Buying N64 controllers on Amazon and then returning a different one with a loose stick is the move...j/k that's return fraud. Real talk tho - if i was a seller i would mark all my items with a UV pen to see if the item returned was the actual item I sold.
It's good to have those kinds of checks and balances, but usually theft, fraud, scams, etc are so minor in business that logistically speaking, the business is better suited to not focus too many resources or time trying to stop 1% of customers screwing them over. They just need to account for it in their pricing and focus on the 99% that is doing well. For example, let's say you sell 10,000 items each year. You're going to have to mark every single one of those items with a security marker. That is almost 3 hours just to do that, assuming it only takes 1 second per item. Now imagine how much time that is if you sell 100,000 or 1 million items. At that scale those seconds add up extremely fast. It's far better to use those 3 hours to better improve the business or sell more items to name a couple because in the long term, the greater success of the business will outpace the losses taken on shrinkage.
@@MrJohnSmalley yup exactly. Thats why big companies like Walmart Target have loss prevention teams, yea it sucks to pay to prevent fraud and stolen merchandise, but its more beneficial than not having loss prevention. Every business takes a hit and losses imagine if Walmart went out of business because a few people stole and the small losses were too “stressfull” to bear
Like Trueheart said… you can have all the evidence in the world, it doesn’t matter. Amazon has normalized this abusive behavior to the point people know they can do it & the seller gets left holding the bag with little to no recourse. It’s by far the worst part of selling on Amazon.
*PUT TWO DOTS OF UV INVISBLE MARKER ON THE CONSOLE WITH YOUR INITIALS ON TOP OF A GAME OR ON A BOTTOM & SIDE OF A CONSOLE TO. IF IT GETS SENT BACK YOU JUST SHINE THAT UV LIGHT ON IT AND DETERMINE IF ITS YOURS OR NOT, IT IS NOT FULL PROOF , BUT SOME WHAT USEFUL POSSIBLY? I"M JUST A GUY ON THE INTERNET.*
True Words! My mom has a car dealership here in Waco Tx , And I Do The Paint & body work at the dealership & I Also sell my own cars on the side. I got out of jail , saved up enough money to go to the auctions again and be able to buy and sell cars and grow. I got all the way up to 10 monthly car payments coming in every month! Not including the side jobs I do regarding paint and body work. My only mistake was not putting money to the side for rainy days! Lately I’ve been buying cars with bad motors or transmission BACK TO BACK. Even though I’m buying cars at a discounted price at the auction , Sometimes it’s not worth repairing them so we throw them back in the auction hoping they get sold to other dealers. Say for example I buy a car for $2500 and it turns out as a bad car , The only other option is to sell the car in the auction hoping you get at least half of that 2500 back. Worst case scenario it doesn’t sell and I’ll part it out or sell the car to a junk yard. Now imagine having that happen to you back to back! YOU HAVE TO PUT MONEY UP FOR RAINY DAYS LIKE THIS , That way when those days come you’ll be bullet proof!!!! Thanks for the great vids , love the channel.
My minor set back this week was having amazon have 90% of Nintendo games and consoles be at "Unavailable" to get ungated. Weird, im pretty sure that the top resellers on Amazon dont have anything to do with it. Right?
This is a great lesson in business and life across all industries. Don’t let the little things get you. The only issue I have is that another reseller will buy these items, turn on for 10 seconds and post, tested and working and the cycle will continue. How do you fell about that?
Thanks for tackling this topic. This is the price of doing business, you'll always have to account for losses and scammers online, this isn't just selling video games only. Even if everything was perfect and everything is tested, this will happen, I would know because i've had my fair share of refunds in the past where people just return broken items and I've already tested everything beforehand. Sometimes you have to learn how to account for losses and move on.
That's why i like ebay. I don't scam Amazon but if im paying for a membership, you damn right il return things I don't need anymore and be more picky with condition
I've been arguing with Amazon support because someone was allowed to return a game 30 days after delivery. It was able to go back into inventory it just irks me that there is no real policy.
You can't refuse returns? I am a reseller in China, I resell on the 闲鱼 app, as long as I make a note of "no returns/no exchange" I provide a few photos and videos of current quality and prove that the item works, I am completely protected. If something is arrives damaged, the shipping company bares the cost. Surprised there is no option like this for American sites
@@techfan1017 Damn. That’s ridiculous. I feel like it’s the buyers who try pulling a fast one more often than the sellers. On the app I sell with the company does a “court” where there’s a certain number of employees who vote on whose in the right, majority wins. It’s a fair system
@@isaiahmcclure8894 Yeah the USA system is a joke. It’s easier for them to side with the buyer. I’ve even had proof of the buyer committing fraud and ebay still forced me to refund them.
Great video bro. Seeing this makes me feel so much better about when I have to deal with a return. My biggest returns are the ps2 blue discs because so many people have ps2s that play reg ps2 games but because of wear their ps2 no longer plays ps1 or ps2 blue disc's. What I'm saying is always anticipate a percentage of loss when buying for resale. Like you say it's the price of doing business.
