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Q4 Is Going to Break Things: Be Ready and Make the Money Others Won't · New Era Reseller

• 0:00
  Brian Olson: That's one.
• 0:01
  Brian Olson: Here's the second one, and this- Okay is gonna kind of be an indicator for you of what your January's gonna look like.
• 0:05
  Robin Joy: I think it's gonna be a lot more of the same that we're used to in Q4, but I think there are some things that are gonna be really exaggerated.
• 0:12
  Robin Joy: What do we do to protect ourselves and to keep our risk low?
• 0:16
  Robin Joy: You just want it to be the best deal so badly.
• 0:20
  Robin Joy: You want Q4 to be this great thing that you can't lose on so badly that you will take a higher risk.
• 0:27
  Brian Olson: Write this one down, because this is what it costs you to guess wrong for the next three months.
• 0:31
  Brian Olson: Something else that you've been offering up, which is FBM, which I think is one of the easiest additional exit strategies which you don't even have to go off-platform for, but it doesn't seem like that many people are interested in it.
• 0:42
  Brian Olson: This is the getting prepared in advance conversation, and I think that there is a line for it.
• 0:52
  Brian and Robin Joy: So we've all been there, right?
• 0:52
  Brian and Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 0:52
  Brian and Robin Joy: Ask me how I know.
• 0:54
  Brian and Robin Joy: Ask me how I know.
• 0:55
  Brian and Robin Joy: I stack the deck in your favor.
• 0:55
  Brian and Robin Joy: This, stack the deck in your favor.
• 0:56
  Brian and Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 0:57
  Brian and Robin Joy: That's what you say.
• 0:57
  Brian and Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 0:57
  Brian and Robin Joy: What can cure that?
• 0:58
  Brian and Robin Joy: That's right.
• 0:58
  Brian and Robin Joy: We kind of turn it upside down.
• 0:59
  Brian and Robin Joy: We turn it upside down.
• 1:00
  Brian and Robin Joy: I love turning it upside down.
• 1:01
  Brian and Robin Joy: I know.
• 1:01
  Brian and Robin Joy: You know what cures that?
• 1:02
  Brian and Robin Joy: Ask me how I know.
• 1:03
  Brian and Robin Joy: Amazon is a logistics company.
• 1:05
  Brian and Robin Joy: Test more ASINs.
• 1:05
  Brian and Robin Joy: Go test more ASINs.
• 1:06
  Brian and Robin Joy: Test more ASINs.
• 1:07
  Brian and Robin Joy: Test more ASINs.
• 1:09
  Brian and Robin Joy: Right.
• 1:09
  Brian and Robin Joy: Test more ASINs.
• 1:10
  Brian and Robin Joy: I gotcha.
• 1:10
  Brian and Robin Joy: Let's go test more ASINs. Let's go test more ASINs.
• 1:12
  Brian and Robin Joy: See you soon.
• 1:12
  Brian and Robin Joy: See you soon.
• 1:13
  Brian Olson: Welcome back to the Modern Builders Network.
• 1:14
  Brian Olson: We are the Official Olsons.
• 1:16
  Brian Olson: I'm Brian.
• 1:16
  Robin Joy: And I'm Robin Joy.
• 1:18
  Brian Olson: And this is the New Era Reseller.
• 1:21
  Robin Joy: Hey there, everybody.
• 1:22
  Robin Joy: Hi, Brian.
• 1:23
  Brian Olson: Hey.
• 1:23
  Brian Olson: Yes, I'm recording.
• 1:24
  Brian Olson: I'm recording.
• 1:25
  Brian Olson: Got it?
• 1:26
  Brian Olson: I'm recording.
• 1:26
  Robin Joy: It makes me nervous-… ' cause I hate getting to the end of these, this great podcast that we just created-… and, oh, I forgot to turn the mic on.
• 1:34
  Robin Joy: Oh, I'm not, I didn't press record.
• 1:38
  Brian Olson: Yeah, that's not an issue today.
• 1:40
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 1:40
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 1:40
  Robin Joy: All right.
• 1:41
  Robin Joy: I see.
• 1:41
  Robin Joy: We are recording.
• 1:41
  Robin Joy: We are on.
• 1:42
  Robin Joy: We are on.
• 1:42
  Robin Joy: All right.
• 1:43
  Brian Olson: We are live.
• 1:43
  Robin Joy: So everybody can hear us-
• 1:45
  Brian Olson: Yes having our, our little- Just in time … bickering Because you've got a prediction for Q4.
• 1:50
  Robin Joy: I do.
• 1:51
  Robin Joy: A- I, I, I do think some things are going to happen for Q4.
• 1:55
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 1:56
  Robin Joy: This year, 2026.
• 1:58
  Robin Joy: I think it's gonna be a lot more of the same that we're used to in Q4, but I think there are some things that are gonna be really exaggerated.
• 2:06
  Brian Olson: be specific.
• 2:07
  Robin Joy: For one thing, I think that this Q4, Amazon is gonna have a harder time keeping up with all of the inventory that's going in and going out, how much people are buying, which is gonna be more than ever, how much people are selling, which is gonna be more than ever, and it's gonna get… There are gonna be back orders.
• 2:30
  Robin Joy: There are gonna be changes in delivery.
• 2:34
  Robin Joy: We've already seen it, where we've ordered things and, With- … they were back order already, and then Amazon sends us an email and says, "Oh, it's gonna be longer than I thought."
• 2:46
  Brian Olson: Or like it was supposed to be Prime and then it got delayed by four days.
• 2:49
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 2:49
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 2:50
  Brian Olson: This actually sounds like opportunity, though.
• 2:52
  Brian Olson: It does.
• 2:52
  Brian Olson: Like, if you look at it right, turn it upside down- That's- … it's, there's a lot of opportunity here.
• 2:57
  Robin Joy: That's what I'm saying.
• 2:59
  Robin Joy: If we know how to manage this- Uh-huh … and how to take advantage of this situation- Yeah… we can win.
• 3:06
  Brian Olson: All right.
• 3:07
  Brian Olson: let's dive into what a seller can actually do with this information.
• 3:11
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 3:11
  Brian Olson: All right.
• 3:11
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 3:11
  Brian Olson: Now, walk me through what you think happens with all these late deliveries.
• 3:16
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 3:16
  Robin Joy: So when I say back orders or late deliveries, I'm talking about when a Prime customer who's paid for Prime goes in and orders something, they expect it to be 48 hours or less.
• 3:27
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 3:27
  Robin Joy: That's kind of the promise, right?
• 3:29
  Robin Joy: Some, some places even less than that.
• 3:32
  Robin Joy: But they, it's back ordered.
• 3:34
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 3:35
  Robin Joy: So Amazon's gonna allow you to buy it because they don't have anything on hand available to send you today.
• 3:41
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 3:41
  Robin Joy: But they're gonna let you buy it 'cause they know there's some coming, So the customer goes and orders, and they realize it's going to be, three, four, seven, 14 days before they get it.
• 3:53
  Robin Joy: Amazon tells them right up front, and they're like, "Okay, that's the best I can do. I'll take the lowest price. If I have to wait, wait anyway, I'll take the lowest price one and make that order." Yeah.
• 4:05
  Robin Joy: So what can we do with that?
• 4:06
  Brian Olson: what we can do is be sure to hold our price.
• 4:11
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 4:11
  Brian Olson: Let's hold our price… Like, this goes to the, speaks to our, our testing protocol anyway- Yep which is to hold our price at a, the high price that we have evidence for, what we call peak price until our inventory is available in the prime window somewhere.
• 4:26
  Robin Joy: And past that.
• 4:28
  Robin Joy: And if we do that- Mm-hmm … I believe that this Q4 is gonna give us a great opportunity to capitalize on that more than ever.
• 4:38
  Robin Joy: So we don't want to sell our inventory before it gets to the warehouse- Mm-hmm… and become available to the customer.
• 4:46
  Robin Joy: Now, if we held our price high and we did sell it sooner than that, great, no problem.
• 4:51
  Robin Joy: I mean, I'm not gonna cry over that.
• 4:52
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 4:53
  Robin Joy: Here's what can happen, though.
