on the floor. I don't need, you know, the super nice Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: bed sheets at all. So so you only Buying you're so have you bought any pallets outside of whatnot or are you okay. Well outside of whatnot Dawn Sorrows: yeah. Yeah. I bought I used Zac: to ship, not just outside of whatnot in general. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, I usually I've been going a lot to Elegant and Peace Tree City. I buy a lot from him. I don't know anywhere Zac: Okay. I've had I send a lot of customers they don't like me for the record. Like I don't know what I did to them. Dawn Sorrows: Really? Zac: They used to buy pressure washer palettes from me. when Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: they first got started, Jerry is the dad, and I forget Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Yeah. Zac: the son's name, but they used to come and buy Ryobi pressure washer palettes from us when they were cheap and affordable. and now Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: they're not and we don't sell palettes. But for whatever reason they they don't they don't think of me fondly. But I still I send them I send them customers all the time because there's only so many palette customers, like there's only so many pallet people local anymore. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, but I don't know anyone else local around here other than them. Zac: So you have them I would tell you Jackson, Georgia, there's so he's his friend of mine, his name's David Cavender. he only really does Home Depot though. So Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: I don't think that fits your model at all. I think Elegant probably is the only people like around that sell a variety of palettes. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: Yeah, I'm trying to think of anybody that Have you tried takeoff wholesale and Tyrone? Dawn Sorrows: Target palette of clothing from him and then I bought Zac: No. Dawn Sorrows: some baby palettes that were absolutely crap. Crap. Crap. Zac: I saw him on a podcast the other day and Dawn Sorrows: I won't buy anything from him again. Zac: Yeah. What so my opinion and if if he watches, you know, listen, I always welcome everybody to come on and chat. He he Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, absolutely. Zac: seems like somebody that Dawn Sorrows: I mean, I would never say anything bad about him to anybody, but I I just Yeah. Zac: No, but the product's the product, the product speaks for itself. Like we ha like what I what people I get a lot of people on our podcast, we've had, you know, I think we're fifteen episodes or something, and people are always afraid to call people out. And one thing that I don't care about, 'cause we don't sell like I don't sell liquidation stuff anymore, I'll tell you the truth about people because I don't really care anymore. he seems like a really nice guy, but what he's what it seems Dawn Sorrows: He seemed Zac: like to me, and anybody can correct me, is I don't think he's ever sold the product that he's selling by the palette. If that makes sense. So a lot of people get into the to selling palettes and they they sell the palette and they've never bought the palette to resell it individually. And you're doing Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: you and your customer a massive disservice because how Dawn Sorrows: Uh-huh. Zac: can you suggest me a palette that you've never bought and re you don't know the struggles of this is a great palette. Well, how do you know, man? Like I'll tell you, microwaves Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: suck. I hate buying microwaves. I see microwave palettes with them all the time. And it's a I used to tell people this we used to we used to buy and sell, you know, we We bought pallets, we sold pallets, and I used to tell my customers when we sold microwave pallets, if the microwave doesn't work, it's it's usually just a fuse inside the microwave. I think that's Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: true. I've never swapped a fuse in a microwave. I don't know how. So like I just chuck But I f I think that's the truth is there's a fuse in there and you can just swap out the fuse. but no, I think it's important. Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: selling the palettes but he's never sold, broken down and sold it. I think it's super important to do that. If you're gonna sell palettes, it's you have to like be able to understand your customer and the struggles they're going through 'cause what you're doing is a lot of work. And people don't always like on our side, don't always appreciate how much work and effort it takes to take the palette, go home and sell everything individually, and how much you're actually making on those palettes. 'Cause like Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, I lost money on those. Zac: Yeah. So he said it a baby palette, it was a clothing palette. