This week, Starr Bryson, @flippinhippos, joins us to chat plushies, clothing and jean selling and more!
For 50% of Flippin Hippos Learning Guides, use code LISTPERFECTLYHIPPO.
The Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly is the ecommerce resource for the seller community across all platforms and a hub for information on growing your business. Find out more at thesellercommunitypodcast.com, leave a message or ask a question at anchor.fm/sellercommunitypodcast, or email us at podcast@listperfectly.com.
List Perfectly is the ecommerce resource for selling across multiple e-commerce platforms including eBay, Poshmark, Etsy, Mercari, Kidizen, Grailed, Depop, Tradesy, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, and Shopify.
Links
Seller Community Podcast on Anchor
Episode Links
Flippin Hippos Youtube
Plushie Queen’s Plush Guide
Flippin Hippos Facebook Group
Flippin Hippos Amazon
Flippin Hippos List Perfectly Referral
Flippin Hippos Facebook
Flippin Hippos Poshmark
Transcript
Doug:
Welcome to The Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly. This is season two, episode 26. We’ve got a good one for you this week. Well, every one is good, but we’ve been trying to get this lady on the show for a while. So it was really fun, really great to have her on. We’ve got Starr Bryson, Flippin Hippos. We’re gonna talk about plushies, jeans, clothing, her learning guides, her YouTube channel, Keith, her stint as an author. We’re gonna talk a little bit about horror, a common interest that she and I have, little bit about Star Wars and a bit about List Perfectly, of course. We had a great time with Starr. We laughed a lot, but listening and find out more about Starr Bryson and Flippin Hippos, our fun, organized and eclectic friend.
Doug:
Starr Bryson is also known as Flippin Hippos is a plush fan, online sell…is it plush or plushy?
Starr:
They’re plushies. I’m the plushy queen.
Doug:
All right. She’s the plushy queen. She’s an online seller. She’s a YouTuber, a seller advocate, and a resource. An author. I found out yesterday and we have a nice connection that we’re both horror and scary movie fans <laugh>. And so we’re gonna learn all about that but welcome to the show star.
Starr:
Hi, thanks for having me. I’m very, very excited to be here.
Doug:
And by the way, Starr is Flippin Hippos and that is also her List Perfectly referral code.
Clara:
Yes, that’s right. That’s right. Also happy to have you here, star. I’ve been excited, you know to finally get to interview you. I’ve never done this, you know, and, and get to know you deeper and, I have many questions, but I’m gonna start with the basic ones. Okay. How long, and how did you get into reselling, please?
Starr:
Well, I’ve actually only been a reseller since 2017 and it actually came about, it was Keith. I stole it from Keith. Keith had an eBay that he was building up because he wanted to do it full time and leave his crap job. <Laugh> and I got hurt at work and I became disabled and I could no longer work outside of the home. And so he said, well, why don’t you take over? So he gave up his eBay to me, basically. I took it over and I started working it full time. And then I created the YouTube channel to go with it and all the social media and he did it part-time with me and we built it up took us three years, but in 2020, just before the shutdown too, it was ironic. He was able to put in his two weeks and joined me full time.
Clara:
No way, that, wow. Reselling something beautiful isn’t that amazing?
Doug:
Yeah. That’s amazing. Congratulations. That’s like, it’s a double dream.
Starr:
There was no, I could not, there was no one that would hire me cuz I can’t sit or, or stand or bend or anything for more than five or 10 minutes at a time. So, wow. This is something I can absolutely do. And we have created ways, inventive ways for me to work. I have rollie chairs next to me all the time. <Laugh> with my stuff on it and I push everything on wheels and, yep. So yeah, I mean, but I, it was his, and he gave it up for me because I had nothing else I could do. So he struggled for three years of a job he hated while we worked to make it so that we could both do this.
Clara:
Will I get the honor of meeting Keith at BOSS Reseller Remix?
Starr:
No, he’s not coming.
Clara:
<Laugh> oh I wish. You know, I, I, he sounds, so he reminds when you talk, reminds me of Amanda, you know if I wouldn’t be here, if it wasn’t because of Amanda literally trusting me with her business, you know, for many years that she had, you know, and then sort of having me under her wings. So I, I, I hear you, you know, and you know that I have deformative arthritis on my spine and I’m like, you I’m branded defective, you know? And you know, you only fit if they need a quota in corporate America because they have to meet a quota of disabled people. Right. But you know, it’s, it’s, I hear your journey and I’m, I’m very touched Starr. I wanted to let you know, that I had the same thing. Sometimes when I’m off camera, I’m wearing a neck brace. I have an orthopedic bed. I have an orthopedic pillow. Everything, every, everything has neck support, unfortunately. So I completely couldn’t…
Starr:
Yeah. I have a tens machine that I put on my back and sit in my chair. I live on a heating pad. But you can make it work. And that’s the beautiful part of being a reseller. If I’m having a bad day and I’m not as productive or I’m in pain, I’m not gonna get fired.
Clara:
That’s right.
Starr:
I make my own hours, and I do, you know, but that’s funny that you said, cuz I often tell Keith that Amanda is your Keith cuz she’s quiet and behind the scenes and not in front of the camera’s one, that’s always talking and I always, I always compare you where you’re Amanda.
Doug:
Yeah. Wow. And, and that’s awesome that you can do this together now, but what did you do before you were a reseller?