• 4:55
  Robin Joy: We other sellers are gonna be panic pricing, and they're gonna be lowering that price because it's, people are buying, people can buy it, and they are not buying theirs.
• 5:08
  Robin Joy: Might just be because of time.
• 5:10
  Robin Joy: Whatever So they end up do buying the customer… I mean, the seller's inventory that is on its way.
• 5:19
  Robin Joy: It's going to be back ordered, but then Amazon still can't get it received in time.
• 5:23
  Robin Joy: They send the customer an email that says, "Oh, we thought we could get it to you by Saturday, but- Uh-huh.
• 5:28
  Robin Joy: Now it's going to be Thursday.
• 5:29
  Robin Joy: Now it's going to be the next Thursday, and-
• 5:31
  Brian Olson: And so as a shopper, I can tell you exactly what I do.
• 5:34
  Robin Joy: What do you do?
• 5:34
  Brian Olson: I go in and I see if there's another op- another offer for me that I can get it here in a Prime window.
• 5:40
  Brian Olson: I cancel that other order.
• 5:41
  Brian Olson: Exactly.
• 5:42
  Brian Olson: And so you don't want to be the one who's getting your order canceled.
• 5:45
  Robin Joy: No, you want to be the one who's in the Prime window- Exactly… that they're gonna pick- Yeah … because yours is available.
• 5:51
  Robin Joy: That's right.
• 5:51
  Robin Joy: And if you hadn't been patient- Uh-huh … and held, held onto your price and let your inventory be received, you wouldn't be getting that sale.
• 5:58
  Robin Joy: And guess what?
• 5:59
  Robin Joy: You're gonna get that sale for the price that you want in most cases.
• 6:03
  Brian Olson: So that's- In a lot of cases.
• 6:05
  Brian Olson: So really r- it's an exercise in patience.
• 6:08
  Robin Joy: It really is.
• 6:09
  Brian Olson: I mean- More so during Q4 than, other times of the year.
• 6:12
  Robin Joy: I really, really think so.
• 6:14
  Robin Joy: I really think that this is gonna be a time that we can really capitalize on this, this particular way of selling and getting a higher price.
• 6:26
  Robin Joy: We won't know, though.
• 6:28
  Robin Joy: It- we'll have to be patient, and we still have to be diversified because anything can happen to any ASIN.
• 6:34
  Robin Joy: So there, so there are a few other predictions, but this is the- Yeah … most biggest thing that I think we should pay attention to this year.
• 6:40
  Brian Olson: That's one.
• 6:42
  Brian Olson: Here's the second one, and this- Okay is gonna kind of be an indicator for you of what your January's gonna look like.
• 6:47
  Brian Olson: And I think, I mean, I know you, you prompted me for this, but this is around regating, The same problem we've seen the pra- the past, two, three years.
• 6:54
  Brian Olson: And I expect it to come into play this month, which is October.
• 6:58
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 6:59
  Robin Joy: To begin.
• 6:59
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 6:59
  Brian Olson: And so inventory that people stocked up on for Q4 could become gated for them- Mm-hmm… regated for them, and then they're gonna need some way to get out of that inventory.
• 7:10
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 7:10
  Robin Joy: Yeah, so here's the issue.
• 7:12
  Robin Joy: I s- I found a sale- Mm-hmm… ' cause it's Q4.
• 7:17
  Robin Joy: Everybody's got sales.
• 7:18
  Robin Joy: Yep.
• 7:18
  Robin Joy: Ah, some great sales o- on something that I normally sell- Yep … for a certain price, but now I'm getting it at a discount.
• 7:28
  Robin Joy: I can get even more profit.
• 7:30
  Robin Joy: I'm gonna go buy 100 of them.
• 7:33
  Robin Joy: 50 of them, whatever, whatever the number is I can get, I'm gonna go buy a bunch of them, and then I'm gonna send them into Amazon, and then what?
• 7:42
  Robin Joy: What if I get regated?
• 7:43
  Robin Joy: What if Amazon says, "Oh, we changed our minds. We're not gonna allow you to sell this item after all." Yep.
• 7:49
  Robin Joy: Then I got 50 units.
• 7:50
  Robin Joy: They're taking up space.
• 7:52
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 7:52
  Robin Joy: Remember, Q4, we talked about this last week, the three times higher every square foot of- Cubic foot… every cubic foot of shelf space that you have- Uh-huh is three times higher than it ever, than it was any other time of the year.
• 8:10
  Robin Joy: You're limited more than any other time of the year based on your, seller metrics, and that space is being taken up by that inventory that you cannot sell.
• 8:21
  Brian Olson: So you're right.
• 8:22
  Brian Olson: You can't sell it on Amazon, but you do have some other options for that,
• 8:27
  Robin Joy: That is true.
• 8:29
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 8:29
  Robin Joy: That is true.
• 8:30
  Robin Joy: Let- let's go full circle here- Okay … and then figure out what… One other thing that's gonna be a problem is, y- you know, you might think, "Oh, I'll just re-" Just recall it … re- recall it.
• 8:38
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 8:38
  Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 8:39
  Robin Joy: I'll do a removal order and- Uh-huh … get it back, and we'll take it back to the store or sell it somewhere else- Yeah something else.
• 8:44
  Robin Joy: Here's the problem with that during Q4.
• 8:48
  Robin Joy: Amazon is n- they're not even getting their stuff received and sent to the customer during Q4.
• 8:55
  Robin Joy: You think they're gonna stop, go and get your inventory that you sent in that you want back?
• 9:01
  Robin Joy: And get it back to you in time for you to do something with in… No, no.
• 9:05
  Robin Joy: No, no.
• 9:06
  Robin Joy: Get- expect it after Q4 is over.
• 9:09
  Brian Olson: 100%. I don't think there's any service level on that s- sort of thing at any- I, I don't think so … I can't find it anywhere.
• 9:16
  Brian Olson: It's always been best effort.
• 9:17
  Brian Olson: And, it's like this Q4, it can seem like you're just getting pummeled from all angles, So late deliveries aren't anything that you can control.
• 9:26
  Brian Olson: It's, it's- Right … it's Amazon's pipeline- Mm-hmm backload.
• 9:29
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 9:29
  Brian Olson: regating, unfortunately, isn't anything that you can control, unless you actually do have a relationship with the supplier, and you've- Yeah, you can give them an LOA … got your invoices, and you can just say, "Here's my invoices," to, to, to get reapproved.
• 9:42
  Brian Olson: Inventory coming back, unfortunately, isn't anything that you can control either.
• 9:46
  Brian Olson: No.
• 9:46
  Brian Olson: So I wouldn't put that much effort into inventory that you're not gonna be able to count on getting back in a reasonable time, reasonable amount of time.
• 9:54
  Brian Olson: What I would do, and what we have done, in the, for the past seven years- or five years anyway- Yeah … probably not the first two years.
• 10:01
  Brian Olson: We've, everything was fairly smooth during those times.
• 10:03
  Brian Olson: But-
• 10:03
  Robin Joy: I'm not even sure if it was a, was available then.
• 10:06
  Robin Joy: But anyway- Yeah … go ahead.
• 10:07
  Brian Olson: I'd focus on how you liquidate it.
• 10:09
  Brian Olson: Like, how do you, not l- necessarily liquidate, but how do you find another option for that inventory,
• 10:15
  Robin Joy: How do you- So you can get it- … create some other-… out of that prime real estate that that shelf space is and free up your capital so you can buy something else.
• 10:23
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 10:23
  Brian Olson: This is, we need more outlets.
• 10:25
  Brian Olson: We just need more outlets than Amazon, and this speaks to the diversification angle that we, push hard on people.
• 10:31
  Brian Olson: once you get your sort of feet under you in the, in the FBA space- Once you build a foundation here- I mean, I think you might need it before you get even a foundation built.
• 10:39
  Brian Olson: If you- Maybe … if you're waiting to get to 100 replenishables until you start looking for an outlet, I think it's too late.
• 10:44
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 10:45
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 10:45
  Robin Joy: I think, at some point… you need to have a plan.
• 10:48
  Robin Joy: You should have a plan.
