This week Cheryl Hinton (@yayarambles)and Kimberly Rose (@koalatradingco) join Clara to discuss benefits, advice, and tips on going into reselling after retirement.
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
Cheryl Hinton YaYa Rambles Linktree
Kim Rose koalatradingco Linktree
Transcript
Clara:
Good morning, Cheryl. Yayrambles. Good morning, Kim. And I’m sorry for both of you. I think it’s good afternoon actually, right?
Cheryl:
Yes.
Kim:
Oh, it is. I don’t even know what time it is. I’m so excited to be here. <Laugh>.
Clara:
So happy to have you here. And you know, so excited to have our friend Cheryl. I wanted to talk about something that is a topic that is very important to me, which is maybe because I came to this country alone by myself, I have no family here. So I really have to be very strategic with what I do, with my money, with the different pools of savings that I have, you know, for medicals, for investments, okay. For expenses, personal expenses and so forth. Investment for companies. So I have to be very strategic, and I keep, you know, that when I came to this country 20 years ago you know, it was before my, almost 30 okay. And I was shocked, you know, coming from Argentina, I was like, not planning my retirement. And I thought it was only me because of course I was doing banking and I surrounded myself with people, you know, that of course, all they, they were talking about early retirement and retirement plans and how to do supplemental income after you retire, which for me was like, wow, you retire and you work? For me it was like a cultural shock. I keep, you know, I was like, I cannot even imagine doing that. Right? But in my mind, at that time, I was picturing myself still working for banks, okay. At the age of 60, which is very few people, okay? And if you do it, you know, usually you’re gonna have a job that doesn’t have a high stress level. So that, for me, opened my eyes to start planning strategically for retirement. The main topic and the reason that I have someone like Cheryl and then also came okay. Because of strategic thinking. And especially Cheryl, because she just retired. And congratulations, Yaya <laugh>.
Kim:
So excited for you.
Cheryl:
Me too, I’m tired though!
Kim:
You’re tired and retired.
Cheryl:
I’m tired and retired.
Kim:
Yes. <Laugh>
Clara:
I wanna do a t-shirt of that one!
Kim:
<Laugh>. Yeah. But you’re your own boss now.
Cheryl:
Oh, and I am a tough task master, let me tell you. Yeah. Really. Ask my husband.
Clara:
So Cheryl you know, thank you for doing a great time to, you know, to talk about our community and share with our community about your reselling journey. I’m so inspired and dear community. Stay tuned, because whether you’re, like I said, 20, 30, 40, 50, this applies to you. This applies about being strategic, about being very determined, and to understand Okay. Not to burn your avenues and to diversify your income. Okay? And again, be strategic. Strategic, strategic. Where are you saying hi from?
Cheryl:
I am just north of Tampa in Florida.
Clara:
And thank you, Kimberly, for making time again, you know, your growth with List Perfectly. It’s incredible. I love seeing you doing these lives with me. I really, really appreciate it. From the bottom of my heart, it means a lot. Okay? Because I am only as good as the community I’ve surrounded myself with. And again, you know, I’m just like, I, I have to be the CEO of List Perfectly, because, you know, <laugh>, I have to, Okay. But, you know, just know that it’s very important for me always to stay in touch, to be an active CEO and to bring okay, news or stories like the one we’re gonna share with you today about strategic retirement in the, like I said, don’t worry if you’re young, this does apply to you because you should be planning strategically. Right now, retiring in the USA is super expensive between medical care or the caregivers. It’s expensive. That retirement does not cover it. Okay? So I didn’t, you know, I have to do a lot of loans. Okay. I have to do it, I saw a lot of different income brackets and everything. So, Cheryl, could you share with our audience, do you remember how long ago did eCommerce find you, or you found eCommerce and you started to dream about, hey, maybe, you know, eCommerce would be the way that I can supplement my income?