Starr:
Actually, I was in the healthcare field for as long as I can remember. Yeah. My mom was an RN and my dad ran radiology. I started candy striping or volunteering when I was 14. I wanted to be a nurse, but I fainted the first time I saw blood <laugh> I couldn’t pass my clinicals. So I couldn’t become a nurse like my mom. So I actually went into recreational therapy, and I did like pet therapy, music therapy, activities, just like improving the quality of life of people in nursing homes. Yeah. And I did that for a long time. I was a cook for a little bit cuz I love to cook too. And I think that’s pretty much a well-known fact that I’m huge, I’m not just like a professional chef, but I’m a great cook. So I thought I would enjoy cooking for the nursing home. No, it’s different. It’s too institutional. So I did that for a long time, but I couldn’t separate myself and I would get too attached. And so when they would pass away, it was every time it was like losing a family member and it would just devastate me. Oh, I left the nursing homes to work with adults in their twenties and thirties with special needs. Okay. And I worked in day centers with them doing activities, getting them jobs in the community. We would take them on field trips and shopping. Then I started to work in their homes with them. And then that was amazing. Cuz it was like having a whole second family. You actually slept there. You took a block for your shift. You’d be there for three or four days. You cleaned, you cooked, you took ’em to their appointments. You took ’em to their jobs. You played board games. You went to the movies. I mean it was like literally having a second family. So in some capacity except for one small break, which was when I was a writer, I’ve always been in the healthcare field.
Clara:
Go figure, I’ve, out of ignorance. Okay. I’ll be honest. I’m gonna go deep. When I was diagnosed with deformative arthritis. So young, I was only 40. And I remember thinking that I was like maybe the universe was punishing me because I was very materialistic. I came to America with the idea of just making money. Do you see what I’m saying? There was no mission or vision behind it. My first, literally 12 years in the USA, was all about making, how could I make more money with the least amount of energy or a time mm-hmm <affirmative> and I hear your story, you know? And I, and I’m so touched and moved because I always thought that if I could have dedicated myself to not hospitality, but healthcare of other people, I, this could not happen to me and go figure, you know, I’m, I’m talking to you and I hear your story. I’m moved.
Starr:
Yeah. I thank you. I appreciate that. But I think it’s all in how I was raised. I gotta give credit. Yeah. I mean, everyone in my family was either a teacher or in the healthcare field and compassionate and caring and they were also Southern. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. Other people are so nice, you know?
Clara:
Yeah. I’m patient, patient, more patient.
Starr:
I think I hear thunder. If you hear that, I’m sorry. <Laugh> always storming in Florida. <Laugh> <laugh> but yeah, it was definitely my life’s calling and something that I, I miss all the time, but you’ve gotta roll with the punches. You gotta take what life gives you and make the most of it.
Clara:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Exactly. And that’s a big message that we can give to our audience, even if you are labeled as disabled because that’s a label. Okay. Just know that reselling is an incredible journey. Now let’s go back to your reselling journey. So how did you come about with the name Flippin Hippos correct me if I’m wrong, there is some love for the purple color there and Flippin Hippos. How does that work?
Starr:
Well, first of all, purple’s been my favorite color since I was a wee kid <laugh> I had Star Wars sheets and purple walls growing up. Yeah. I was an only child, so I was pretty spoiled, but I just always loved purple. So I had purple carpet, and purple walls. Purple clothes. And I just, and I never got away from that. And like, you guys can see, my phone is purple. My vape is purple. My pens.
Clara:
I love it. You’re like…
Starr:
Purple. Purple. So yeah, if, if it’s purple it’s mine. That’s the general rule. <Laugh> <laugh> it’s like Theresa with her red but it’s purple with me. OK. <Laugh> so I just always loved purple, but when Keith first started selling on eBay yeah. Back when I was still in the healthcare field before I got hurt and took it over, I have to be honest, I didn’t really pay too much attention or really give <laugh> a rat’s ass. I dunno if I can say that. Can I say that?
Doug:
Yeah. That’s not the worst word that’s been said on this podcast.
Clara:
Oh, don’t worry about it.
Starr:
I just, it was like, oh, that’s his thing. And I don’t want any parts of it cuz I don’t like retail. Well I didn’t and I don’t, I wear t-shirts and jeans. I’m not into fashion. I just didn’t want any parts of it. But he came to me to name his eBay store because I had a stint where I was a writer. So he’s like, you’re creative, you’re good with words. And I said, well, you know, people like alliteration when you have something with alliteration, they can remember it. Well, and it sticks in their head. Yeah. And he’s like, well, what do you suggest? And my youngest son at the time, he’s 18, he’s a grown adult now. But he was going through this phase where he loved hippos <laugh>
Clara:
Oh yeah.
Starr:
Yeah. And after like 20 different names that Keith shot down, I finally just got frustrated and I’m like, why don’t you just name it The Hippo Hut? <Laugh> And he did, he named his eBay store, The Hippo Hut <laugh>
Clara:
I love it.
Starr:
And I made him a little gif with a purple hippo that we still use. It’s like a, it’s such a bad, it’s not even good. I’m not good with graphic design. But I made him a little hut with a purple hippo. And so when I started on YouTube Flippin Hippos, cuz we flipped stuff. There are two of us. So Aw. I’m the story behind that? It was kind of, you know, just me joking around like, why don’t you just name it this if you’re gonna shoot down every idea I have and he did <laugh>
Doug:
So you’re the face, Starr. And you’ve mentioned this, this Keith fellow. And does he exist? Is he invisible? Is he your, you know, is he your fake boyfriend? <Laugh> you’ve made that joke. You’ve told me he’s invisible. No. So what so tell us a little bit about Keith and, and what he does as part of the business.
Starr:
Yeah, well he is real. But most people will never get to see him. He doesn’t do photos or videos. He doesn’t even talk like he did take me to Orlando yesterday to meet up with Trish and Diane and Cheryl.
Clara:
Oh, that’s nice. I love it.
Starr:
He just sat at the table. He ate his food, but he is really quiet so they can vouch he does exist, but most people will never get to see him. Um he is, he’s been my best friend for 20 years. And we’ve been together for almost 10 years like a partnership, we’re not married. I know a lot of people refer to him as my husband and I won’t correct you. That’s cool. It’s whatever. I like to call us life and business partners. Yeah, he is. He’s a nerd. <Laugh>
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
For me, he’s huge. We play World of Warcraft together. He loves all video games.