• 10:48
  Robin Joy: You need to have a plan.
• 10:49
  Robin Joy: Yep.
• 10:50
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 10:50
  Brian Olson: anyway when you are stuck with 20, 30, 40, 50 units that you can't sell, you can't get it back, and you don't have another outlet, there's your capital.
• 10:59
  Brian Olson: It's tied up, man.
• 11:01
  Robin Joy: Yeah, and you're not gonna get it back to buy something else that's, that you can capitalize on Q4.
• 11:05
  Brian Olson: And if it is expirable- Mm-hmm … in other words, it has a shelf life, or if it's for the season specifically, and it's not any of those sort of things that sell year-round r- really well because they're a limited edition or a limited time available-
• 11:19
  Robin Joy: Yeah Let's say it's a Christmas wreath.
• 11:21
  Brian Olson: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:22
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 11:22
  Brian Olson: Christmas wreath or tree lights or- Yeah You probably- … decor … I mean, you can sell those in January, but they- For a lot less money.
• 11:30
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 11:30
  Robin Joy: Usually.
• 11:31
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 11:31
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 11:31
  Robin Joy: They're expecting them to be a discount at that point.
• 11:34
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 11:34
  Brian Olson: So w- options.
• 11:35
  Brian Olson: We like options,
• 11:36
  Robin Joy: Options.
• 11:37
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 11:37
  Robin Joy: So I think what do we do, Brian- Yeah when we have all these things against us?
• 11:43
  Robin Joy: There are late deliveries, there, there are high pricing errors more than any other time.
• 11:49
  Robin Joy: Mm. We got to be prepared for that.
• 11:50
  Robin Joy: They're regating.
• 11:51
  Robin Joy: They're … Any, so many things more than usual that can happen to any given ASIN.
• 11:57
  Robin Joy: What do we do to protect ourselves and to keep our risk low?
• 12:03
  Robin Joy: I think we diversify our ASINs
• 12:07
  Brian Olson: 100%.
• 12:08
  Brian Olson: Don't- Yeah
• 12:09
  Robin Joy: … choose before you get all your inventory in there how much of your inventory spend you're gonna put in one ASIN.
• 12:20
  Robin Joy: I like 10%.
• 12:22
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 12:22
  Robin Joy: No more than 10% in one ASIN.
• 12:24
  Robin Joy: Now we're talking dollars, so the higher dollar ones get fewer units.
• 12:27
  Robin Joy: The lower dollar ones can get more units.
• 12:30
  Robin Joy: But that way you have some balance.
• 12:33
  Robin Joy: And you may have, you may wanna look about how large items are, how much of that cubic feet they're going to take up, how much diversity you have in maybe, maybe different size items, 'cause you have a different shelf for different size items, different type items.
• 12:48
  Robin Joy: But know what that is.
• 12:50
  Robin Joy: Know ahead of time what your plan is for how much you're gonna spend.
• 12:54
  Robin Joy: And then it's n- if one thing gets regated or two things get regated, how much more do you have to balance that and make sure that's not gonna hurt as badly as it could?
• 13:06
  Brian Olson: let's think about the cubic foot.
• 13:07
  Brian Olson: It's got my mind going a little bit on
• 13:09
  Robin Joy: that.
• 13:09
  Robin Joy: Oh, dear.
• 13:09
  Robin Joy: Look it.
• 13:09
  Brian Olson: ' Cause we got, we got some inventory arrived, over the weekend that, gotta wait on a, on a few other shipments before we can get it out, but I'm thinking about a cubic foot, 12 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches, cube.
• 13:21
  Brian Olson: These things are actual- They would fit in there, like 12 inches wide, 12 inches deep.
• 13:25
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 13:26
  Brian Olson: That, that's fine.
• 13:26
  Brian Olson: And then 12 inches tall.
• 13:27
  Brian Olson: I can fit 10 units of this one item inside that cubic foot- Okay … easy, And what is the fee again?
• 13:34
  Brian Olson: $2.70 per cubic
• 13:36
  Robin Joy: foot?
• 13:36
  Robin Joy: 2.40 I think on the standard size
• 13:38
  Brian Olson: items.
• 13:38
  Brian Olson: 2.40? Yeah.
• 13:40
  Brian Olson: Okay, so $2.40, so 24 cents a unit is what it's costing me per month- versus non-Q4 price of eight cents a unit.
• 13:47
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 13:48
  Robin Joy: So- It, it can make a difference depending on your v- depending on the price of your item.
• 13:54
  Brian Olson: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:54
  Brian Olson: It, it certainly does.
• 13:55
  Brian Olson: I mean, we're going from 78 cents a cubic foot to $2.40 a cubic foot, and we weren't looking at that in September necessarily when we ordered this inventory, And I don't think a lot
• 14:05
  Robin Joy: of people are.
• 14:05
  Robin Joy: So just to be clear, you're talking about the difference between the rest of the year-… how much it costs for storage, and how much it costs during Q4 for storage.
• 14:13
  Robin Joy: That's right, yeah.
• 14:13
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 14:13
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 14:14
  Brian Olson: And because n- and you just never quite know how much the fee schedule's gonna go up.
• 14:18
  Brian Olson: I mean, Amazon does try to get it to us in advance, but- a lot of times, you know, we've been stocking- Yeah … all year too, Yep.
• 14:24
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 14:25
  Robin Joy: A lot of times we've been at least sourcing all year t- and pl- making plans for what we're gonna buy- For, for Q4 … in Q4.
• 14:30
  Brian Olson: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:30
  Brian Olson: Write this one down, because this is what it costs you to guess wrong for the next three months.
• 14:35
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 14:35
  Brian Olson: Storage on a standard size item runs 78 cents a cubic foot January through September.
• 14:40
  Brian Olson: October 1st- Mm-hmm … which started a few days ago for us, through December, goes to $2.40 a cubic foot.
• 14:46
  Brian Olson: So the same shelf space, the same box, a little more than three times the rent.
• 14:50
  Brian Olson: That started on the 1st of October.
• 14:53
  Brian Olson: So who does it actually hurt?
• 14:54
  Brian Olson: This is the part of the conversation- Uh-huh … I wanted to get into.
• 14:57
  Robin Joy: Okay, okay.
• 14:57
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 14:58
  Brian Olson: People who already had inventory in- Mm-hmm… yeah, from the summer that's left over.
• 15:03
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 15:04
  Robin Joy: And they started paying- They said, "Oh, it'll sell in Q4." Ask me how I know.
• 15:07
  Robin Joy: Oh, yeah.
• 15:08
  Robin Joy: Been there.
• 15:08
  Robin Joy: Been there.
• 15:09
  Brian Olson: Yeah, we have some today.
• 15:10
  Brian Olson: That I… That was like they were summertime buys.
• 15:12
  Brian Olson: I'm like, "Okay, I know, you know, they didn't sell as, as, as well as we'd like them to have." Although we made, It's the full cycle, you know what I mean?
• 15:19
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 15:19
  Brian Olson: Like, we made some good profit on it, and then we're like, "Okay, let's hold onto these for Q4." W- I didn't count on… I mean, I should always count on this, but I didn't count on it being more than 3x- Yeah … or to store it for October, November- Mm-hmm … and potentially two weeks of December before it sells.
• 15:33
  Robin Joy: So if it doesn't sell by October 1st, you're, you might be paying some extra.
• 15:38
  Robin Joy: So go through the scenario with me.
• 15:40
  Robin Joy: You started to add it up.
• 15:42
  Robin Joy: So you've paid storage all summer.
• 15:44
  Brian Olson: So I paid storage all summer on some units, not all of them- Okay … 'cause a number of them have sold out, and so I've got, X number, a fa- handful of units is pretty much all I have left- Yeah… on some of these ones that I went a little bit deeper on for summer.
• 15:55
  Brian Olson: And because, you know, kids are coming home, they need things to play with, so I- we went a little heavier on some, some toys.
• 16:02
  Brian Olson: And but toys, great.
• 16:03
  Brian Olson: You always got a phase two for that, which is Christmas, Mm-hmm.