I used to sell sealed Pokémon , dragon ball or yu gi oh card products on eBay. I had stated that returns not accepted, I had very detailed item descriptions and lots of pictures. I retired maybe one item in first few months. But it’s probably nature of product you sell.
Hi Caleb, Thanks for being the first one to honestly share some of the difficulties of the industry. Also the route you are taking with your channel eg.. the limited Run video is a great idea! That video was excellent and very professional, the thing I like about you and your vids is you are not afraid to ask the difficult questions that all us retro games want to know. Keep up the excellent work and vids like the limited Run, what it's like to be a game shop owner etc. I feel you will have a great future with vids like this. Also I'd personally just like to say I've been following you since you started really and Riff and the guys, Ricky Mort etc ... And really enjoyed the pod cast with the guys. Keep being yourself and you'll be just fine, love the stuff keep it up👍
While you may or may not read this Caleb, for the rest of you, there are easy ways to mitigate crap console returns on Amazon on higher ticket items. One of the best things, if you have the space, is to sell these items FBM with pictures including the serial. Granted it's more hands on but there are ways to mitigate every single hurdle people get scared of selling on Amazon. Then again, while I may sound like a jerk about it, if you don't have the skin for it stay off Amazon and let us have our higher margins. Idk why resellers put such emotions into a transaction but it will do nothing but stunt your growth and decision making skills for when the real decisions come into play during the scaling process, if it ever gets there.
Keep a growth mindset things will break, get lost, get stolen, get scammed but at the end of day show gratitude for all the great opportunities there are.
Selling on Amazon sucks for 90% of resellers. Way overrated. eBay is way way better in every way. Doing amazon isn’t worth the extra money you get on some things.
I think with a little of your returns, people have swapped out the good you sold them for a bad one they had. Or Caleb are you able to verify the systems are the exact item you sold them? My thought on the game discs too were swapped out on you n returned. Your method and attention to detail is very precise. Keep up the great work
I would like to see a video on what you do, if and when you recognize you are being scammed in a return. Do you fight it or do you let it go and move on? Curious.
Hey man. I'll buy all the ones that need to be repaired. Please let me know. Amazon is the best and worst thing about reselling and you nailed everything about it. Great job
Tbh I stopped reselling because of scams. All the inventory I bought was online since there are no game stores in my country. It was all switch stuff because nothing else sells here. Even sellers with 5+ years old accounts and hundreds of previous listings would sometime go dark after paying. And I wasn’t buying obviously fake listings intact I payed prices ungodly high (Mariokart 8 deluxe 32$, sold for 39)
I can’t explain why, but I’ve had trouble with shipping specifically DS consoles. I’ll clean, test, and make sure they’re 100% work. Half the time when it arrives to the buyer, it doesn’t read games. I ended up including a cheap $2 DS game in the game slot. Haven’t had that issue since.
Not video game related, but I had to give a guy 16,000 back the other day ago for a machine at parts. He bought it in that condition to fix it, but my guy slipped it before it got on the trailer and now I just took the biggest loss. 😑 so let the punches roll wouldn’t mind switching you for your box of broken video games lol 😂
Have lost about 200K 4 years ago in my business . Because I got scammed by a businesspartner unfortunately. Now I am just back on my feet and not giving up .
I got like 2 bad reviews in a row on ebay and forlike 10 years had a perfect rating. The buyers i was dealing with were complete morons, never even boithered to contact me before giving me a nasty review. After that I didnt try selling anything for 2 years. Sure, ebay is just a hobby for me , but man that stung, especially since i had to give some guy a $100 refund on console that he claims was not in condidtion i decribed, it was 40 year old microvision, i don't know what he expected . I probably shouldnt have taken it so personally, and I know its the cost of doing business , but it really caught me off guard.
Once had a guy purchase a rare shelf stereo set and take the non working guys out of his and Frankenstein his into mine to keep for parts? Not sure because it wasn’t even the same model. People are nuts. It’s just hard when it’s your whole income and that one return you didn’t expect this month is 300$ on a slow week. If I sell 3K that week it’s 25% of my profit easy after cogs and overhead. I get Walmart gas theft and it hurt the bottom line I get that, just hurts the guy trying to make it solo a bit more than the billionaire market leader ya know? I’m with ya tho, gotta get over it or let it go. Can “build it into my business” but some accountability would be nice ya know!
How many games where swapped it out.... same as pokemon cards people get no hits so ask for a refund. Or keep hits and still ask for a refund. Its crazy how scummy people can be
Keep hold of them handhelds like a savings account for twenty years and resurect them like them frozen billionaires 😊 they'll be worth a friggin fortune.
Out of anything you need to keep more of an eye on, is WII U game discs. They are by far the worst quality discs ever produced. Any imperfection in the disc's real estate would be a no go. Panasonic sourced them, and they are very fragile discs. I just noticed a bunch of your returns were WII U games...not surprised. I would only buy and sell ones that look just about perfect. The imperfections may look like veins or dings. Youll know what I mean. It renders them inoperable. The disc can look good without scratches, but any sign of those weird dings is a red sign.