Clara:
Amanda, you’re talking and oh my God, he’s Amanda.
Starr:
I’m telling you my Keith is Amanda. Wow. He loves video games and I like some games, but I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, but I play like bothers game and World of Warcraft with him. Yeah, sure. He does not like horror movies, but we do love Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr. Who, and everything Marvel. And we watch all of that together. So he’s, he’s my nerd. <Laugh> as far as what he does for the business, he does everything behind the scenes. So I do all of the social media. I’m the face. I talk to people. I make all the phone calls to get suppliers for remotes. I call wholesale people cuz he doesn’t even like to talk on the phone, but he does. He’s super good with math. I’m really good at English. And there’s like a rule that if you’re good with English, you can’t be good at math. <Laugh> It’s like a universe thing, right?
Clara:
It could be. Yes.
Starr:
So he’s my numbers guy. He does the books, the taxes, and the accounting. He does the invoices. Yeah. He cleans and tests all of the remotes and he lists about 20 to 30 of those a day. And I do all the clothing. He does a lot of my pictures for me because of my back. So he’ll come in and do pictures of the plush and the shirts for me. He is not allowed to touch my jeans, I’m surprised I let him touch the plush, but I do. And he does a lot of the cross-posting and the sharing. Just anything he can do on the computer that doesn’t involve him having to be a people person.
Clara:
All right. What would you say from the things, you know, you’ve been working with Keith for 10 years, you said you know, and, and what would you say? One thing that you, you think that Keith is doing, that you guys changed because of the condition that you were diagnosed with, right? And the pain. What would you say that Keith took over that? You’re like, ah, what a lifesaver, the bigger thing, images. You, you mentioned images. Is there something else?
Starr:
Keith does everything like, but he’s, he’s been creative in finding ways so that I can still feel good about myself. Like, you know, I can’t sweep, mop the floors anymore. Um but he’ll push me around in a wheelchair so that I can participate and help. I’m also a lot if you’ve ever seen friends, I’m like Monica. <Laugh> pull the towel. If you do anything I’m coming behind you and redoing it. <Laugh>
Clara:
Star. Okay. Amanda is Jennifer Aniston. Okay. She’ll forget. She leaves her trail all over, you know, the office. Okay. <laugh>
Starr:
Yeah. Now Keith is Ross cuz he is very literal and very, very intelligent but literal about everything. But no, he does a lot of the housework and he’s been inventive in creating like he’s the one that came up with the idea of let’s get all these rollie chairs for you. Let’s get a table that’s at the right level for you. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> he helped me find my awesome chair.
Clara:
Mm-Hmm.
Starr:
<Affirmative> see it. It’s perfect.
Clara:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s cool.
Starr:
Um but yeah, he just, he just helps a lot. He actually pulls most of the shipping because the bins are heavy…
Clara:
Yeah. Shipping is brutal.
Starr:
Yeah. Anything that requires bending or lifting or pushing or pulling or any of that he’s doing, he goes to the grocery store as my donkey. That’s what I call him, he’s my pack mule. He’s gotta carry everything. And you know, when we go thrifting, he does his part. He likes to look at men’s clothes, but he’s gotta carry all the back. So like him he’s honestly become like an unfortunately for him cuz nerds do not like physical labor, but he is my pack mule.
Clara:
Oh, I wanna meet Keith soon. Thank you, Keith. You’re amazing. You make people like Amanda, Keith, you know, people and Doug, you know, helping us, you know, to be functional. And even though, you know, we have some pain and manage that pain, right?
Starr:
Yeah. And I mean, they put up with a lot too because yeah. You know, when pain is bad, it can be all-encompassing. It can eat your entire world and you become this, I mean, you can’t help it, but sometimes you’re mean, and you’re snippy and you’re not a nice person to be around…
Clara:
Saying that you know, and I’ll never forget. I asked Amanda because one time I told her, oh my God, get another business partner. You know, I’m defective. I told her, what are you doing? You know? And I’ll never forget. She told me. And I was like, why, why didn’t? And I was like, I knew that was the pain talking that wasn’t you. And that changed a lot for me.
Starr:
Yeah. He’s good at telling it when it’s, if I’m actually angry at him for something or if it’s just the pain talking and usually when I’m actually angry, I’m the kind of person that’s just like, here it is. This is what, it’s on the table. It’s out there. Can we move on? Yeah. But when I’m in a lot of pain, I can be, I can be. It’s like when you feed the Mogwai after midnight <laugh>
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
So you understand that.
Clara:
Cause it’s also the sleep deprivation. Don’t forget, you know, it’s brutal. Sleep deprivation. You have the pain, it just drives you nuts.
Starr:
But when you have a good day, it’s a good day.
Clara:
Isn’t it? And we celebrate it. We celebrate it. So talking about celebration. Okay. Let’s celebrate. How did you get into plushies? Okay. Because okay. We now, you know, Flippin Hippos. Okay. Purple color. But how did you, because gosh, <laugh>, I’ll be honest. If someone can flip plushies, it’s you. I never thought there could be so much money in plushes.
Starr:
That’s actually due to Keith as well. So, oh. Back in the beginning, when he was learning how to do this for himself and building the business when I wasn’t involved yet he was going to the bins. And by the way, let me just insert that real quick. We’re self-taught. We watched some YouTubers in the beginning, but for the most part, we are self-taught. We would go to the bins and we would go to 99-cent days at thrift stores. And we would spend, you know, $300 on 300 items or at the bins, it’d be $300 on 600 items. And we would bring all these things home. And then we learn from there and people that watch, my cell are familiar with this expression and we would learn what is poop?