• 16:07
  Brian Olson: And, So what you have to factor in is those months of storage, and we built this into Path Profit Zones where you can factor in your months of storage- Mm-hmm you know, as part of your break-even cost.
• 16:17
  Brian Olson: all, all I normally ever factor is one month of storage cost.
• 16:20
  Robin Joy: Because I'm always likely- 'Cause ideally- Yeah … your plan is to get rid of that within-
• 16:23
  Brian Olson: Get rid of it in one month
• 16:24
  Robin Joy: … 45 to 60 days at least.
• 16:26
  Brian Olson: So what you need to do is to start factoring in that storage cost into your cost of goods going forward.
• 16:34
  Brian Olson: So for the whole month of October, if it doesn't sell, whatever share of $2.40 per cubic foot that that thing takes up, you gotta count that.
• 16:42
  Brian Olson: And then you gotta count it for however long into November and December you actually have it while those fees are elevated as well, stacking on to your, to your- Mm-hmm cost of goods.
• 16:50
  Brian Olson: So if your buy cost was $10, and you factored in a month of storage at eight cents per unit, and now that is 24 cents per unit and you're like, so we were at 10.08, and now we're at 24 cents plus 24 cents, plus let's say I sell it halfway through December, people, somebody picks it up on the 15th that's two and a half months at $2.40 a square foot or 24 cents per unit of storage.
• 17:14
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 17:14
  Brian Olson: Times five.
• 17:14
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 17:15
  Brian Olson: So there's a… But just add it to each unit.
• 17:17
  Brian Olson: That's on one unit.
• 17:18
  Brian Olson: So this is like 24, 48.
• 17:19
  Brian Olson: Here we go, math on camera.
• 17:20
  Brian Olson: Oh.
• 17:21
  Brian Olson: 24, 48- Yeah, that's right … 12.
• 17:22
  Brian Olson: We gotta be careful.
• 17:23
  Brian Olson: 60 cents more of buy cost on that thing.
• 17:25
  Brian Olson: Now, doesn't seem like that much.
• 17:27
  Brian Olson: It depends on, 50 units.
• 17:30
  Brian Olson: T- and just do the math on 50 units.
• 17:32
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 17:32
  Brian Olson: 100 units, 200 units, whatever it is.
• 17:34
  Brian Olson: It does add up.
• 17:35
  Brian Olson: At the end of the month, you are going to pay that.
• 17:37
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 17:38
  Robin Joy: And especially those of you who are focusing on box filler and lower cost items- Mm-hmm … to, get more units, not a bad play.
• 17:47
  Robin Joy: But remember, there are other things you have to put into- Yeah into… And, and I just gotta say, we haven't even broached, and we're not gonna discuss here, but there is a thing called long-term storage- Yes … after six months.
• 18:00
  Robin Joy: That's going to be a lot more.
• 18:03
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 18:03
  Robin Joy: So don't let it get there.
• 18:05
  Robin Joy: We- Okay?
• 18:05
  Robin Joy: Pay attention to where your inventory is, and we should do a better job of that.
• 18:10
  Robin Joy: Realistically speaking, you and I both know it's not as easy as it sounds.
• 18:14
  Robin Joy: But we're always shooting for knowing that, you know, how long our units have been there and what the, that's costing us.
• 18:21
  Brian Olson: It's not as easy as it sounds?
• 18:22
  Brian Olson: That sounds like a Matt-ism.
• 18:24
  Brian Olson: It sounds like a Matt-ism.
• 18:25
  Brian Olson: It's not as, it's not as cold as it seems.
• 18:26
  Brian Olson: Yes.
• 18:27
  Brian Olson: It's not as dark as it seems.
• 18:28
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 18:28
  Brian Olson: It's not as easy as it sounds.
• 18:31
  Robin Joy: Our son, our son has- Uh-huh … Matt-ism.
• 18:34
  Robin Joy: Our son's name is Matt.
• 18:35
  Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 18:35
  Robin Joy: He has Matt-isms.
• 18:37
  Robin Joy: Matt-isms.
• 18:37
  Robin Joy: There are stories behind those.
• 18:39
  Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 18:39
  Robin Joy: We're not gonna get into it today.
• 18:40
  Brian Olson: Anyway, that's kind of the full picture of your storage situation.
• 18:43
  Brian Olson: But what do you, you kind of teased this a minute ago, but what do you tell someone who says that they found a great deal, and so they're gonna go 100 units deep on that one ASIN?
• 18:53
  Robin Joy: Yeah, I started to talk about that earlier.
• 18:55
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 18:55
  Robin Joy: There are several things to take into consideration here.
• 18:58
  Robin Joy: Now, be… Just to be clear, when we bring things out that you need to be concerned about, we are not telling you- Yeah to or not to do anything.
• 19:07
  Robin Joy: We're trying to show you where your risks are so you can make- Yeah… a, a- an informed decision for yourself.
• 19:14
  Robin Joy: There's not a right or wrong.
• 19:16
  Robin Joy: There, we're not judging anybody, you did this right or you did this wrong.
• 19:19
  Robin Joy: We're giving you information to help you make a good decision.
• 19:22
  Robin Joy: Okay, so let's get into, I found a really good deal.
• 19:25
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 19:25
  Robin Joy: What does that look like?
• 19:27
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 19:28
  Robin Joy: Macy's had this great sale.
• 19:31
  Robin Joy: It's Q4, everybody has a great sale.
• 19:33
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 19:33
  Robin Joy: Oh, I can get this thing for half off if I get it on Black Friday.
• 19:39
  Robin Joy: I'm gonna buy 20, 30, 40 of them, Mm-hmm.
• 19:43
  Robin Joy: Whatever my number is.
• 19:44
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 19:45
  Robin Joy: Okay?
• 19:46
  Robin Joy: Normally, these are historically selling for, 40% profit.
• 19:53
  Robin Joy: Great.
• 19:54
  Robin Joy: I'm gonna get a discount, and it's gonna sell for- 60% profit … 60% profit, And that's what I'm gonna plan on.
• 20:01
  Robin Joy: What can happen?
• 20:02
  Robin Joy: I buy all these things, and then I send them in, and then I realize for some reason that price that I thought I was gonna get 60% on starts going down, down, down, down, down.
• 20:12
  Robin Joy: Why?
• 20:13
  Robin Joy: Because it was not on sale just for me.
• 20:15
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 20:15
  Robin Joy: It was on sale for everybody.
• 20:17
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 20:18
  Robin Joy: Ev- all of the other third-party seller, arbitrage sellers are buying the same thing with the same idea, and but they, they don't necessarily me- need as much on it.
• 20:29
  Robin Joy: Maybe they're buying a lot and taking a lot less profit on it.
• 20:33
  Robin Joy: you're subject to the competition there, okay?
• 20:36
  Robin Joy: So you've got too many to just hold your price and, you know, sell a few of them at a higher price, you know?
• 20:44
  Robin Joy: You've got, you've got to get these moving.
• 20:47
  Robin Joy: What else could happen?
• 20:48
  Robin Joy: So first- Mm-hmm… if it's on sale for you- Yep… it's on sale- It's on sale … for everybody.
• 20:53
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 20:54
  Robin Joy: If there's a discount code at Rakuten or Honey, there's a discount code for everybody.
• 20:59
  Brian Olson: And don't be don't, don't be, naive here.
• 21:02
  Brian Olson: When the… Every single leads list that I've ever seen focuses on discounts.
• 21:06
  Brian Olson: Yes.
• 21:07
  Brian Olson: And so when there's a sale going on, they're like, "Yep, this, this is a great buy right here." So, you might get stuck with a list hit, Yeah.
• 21:13
  Brian Olson: Something that made a list, and all of a sudden now there's this, abundance of inventory in there, which is driving down the price- Mm-hmm… because people want to get their money back or as much of it as they can, and you are stuck in that same cycle unless you're willing to pay the storage fees and wait- Mm-hmm it out,
• 21:27
  Robin Joy: Exactly.
• 21:28
  Robin Joy: So that's one thing that can happen- Mm-hmm … in that scenario.
• 21:31
  Robin Joy: Another thing that could happen is you bought those 20 units, and with this, what we talked about before, you got regated.
