Jim Rowe has all the time been an entrepreneur. From 2002 onward, he and his spouse constructed a large chain of eating places throughout Washington with 9 areas in complete. Then COVID hit, and like so many others, every part stopped. Fortunately, Jim’s not one to sit down round.
A couple of aspect hustles later, he’s operating what some dub “a mini Costco,” providing one of the best offers in Ellensburg, a city of 20,000 folks. So if Jim’s sitting, it’s truly on the starter yacht he bought together with his resale wins. The truth is, after we met with Jim over Zoom to be taught extra about his resale journey, he was on mentioned yacht with Seattle’s Area Needle in view.
Key milestones
- 2002: Begins restaurant profession; finally opens 9 areas together with his spouse
COVID (2020): Eating places shut down; pivots to aspect hustles to fund daughter’s school - 2020-2021: Junk removing enterprise supplies resalable stock; converts warehouse into Dwelling Once more Used Furnishings
- 2021: Discovers B-Inventory through Shannon Jean; wins first Costco public sale; makes $3,500 in a single-day Fb Dwell sale
- 2024: Strikes into an outdated tow truck storefront with zero advertising; does $60K in gross sales first month
- 2025: Relocates The Cut price Store right into a 6,000 sq ft former Sears location
- Current: ~$700K spent by B-Inventory and increasing nationally through eBay, Whatnot, and TikTok
Turning junk removing into school tuition
Along with his daughter about to start out her first 12 months at Boise State, Jim dedicated to funding her school by beginning a brand new aspect hustle annually—and proving alongside the best way that constructing and promoting a enterprise doesn’t must be as exhausting as folks make it out to be.
“ The primary aspect hustle that I began was a junk removing enterprise. I quickly discovered, [by] buyer quantity three, that individuals had been giving me objects that had been nonetheless good and resalable. And so my revenue margin on the junk removing jobs would go approach up.”
A small used furnishings retailer adopted, then storage unit auctions, then used restaurant gear from his personal warehouse. He was shopping for quicker than he was promoting, and his spouse observed.
“I used to be doing very well promoting used restaurant gear, so I began shopping for extra gear. Although my spouse was like, ‘I assumed we had been attempting to promote every part,’ I ended up shopping for and promoting extra stuff.”
The highway to return pallets
Ultimately, Jim got here throughout Shannon Jean, a seasoned resale skilled and founding father of the Reseller Mastermind group, on X. When he reached out, mentioning his area of interest in used restaurant gear, Shannon pointed him to B-Inventory. That very same night time, he logged on.
That first B-Inventory win…of many
One of many first listings he noticed was a Costco public sale for a backyard shed—the precise shed he wanted for the espresso store he’d been constructing for his daughter (yet one more one of many aspect hustles). It was retailing for round $1,600.
“I used to be like, ‘Okay, worst case state of affairs, I’ll bid $1,600, and if I win it, I purchased a shed.’”
Nicely, he bid, received it for much less, and found the public sale included two extra sheds. He bought these, and identical to that, he was already forward.
Armed with just a few extra public sale wins—furnishings, train gear, extra returned objects—and a penchant for social media, Jim held an outside sale proper exterior his storage unit doorways. He went stay on Fb. His spouse demoed a sofa. They made $3,500 in a single day.
“I checked out her that day, and I mentioned, ‘This can be a lot higher than the restaurant enterprise, isn’t it?’ And he or she goes, ‘Yeah.’ And I am going, ‘I’m gonna proceed to do that.’”
By the subsequent day, Jim was already transferring to lease an outdated tow truck store. Quick ahead to now, and he’s solely persevering with to develop, with nearly 90% of every part he does at the moment nonetheless on B-Inventory.
A frenzy was born in Ellensburg
Curiosity received the higher of oldsters. With only a pink ‘For Sale’ signal, Jim already had clients pulling off the aspect of the highway to see what his cut price retailer was all about.
“ I didn’t put a lot thought into it. I used to be like, ‘I’m simply gonna promote what I’ve out of this warehouse, and I’m gonna be open after I wanna be open and promote some product.’ Nicely, the shoppers determined they wished greater than that.”
Jim discovered himself open Wednesday by Saturday for the subsequent six months. In that first month alone, he did $60K in gross sales.
Testing the market
Just by rolling stuff out by the sidewalk and seeing pallets unloaded from the vans, a complete different sort of frenzy was born—all in pursuit of “a loopy whole lot,” as Jim put it.
“Proper out of the gate I bought some loopy stuff. I bought a greenhouse, hen coop, sauna, and tons of furnishings. I used to be shopping for my approach by B-Inventory.”
Creating an area folks wish to go to
“ We’re fairly restricted on buying alternatives, so it simply took off. It’s a buying desert in Ellensburg, Washington, and right here’s this new alternative to have some enjoyable, you recognize?”