Cheryl:
I started selling on eBay. I’m not quite the OG that, you know, T Money is, but I thought I started in 95. Ebay thinks I started in 99, whatever. But I, I definitely was back in the days where you got money in the mail, you got checks, you got, we took pictures on cameras. You had to get developed. And then scan the pictures and, and oh my God, it was, you guys that complain now, whatever, just <laugh>, we have no idea. So we were doing it then I, so I did it off and on. I’ve done it off and on for years depending on my situation in life or the person sharing my abode, shall we say, as to whether or not I was active or not. Um luckily my husband entertains my quirks. And we could go into that story, we’re high school sweethearts apart for 30 years. Got back together and it’s a whole thing…
Clara:
Wow.
Cheryl:
So yeah. We’re, we’re, we’re gonna, we’re gonna die together at this point.
Clara:
<Laugh> meant to be…
Cheryl:
We’re done.
Clara:
Universe wants it. Okay, don’t fight it. Cheryl. Okay.
Cheryl:
So we so yeah, so he tolerates and, and humors me with my current this. And so I have off and on. So it never was, I always wanted to do it. And I’ve even owned antique stores. I’ve been in antique shops, other people’s. And so yeah, I’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s one of those where he says that the reason we got back together was because of my love for rust and dust. And I said, Well, cuz he’s old and decrepit and <laugh> and dusty.
Kim:
Is de part of the rust and dust?
Clara:
Ok. Elaborate on that love of rust and dust. What does your husband mean with that? Because I know the answer, but I…
Cheryl:
<Laugh> Well, I was gonna say yeah, I actually, I, a former mother-in-law, her mother, so former grandmother-in-law, I don’t know what she would’ve been. But anyway, she was like an OG picker and just, she has the best red hair. She was like, you aspire to be the cool that she was. And she got me involved in it. Much to the disappointment of my husband at the time, didn’t, didn’t appreciate, didn’t appreciate the rest and dust at all. I used to tell people, all my friends, if you hear I’ve died, run to my house, cuz all my crap is gonna be on the front lawn. It’s just, Oh, no. You know? And I keep trying to tell my children, Please don’t do that to my stuff, but <laugh>. So yeah. Anybody in Florida, keep your ear out because all of this could be yours. You never know. <Laugh>, this one, my, my last one. We’re done. We’re done. He tolerates it. He enjoys it. He will never go out thrifting with me because of his physical situation. He’s not able to, but he does humor. When I come home, he gets the haul video. Yeah. That’s right. So, we’re talking about possibly him doing some stuff with me. Katy and Vikki had an idea and we thought it was a pretty good one. So I’m trying to, trying to work out how we can do that, but yeah. So he just, he just oohhs and ahhhs and he will look stuff up on the interwebs to…
Kim:
Oh, comping.
New Speaker:
Thank you. That word. Yeah. Okay. Yaya’s tired. Awesome. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He does a little comping for me, but he’ll yeah…
Clara:
You started reselling in the nineties. When did you actually as like, okay, done. Okay, this is gonna be doing what I’m doing for retirement. Because you could have done gone real estate, crypto stocks I don’t know. Bonds, I don’t know, know, you know so many different ways. Many people, you know, they, they go to retail. It’s surprising to me. They wanna be in touch with people having experience on retail. They love working on retail because that allows ’em to still get that human touch that they crave every day.
Cheryl:
No, no, no, no, no, no people, no <laugh>, <laugh>, you know, I love people, don’t get me wrong, but the thought of standing on my feet all day and yeah, no, no, no, no, no. This is more fun. I’m saving, Yeah. I’m saving things that when I find something that’s old and rusty and dusty, you know, that most people would say, throw that away. It’s like, no, it’s got history. It’s gotta, you know, you need to save it. And then the clothes, all this stuff here that, God I hate clothes, but…
Clara:
But when would you say you were like, Okay. Done. Yeah. Was it a long time ago that you were like, okay, from the early in the nineties that you were like, Okay, that’s it. This is what I’m gonna do for retirement. You know, this is a gold mine. Or did it just happen with the pandemic because, you know, eCommerce exploded or how was it for you?