• 21:37
  Robin Joy: Now you're taking up the, the space and the capital that you could have used on something else, but you're not gonna get it back- Yeah in time.
• 21:46
  Robin Joy: What else can happen?
• 21:47
  Brian Olson: just, anything can happen to any ASIN.
• 21:48
  Brian Olson: I know- Yeah … you already
• 21:49
  Robin Joy: said that, but- Amazon could pull it from the s- safety data shee- sheets.
• 21:54
  Robin Joy: Yeah They might be asking for- Child protection certificates.
• 21:56
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 21:56
  Brian Olson: There's, any number of things, But if you're so deep- Mm-hmm in one ASIN that losing it would change your book of business- Then you're too deep You're too deep Right?
• 22:05
  Brian Olson: You're too deep That- that's kind of the rule of thumb that I would use there.
• 22:08
  Brian Olson: And you, you mentioned it earlier, like we typically are doing like 10%, Yeah … in, in most times of the year.
• 22:15
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 22:16
  Brian Olson: I, I just always remember the story of this, m- m- multimillion-dollar seller who bought these, Squishmallows, "Oh, this is gonna be the hot- Yeah … Q4 toy," a- and invested well into five figures on it, of which it was not a h- a hot Q4 toy, and he was stuck with all his inventory.
• 22:32
  Brian Olson: And what happened?
• 22:33
  Brian Olson: He couldn't get it back.
• 22:34
  Robin Joy: Yep.
• 22:35
  Robin Joy: His capital was tied up
• 22:36
  Brian Olson: … his capital was tied up.
• 22:37
  Brian Olson: He was using up the storage space.
• 22:38
  Brian Olson: He was using the storage space for it, and it was not- And paying for it … selling.
• 22:42
  Brian Olson: And when you do have limited space and limited options, gosh, I would think the thing that you'd wanna do is focus on going wider than going deeper, Yeah.
• 22:53
  Brian Olson: Because Amazon you know, you don't have any options if, if you're, unless you have built-in outlets.
• 22:59
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 23:00
  Robin Joy: So I, And that is an option- Mm-hmm … built-in out- outlets.
• 23:04
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 23:05
  Robin Joy: And a lot of times that will work, but it is not guaranteed.
• 23:07
  Robin Joy: Amazon doesn't allow that for certain situations.
• 23:11
  Robin Joy: It's not really clear when they do and when they don't.
• 23:13
  Robin Joy: So, yeah.
• 23:13
  Robin Joy: A lot of the time they do.
• 23:14
  Brian Olson: When you're regated, you get 60 days.
• 23:16
  Brian Olson: You, you got 60 days of them with your inventory before you… And you can MCF it.
• 23:20
  Brian Olson: I know.
• 23:21
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 23:21
  Robin Joy: But, I mean, any- anything can happen to any ASIN.
• 23:23
  Robin Joy: If they decide- Sure … it, it needs a-
• 23:25
  Brian Olson: Oh, if it's like maybe a, a c- a counterfeit claim or something like that.
• 23:28
  Brian Olson: Yeah, something like that.
• 23:29
  Brian Olson: yeah.
• 23:29
  Robin Joy: They may hold it.
• 23:30
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 23:30
  Brian Olson: So- Then your options are far
• 23:31
  Robin Joy: more limited … I don't want anybody to think that, "Oh, anything can happen, and I can just sell it on another platform." Mm-hmm.
• 23:36
  Robin Joy: Can't guarantee that.
• 23:38
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 23:38
  Robin Joy: So I'm just… I, I just feel like the- what, what you're saying is true.
• 23:43
  Robin Joy: If you're so deep that it's really gonna hurt you- Mm-hmm … if you lose that whole thing- Yeah… you're too deep.
• 23:48
  Robin Joy: Either go find some more to balance it out or don't send as many in at a time.
• 23:55
  Brian Olson: And, you know, one of the more frustrating things is when you ask for your inventory and it can't, and it doesn't come back in a meaningful timeframe.
• 24:01
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 24:01
  Brian Olson: And, Oh, we've been there … I, I know we talked about this before, and the, like Amazon found inventory that was over four years old.
• 24:10
  Brian Olson: And, "Oh, here's your inventory." Yeah.
• 24:12
  Brian Olson: I'm like, "Yeah, that expired a long time ago." A long time ago.
• 24:15
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 24:15
  Brian Olson: you need, you need to take care of me on that.
• 24:16
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 24:16
  Brian Olson: And then generally speaking, they do.
• 24:18
  Brian Olson: But i- in some cases we even got inventory back that wasn't ours.
• 24:22
  Robin Joy: Oh, yeah.
• 24:23
  Robin Joy: Even though we have always used Amazon barcodes- Yep … and, yeah.
• 24:27
  Robin Joy: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:28
  Robin Joy: And we knew it wasn't ours.
• 24:29
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 24:29
  Robin Joy: And, what are you gonna do?
• 24:30
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 24:32
  Robin Joy: So again, pick the percentage of, that you're gonna put in any one ASIN before you start buying for Q4.
• 24:42
  Robin Joy: Because if you do it after- Mm-hmm… you're already- Mm … you're already committed.
• 24:46
  Robin Joy: So you're gonna be having some cleanup to do.
• 24:49
  Robin Joy: But it is real.
• 24:51
  Robin Joy: We see it happening all the time.
• 24:52
  Robin Joy: You just want it to be the best deal so badly.
• 24:56
  Robin Joy: You want Q4 to be this great thing that you can't lose on so badly that you will take a higher risk.
• 25:04
  Robin Joy: I got no problem with you taking a higher risk.
• 25:06
  Robin Joy: If you can tolerate that risk, take that risk.
• 25:09
  Robin Joy: High risk, high rewards, absolutely.
• 25:12
  Robin Joy: But also high losses.
• 25:13
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 25:14
  Robin Joy: So, I just encourage you to be, make the decision before you're under pressure, knowing all of the things that could happen.
• 25:24
  Brian Olson: And we can kind of feel people resisting this during coaching calls- Oh, yeah when we say it like this.
• 25:28
  Brian Olson: Pick your percentage be- They don't
• 25:29
  Robin Joy: want it to be true.
• 25:31
  Brian Olson: Pick your percentage before you pick the product.
• 25:32
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 25:33
  Brian Olson: Decide before you go shopping what's the most that you're gonna put into any single ASIN, regardless of how many are on the shelf.
• 25:39
  Robin Joy: And, and I- Right?
• 25:39
  Robin Joy: personally think you should do this all year long, but- Yes.
• 25:42
  Robin Joy: Yeah, I would agree with you.
• 25:43
  Robin Joy: Yeah… particularly- Yeah … in Q4.
• 25:45
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 25:46
  Brian Olson: All right.
• 25:47
  Brian Olson: let's talk about the exits that you build before you need them.
• 25:50
  Brian Olson: Yes.
• 25:51
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 25:52
  Brian Olson: This is a two-sentence really, a two-sentence prescription that your doctor/coach writes on the little pad of paper.
• 25:59
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 26:00
  Brian Olson: Don't do things that aren't allowed.
• 26:01
  Brian Olson: Seems really obvious.
• 26:03
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 26:04
  Brian Olson: Sure.
• 26:04
  Brian Olson: And build in some diversification.
• 26:06
  Brian Olson: Don't let Amazon be your only outlet in Q4.
• 26:09
  Brian Olson: Pretty simple stuff, really.
• 26:11
  Robin Joy: Yeah, agreed.
• 26:12
  Robin Joy: As long as you only have one store- Uh-huh … remember, you only have one landlord.
• 26:17
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 26:17
  Robin Joy: If that landlord decides to raise the rent, you got to pay the rent.
• 26:21
  Robin Joy: What else are you gonna do?
• 26:22
  Brian Olson: Yeah, I say, like, in terms of outlets, start with multi-channel fulfillment.
• 26:25
  Brian Olson: This is one of the easiest ways to do this.