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
Poop was items you don’t ever wanna source or sell. So we would learn what was poop, what was bread and butter staple items, and what was the BOLO or the money. But we learned through trial and error. We sourced everything and taught ourselves. No. Yes. So he was going to the bins. He encouraged me to go with him one time. And I went on one of my days off with him and he saw this big pink round rabbit that had stripes on it. It was a Dandee I’ll never forget. And he picked it up kind of by its ear cuz he and I are both germaphobes and he’s like, well I heard somewhere that plushies are good, but they’re kind of gross. And I said, well, put it in the cart. I’ll steam it or wash it or whatever. And we’ll look it up and see if there’s any good.
Starr:
And he was like a $16 rabbit, but I was like, holy $16 for Dandee that sells at Kmart what is going on. So then I started to just pick up all the plush when I was out with him. And then when I started full time, I self-taught myself. That too. We were lucky enough to have a 50-cent opportunity. They had like a cart or a buggy, my Southern family, the buggy. A 50-cent plush cart at our Goodwill. And I got to know the girl that worked there and I talked to her and became her friend and told her I was a reseller and she would pull all the really good ones like Legend of Zelda and Disney and put ’em in there.
Clara:
For all tips right here. Pro-tip, set up a relationship with your Goodwill. Even the cashier, janitor, everybody pro tip right there.
Starr:
Yep. I mean, I, I never tried to hide. I’m like, she’s like, why are you guys in here every Sunday buying all like 500 things. And I’m like, we sell on eBay and she’s like really? And, the plush does well. And I said, well, certain ones. And then she started loaning herself cuz she was pulling really good ones for me. But yeah, it just started with this pink bunny. We named him Wilfred Bunny after Wilfred Bremel from the diabetic commercials and Our House. Do you remember that show? Yeah. Yeah. Am I saying his name right? Wilford Brim…
Doug:
Brimley.
Starr:
Brimley.
Doug:
Okay. So now you have to rename the rabbit.
Starr:
<Laugh> Well, his name was Wilford Bunny.
Doug:
Okay.
Starr:
My son named him and I took him down and actually was gonna keep him cuz he was my first plush. Yeah. And then I put him back up and he sold, but he was the start of it all.
Doug:
So what are the challenges of selling pluses? Any myths or things like that? And I’m gonna take notes because we have a bunch of bags of stuffed animals in the garage from my daughter’s years of collecting and we’ve got some Disney stuff, we’ve got some pillow pets, you know? So what are the, what are the unique challenges?
Clara:
Did you just say pillow pet? Wow.
Starr:
The Pillow Pets.
Clara:
Wow. Are you kidding me? I’m sorry that I interrupted. That, that, that just blew my mind.
Starr:
I’ve had a couple of those pass through here, but the thing with plush is you have to make sure that you really inspect them cuz they can have tears and holes. You don’t want to wash them if you don’t have to, because like the vintage ones can fall apart. I absolutely recommend if you live somewhere with a hot climate, leave them in your trunk overnight and the heat kills germs and bed bugs. And then I would also recommend that you steam them when you bring them in. So we will, when we lived in Pittsburgh, it was always cold. So we just brought ’em into the foyer and steamed them right there at the front door and then brought ’em up to the office. But here in Florida we just leave them in the trunk for like a day or two. And then we steam ’em if you get the right steamer, they tout, they will tout right on the box. They’ll tell you we kill mites, bed bugs, germs. It’s sanitizing them cleans ’em it actually will make their fur fluff up and they look fresher. But if you have to clean ’em you can, you could put ’em in the washing machine. You can spray Awesome on it. Awesome’s a dollar at the Dollar Trade and it’s awesome.
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
Spray on the stain and let it sit overnight and then toss it in the wash. I recommend Purell. It’s a detergent that kills bed bugs. We use that on all of our clothing as well. Any clothing that comes in here goes straight in the washing machine with Purell. We are definitely germaphobes. But yeah. Cause it’s see, what I worry about is kids holding them and kids have snot and boogers and spit. And they put ’em right in their face. Yeah. And you have animals that may have had them in their mouth. You just never know where they’ve been. So you wanna make sure you sanitize, never put them in the dryer. Never let me repeat that, never. <Laugh> so many people are like, well I do. And it’s fine. Well, it’s fine until you run into the one that you ruin, the best example I can tell you is like, if you have a Simba, like the nice one. If you put him in the dryer, all that long silk hair will crimp up curly like a lamb. So you gotta let him air dry. Okay. So that’s like the biggest thing I think you gotta make sure you check for damage and they can, you know, people worry about them being germy, but there are ways around that you can sanitize ’em and stuff.
Doug:
And is it true that you should not feed them after midnight?
Starr:
Yeah. <laugh> don’t get ’em wet unless you absolutely have to, that’s right. But after midnight, I mean you can see the hippo. This is a podcast, but Doug, you see the hippo behind me.
Doug:
I do see the hippo behind you, Starr.
Starr:
Used to be only an inch big. So…
Clara:
<Laugh> oh…
Starr:
He sneaks into the fridge…
Doug:
There you go…
Clara:
We’re not under the influence of anything…
Starr:
I’m only drinking berry lemonade. I’m only drinking berry lemonade, and ice water. <Laugh>
Clara:
Okay. Partly water <laugh>
Starr:
There are a lot of myths and stuff about plush. I have a guy that goes over all of that, but in my Facebook group, there’s another well-known. Yeah. Very popular and very successful. Robert the other plus seller he’s in my group as well. He answers questions, he’s a great guy. So there are a lot of people in my group that can help you with your plush.
Clara:
Can you say the name of your group, please?
Starr:
Flippin Hippos Reseller Pod. A pod is a group of hippos.
Clara:
<Laugh> that’s right. Oh I, oh my, I just learned that. OK. Thank you so much. I always wonder about you. Of course, you would have that. I love it. So Flippin Hippos. Okay. The audience. She also has a successful YouTube channel with over 10,000 subscribers. Okay. What can sellers find on your YouTube channel, please?
Starr:
Well, I think we’re almost at 10,000. So if you don’t subscribe, go for it.
Clara:
OK, come on. We gotta make it to 10,000, but almost 10,000. OK.
