Sell What You Love, Love What You Sell

Exclusive Interview with American Arbitrage

Author

Aaron Brantley
July 19, 2023

"The harder I work, the luckier I get." - Samuel Goldwyn

In Todays Newsletter:

  • Sell What You Love, Love What You Sell: An Interview with American Arbitrage

  • How to Use Photoroom to Upgrade Your eBay Listing?: Reseller Information Network📸

  • On the Web: 📲 First Gen IPhone Auction, 🏃🏻‍♀️ NCAA Camp vs. U.S. Camp, ⚾️ Father & Daughter Baseball Card eBay Business

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Sell What You Love, Love What You Sell

“Learn to let go of stuff that you buy.”-Cary William, American Arbitrage

When you think of someone with over a million followers and subscribers across an array of social media platforms, you would assume their ego is the size of Texas. However, I’ve personally learned this is not the case.

Spending time with my new friend Cary Williams, more commonly known as American Arbitrage, has proven to me that followers and subscribers are not what matters. In our sit-down exclusive interview, I learn from American Arbitrage what really matters to him.

Cary Williams has been a full-time reseller long before he ever picked up a camera and started posting content to TikTok and YouTube. In fact, he spent nearly 8 years watching resellers on YouTube before he ever decided to start recording his reselling adventures.

So why did he pick up a camera and start posting on social media?

In his words, “I knew I had something to say.” Cary explained it was at first an effort to help him grow his business.

Many resellers view social media as a means to grow their businesses, but the more I talked with Cary, it became very clear that creating content has a much deeper meaning and purpose in his life.

“I had a deep deep want to express what I was doing out to people,” Cary explained to me how creating content is his form of art. It’s his form of expressing what brings beauty and passion into his life.

So, what has come from posting reselling adventures on social media?

One word:

Community

Content creation has created a community for Cary, and many others as well. It has allowed him to build friendships he otherwise wouldn't have. Those friendships are what truly matter.

This is why Cary believes every reseller should start an Instagram. It’s not to promote and sell products, but more importantly, it’s to connect with people, build friendships, and become part of a community.

Being part of a community matters. This was my first takeaway from my time with Cary.

Being a part of a reseller community is also a great way to learn and grow as a reseller. I asked Cary,

“What is one thing you wish someone had taught you to help you get to where you are at today, faster?”

His answer,

“Sell what you enjoy.”

He explained to me that when you’re a new reseller, you have to grab whatever is worth money when you are sourcing because you are learning how to resell and you need to make money.

After you know how to sell though, start focusing on something you’re really into and passionate about.

“You can sell almost anything. Become an expert in your category.” By being passionate about what you sell, you become an expert over time. But even more so, you stay excited about what you are doing. Reselling can be hard and lonely at times, but being passionate about what you sell makes the journey more enjoyable.

Cary shared with me that he wishes he had started selling sports cards, which is his passion, much earlier in his reselling career.

My second key takeaway: Sell what you love, and you will love what you sell.

Now, anyone who has resold long enough knows these kinds of lessons and insights are learned over time, and usually after making many mistakes, so I asked Cary,

“What is the hardest lesson you had to learn as a reseller?”

It didn’t take long for him to answer, “Learn to let go of stuff that you buy.”

There is a tendency for new resellers to overspend on items due to a lack of knowledge and experience. Lots of resellers hold onto items hoping they will be able to break even on items purchased at a high price.

Cary put it beautifully when he told me, “You can’t make money appear where it isn’t.”

Simply put, you make money in the purchase and you lose money in the purchase. A sunk cost is a sunk cost and is a part of doing business.

My third key takeaway: It’s better to sell bad inventory at a loss to free up cash for better purchases. Holding onto bad inventory for a long time, hoping for a miracle to happen, will not grow your business.

Now, it doesn’t matter how long someone has been reselling, there are always new things to learn and questions to be answered.

I asked Cary, “What is one question that you have about reselling that you don’t have the answer to yet?”

His question: “What is the most popular category on eBay to resell in and why?”

So with that questions in mind, keep an eye out for next week's newsletter because I’ve found the answers to this question.

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