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. I bought two baby palettes from him in a clothing palette. Now the clothes palette I paid seven hundred and there was like five hundred pieces in there. Now did Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I sell every piece? No, but it wasn't a bad it wasn't a bad clothing palette. You know, Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: you're it's gonna be hit or miss with clothes. And there wasn't Zac: For sure. Dawn Sorrows: a lot of repeats, so there was a lot of Atlanta United on there. you Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: know, I could probably throw some of that on eBay that didn't sell, but the baby palette was terrible. Terrible. Zac: Well Well that was my other I've seen him on Facebook a lot, so he's been he's been pushing. I don't know anybody Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: else local that's that's really got and you haven't Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: have you signed up for Freight Auctions yet to try to get Dawn Sorrows: I've never heard of it. Zac: so Freight Auctions, I was telling the story about the Nat the guy that owns the NASCAR team. Freight auctions has Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: their own NASCAR team. but they're the biggest home depot contract holder in the southeast. They have the Dawn Sorrows: Uh-huh. Zac: they are Home Depot for for for the southeast. But they they have a an in person it's in person, it's not it's in person online. It's an it's a I mean they do fifteen hundred lots, like three or four thousand pallets every two weeks up in Atlanta. you can bid online, you can go in person, but it's silent bidding. So like palette number one, you you submit your bid. You don't know who else is bidding on it, how much you know they're they're bidding. But it's FR the number eight auctions dot com. You've got to apply to bid. I know they have from my understanding they have a wait list. when we first started, that's where we I I I tell this story. We you know, when we first started, we had three thousand dollars in our bank account and then we went to Freight Auctions and I spent two thousand eight hundred and you know, fifty dollars up at the Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: auction and all we had. Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: but it Back I mean, it was a smaller auction at the time. It was in person. It was a lot of fun. they've just moved since COVID they moved to the silent bidding thing and they haven't gone back. But it there I mean it's a ton of product. So Dawn Sorrows: Hello. Zac: it's every two weeks, every I it's every two weeks. I think it's still on Thursday. But if you check out, their website you can see the previous week's auction, so you can at least see what what they've sold Dawn Sorrows: What Zac: and Dawn Sorrows: what is the website again? Zac: FR the number eight auctions dot com. I don't get paid for promoting them, unfortunately. Dawn Sorrows: Ha ha ha. Zac: So just getting started, what's something you've spent money on or you've invested too much of your time on that you tell somebody else to to skip? Dawn Sorrows: No way. What would I stay away from? Zac: So we're yeah, so like one thing that when we did whatnot as an example that I looked back on now and I was it was a waste of time was we used I was cheap and I tried to recycle boxes for our shipping. Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: And so I saved a lot of money. I got I got free boxes. So I I thought I was saving a lot of money. And in reality I was because every box was like different sizes, our team was spending Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: so much time I've got an iPhone and they were looking for the size box they needed versus later on we we just we spent twenty cents a box and we bought you know ten different size boxes and so they knew which box they needed when the item sold and so there was no time wasted sorting through through you know random size boxes. so that's something I mean that's at scale. When you're selling, you know, a smaller size. you gotta save every penny. When you do it yourself, it's different. But we had six shippers at one point and I would watch guys sit there and like spend ten minutes looking for the right size box. And I was saving a quarter. Like, good for me. You know? But Dawn Sorrows: definitely something I will definitely stay away from is I bought like a health and beauty palette that had like 2,000 pieces. Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I don't need 2,000 pieces. I'm not gonna move 2,000 pieces of health and beauty. Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: I don't even know if I would move 500 pieces. I don't have that audience. now I'm sitting on, you know, health and beauty. Like my customer I don't have for me, you know, like if if somebody my size, I've got health and beauty for days. now granted Zac: Yeah. Of the two thousand pieces, how many of you moved? Out of curiosity. I only ask because I've got a customer down in Florida and he is doing really well with Health and Beauty. And he needs more I've been supplying him with like single skew product, like deep runs of the same thing, but he needs more of a like no repeat kind of thing, or very few repeat kind of thing. Dawn Sorrows: You know, it's crazy is I had my granddaughters separating it all by I have it all bagged, like okay, there's Zac: Ha ha. Dawn Sorrows: you know ten of this and there's twenty of this or there's five of this. So I have it all separated. I mean I I'm lucky if I sold 500. Honestly, I have Zac: wow, okay. Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: so much of it. I have so much of it. And I think I paid like 1800 for it. Zac: No fair. Dawn Sorrows: I bought it from Elegant. It's the Lottie brand, L-O-T-T-I-E. I mean, I Zac: Okay. Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: just have so much of it. And it's like, I mean, health and beauty moves. It does. but dang, I have I mean, I'm staring at, you know, like five baskets of it right now that I mean I could show it, but Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: it's just it gets repetitive. Like, you know, they're probably going, didn't you just show this? Or, you know, did Because there's so many there's so much different of it. Like I have, you know, eyeshadows, lip plumpers, powders and everything you can imagine. I have it. I do. And I don't want to keep showing Zac: You've got it all. Have you lotted it up to like Dawn Sorrows: the same stuff. It's not but it's not the same stuff. It's all different, but Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: I feel like they think it's the same stuff. Zac: And it's just small like concealer and stuff like that or Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, it's everything. Zac: Yeah, it's tough on you know it's definitely harder on on the live selling for little stuff like that. We we tried clothing in the beginning and I was like well, we were getting like three or four dollars a piece average. And it was great average 'cause we pay fifty cents for most of our clothing. But we could only sell so much of it. So like by the time the show was over it was a three hour show, we'd we'd sold like a hundred pieces. It was The margin was great, but it was three hundred dollars for for three hours and then we had to, you know, pack and ship it. I like, Well, we're doing way better on the other stuff. Let's pull the clothing 'cause even though, you know, two dollars fifty cent profit on it is great, we couldn't sell Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: it fast enough to make it worthwhile. So you kinda have to weigh, you know, weigh weigh what it's worth and weigh the the amount of time that it takes you. have you tried like lotting it up and just doing like mystery bags of it? I know you like your your Dawn Sorrows: Tried the mystery Zac: You guys. Dawn Sorrows: bags and they weren't going for it. I tried and they weren't going for it, but now my clothing does really well. Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: they love my clothes. I just sell my clothes for five bucks. Some Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: of it I may go eight or ten, depending like if it's a $35 to $40 item. And it's Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: all target clothes. All target clothes, Zac: huh. Dawn Sorrows: brand new with tags. I do my shoes. Now if the shoes are $35, $40 shoes, I may do eight to ten dollars, but and I only will spend an hour on clothes. I will not do any more than an hour on clothes. as a matter of fact, on Sunday, because I have so many clothes that I haven't sold, I Zac: Uh-huh. Dawn Sorrows: did a three-hour show and all the clothes were three dollars and I think I did I made like five hundred bucks. Zac: so you're doing a flat price. my clothing's five bucks. I hold it up, I say someone says five, Dawn Sorrows: Yep. Yep. Zac: and we move on. There's no bidding, it's just I want five bucks a piece. I like that a lot better than I think we wasted too much time. Somebody give me a dollar, you know. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Yeah. Zac: do you do do you have well let me back up, let me let me answer the question that I asked the first place, which was what did you spend money on or spend time on that you would tell someone not to? Would it be health and beauty in general, or would it be buying so many pieces of a category? Is that your first time buying health and beauty? Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, well, I mean, other than buying st s little things here and there, that was my first and only Health and Beauty palette I've ever bought. Zac: Okay. So maybe like too many pieces in one category, but like just starting out. 