When the climate hits single digits, and also you’re nonetheless getting clients by the door, you have to be on to one thing.
“ Girls would simply are available in and choose by the bin…it was essentially the most fascinating factor, as a result of they’d stand round these bins speaking and exhibiting the garments to one another, after which getting an excellent deal on ’em.”
Classes discovered alongside the best way
Jim shares one of many earliest classes from his encounters with Shannon: begin by shopping for one thing that you simply want. For Jim, that was the Costco backyard sheds, and thankfully, his enterprise was worthwhile from day one. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply it’s all the time been clean crusing. (Pun supposed.)
“ Should you’ve ever purchased a pallet, supply day will be tough since you don’t know what to anticipate.”
The extra enterprise Jim does, the extra he needs to know in regards to the product that he’s getting. At this level in his journey, he is aware of which distributors are much less of of venture–particularly relating to how dependable the sorting of merchandise is.
“If you spend as a lot cash and have as many orders as I’ve had, you’re gonna run into some challenges. You’ll be able to fall again and have B-Inventory enable you to, or you may develop into an issue solver and simply overcome them, and that’s sometimes what I’ve carried out.”
The income are within the problem-solving
Throughout X and Fb, you’ll find Jim mentoring enthusiastic newcomers to the enterprise. He’s even joined up with Shannon’s Reseller Mastermind group.
“ Don’t get overwhelmed by the public sale sport,” he emphasizes. Purchase with math, determine the way you’re going to promote the product, after which brace your self for some severe problem-solving as a result of issues aren’t all the time shiny and new.
“ The income are within the problem-solving. Within the restaurant enterprise, that’s one other ability set that you simply be taught; you’re overcoming issues rapidly. Even on the desk you’re overcoming issues, serving to a visitor.”
The worth of a lifetime buyer
One other lesson from the restaurant enterprise that caught was hospitality. “We’re trying to make a buddy quick,” is what he likes to say. It begins with a giant greeting, an expertise they will keep in mind, and generally, nice service that goes past his doorstep.
Jim spoke about an aged couple who got here in and bought a chest freezer with no method to get it house. Not solely did Jim and his son supply house supply, they even eliminated the door from its body to maneuver the brand new freezer inside and haul the outdated freezer out.
”When you perceive the lifetime worth of a buyer, it’s not an $80 freezer that I’m keen on. I wanna assist them, I need them to return again, and I need them to suggest family and friends to us.”
Location, location, location
The Cut price Store discovered its new house in a 6,000 sq ft former Sears constructing. A giant improve from his former retail storefront. “Some say that we appear to be a small Costco as a result of most likely 85% of my merchandise come from Costco,” he jokes.
His clients can do their cut price searching whereas buying on a regular basis necessities like paper merchandise, water, groceries, and even pet provides. Some objects Jim doesn’t even make cash on, however considers all of it a grassroots method to deliver folks into the shop.
“Now, the [former] Sears location doesn’t have the site visitors going by it, which has harm us slightly bit. However when you’re inside the shop, it’s positively a greater buying surroundings.”
That being mentioned, Jim has discovered that location could be a development issue—and lots of of his bigger Fb Market gross sales occur within the Seattle market.
“A few times per week, I drive over and do deliveries to folks’s houses, as a result of my market’s simply not giant sufficient for what I’m attempting to perform. I simply have greater objectives. I’m attempting to purchase a $700,000 yacht, and to make that occur, I’ve needed to unfold my wings.”
Trying forward for Jim
We requested Jim what he envisions for the way forward for his enterprise. That is what he needed to say:
“ I’m not attempting to create a passion. If I’m gonna do that, I wanna go after it and scale one thing.”
Social media as a development catalyst
“My plan is to make use of these different websites like eBay, Poshmark, TikTok, and develop throughout the nation. The extra social media I do, the extra merchandise I promote or the extra folks that sign up and watch me promote stay as properly.”
The truth is, his Whatnot exhibits took off nearly too rapidly. He cautions that in case you’re promoting 200 pairs of footwear per present, your stock stream higher be capable of sustain!
Reimagining the standard brick-and-mortar
Already, Jim’s excited about brick-and-mortar in another way. Their present area is constructed particularly to accommodate stay promoting and order success. There’s even speak of a possible podcast and YouTube channel.
“What we’re doing with our retailer now’s we’re turning it into a big on-line retailer. So every part that we now have in our retailer, for essentially the most half, will likely be listed on-line, both on eBay, our personal web site, and websites like TikTok or Whatnot.”
Fascinated with extra of what Jim has to say? Comply with @resellerrowe, and you could simply get impressed to start out your individual resale enterprise.
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