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 whole. Then COVID hit, and like so many others, every little thing stopped. Fortunately, Jim’s not one to take a seat round.
A couple of facet hustles later, he’s working what some dub “a mini Costco,” providing the perfect offers in Ellensburg, a city of 20,000 individuals. So if Jim’s sitting, it’s really on the starter yacht he bought along with his resale wins. In truth, after we met with Jim over Zoom to study extra about his resale journey, he was on mentioned yacht with Seattle’s Area Needle in view.
Key milestones
- 2002: Begins restaurant profession; ultimately opens 9 areas along with his spouse
COVID (2020): Eating places shut down; pivots to facet hustles to fund daughter’s school - 2020-2021: Junk removing enterprise gives resalable stock; converts warehouse into House Once more Used Furnishings
- 2021: Discovers B-Inventory by way of Shannon Jean; wins first Costco public sale; makes $3,500 in a single-day Fb Stay sale
- 2024: Strikes into an previous tow truck storefront with zero advertising and marketing; 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 means of B-Inventory and increasing nationally by way of 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 facet hustle annually—and proving alongside the way in which that constructing and promoting a enterprise doesn’t should be as laborious as individuals make it out to be.
“ The primary facet hustle that I began was a junk removing enterprise. I quickly came upon, [by] buyer quantity three, that folks have been giving me objects that have been nonetheless good and resalable. And so my revenue margin on the junk removing jobs would go manner 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 seen.
“I used to be doing rather well promoting used restaurant gear, so I began shopping for extra gear. Despite the fact that my spouse was like, ‘I believed we have been making an attempt to promote every little thing,’ I ended up shopping for and promoting extra stuff.”
The street to return pallets
Ultimately, Jim got here throughout Shannon Jean, a seasoned resale knowledgeable 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 facet 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.’”
Properly, he bid, received it for much less, and found the public sale included two further sheds. He offered these, and similar to that, he was already forward.
Armed with a number of 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 reside 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’m going, ‘I’m gonna proceed to do that.’”
By the subsequent day, Jim was already transferring to lease an previous tow truck store. Quick ahead to now, and he’s solely persevering with to develop, with virtually 90% of every little thing he does at the moment nonetheless on B-Inventory.
A frenzy was born in Ellensburg
Curiosity received the higher of parents. With only a pink ‘For Sale’ signal, Jim already had prospects pulling off the facet of the street to see what his discount 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 once I wanna be open and promote some product.’ Properly, the shoppers determined they wished greater than that.”
Jim discovered himself open Wednesday by means of 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 vehicles, an entire different type of frenzy was born—all in pursuit of “a loopy whole lot,” as Jim put it.
“Proper out of the gate I offered some loopy stuff. I offered a greenhouse, hen coop, sauna, and tons of furnishings. I used to be shopping for my manner by means of B-Inventory.”
Creating an area individuals wish to go to
“ We’re fairly restricted on procuring alternatives, so it simply took off. It’s a procuring 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 prospects by means of the door, you have to be on to one thing.
“ Ladies would simply are available and choose by means of the bin…it was probably 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 amazing deal on ’em.”
Classes discovered alongside the way in which
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 luckily, his enterprise was worthwhile from day one. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply it’s all the time been clean crusing. (Pun supposed.)
“ In the event you’ve ever purchased a pallet, supply day will be difficult since you don’t know what to anticipate.”
The extra enterprise Jim does, the extra he needs to know concerning the product that he’s getting. At this level in his journey, he is aware of which distributors are much less of a big gamble–particularly concerning how dependable the sorting of merchandise is.
“Once 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 assist you, or you possibly can turn into an issue solver and simply overcome them, and that’s usually what I’ve performed.”
The earnings are within the problem-solving
Throughout X and Fb, you could 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, work out 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 earnings are within the problem-solving. Within the restaurant enterprise, that’s one other talent set that you simply study; you’re overcoming issues shortly. 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 seeking to make a buddy quick,” is what he likes to say. It begins with an enormous greeting, an expertise they will bear in mind, and typically, nice service that goes past his doorstep.
Jim spoke about an aged couple who got here in and bought a chest freezer with no solution to get it dwelling. Not solely did Jim and his son supply dwelling supply, they even eliminated the door from its body to maneuver the brand new freezer inside and haul the previous freezer out.
”When you perceive the lifetime worth of a buyer, it’s not an $80 freezer that I’m enthusiastic about. I wanna assist them, I would like them to return again, and I would like them to advocate family and friends to us.”
Location, location, location
The Cut price Store discovered its new dwelling 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 in all probability 85% of my merchandise come from Costco,” he jokes.
His prospects can do their discount 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 solution to carry individuals into the shop.
“Now, the [former] Sears location doesn’t have the site visitors going by it, which has damage us slightly bit. However when you’re inside the shop, it’s positively a greater procuring surroundings.”
That being mentioned, Jim has discovered that location could be a development issue—and plenty of of his bigger Fb Market gross sales occur within the Seattle market.
“A few times every week, I drive over and do deliveries to individuals’s houses, as a result of my market’s simply not giant sufficient for what I’m making an attempt to perform. I simply have greater targets. I’m making an attempt 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 making an attempt to create a pastime. 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 broaden throughout the nation. The extra social media I do, the extra merchandise I promote or the extra folks that check in and watch me promote reside as effectively.”
In truth, his Whatnot exhibits took off virtually too shortly. He cautions that if you happen to’re promoting 200 pairs of footwear per present, your stock stream higher have the ability to sustain!
Reimagining the standard brick-and-mortar
Already, Jim’s fascinated by brick-and-mortar in a different way. Their present area is constructed particularly to accommodate reside promoting and order success. There’s even speak of a possible podcast and YouTube channel.
“What we’re doing with our retailer now could be we’re turning it into a big on-line retailer. So every little thing that we’ve in our retailer, for probably the most half, might be listed on-line, both on eBay, our personal web site, and websites like TikTok or Whatnot.”
Inquisitive about extra of what Jim has to say? Observe @resellerrowe, and chances are you’ll simply get impressed to start out your individual resale enterprise.
Are you a B-Inventory purchaser who needs to inform us extra about your reselling enterprise? Tell us, and we will function you!