Starr:
We’re really close on my channel. I do a lot of haul videos to show people what I source. But my haul videos I think are different because I don’t just go I got this Columbia shirt. I act like I’m on a video. Sorry. <laugh> but I don’t just say this is the Columbia shirt. These are Levi’s 521. This is the Disney Gemba. I talk about each item and why we source it. Okay. If it’s bread and butter or if it’s because some people are okay with bread and butter, those filler items give you the volume and the activity. And some people only want an average sale price of a certain amount. We’ve always been a volume-based business. That’s just how we built it. Um so my haul videos, I do unboxings cuz I buy a lot of stuff off of thredUP.
Clara:
Uh Huh
Starr:
And I get plush in boxes, mystery boxes. I do what sold on eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark.
Clara:
Oh wow.
Starr:
And I talk about, and there too, I tell you like this is what’s sold, but I talk about why it was a good idea to have that in the store, in the first place. If it’s a bad item, if it’s poop, I talk about that and you know, if I make mistakes, sometimes I screw up on the shipping, I’ll show it in the video and tell people, this is what I did. So don’t do this <laugh> so I do a lot of teaching, I guess, teaching and learning through our mistakes. I also do a lot of tough love videos. So when I see or hear things going on in the community that I think need to be addressed, I address them and I don’t sugar coat it and things like people complaining about their time management or they don’t have time for this. Or so. Yeah, I do wanna reality, like this is what it really is to be a reseller. This is what you need to do. It’s not easy. I think a lot of YouTubers try to make it look glamorous and easy and it’s not.
Doug:
And you mentioned the Flippin Hippos Reseller Pod, which is your Facebook group. So talk a little bit about community and how the community is important to you.
Starr:
I feel like without the community I would probably have gone insane. <Laugh> a long time ago for three years. I did this alone before Keith joined me. Yeah. And it’s lonely. And a lot of you know that it’s very solitary, you find yourself singing to your hamster and talking to your plushies.
Clara:
I love it. And talking to yourself, right.
Starr:
<Laugh> I just, I blame my hamster Ashoka by the way, fellow Star Wars nerds. But it’s just, it’s so lonely and you can’t learn everything alone. Either. You need some peers to bounce ideas off of people who are more experienced than you to teach you and people that are less experienced to help them. It’s just so, so super important that we all reach out and make friends and connect with each other and create our tribe. Yeah. I think that’s what we were calling it at the Remix last year. But because without human interaction, it’s sad. <Laugh>, it’s like a lonely, depressing, quiet, sad existence. And I don’t really feel that way. I don’t want people to be far as depressed. No, I’m actually very happy because I have all of these people that I’ve connected with. I talk on Facebook Messenger. And phone calls and text messages and in the groups all day long to all the people that I’ve connected with, I’ve made some really great friends. I was just in Orlando yesterday, visiting some friends. I go to Vegas once a year to see everybody. This year, I’m going to North Carolina and Vegas.
Clara:
We’ll see you there.
Starr:
It’s two conferences. So I just think it’s important. One because for your own mental health and to be happy, you need human connections. But two, you can’t learn everything on your own. You can’t possibly ever know everything or learn everything without somebody else who’s already been there done that made the mistakes and found the way it works, taking your hand and showing you the ropes. So the community is absolutely everything.
Clara:
That’s why we love you so much. Our mission ambition is so aligned also with List Perfectly. And, and again, you know, we were resellers, you know, Amanda and myself, we’re resellers. So I couldn’t agree more with you, the community is so important and is accessible and free. So you do so much for the community. Helping them with information and trying to demystify things or addressing things that need to be addressed. You even have training guides on your website, tell us what we might find on those training guides, please.
Starr:
With the plushy guide, you’re gonna learn how to make profits by flipping plush and stuffed animals. This is my favorite guide. It is my labor of love. It is my heart. Plushies are everything to me. It is called the Plushy Queen Plush Guide. It comes with a spreadsheet that’s broken down into bolos, bread and butter, and nolos, nolos are the opposite of bolo just means don’t get…
Clara:
I love it. Never nolos.
Starr:
Nolos. and it shows you like their average sale price. And that’s based on an average, we pull from Terapeak and eBay. These spreadsheets do take us quite some time to put together. Keith does a lot of this for me. He makes the spreadsheet so that they do their own math and he does the math stuff, but it shows you the target cost of goods based on that average sale price and the average shipping price, which you can get off of Terapeak. And then it shows you the sale rate and it’s color-coded. So green for fast, yellow for medium, and red for very, very slow, long tail. That’s the spreadsheet part. But I also wrote a little booklet to go with the plush guide…
Clara:
But wait, there is more <laugh>
Starr:
But wait, there’s more <laugh> I wrote a little booklet cause there is a writer inside of me and it has FAQs, busted myths, and all kinds of information about plush in there. It has just a list of the bolos nolos and bread and butter. If you just want a quick look at those and those aren’t just brands, cuz plush is a whole different world than clothing. That’s broken down into brands, but also characters and TV shows and movies that are popular. So then the clothing guide is a little more simple. That’s just the basic spreadsheet of 145 brands…
Clara:
Uh Huh
Starr:
And types of clothing that are broken down into used and new. Yeah, men and women and the same thing. Average sale price, average shipping price, target by price, and sell-through rate collar coded by speed. Then the jeans guide, which is all-new this year, I was very excited. I just put that out for the first time this year and jeans are the number two thing I love. I think a lot of people probably know that I love plush jeans. It’s my two things. So the jeans guide has the spreadsheet, just like the other ones with the brands, the used and newly broken down price, self-rate collar cutter, just like everything else,
Clara:
Uh Huh…
Starr:
But the jeans little booklet that I wrote. I’m so excited to tell you guys, cuz I loved making it. And the information in it is so invaluable to sell jeans. It teaches you how to measure the rise and determine if it’s low, mid, or high, how to measure the leg, and determine if they’re straight, boot cut, flare, jegging, mom jeans, or boyfriend cut. It teaches you how to determine the washes of jeans. How to tell the difference between men’s and women’s and lots of other helpful tips and hints when it comes to selling jeans. So those are my guides. There’s a lot of information on jeans and they have a hard, hard learning curve. Yeah. And with eBay and their items, what they consider mid-rise is different from what the rest of the world does. So you have to learn it. So there are charts and pictures. Yeah. How to measure jeans. All of this stuff is in the guides. What I wanted to do is offer anyone, listening to the podcast half off. So if you go to our website, which I think you’re gonna put in the show notes, right?