'Cause it it sounds like it was mostly makeup and stuff and less Dawn Sorrows: Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zac: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, maybe your customers. Like I don't wear makeup, but I I have a feeling like makeup is one of those things I le a lot of I know I don't wear it, but I know for a fact it is one of those things like when you find your shade, that is what you keep. You don't, you know Dawn Sorrows: Yes. It's too much of the same stuff, I think, because I've had Health and Beauty where I've had like shampoos and the shampoos sold out like crazy. I've had like, you know, lotions and body wash that does really well. But as far as like having that much of the same stuff, it was too much. Too much. Yeah. Zac: Yeah. Well it you know, th the nice thing is it only costs you money to learn. Dawn Sorrows: Right. Exactly. Zac: So you'll you learn a lot faster when it costs you money. I always my dad calls Dawn Sorrows: yeah. Zac: it stupid tax when you're older. When you're a kid you learn a lesson, it's time out, or you know, I got w spankins or whoopins or whatever you want to call it. But when you get older just I got beat. but when you I think that's what's wrong with Dawn Sorrows: I got spankins. I do too. I got the belt. Zac: society today is spankings are like off the table. Yeah, Dawn Sorrows: yeah, you go to jail over that now. Zac: it's a there's it's it's a that's the problem. And people, you know. Dawn Sorrows: Yep. Zac: man. So I want to go back to you got laid off and you're like, I'm gonna resell. How long did it take you from the time or how so you mentioned you you were able to pay your bills? Have you been able to fully replace your income from the prior job with reselling? Dawn Sorrows: I'll say yes. Zac: How long do you think that took you? I guess since the time you started day one, it was a side hustle, but like when did it like okay? I've replaced my income. Dawn Sorrows: recently like in the past month like actually started like paying myself a paycheck. Zac: Okay. Well that's a good feeling. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Yeah. Zac: There. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: that's cool. I think a lot of times people, you know, it's a scary thing. You didn't have a choice, which sometimes helps. You know, Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: a lot of people are it they don't know when to take the jump. And a lot of times I tell people like, you don't have to be a full time reseller. It sounds like it was just a good fit for you. Like you needed It's not like you like it was you kinda needed it and you get to like spend a lot more time with the people you love. I think a lot Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: of people, you know, you don't have to be full time in this, Dawn Sorrows: Or no. Zac: to be successful. You can be it can be a side project and a side hustle. And when it is a side hustle, you get to feel the money more. when it's your full time gig, there's a little bit of pressure to make sure that you get to pay the power bill, Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: or your rent or whatever the mortgage it is. but It sounds like you have more freedom today than you did and that's really cool. Dawn Sorrows: Hundred percent. I'm my own boss for finally. I'm my own boss. I get to tell me what to do. Zac: Well I just posted Do you like so you it seems like you enjoy being your own boss. Well but Dawn Sorrows: yeah. Zac: you're the you're the boss. You we I know you I know I think we you had like I think there was a comment I made a post about like when to hire people. It doesn't sound like you need to hire people, you have the best kind of labor and that's the labor that like will trade out for product. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: have you like Have you do you think you're close to the point of like I need more than just the free help? Or have you? Dawn Sorrows: Do pay. I do pay my nephew. And then I do pay a friend. I actually, you know, when I initially reached out to her, I said, I need to hire somebody. So I do pay her. and you know, I do like I have somebody else that my the my friend of 40 years, her son, when he comes, I throw him some money. but as far as like I don't I don't know if I'm I d I don't know if I'm on if I'm ready to like hire on another person yet. Maybe not yet. Maybe not yet. Yeah. Zac: I wouldn't. I tell you, it's the the worst part i is higher like when you it's a tough job. B they say the job market's tough, but like from an employer perspective, the like Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: the employee market is very difficult. it's terrible. Dawn Sorrows: I I I I I don't even want to get to that point because I don't wanna have that headache is somebody gonna show up and I I'm not Zac: They don't. Dawn Sorrows: trying to be ugly but I know like people don't wanna work and you know what? I have twelve grandkids and they work for me. Zac: You've got staff. You you have it. Dawn Sorrows: Okay, they work for me. My granddaughter was here. They didn't have school on Friday. She was here and she worked and she got to pick what she wanted and I gave her a little bit of money. I pay my grandkids. I do. They're Zac: Hundred percent, you know. Dawn Sorrows: they're teenagers. Zac: Well I love that because I mean I I it Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: And they love it. They have so much fun. They love it. Zac: Well it's good they get to see they get to see you doing what you do and it's it's I think, you know, a couple of things. Number one, we we've the education system teaches kids to go out and find jobs, which is our number Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: one problem. Like they they go to school, they're only taught to go like go find a job, go to college, get a job, and