• 26:28
  Robin Joy: So you can send in your inventory to Amazon's warehouse, still sell while you're asleep- Mm … still not have to get up and package that item, but- Amazon can send it to another platform- Mm-hmm Walmart, Etsy eBay-
• 26:46
  Brian Olson: They're not sending it to the platform.
• 26:47
  Brian Olson: They're sending it to the customer.
• 26:48
  Robin Joy: yes.
• 26:48
  Robin Joy: They're sending it to the customer that you've got on that other platform.
• 26:51
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 26:51
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 26:52
  Robin Joy: Totally legit.
• 26:53
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 26:54
  Robin Joy: In fact I just read a news article.
• 26:56
  Robin Joy: They came out with some new tools that you- they're using for MCF- Ah so we'll probably be doing some webinars on this soon.
• 27:04
  Robin Joy: But this is a great exit strategy if you can sell it somewhere else if it stops selling, or even at the same time as you're selling on Amazon.
• 27:12
  Robin Joy: And,
• 27:12
  Brian Olson: and we named off a couple of these other platforms, but Walmart being your second-highest, second best tier, in my opinion- Mm-hmm is a place that you should probably have an account set up and you're also listing some stuff.
• 27:22
  Brian Olson: eBay, great outlet, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark.
• 27:27
  Brian Olson: I got a question from a seller this morning, "Can we buy inventory from these places to resell on Amazon?" No, you don't want to buy inventory- Not
• 27:32
  Robin Joy: as new, no
• 27:33
  Brian Olson: but you want to sell them.
• 27:35
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 27:35
  Robin Joy: You want to use them as outlets.
• 27:36
  Robin Joy: Sell to those platforms.
• 27:36
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 27:36
  Robin Joy: Absolutely,
• 27:37
  Brian Olson: yes.
• 27:38
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 27:38
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 27:39
  Robin Joy: A- and when you use those, those platforms, they- Mm-hmm … Amazon has no problem sending to them.
• 27:47
  Robin Joy: You don't pay the referral fee, like you do if you sell on Amazon, but you do, you do pay the FBA fee 'cause they're shipping it for you.
• 27:54
  Robin Joy: And they give you the tracking code that you can put, you know, eBay requires a tracking code within a certain amount of time.
• 28:00
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 28:00
  Robin Joy: Amazon gives you that.
• 28:01
  Robin Joy: Just be careful because if it's not in the warehouse and been received yet- Mm … it's still gonna take them- Mm-hmm … time to get it to that customer, too.
• 28:08
  Robin Joy: So make sure that y- that it is in the warehouse.
• 28:11
  Brian Olson: And I would just be cautious around don't don't treat multi-channel fulfillment as FBA Prime.
• 28:17
  Brian Olson: It is not going to ship within the Prime window.
• 28:21
  Brian Olson: It will ship- And actually- … and
• 28:22
  Robin Joy: usually- … they're pretty good.
• 28:23
  Robin Joy: They're, they're p- pretty good if they have it on hand.
• 28:25
  Brian Olson: Exactly, but I still give it two to five days.
• 28:27
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 28:28
  Brian Olson: Like, sometimes it's super fast, and sometimes it could take five days.
• 28:31
  Robin Joy: Test it.
• 28:31
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 28:31
  Robin Joy: Test it and see how, how it works for you.
• 28:33
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 28:33
  Brian Olson: You know, something else that you've been offering up, which is FBM, which I think is one of the easiest additional exit strategies which you don't even have to go off-platform for, but it doesn't seem like that many people are interested in it.
• 28:45
  Brian Olson: Talk more about that for a minute.
• 28:46
  Robin Joy: Okay, when you say I've been offering it up- Uh-huh … I, we do a webinar- Mm-hmm … every Tuesday night- Mm-hmm … in our, in our community, the multi sorry, what's our community?
• 28:54
  Robin Joy: The Multi-Dimensional Buy Box?
• 28:55
  Robin Joy: The Multi-Dimension Is that true?
• 28:59
  Robin Joy: The community that is known for the Multi-Dimensional Buy Box- Yeah which is the Modern Builders Network.
• 29:04
  Robin Joy: There you go.
• 29:05
  Robin Joy: We do a webinar every Tuesday, and- I've been asking people in the community-
• 29:11
  Brian Olson: Surveying them, yep
• 29:12
  Robin Joy: … yeah, what would you like?
• 29:13
  Robin Joy: And a couple of times I've, I've offered to do a webinar on FBM, and they've always picked something else.
• 29:19
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 29:19
  Robin Joy: Now, that doesn't mean they don't want FBM.
• 29:20
  Robin Joy: True.
• 29:21
  Robin Joy: They're just looking, Mm-hmm … they're just picking something else 'cause they want that more- Mm-hmm… right now, and I get that.
• 29:25
  Robin Joy: But FBM is going to be really valuable this quarter, this Q4, more than ever before.
• 29:33
  Robin Joy: I honestly believe that we are going to be able to capitalize on FBM more than ever before because Amazon is already showing signs that they cannot get this stuff received- Mm-hmm and sent to the customer in time, and that customer is going to be looking for another option, and the option I can control is FBM,
• 29:55
  Brian Olson: Yes, you can.
• 29:55
  Robin Joy: Fulfilled by Merchant.
• 29:56
  Brian Olson: Yeah, Fulfilled by Merchant, and this is, one of the, like I said, the maybe the easiest on-platform outlet for you.
• 30:02
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 30:02
  Brian Olson: Now, it doesn't help if you get gated necessarily, but it does help in terms of order cancellations- Mm-hmm and delayed in delays in getting your shipments received and available for, for sale.
• 30:12
  Brian Olson: Okay, but it is, I'll say, as regulated as it comes on the platform, Yeah.
• 30:17
  Brian Olson: You need to make sure that you are putting in your shipping what is it, tracking number, within a certain amount of time.
• 30:25
  Brian Olson: Otherwise, Amazon's gonna ding you for late shipments.
• 30:28
  Brian Olson: They also ding you for non-deliverables.
• 30:30
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 30:30
  Brian Olson: There's a number of things that happen here.
• 30:32
  Brian Olson: I don't want that to scare you off.
• 30:33
  Brian Olson: Just know that going in.
• 30:34
  Brian Olson: A lot of this is actually built to protect you.
• 30:36
  Robin Joy: I, I have some recommendations-… for FBM.
• 30:40
  Robin Joy: I highly recommend that you use Amazon's Partner Shipping- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm… because you have some… You, you… It's not all on you if it doesn't get there on time.
• 30:49
  Robin Joy: And guess what?
• 30:49
  Robin Joy: It's Q4 all over.
• 30:52
  Robin Joy: Yep.
• 30:53
  Robin Joy: Not just at Amazon.
• 30:55
  Robin Joy: I also highly recommend that you get someone to go over your shipping, Templates… templates- Mm-hmm … and things with you to make sure, and try it once- Mm-hmm… before you go all in on this thing.
• 31:08
  Robin Joy: Now, you're gonna have to make the decision if it's gonna be FBM or FBA when you put it up for sale, Or you can have
• 31:14
  Brian Olson: both if you're gonna
• 31:14
  Robin Joy: keep some inventory back You can have both, but each unit you're gonna have to make a decision on.
• 31:18
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 31:18
  Robin Joy: So you gotta make that decision upfront.
• 31:20
  Robin Joy: It may be a little while before this FBM becomes popular because people start seeing, just like that where we're gonna hold our price, you have to have a little bit of patience because it'll be closer to the, to the holiday that it's going to be available.
• 31:36
  Robin Joy: But just be really careful because Amazon has no tolerance- Mm-hmm… for a mess-up.
• 31:46
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 31:46
  Robin Joy: If you say, "I'm gonna handle this myself," then Amazon expects you to handle it.
• 31:51
  Robin Joy: we do pay for Amazon to do the customer service on our FBM.
• 31:54
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 31:54
  Robin Joy: I highly re- recommend that.
• 31:57
  Robin Joy: They're just, the, it's just, if it's your first time, really, really pay attention.
• 32:03
  Robin Joy: Try it a couple of times before you put, 100 things on sale that they could all sell, and then you'll be in trouble if you didn't get it right.
• 32:11
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 32:12
  Robin Joy: So I think the whole thing, Brian, is to just wait, have a plan.