Doug:
Yes.
Starr:
It’s flippinhippos.com. <Laugh> it’s not hard. And you go to the training guides, you can buy the guides alone and then we offer bundle deals for any two or all three plug in your, your code and you’ll get 50% off the code all caps is LISTPERFECTLYHIPPO.
Clara:
Yay. Love it. What was that code name again, please?
Starr:
LISTPERFECTLYHIPPO.
Clara:
Thank you.
Doug:
Well, I will be getting the plush guide.
Starr:
It’s helpful. Yes. If I say so myself, but I mean, I think ours are unique in that I do write booklets and chapters. They’re broken into chapters. They’re very cool. There’s pictures. It’s written in purple.
Clara:
<Laugh> all right. I love it. Starr now, I’m gonna become obsessed. If I see anything purple it’s gonna be for you.
Starr:
Everything that’s purple’s mine. <Laugh>
Doug:
Okay. And you’ve already answered a lot of my questions that I had, but I will be getting the guide. So I’m gonna get rid of some of those, those plushies. So let’s ask you, how did you discover List Perfectly?
Starr:
This is one of my favorite stories to tell.
Doug:
All right.
Starr:
I met Clara at Amanda at eBay Open in 2019 in the lounge, the really tall one. What was it called? The one that had the elevator that drops you down and you could…
Clara:
Yes…
Starr:
Sky Lounge. That’s where I met Amanda and Clara and I remember the exact moment I met you guys cuz you had a circle of people all around you that were very excited and listening to what you were saying. And you were doing all the talking and you were very excitable and Amanda was just standing there and she was really cute. She was smiling and nodding <laugh>. And then you invited me to a meeting the next day where a couple of other resellers and myself met you in some hallway <laugh> we were sitting on couches and you talked about List Perfectly. And I was like, well I’m on board. I’m gonna go home and get it right away. And I mean like as soon as we came home, I was an early adopter. I started using it and became a referral member from that moment.
Clara:
Oh, that was, you were able to get in without the waiting list.
Starr:
I was not on the waiting list. I was one of the first users.
Clara:
Wow. Wow. Wow. Did you get the discount code that we gave you? Like we were giving at eBay open. That’s how you got in.
Starr:
Yes. And I remember you guys sharing a ticket and I came home and told Keith about List Perfectly. And he’s like, are you sure? It sounds like a startup. And I’m like, it is a startup, but I really believe in these women. You’ve got to get on board.
Clara:
Well, that’s a beautiful story. Thank you, Starr. I was wow. I can’t believe it’s just…
Starr:
I can, I have a magnetic memory. So I remember like…
Clara:
The moment that you’re talking about, I remember exactly when we were in that circle. I remember that. Wow.
Starr:
Yeah. You, everybody, had drinks in their hand and I just, I remember Amanda, cuz her smile was so big and infectious. She was just like not talking, smiling and so happy. And you were just like, whoa.
Clara:
Yeah <laugh> I can’t help, but it’s naturally me <laugh>
Starr:
And then I, then Amanda said that she did all the coding and I was like, oh my God, she’s a nerd girl.
Clara:
She’s so cool. Yep. Oh my God. I love it. Okay. This is so amazing. Thank you for sharing that. Speaking about List Perfectly, you’ve been with us from the beginning, you’ve seen us from four channels. Okay. You remember we were, we’re able to cross just one item. Remember to use multiple channels…
Starr:
One at a time…
Clara:
We have to pay for the, to save your listings on List Perfectly haven’t said that you, you’ve been through everything. What is your so far from, if you look in retrospective and overall, what was that feature of List Perfectly that you loved the most?
Starr:
I would have to say until recently it was the bulk.
Clara:
Uh Huh.
Starr:
Because coming on from the beginning and remembering what it was like to do one at a time, it was still easier than doing one at a time on your own. Yeah. The tool made it easier. But when you guys opened up that and I have a gaming laptop that I use for work, this is my World of Warcraft laptop, but it doubles for work. I can do 50 and just boom, knock ’em out. Cuz my computer’s, you know, powerful, powerful. So that was probably my favorite. Cuz I could get 50 going and then go make dinner and then go take pictures. You know, it allows me to multitask. But now I think it’s a tie between the PhotoRoom addition to my backgrounds being removed. I could almost take pictures anywhere now. I don’t have to worry about having a setup and the lights bending over and the, I can put a plush on my desk and people don’t understand how amazing this background remover is. You can put a plush sitting up on your desk and have your laptop in the background and it will remove that. The way I do my jeans on a table, I have a TV in the background, and my true crime’s always in the background. It removes it <laugh> so that and the next photo.
Clara:
Wow.
Starr:
Cause I also used to have to take all my pictures on my phone and then get a USB cord, plug it into my laptop, move the pictures from my phone to a special folder, and upload them to List Perfectly. Now when you do the next photo feature, I just do the listings here, like the photos next, next, next, and then save and next new. And then I can just list on my computer from there. So I guess I have a top three. Those are my top three <laugh>.
Clara:
Oh, I love it.
Starr:
It’s just made my life so much easier and makes things so much quicker and I’m able to do more in a day and multitask and get so much more done. Yeah. I love, I love List Perfectly. And I talk about it all the time on my channel and I tell people, I promise I actually use it. You can tell I’m enthused. It’s a great product.