Cheryl:
Yeah. Yeah, it was a bit before that I had, that had kind of always been in the back of my mind. And then I always, unfortunately you talk about retirement and, and you know, I’ve had 401ks and whatever those other things are called. But due to circumstances, every time I would leave a job that I had money in, it wouldn’t be much and I’d have to spend it because of life circumstances. Okay. So, you know, I was never, it wasn’t like, oh my, like I’ve got two friends that were the smart ones, we’ve been friends for a long time, let’s go with 30 plus years. Both of them were smart enough. One worked for a company for 25 years or more, and she retired here recently. And, you know, I was like, Oh my God, when I found out how much she got to leave with. And another friend, she’s retired three times, I think.
Clara:
Wow.
Cheryl:
The same company. She, they keep calling her back, you know, the old, they keep…
Clara:
Oh, that’s very normal. Yes. They can’t replace her. Yep.
Cheryl:
Exactly. She’s…yeah. So she, I don’t even know. She’s probably gonna be fine. She’s always, Yeah. I used to help her with things like, she had the money, it was just paying the bills. Yeah. She would forget to pay them. And so yeah. Anyway, she’s had the money. It’s just she’s never good about the paying the part. Yeah. But so I was the one that was like, you know, I would have no money and, and I’d have to do whatever. Well, in 2018…
Clara:
In person right? Are you talking about in person?
Cheryl:
Right? Right. The last in person one. Yeah. Well, that one I didn’t go to because I had decided that I was tired of being broke. I had finally gotten two good jobs back to back. And so I was like, I have got to pay off all of the bills that I’ve been accumulating all these years because at one point between my husband and my mother, I thought I needed to be home more. Yeah. And be able to help them and take them to doctors and whatnot. And so I ended up taking a job that was working at a nursing home. I worked the four to eight shift five days a week. Yeah. Let me tell you, there’s not a lot of money when you work. Yeah. Four to eight. Okay. So when I finally, I got a good job through a connection and started making well, a pretty good amount of money. Yes. And I started paying off because we had been living on credit cards and
Clara:
Thank you for sharing that. Oh, guys coming from banking. Oh…
Cheryl:
I know, I know.
Clara:
And I cannot believe that’s called predatory lending because you shouldn’t be doing that to seniors, you know.
Cheryl:
I know.
Clara:
That means you can’t give more debt to a person that is beyond their means. And that’s when underwriting comes, you know, you gotta give, that’s what I did for a living so I could make sure okay that we’re not getting you more debt and I could get you out of debt even though I knew I mastered already any kind of loans, unsecure, secure, you name it. So my job was to protect the unprotected, you know, segment of the customers. Okay. In banking, which is usually young people or seniors. Okay. Young people, you know, because they will take any credit card Okay. From the universities. And then they fall into, you know, debt that they shouldn’t be accruing. So that was something that has always caught my attention. Thank you for sharing. That touches my heart a lot. That tells me how transparent you are. Thank you. Audience, if you are living Okay. On your day to day expenses with a credit card, know that you’re not alone. I did it also Okay. To fund myself List Perfectly. So think about it if you’re doing it. Okay. Just to, you know, unless it’s a spiritual journey that you need to take, but just make sure you invest it wisely when you put any kind of expenses on those credit cards. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead.
Cheryl:
Like I said, I’m an open book. I was literally bringing home $130 a week and thankfully my husband has a disability, so we were able, you know, he was paying most of the bills, but food, gas, anything else was coming outta mine. And $130 a week is nothing. So I, yeah, I had run up probably a good 6, 7, 8 credit cards, let’s say. Yeah. And so when I got the really good job, I was able to start paying them off and get them paid off and, and keep above, you know, But that meant there wasn’t the thousand, $1,500, whatever it would cost to go to Open that year cause I couldn’t justify paying that when I had these bills I needed to pay cuz I knew eventually I wanted to stop working and I wanted to be able to be a cash person. And so I just didn’t have the money to justify it. So I didn’t go. And…
Clara:
What did you do? So you calculated the eBay entrance ticket, you calculated your staying, you calculated airfare ticket, your food. So what did you do? So you made the sacrifice of, okay, I’m not gonna go there. I’m gonna invest the money. What did you do with that money?