Your haters can pound sand. You are the personification of “hustle” dude. It has been outstanding to watch your business succeed like it has. We appreciate you taking us with you on your journey, Caleb!
@@bigman4487 I cannot fathom that logic. Explain yourself. Why are video games any different than any other item being valued by one person at one price, and another at a different price? The price of the item is what the top bidder commands.
@paulwilliams5500 I think the biggest difference is that games haven’t been made as collector’s items, they’re an art form. They aren’t made to be rare or profitable for random people twenty years in the future. You wouldn’t put a price on a song would you? Why is it any different when it’s a physical object?
This dude has changed the game for resellers now. Gives loads of helpful information that a lot of people would keep from you or wouldn’t even bother giving out, he’s genuine to his fans, offers to buy their stuff at gaming conventions, goes out of his way to stay consistent with content with awesome videos, creates a legit website to sell all of your bulk games to him to make it easier on both sides and yet still, yall find a reason to hate on him… Yall need to find a better hobby man… On the upside if you don’t get it enough, I’ll speak on the behalf of the real fans and say we really do appreciate all of the hard work you put in man! It doesn’t go unnoticed.
These are Amazon prices, his items aren’t expensive, because all retro games are expensive on Amazon . the only reason that he can sell it for that much because Amazon generally has inflated prices on these things
@@themoonwalker1073 So you willingly rip people off and make them pay those inflated prices. Get a conscience and stop selling on Amazon. You are part of the reason prices keep going up.
Yes, Caleb regularly makes mention of his faith by talking about his church or how he holds Bible studies in his game room. Retro Rick who is often featured in Caleb’s convention videos is also a Christian who is also a worship leader at his church.
@@rhino5625 This is beautiful to hear. I just started watching his videos fairly recently and I recently started following Christ back in October 2023.
@@YoMikeSZN Caleb takes a lot of flack for being a “dirty, dirty reseller”. But he’s just a guy trying to do business and support his wife and serve God. It’s really easy to judge strangers on the internet. Welcome to the faith! Best decision you have ever or will ever make.
@@rhino5625 Satan main Goal is to Destroy the things God has set up for us but to stay vigilant (john 10:10). I see the hate Caleb gets and I know those are attacks of the enemy trying to break him down.
I fixed my getting frustrated with returns and getting ripped off by not selling anything that costs over $30. I know most people tell you the higher your average sale price on eBay is the better you are... For me, I'm just fine making $2 an item on $9 item and selling hundreds of them. Someone wants to return an item? Full money back, no questions and don't make them ship it back (which typically the seller has to pay for anyway). Greatly eliminates the anger at knowing a buyer is lying.
@@maartenn2217 guess that depends, made $9k profit last year in my spare time. So I couldn't certainly live off of eBay, but it definitely helps pay the bills.
Out of 30,000 transactions 4 come to mind that we're frustrating. Still never got off tracks, brushed it off with a medium oreo blizzard from dairy queen and kept on crushing it. ❤ 🎉
Most of my eBay transactions are positive. It's rare that a transaction ends with a return or goes sour and it always hurts. You can't allow the one to outweigh the many.
It may be the opposite of that is contributing too with the drive being unable to read a damaged disc, rather than just the disc itself? Ability to continue through physical disc errors is a common characteristic of drive choice for archival work. TLDR; Some drives can go off-roading, some drives can't
Genuinely good advice, as a principle I just don't sell consoles or anything high end on Amazon, id rather offload my consoles to DK Oldies for half the value and not even worry about it.
Watching the start of this video can’t help thinking… how strict is your testing procedure…? If you get that man returns you need to fix your testing process.
often times the returns are return scams. They have a copy of call of duty black ops 3 that won't read so they buy a used copy on amazon and then return their defective one back to the seller. Its really common sadly.
This is a really good video for any seller. I'm sorta on hiatus from selling still but my amazon inventory is still sorta just sitting there (some selling, some getting returned) and it's never not been hard to take return scams personally even though it's very much the cost of doing business. Just have to learn to accept it.
You are awesome, you always look as negatives as problems to solve and that is way better than letting it get to your soul…. Sadly there are to many computer says no types out there instead you work the challenges and get better outcomes because of it…. Perception is the true reality and understanding that helps prevents disasters…. so keep doing what you are doing 👍👍👍👍👍👍
A huge setback for me is and was sourcing. I used to focus on yard sales but have since changed the landscape and have focused more on online sourcing. That has helped my profit and business grow, albeit slightly upward week after week via smaller margins. I’ve also begun to focus on buying the same games over and over because they sell quickly rather than focus on growing an eBay store with 500+ unique items that will continue to sit for 30+ days. It’s not as attractive as hunting for a vast amount of games, but it does add more money to my business account so I’m happy.
I’d love to see an app review feedback video!! Also random idea for a mini game hunt if you ever feel like doing one again: all Winnie the Pooh games 😂