Clara:
I love it. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you Starr.
Starr:
Well, thank you guys.
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
What you’ve done for the resale is beyond amazing.
Clara:
Oh, thank you. We couldn’t make it without you. You are, it’s people like you. Okay. That makes, we’re also small business on the software, you know, compared, you know, to Shopify, eBay. I’m tiny. Okay. So thank you for your support.
Starr:
She’s humble. She’s been on Forbes people <laugh>
Clara:
But thank you. Thank you. You make such a big difference for List Perfectly in our community. Thank you.
Starr:
I appreciate that.
Doug:
In my extensive research, I discovered that you are also an author. So tell us a little bit about that.
Starr:
Well, <laugh> for as long as I can remember, I have loved to read and write. I’m a huge bookworm nerd and I learned how to type on a typewriter. And I used to write short stories when I was a kid and I took a break from the healthcare field in 2012 for a couple of years just to avoid caretaker burnout. Yeah. Most people are familiar with mm-hmm <affirmative> and I started a blog and it got pretty popular, so I monetized it. Wow. And then I started to get offers to write short stories with people and be in anthologies. But that was kind of like the downfall because honestly, once I started writing for a living, it ruined it for me. You know how they always say…
Clara:
Really?
Starr:
Yes. They always say, do what you love and you’ll never work. Don’t do what you love for money. It ruins it. But I think it’s because when I actually really started freelancing, I was writing copy for property management companies. And I was writing copy for cities, and websites about their city. And I was writing about what…
Clara:
It wasn’t your passion.
Starr:
No, I mean, but even when I was writing about TV shows and doing reviews for popular magazines, there were deadlines and I had to write what the editor was telling me. They write, I couldn’t write about what I wanted that day and I had to, it caused burnout, but I will tell your audience. I did write erotica for a short amount of time. I sure did, it paid the bills.
Clara:
<Laugh> yeah. Nice.
Starr:
Yeah, it did.
Clara:
That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing that with our community Starr.
Starr:
A little bit of information. Most people don’t know, but yeah. I like writing fiction and short stories. So I might go back to that, but yeah. I don’t think I’ll ever do it for a living again. Like, unless it’s just for fun or something, like you said about my passion, like a blog about true crime or a blog about reselling or something.
Clara:
Yeah. Crucial, crucial. Otherwise, you get the burnout and I feel, I feel you, you know, it’s like…
Starr:
It ruined something that I loved with my passion, my passion since I was a kid.
Clara:
It becomes a chore.
Starr:
Yep. It became a chore and it just wasn’t fun anymore. I still read though.
Doug:
Good, good, reading is good. But you know, if you wanted to write about reselling, we do know a blog that publishes sellers so…
Clara:
Just in case you wanna write anything that is incredible.
Starr:
Heard from a friend named Kim that she wrote one…
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
Yeah. I might write something up for you guys just to see if I still got the juices up here in the brain.
Doug:
We don’t do erotica though so…
Starr:
No erotica, no reselling blog post about the UPS guy coming to the door…
Clara:
<Laugh>
Doug:
You got all that tape…
Starr:
Why does your postman always pick up your packages?
Clara:
Bow chicka wow wow… <Laugh>
Doug:
Chicka wow, wow.
Clara:
<Laugh>
Doug:
I don’t have any good sound effects. What do I have? I can do…
Clara:
What do you have, Doug? <Laugh>
Doug:
Magic.
Clara:
I love it. This is, this is too much fun. Thank you for your time. But I want, I have a couple, just a couple of more questions. Okay. What is next for Flippin Hippos? What is next?
Starr:
<Laugh> I really don’t know how to answer that. Like I ran it by Keith. We’re pretty status quo right now because we might be making another big move. I kind of wanna go home. I’m from Tucson.
Clara:
Okay.
Starr:
Born and raised and I’ve, and I’ve been homesick for a long time and I wasn’t happy in Pennsylvania cuz of the snow. So now we’re down here, but now it’s too hot and humid and I, so we’re kind of just maintaining the status quo. We’re not trying to expand or grow right now and just keep what we have, save our money, and figure out what we’re doing. And we’re also waiting for the housing bubble to pop <laugh>.
Clara:
Yeah. Smart. Very smart. Well, I would love to have you in Tucson. What is it? One hour and a half from Phoenix? I would love it.
Starr:
Yeah. It’s about an hour and a half away. So yeah. I mean like we really wanna buy a house, but I don’t want to spend double of what a house is worth cuz then when it pops and you’re left with a house, you know, so we’re holding off on buying a house, but now we don’t know where we wanna buy the house. I guess what’s next for us is to find our new forever home. Like I always stay with my plush. They find their new forever home. Yeah. We need our new forever home and then we’ll expand out and start purchasing bigger purchases and pallets and probably get a warehouse and some employees, but right now we’re good where we’re at.
Clara:
Okay, amazing. Love it. Great answer.
Starr:
We’re pretty minimalistic people and just happy being able to work from home and run our own lives and our own schedules and being together and just, I don’t know. The freedom that comes with being a reseller is just so amazing. Isn’t it? <Laugh> yeah.
Clara:
Yes. Say it. You know, it was be allowing that ah, intoxicating that first sale and I was hooked <laugh>
Starr:
I just like being able to create my own schedule and I love cuz I’m like a second shifter kind of person. I’m a night owl and I have insomnia. So I’ll sleep till 10 and that’s fine.
Doug:
Yeah.
Starr:
No one’s gonna fire me. I can work from noon to eight at night if I want that’s right. If that’s what I want my hours to be and tomorrow I may wanna work seven to three, who knows?
Clara:
<Laugh> <laugh>
Starr:
Just the freedom of it is so great. So yeah. I mean we’re pretty content where we’re at right now. I don’t see us trying to grow cause you don’t want to grow and get more inventory and then be moving that as well as all your items across the country.