• 32:17
  Brian Olson: Have a plan.
• 32:18
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 32:18
  Robin Joy: Have a plan.
• 32:20
  Robin Joy: Have a plan for what are you gonna do if something happens to an ASIN that you were really counting on?
• 32:25
  Robin Joy: Can your book of business tolerate it?
• 32:28
  Robin Joy: What is your risk tolerance?
• 32:30
  Robin Joy: If your risk tolerance is higher, remember that when you have a higher loss.
• 32:36
  Robin Joy: Your risk tolerance You, you're gonna know what your risk tolerance really was when something goes, goes bad.
• 32:42
  Robin Joy: Yep.
• 32:43
  Brian Olson: Have a plan to know how you're going to respond when an ASIN gets regated for you- Yeah … when an ASIN gets pulled from the catalog- Yeah … when your inventory is delayed in being becoming available,
• 32:55
  Robin Joy: When you- You get a- … get high pricing error … that's exactly what I was gonna say.
• 32:59
  Robin Joy: I, I also- Yeah … think that this year, more than any other year, there are going to be high pricing errors- Mm-hmm … that we have to deal with.
• 33:08
  Robin Joy: Now, high pricing error.
• 33:10
  Robin Joy: It's not something that gets you in trouble like like your, your account health is in, in- No, not at all.
• 33:17
  Robin Joy: Yeah … in, in issue.
• 33:18
  Robin Joy: It's they will pull your offer and say, "The price is too high," until you lower the price to a price that they will allow.
• 33:28
  Robin Joy: Now, they don't tell you exactly what that price is.
• 33:30
  Robin Joy: You gotta play with it, but here's the principle that I try to keep in mind when that happens.
• 33:38
  Robin Joy: If Amazon says I can't have the price that gives me the profit that I need, then it's just like any other ASIN that turned over on me, Amazon pulled it from the catalog or, or, something happened to it, I got regated, same thing Fire sell.
• 33:56
  Robin Joy: Get out of it.
• 33:57
  Robin Joy: Get your money back and go and, and put it in something else.
• 34:02
  Robin Joy: It is, it is not something to argue with Amazon about.
• 34:04
  Brian Olson: So you can't fire sell it on Amazon, but you can do some other things,
• 34:07
  Robin Joy: yeah, you sure can … you can sell it.
• 34:08
  Brian Olson: You can- Not after you've been regated you can't.
• 34:10
  Robin Joy: No, I'm, we're talking about high pricing errors.
• 34:12
  Brian Olson: Oh, high pricing errors.
• 34:13
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 34:13
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 34:13
  Brian Olson: here's the other thing to remember about high pricing errors.
• 34:16
  Brian Olson: a lot of times those high pricing errors come about because such and such store is running a sale on that item.
• 34:22
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 34:22
  Brian Olson: And Amazon is scanning those stores- Yep … to see where those prices are.
• 34:26
  Brian Olson: So as soon as that sale price ends- Sometimes- that high pricing error goes away w- if it's tie- if you can clearly tie it to that, Yeah.
• 34:35
  Brian Olson: Like, oh, I see why this is a high pricing error, 'cause these three stores have it on sale.
• 34:39
  Brian Olson: You can choose to hold out until that sale ends and see if it comes back to not having a high pricing error.
• 34:44
  Robin Joy: Yeah, and, and there's no guarantees there- Mm-hmm… but with experience you can kind of see those things happening.
• 34:50
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 34:51
  Robin Joy: So start paying attention to those things and not just drop everything,"Oh, I got a high pricing error and- Right… Amazon's not gonna let me do this." Yeah, it's, it's, it's their playground.
• 35:00
  Robin Joy: They're gonna let you do what they let you do.
• 35:02
  Brian Olson: So we think about your options and divers- being diversified when it comes to res- reselling on Amazon, let's talk about your outlets, your- Okay… your exits, Let's think about a house real quick, just to- Okay … give a g- a good example of this We're always building a house on this, on this.
• 35:14
  Brian Olson: Yeah, I know.
• 35:15
  Brian Olson: It's either the foundation- Lately anyway.
• 35:16
  Brian Olson: And now we're talking about the doors.
• 35:18
  Robin Joy: Okay, doors.
• 35:18
  Brian Olson: Isn't there almost always in a house a front door and a back door?
• 35:23
  Brian Olson: Almost always.
• 35:23
  Brian Olson: I, I, I can't think of a house I've been in- I can't think
• 35:25
  Robin Joy: of one that… Yeah, it's kind of a fire code thing, isn't it?
• 35:27
  Robin Joy: It
• 35:27
  Brian Olson: probably is a fire code.
• 35:29
  Brian Olson: We, yeah, there, if you, if you know this, like you can come school us on this, but- Yeah.
• 35:32
  Brian Olson: … I'm pretty sure you have to have a front door and a back door, Okay.
• 35:35
  Brian Olson: And sometimes there are more.
• 35:37
  Brian Olson: There's the downstairs door.
• 35:38
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 35:38
  Brian Olson: There's the upstairs door to the balcony.
• 35:39
  Brian Olson: Like there's a lot of, there's a lot of places to get in and out.
• 35:42
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 35:43
  Brian Olson: There's windows that open.
• 35:44
  Brian Olson: There's fire escapes, Mm-hmm.
• 35:45
  Brian Olson: There's a lot, and for emergency purposes.
• 35:46
  Brian Olson: Sure.
• 35:47
  Brian Olson: There is, yeah.
• 35:47
  Brian Olson: So there are all these different ways in and ways out, and you want that for safety, like I'm talking about.
• 35:52
  Brian Olson: Or like think about, I think about the office for a fire drill, There's more than one way, there's more than the elevator way to get out.
• 35:59
  Brian Olson: Oh, yeah.
• 36:00
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 36:00
  Brian Olson: Of course.
• 36:00
  Brian Olson: What if it- Because what happens during a fire drill?
• 36:02
  Brian Olson: The elevator locks down, Yeah.
• 36:03
  Brian Olson: And so you need another way out.
• 36:05
  Brian Olson: Is there one stairwell that everybody's on or are there multiple stairwells?
• 36:09
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 36:09
  Brian Olson: That's also why we practice fire drills.
• 36:14
  Brian Olson: That is a great point We know in advance, So that it's not chaos when the actual thing
• 36:18
  Robin Joy: happens You make the decision ahead of time- So that when- … where you're gonna go- Yeah … and if that's not available, what are you gonna do?
• 36:23
  Brian Olson: So that when you're, when you're in a highly emotional state, you're not making the wrong call, I think same thing for you.
• 36:29
  Brian Olson: When an elevator gets locked down in the Amazon space- Yeah… what is your exit path?
• 36:33
  Brian Olson: Where is your nearest stairwell that you are taking to get out, Or in cars.
• 36:37
  Brian Olson: Like, some people, it's funny.
• 36:40
  Brian Olson: like, a year ago, year and a half ago, I bought a plug-in hybrid.
• 36:44
  Brian Olson: Yes.
• 36:45
  Brian Olson: Not because I am a hybrid guy.
• 36:47
  Brian Olson: Not at all.
• 36:47
  Brian Olson: No, you're not.
• 36:48
  Brian Olson: It was a great tax deal.
• 36:49
  Brian Olson: That's the reason we got it.
• 36:50
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 36:50
  Brian Olson: And, and, But with gas prices being pretty high lately, I've been just… And, my commute's pretty short, I've been tooling around on electric.
• 36:58
  Robin Joy: And- Yeah, you're kind of glad you accidentally had to do that,
• 37:00
  Brian Olson: And I can plug it in here at the facilities, and I don't pay for it, and I'm like, "Okay, So now I have options with my vehicle as well.
• 37:06
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 37:07
  Brian Olson: which I don't know that I'll always have, but I do right now, so I like using that, It can run on gas or it can run on electric, so it gives me options that a lot of other people don't have.
• 37:15
  Brian Olson: And I saw an article just this morning about how the US automakers are like, "Oh, crap." Because of the gas prices, Yes.