that's not working for people, clearly. We need to teach kids like there's more options and these other options are okay. And if if it's not reselling, that's fine. but I think it's important that kids get to see I grew up in an entrepreneurial household. My dad has his own business, my mom owns a private school. So I there was never like a I wanted to be a psychologist at one point, but it ended very quickly. it was I realized really quickly I like I can't I c I have empathy But I don't I don't really care for stupid and most most problems are just are just are hard for me to listen to. but no, I think you know I worry about my generation and younger, because that's who's working for me, is like it's people my age, a little Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: bit older and then a little bit younger, but like the work ethic sucks. Like, and that's Dawn Sorrows: It does not. Zac: you know, they I've never seen anything if if you could we we we try to get We we put out a job offer, indeed offer, zip recruiter, and we'll have twenty applicants. We'll have a lot more. We'll have hundreds of applicants, but we'll pick out twenty, we'll do phone interviews, and then we'll schedule for an in-person of twenty people to show up. One person typically smells like they just hop boxed in their car for an hour. And I listen, I'm all for your right to go out and smoke, but just Dawn Sorrows: my god. Zac: maybe don't smell like it when you come in for your interview. And so then the other person just gets the job because they showed up. And then it's weeks of just like you try to train and you know, you unless you're standing over they go scurry off to the corner and they're on their cell phone and Dawn Sorrows: Uh-huh. Zac: well, did you need something? Yeah, I did. I needed you to do what you were finishing up and then come back and ask me for the next task. Not not go hide. I I remember our our big warehouse we had a few years back. Our our my manager called he sent me a picture and he called me and he one of the guys had like had gotten lost after break and he just assumed cause we used a temp agents, he just assumed he walked out and quit. Cause that would happen all the time. Guys would just leave after lunch, and never come back. But he found this g this kid asleep inside of a Gaylord, just randomly in the warehouse, just flat out asleep. And he sends me a picture of the guy just curled up, you know, with a blanket in the Gaylord. I'm like, first of all I mean, balls to you for like just taking a nap on the job. But imagine someone misses on a forklift and just stabs right through y dude, you're you're you know Dawn Sorrows: Right? You're done. Zac: you're done. You're a shish kebab. But that's it's only gone downhill from there. Our and I it could be my luck. I've just had very poor luck in the last and we've we've hired and fired, we've you know, we've developed, you know, guidelines on what to do when you come to work and liquidation's a little bit difficult because every day's kind of different. You know, you can Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: you might have a Lowe's palette today and you might have a target palette tomorrow and how do you process that and it's it's constantly like trying to teach people and these people a lot of these people they don't want to learn. they don't want a job. They want hours. They don't want work. They want to get Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. They want a paycheck. Zac: they want a paycheck for showing up, which is, you know, it's participation trophy, right? Like I think that's the other thing. Dawn Sorrows: Yep. Exact my god. Zac: Is is Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: our issue is like everybody gets a trophy, so everybody gets a paycheck when they're older. It's not Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: how it works. Like if you don't do the job, I don't want to pay. Or if you do the job wrong. I don't know when that changed, but I feel like when I was growing up, if you didn't do the job right, you just you redid it. You know, if I don't these people like they do the job wrong and then I'm paying someone else to fix it. So my s if you can if you can grow your own employees, keep chugging along. Dawn Sorrows: My grandkids, I'm telling you, I'm just waiting for them to get that driver's license. Two of them have a learner's. I'm just Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: waiting for them. And then they love to spend the night here. They love to spend the night here. And when I I will call my kids and I'm like, listen, I need them to work. They love to organize. That I'm telling so I don't need to hire anybody. I just need them to come. They spend the night. They get what I need done. And and then they get to pick out what they want. That Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: is easy labor. Zac: A hundred percent. I keep that as long as I possibly can. Dawn Sorrows: I will. I'm hoping one day that they can take this over for me. Zac: Yeah. Well that's a cool thing. I that's cool. I I don't think my my kids will want my resale business. you know, I don't I don't know that it'll be here for them. I think I'll be done long before they they can do it. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: we you know, w our big thing is real estate. That's what I started from from day one is is real estate and it's that's really a bigger business today than our real estate is. I chose that because w one it was passive income was the goal, but my kids can't mess that up, right? Like love Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: my kids. I think they're gonna be smart and successful and all you know, everything, but if you mess up what I build in real estate, then no pity for you. Nobody will feel sorry for you. The only way to mess it up is to sell it and then spend the money and then nobody will feel bad for you. Dawn Sorrows: We you need to find me a place in Jackson. Be my landlord. Zac: Well so Jackson, you got like I said, that Home Depot guy's right there. I have not I don't I drive past Jackson to go to make it when we we've been doing this this deal. I haven't looked in Jackson. they got a lake over there, don't they? Like Lake Jackson. Is that the name of the lake? It's like super pretty over there. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. My daughter just moved to Monticello and she lives in Turtle Cove and she's been a hairstylist for twelve years and just opened her own salon, like a little salon suite with one of her friends. Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: She just opened last week. Yeah. Zac: wow, okay. Well good for her, that's exciting. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Yeah. I do have a question for you. Zac: Yep, I love questions. Dawn Sorrows: This is this is a struggle of mine. Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I'm not the best keeper of records because I don't know what the heck I'm doing. Zac: Okay. Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: So as far as it comes to inventory, when I get like a a palette in or a case pack in, I literally have a notebook. Zac: Mm-hmm. Dawn Sorrows: And I write down like, okay, in a case pack, I got six Hot Wheels. Dragons and I paid thirty dollars for the case. so that I paid, you know, five dollars a piece. They Zac: Mm-hmm. Dawn Sorrows: retail for twenty dollars a piece. I'm gonna sell them for ten dollars a piece. Do you is I've been looking at inventory guns, but I don't know much about them because I use the Square app to invoice our customers. Zac: Uh-huh. Dawn Sorrows: Is there any kind of thing that you would suggest any kind of app or system that you would suggest that when I get a palette or a case pack I could scan each item and it would go into a system that would work for me? Zac: So you try inventory it for like for your back end to keep up with or you trying to inventory it so you can show your customers what you have. Dawn Sorrows: show my customers but for me like if something comes off a palette I can scan it and then it would go into like you know some kind of inventory system for me that I know what I have maybe I could even see like what is it retail for how much do I want to sell it for how many of them do I have instead of writing it down on a freaking notebook pad Zac: Are you wanting the app to tell you the retail price? Are you just wanting like an XL? Like we use sheets for a lot of stuff, 'cause like Dawn Sorrows: Mm-hmm. Zac: inventory in in this industry is tough. I mean when you're doing a palette at a t or two at a time, it's easier 'cause like you're touching every piece. are you just Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Like my friend right now that bills for me, she has been like she'll come over here and we'll break down a palette and I've got these big clear plastic bags. She she'll take all home and she's writing it all down and then she scans it on her phone and then she Zac: wow. Dawn Sorrows: has been going into Excel and just typing up a sheet. Zac: Okay. Dawn Sorrows: I mean but I'm thinking is there a scanner gun that we can Zac: Well you could definitely get a scan. I mean just the barcode hitting the b Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: the only problem with that, I mean, if you hit the barcode it won't populate the There's an app and I hope there's a f Dawn Sorrows: I mean, I use Google Lens for retail. Zac: Okay. one thing I'd suggest if you're using like I would the reason I wouldn't use when you start to have more people price your stuff and I don't know if it's just you pricing it or not. just Dawn Sorrows: Yeah, it usually is me, but Zac: you if you get multiple people pricing, I Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: would suggest like if it's an Amazon item, the the we call it's this SOP a standard operating procedure for our store, right? Is we have we sell Home Depot. So everybody has to use the Home Depot app. That way everybody's consistent across the board. Because Amazon will have it on sale, Home Depot has it, Lowe's has it, whatever. And then if there's if you can't find it on Home Depot, the manager will pull you aside or pull the item aside and then they'll make the final call. But the Google Lens is great when it's just you and you know when you can tell when an item's price like retail seems too high. as far as your your your question is the I know there's I would at your size, I say stick to the Google Sheets. I know there's bigger, better software. I have a friend of mine and he told me a software one time I asked him the same question. It was too intense for me. Like it was like it was it was the time spent Yeah, Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Yeah, I don't need nothing crazy. I'm small. Yeah. Zac: the time spent it's one, it's all you, right? So the time spent inventorying it, I I don't think I mean it's someone's gonna be like, Well, you should be more organized. I'm the wrong person to ask about organization. It I sell here's what I tell people, I sell shit too quick to worry about inventorying it. Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: Inventory is for people who can't sell stuff quickly. but Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: I think for you it's great To track what I would suggest when you're when you're tracking it, especially in the beginning, is you should keep track of when you bought it, how much you paid and all that, how much you sold it for, but then when you sold it. So you know, okay, you can go back and you can and you can have AI do this now, but if you have enough data, you can go and c categorize it. Well, you might think toys are your best category, but Dawn Sorrows: No. Zac: in reality, home and garden is or home and whatever, home and home appliances are your best category. So I would love to see what that looked like over six months to a year. Like as you grow, Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: If you had it so if you say you were buying manifested product, then we could upload the manifest and then as you were inventorying, you could scan the barcode, it would pair with the manifest, and then you could automate it that way. But I don't think you're buying manifested product for the most part, Dawn Sorrows: I'm on. Zac: are you? Yeah. So I say stick with the Google Sheet. It's simple and it's just you for now. If you got to a retail store, so like we you know, our retail store We don't inventory. I wish we did. Because like I know in the past we've had issues of like there's just no way we haven't had anybody steal something, right? Dawn Sorrows: Right. Zac: But we get an unmanifested load of Home Depot. Do I want my team I know I'm gonna lose some to theft, whether that's an employee theft or whatever. I'm just gonna take the L on a little bit of theft that we might have because the amount of time I would spend having them inventory it. I don't think it's worth it. Because unless it's manifested, I don't know what's on the truck anyway. So like if they didn't want to inventory something and just steal it, they would just not inventory it. I still wouldn't know it was stolen. I think Google Sheet would be would be fine. I'd ki I I would stick with that. I wouldn't keep I don't know if you're handwriting it, but I would definitely stick with an online version. And that way if you I've been using some AI that would like It'd be really cool if we had enough data we could we could use the AI to like to track how long the average item sat in your store for without having to like do the math. We could just plug it in. We could find out how much the average like percentage you sold stuff for, which would be also interesting for you, right? 'Cause you know when you're buying then you want if you're for us when we sold and whatnot, we average thirty two and a half percent of retail. which sucks. For me. Like I hate that. I Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: wholesale stuff for thirty percent of retail. So I'm like I'm better off wholesaling this product out. But it's important to know and I think this is really what you you know, what you're doing is is huge, and I don't think very many beginner resellers do it, especially in liquidation. They don't keep track of their numbers. And so it's really easy to lie to yourself when you don't keep Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: up and go, Well, I made five hundred dollars on this palette. Well, no, you didn't because you know you you thought you were gonna sell everything for half price and you sold most of it for thirty percent. Like if you don't keep up with your numbers, you can't be honest with yourself. Dawn Sorrows: All right. Zac: so to answer your question, I don't have a better system for you. So that sucks. But Dawn Sorrows: That's okay. Zac: I think it's great that you're doing it and I would just add, you know, the the date that you bought it, the date that you sold it. So you can you can see what categories are are selling best for you and w like moving quickest. Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: any other questions that I can try? Like I did I failed on that one, but Dawn Sorrows: my big I think that was my biggest question is I just wanna find a way to kinda keep up with you know like what's selling, what's not selling, how I should Zac: Yeah. Dawn Sorrows: I don't know. That was really Zac: You can you should also like one thing that I used to really enjoy, so Bargain Hunt obviously went out out of business this past I think last year, the year before, they closed up all their stores. But when we used to go, I used to st that's one of the places I got started reselling was Essex is their parent company or was, and their stores used to all be called Essex and not Bargain Hunt. And what they would do is They would tag all their items with a date and then after so many weeks they would reduce the price. So, you know, because if it sat for a month, I obviously fifty percent of retail is too high. Or you could even do how many times you're you'll run it in a show before you put it in your I wrote it down, your what's in the bag Wednesday deal. So like I'll run it three times Dawn Sorrows: okay. Zac: and then it should just automatically go in the w what a bag Wednesday 'cause you're touching it three times. Dawn Sorrows: Okay. Zac: You've wasted, you know, sixty seconds every time on your whatnot show trying Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: to sell it. It hasn't sold in three times. If you don't keep up with that, then you could be trying to sell it for, you know, six months to a year before it finally Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: sells. It there's some people that they're content with that and that's fine. Some I know people that will sit on inventory for years. That's their deal. Like I Dawn Sorrows: Found out. Zac: have I have a friend of mine, her name her name's Kim, who actually she does she does Pow Warehouse One in Crossville, Tennessee. It's another she's not local, but she's close enough and she you can ship with her, so she'll take care of you. She'll be one that I've known her. I've been doing this for 13 years, so I've known her for 13 years. she's great. She's so funny because she was telling me she has she bought fifteen fifty two pallets of Home Depot General Merchandise and she sold twenty six of them and she's had since last October. And she refuses to go down on the price. And I'm like, I can't do that. If it if I have product that sits for seven days, I I start like itching really bad. Dawn Sorrows: same way if stuff's not moving I start I do this thing called bid wars Zac: Mm-hmm. Dawn Sorrows: and then or I'll do this thing on Mondays I do make an offer Monday and I like make me an offer and very seldom will I I I just want it off my shelf. Zac: Yeah, get it gone. It's like it's just stuff. We don't have to fall in love with it. It needs to go away. There's more of it. Dawn Sorrows: No, I I got I I need it gone. Zac: I think people are afraid there's not more product out on the market and there's so many like deals out there that please get rid of it. Like Dawn Sorrows: If I know that I made money off of that palette, I'll will take sometimes I will take ten dollars for an item that's a fifty dollar item. 'Cause I just want it gone. Yep. Zac: Yeah. Once you're costed out, it's over. Like once I'm in the b you know, once I know I've broke even, all Dawn Sorrows: Yep, Zac: bets are off. It's just time it's time to move on to the next one. So I love that you Dawn Sorrows: It's time to move on. Zac: have that mindset 'cause there's some people they just they're very tough to like to break of that. Yeah. They just Dawn Sorrows: No, I gotta get it out of here. And then my customers love the deals. They're like going crazy and then they're telling people about me. So I'm gaining more people. Zac: Yeah. There's a lot of value in giving good deals just because it brings more people. Dawn Sorrows: Yeah. Zac: so yeah. So I always tell people, you know, I try to keep everybody under an hour. That's my like that's my shtick is one, you have stuff to do. And two, attention span. Awesome, we'll plug it. Dawn Sorrows: And I do have a lot tonight, so thank you for your time. Zac: this will go live tomorrow, but we'll plug deals with Don. we'll we'll put you in the link and your your whatnot. You let you what not more or TikTok more or Facebook more? No. Okay. Dawn Sorrows: No, I don't do what not at all. I'm just TikTok and Facebook. Yep. Zac: Have you done what not? you said you did, right? Dawn Sorrows: did a couple of shows and I just Zac: Wasn't for you. Dawn Sorrows: it's not I can't figure out the shipping and I just don't yeah, the shipping is too much for me. I I can't figure it out Zac: Okay. Listen, I didn't do the shipping right at all. I just I did it. Dawn Sorrows: and I do wanna do it. It's just I will do it when I now that I'm doing this full time and I'm not working, I will Zac: You're ready. Dawn Sorrows: probably do whatnot, but I'm may wait till after the first of the year. But I'm gonna do it. Yeah. Zac: Yeah. Well I hear TikTok is taking over the live selling anyway, so Dawn Sorrows: Well, I'm doing I'm doing TikTok because Facebook lags and it's too slow for me. So Zac: Yeah. Okay. Dawn Sorrows: Yep. But thank you for your time. I really appreciate Zac: Yeah, of course. Dawn Sorrows: all the education and all your advice. I really do. Zac: Yes, man. I appreciate you coming on and spending the time and it means a lot to me that you guys watch it and keep doing what you're doing and just keep growing for sure. And we'll talk to you soon. Dawn Sorrows: Thank you. All right. Bye.