Clara:
Smart.
Starr:
It’s expensive.
Doug:
Yeah. Well, that flexibility is good. Cuz you told me that after this you’re gonna watch the Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere.
Starr:
Yes. There’s two episodes. It drops today, the premier. We’re gonna order some Domino’s pizza.
Doug:
Nice. Nice.
Starr:
And watch our show.
Doug:
There you go. And so we are both mutual Star Wars fans. We also have another connection that I have to bring up. We’re both horror fans, and now I’m surprised because you faint at the sight of blood.
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
Real blood on a real human being in pain.
Doug:
Yes. Not fake blood.
Starr:
Fake blood, bring it on.
Doug:
All right, so what’s your favorite…
Clara:
Wait, wait, wait Doug. I have a question. What’s your, Doug, what’s your favorite horror movie?
Doug:
My favorite horror movie is Jaws.
Clara:
Oh, nice. And Starr would you be so kind to tell us what’s your favorite horror movie?
Starr:
1978 Halloween.
Doug:
Very. Yeah, that’s a good one…
Starr:
True. That’s the first one I ever saw and it started my love affair with horror. Michael’s my man.
Doug:
It’s a classic, changed the genre.
Clara:
I made the mistake of reading the Exorcist book when I was only 13. Okay. Needless to say, I was with insomnia the whole year. Okay. <laugh>
Starr:
I started reading Stephen King when I was about 13. And I think that is probably what started insomnia.
Doug:
<Laugh> yeah, there you go.
Starr:
But yeah, no it’s Michael Myers for sure. The original.
Doug:
Yeah. Yeah. Good answer.
Starr:
Good. It was born the same year as me.
Doug:
So anything to add?
Starr:
If you’re listening to this, you probably are listening to this because you follow List Perfectly. But if you’re listening to this and you don’t have List Perfectly, I like to tell people every retailer needs it. You just gotta figure out which level or subscription is good for you. A hobby seller probably just needs it. The starter is the lowest.
Clara:
It’s simple…
Starr:
Simple, someone that’s got a full time business like me needs the pro, but I don’t think there’s anyone out there who doesn’t need it, at all. You at least need the simple. And I’m gonna tell you my number one reason for that, and everyone knows this happens. There’s fairies in eBay coding that steal your listings. <Laugh> They are distant cousins of the fairies that live in your dryer that steal the socks.
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
But you guys know your listings on eBay sometimes just disappear or drop off and you go to do your inventory twice a year. If you’re not doing your inventory twice a year, you ship pay and you’ve gotta go pull the item, re-photograph it, re it. But guess what? Even if you’re just a hobby seller and you’re on that simple plan and your item falls off of eBay, you just go to your catalog and push a button and it’s back on eBay. You don’t have to go through the whole hassle anymore. That’s the number one reason I tell people who are like, I’m too small. I don’t sell enough. Your stuff’s gonna fall off too. So it stores your items and protects them from being lost and helps you to manage them. Not double selling on other platforms if you’re cross-posting. So everyone needs a List Perfectly. That’s the only thing I would have to add to this, cuz we didn’t say that everyone needs it.
Clara:
<Laugh> thank you. We like that. I love it. Speaking about that, I love your personality. Just like I said, you know, we have a vision and mission that is very aligned. What for our audience. Okay. And I’m gonna, I haven’t maybe seen Flippin Hippos, YouTube channel or maybe this is the first time I’m hearing about you describe with three adjectives for our audience. Describe yourself with three adjectives, please.
Starr:
Okay. We’re gonna have fun.
Clara:
<Laugh>
Starr:
Organized. Yes, and eclectic.
Doug:
Oh, I love it. Good ones.
Clara:
I love it. I love it. Eclectic. Yes.
Starr:
It’s gotta be eclectic because I love true crime and I also love Disney. I mean, but weirdo.
Clara:
That’s so true. You know, you looked <laugh> that’s very well. Well, this is incredible. Starr, what a beautiful way to get to know you better in sharing your story, your mission, and your vision with our audience. Thank you for your time.
Starr:
Thank you so much for having me. And hopefully, I wasn’t too much of a goofball <laugh>
Clara:
We love it.
Starr:
I always say on my YouTube, welcome to amateur hour. I don’t know what I’m doing. <Laugh>
Clara:
I love it. You keep it real. And that makes you, you, and that’s why your audience and our community love you so much. Starr, thank you again for your time.
Starr:
Thank you guys for having me. I had a lot of fun. It was great.
Doug:
Yeah, it was great. Thanks for taking the time and seriously, thanks for being a great part of the community and so helpful and your community, and our community, and we really appreciate it.
Starr:
Thank you.
Doug:
And you’ll say hello to Keith for us please?
Starr:
Yes. I will say hello to Keith.
Clara:
Thank you Keith. I wanna meet you Keith <laugh>.
Starr:
He won’t come to Vegas, but I’ll see you guys there.
Doug:
Will he listen to the podcast?
Starr:
Oh yeah. Yeah. He’ll listen to it. He watches my videos too.
Doug:
All right. That’s good.
Starr:
<Laugh>
Doug:
But thank you. And I’m sure we’ll have you back on.
Starr:
Absolutely. Yeah. Thanks for having me again guys. It was a blast.
Doug:
Thank you for joining us on The Seller Community Podcast from List Perfectly. You can find us at thesellercommunitypodcast.com. You can leave a message or ask a question at anchor.fm/sellercommunitypodcast. You can email us at podcast@listperfectly.com. Post a question in the List Perfectly Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/listperfectly. You can listen to The Seller Community Podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts and be sure and subscribe, tell your friends, and if you’re on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please leave us a review on Instagram and TikTok. You can find @snoop.dougie and of course, follow @listperfectly. And you can always use our promo code podcast. That’s P O D C A S T for 30% off your first month of List Perfectly or 30% off your first month of upgrading your plan. Thanks for listening. And we will see you next time.