• 37:22
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 37:22
  Brian Olson: And they're like, they're so underprepared- Ooh, I should have
• 37:24
  Robin Joy: more of this available.
• 37:25
  Brian Olson: They're so underprepared with these hybrids that, like, Korean and, and, Asian markets are just blowing them away this, this year because of that, Mm-hmm.
• 37:35
  Brian Olson: This is the getting prepared in advance conversation, and I think that there is a line for it.
• 37:41
  Brian Olson: And we're talking about the quote for today's episode.
• 37:44
  Brian Olson: Okay.
• 37:44
  Brian Olson: Okay?
• 37:45
  Brian Olson: "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." I know who said that.
• 37:51
  Brian Olson: You do.
• 37:52
  Brian Olson: Yes.
• 37:52
  Brian Olson: reveal.
• 37:53
  Brian Olson: John F. Kennedy.
• 37:54
  Brian Olson: John F. Kennedy.
• 37:55
  Brian Olson: Yeah, I did- I think I had heard, I mean, I kind of knew that it was him, but it was the State of the Union Address in January 1962.
• 38:02
  Robin Joy: Before either of us were born, thank you very much.
• 38:05
  Brian Olson: Yes.
• 38:05
  Brian Olson: We were born in the 1900s- Barely before.
• 38:07
  Brian Olson: But not that early.
• 38:08
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 38:09
  Robin Joy: Barely before, but before.
• 38:11
  Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 38:12
  Brian Olson: You can't do it, you can't repair the roof while it's raining outside, Yeah.
• 38:16
  Brian Olson: And gosh, I hate, I hate this for my aunt and uncle.
• 38:20
  Brian Olson: They had some, a lot of rain where they were living and, and they discovered that they had a leak in their roof in the garage.
• 38:26
  Brian Olson: And some water leaked into around this place where about a quarter of my uncle's vinyl collection is.
• 38:32
  Brian Olson: No.
• 38:33
  Brian Olson: Over 1,200 records there.
• 38:35
  Brian Olson: And so, TBD on the damage on that stuff, but this is why when you have things like this, you wanna repair that roof in the summertime- Yeah … not in the wintertime, You can't do it, or not in the winter, not when it's raining outside.
• 38:46
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 38:46
  Brian Olson: You can't do it when it's raining outside.
• 38:47
  Brian Olson: No.
• 38:48
  Brian Olson: So be prepared in October- Mm-hmm so that when something happens in November and December, you are prepared for it, What does fixing the roof look like this week?
• 38:57
  Brian Olson: That's really the question I have for you.
• 38:58
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 38:59
  Brian Olson: Decide.
• 39:00
  Brian Olson: Decide what it is that you're going to do when that regate happens.
• 39:02
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm.
• 39:02
  Brian Olson: Decide what you're gonna do when your inventory becomes stranded because the listing got taken down or you get a high pricing error, Decide what you're going to do when your inventory is slow to come into the prime window, and maybe you got something that was, you know, season specific, and you may be missing the season, whether it's- Mm-hmm … Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas, Make those kinds of decisions up front so that when it happens, you've got a playbook.
• 39:25
  Brian Olson: You're like, "Okay, this happens, so we, we turn to page 14, and here's how we ha- address the situation,"
• 39:30
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 39:30
  Robin Joy: Yes.
• 39:30
  Robin Joy: Have a plan with you people.
• 39:32
  Brian Olson: And if the dates keep slipping on whatever that item is- Mm-hmm… the seller who held their price and stayed, you know, f- until their items were available in the prime window is usually the one who's gonna get that order, Yeah.
• 39:45
  Brian Olson: Like, "Oh, I can have that one tomorrow?" Yep.
• 39:47
  Brian Olson: Based on where I am?
• 39:48
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 39:48
  Brian Olson: Boom.
• 39:49
  Robin Joy: Make that happen.
• 39:50
  Brian Olson: So real qu- I didn't give you a chance to chime in on the whole when the Fix the roof when it's- No, I,… when the sun's shining,
• 39:57
  Robin Joy: I, I agree with everything that you said.
• 39:59
  Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 39:59
  Robin Joy: And you know I am, I am the as much as I can is not a plan.
• 40:03
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 40:03
  Robin Joy: A plan is a plan.
• 40:04
  Robin Joy: A plan, yeah.
• 40:05
  Robin Joy: A plan before you have to decide is a plan.
• 40:08
  Brian Olson: Yeah, yeah.
• 40:08
  Robin Joy: And if I can just go off script for one- Sure … quick moment.
• 40:12
  Brian Olson: She steals my favorite part, the going off script part.
• 40:15
  Robin Joy: Today- Uh-huh … this is for you.
• 40:16
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 40:17
  Robin Joy: Today is we're recording this on October 5th.
• 40:21
  Brian Olson: Today is Brian's birthday, so I wanna say- It is, yes, my birthday happy birthday.
• 40:25
  Brian Olson: Hey, thank you so much.
• 40:27
  Brian Olson: I was standing in front of the mirror this morning and thinking, "I've never felt better. I'm not sure I've looked this good since I was a teenager." I feel really good about, He- And, you know, there's just a- You look good… thank you.
• 40:37
  Brian Olson: Just to throw in a bonus quote ah, I can't remember the guy's name, I'll, will, I'll, I'll, I'll properly, properly attribute this quote, during the next episode.
• 40:46
  Robin Joy: Okay.
• 40:46
  Brian Olson: But I heard this quote that, has really resonated with me over the last couple of months.
• 40:51
  Brian Olson: It is, "It's not the pursuit of happiness- Yeah… it's the happiness of the pursuit." And that sort of turn it upside down moment for me- Yeah … is what we've been living this whole year.
• 41:02
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 41:02
  Robin Joy: And- It's been, it's… I was just thinking that this morning.
• 41:05
  Robin Joy: Uh-huh.
• 41:05
  Robin Joy: This year has been quite a year.
• 41:08
  Robin Joy: It's been a real focus year, a year of a lot of changes.
• 41:12
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 41:12
  Robin Joy: A year of a lot of new things.
• 41:17
  Robin Joy: Mm-hmm.
• 41:17
  Brian Olson: Yeah, a lot of new things, which you're gonna start hearing on this podcast, by the way.
• 41:20
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 41:20
  Brian Olson: this is probably the last, like, straight up Amazon episode we're gonna talk- Yeah that we're gonna have here.
• 41:26
  Robin Joy: Speaking of diversification.
• 41:28
  Robin Joy: Exactly right.
• 41:29
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 41:29
  Robin Joy: We're gonna be doing more and more of it, and helping you do more and more of it.
• 41:32
  Brian Olson: Not only platforms, but also approaches- Yeah… and tools and services that you can use to help leverage your success in the e-commerce space.
• 41:41
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 41:41
  Brian Olson: Just think e-commerce, and then even above e-commerce is just business in general.
• 41:46
  Brian Olson: You know, Robin and I both have a lot of business background- Mm … as business professionals.
• 41:50
  Brian Olson: And, we're looking to bring as much of that to you from a principles standpoint as we can.
• 41:54
  Brian Olson: And that's what everything in Path was really based on.
• 41:57
  Brian Olson: That frame- those frameworks are tied to business principles.
• 42:00
  Robin Joy: I'm really excited about all the work that we've put in this year and, and it starting to come to light.
• 42:05
  Brian Olson: Yeah.
• 42:05
  Brian Olson: Okay, so when Q4 starts breaking things that you didn't plan for- Yeah.
• 42:11
  Brian Olson: Mm-hmm
• 42:11
  Robin Joy: … I think we gotta become undeniable.
• 42:15
  Robin Joy: Undeniable.
• 42:15
  Robin Joy: Undeniable.
• 42:17
  Robin Joy: I will not be denied.
• 42:18
  Brian Olson: I will not be denied.
• 42:19
  Brian Olson: Will you?
• 42:20
  Brian Olson: Will you?
• 42:21
  Brian Olson: Great to see you, everybody.
• 42:23
  Robin Joy: Yeah.
• 42:23
  Robin Joy: We'll see you again next week.
• 42:24
  Robin Joy: See you soon.
• 42:25
  Robin Joy: Take care.