Cheryl:
Well, that money was paying off bills. It was going, you know, I took that money and instead of throwing it towards eBay, I said, No, that can pay off this credit card or that can put, you know, 500 on this card, 500 on this card, 500 on that card, whatever. So I ended up, Yeah. So it was painful. I hated seeing all my friends sending the pictures back and, you know, having a good time and everything. But I just knew that that was what I needed to do. So I, I made that sacrifice and I know that, it took me probably a good year or two years to get everything paid off and get situated and get where we were, you know, able to, there was still money left at the end of the month instead of the other way around. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, that was a good thing. So then I, we ended up that job, unfortunately, it was a newspaper that ended up going out of business after 60 plus years.
Clara:
Wow. Yeah. Was this during COVID
Cheryl:
No, this was way before, No, actually…
Clara:
Ahh way before, okay.
Cheryl:
Actually it was a year before because I had just had my year anniversary and we got a message that the bosses were coming to the office, which they never did. So I thought silly me, me, with always looking at stuff as an over the top, everything’s Roses person. I thought, Oh, they’re coming to tell me about my new raise and my, you know, whatever. And I, whatever. No, they were coming to tell us they were shutting us down in 30 days. So I had, luckily I was on. I got a base salary and commission, but in order to get my commission for that, what the outstanding invoices, I had to collect before that 30 days was over. So I went and luckily I had a good relationship with all of my people. Yeah. And as a matter of fact, the very first person I went to, to collect, she offered me a job. And I, and I told her, I said, I adore you, but I don’t want to do this. I know I don’t wanna do this job. I said, however, my receptionist is gonna be out of a job and she would be perfect. And they hired her and she’s still there to this day. So, yeah. But I did, I collected all the outstanding invoices so I could get my final commission. And in the meantime, through another connection I found out about the mobile mammography bus, which is what I just retired from. And thankfully it was owned by a man that I walked in. I walked into my interview, talked to him, and literally the next day he called and I told my husband, I said, I think I just got a job. Cause I was talking about, Okay, see you Monday or whatever. I’m like, Okay. So that I actually was with them for a year before the pandemic. So, but again, it was again, even more money that I had been making before. Yeah. So that’s when I started saving that word.. That has never been an option for me before.
Clara:
Right, Right. So, Kimberly, you went the opposite way now. You know, actually you know, if you haven’t heard of Kimberly’s story, you need to go to The Seller Community Podcast. We have a podcast, and List Perfectly blog. We have a blog talking about her. She even wrote blog posts about it. Kimberly, you are in a different situation. You’re younger. Aa Okay. But okay. Retirement is coming like a freight train. So, you know, for those of us, you know, I’m almost 50, but, you know, for those of us that are above 50 Okay. You are the opposite way. And would you mind sharing with the audience what you do, please?
Kim:
As far as my retirement funding or, or when I quit?
Clara:
You know how Cheryl Yaya said that she didn’t go to eBay Open 2019 because…
Kim:
Oh, okay. Oh, that, Oh yeah. That route. Gotcha. So…
Clara:
And then what did you do with, not eBayOpen, but BOSS Reseller Remix in 2021?
Kim:
Well, I had been working at my yucky job, what I call my yucky job. And I went to the BOSS Reseller Remix this last October. And that was the catalyst. That was the last puzzle piece that was missing. Yeah. For me to quit my, my other, you know, my full-time job and go full-time reselling. Yeah. It was, I had been this, you know, at this other job for 22 years. And it was a very toxic environment and Yeah. You know, I had been considering I mean, I know I wanted to do something else, but I didn’t know what, Well, when I, you know, I went to the BOSS Reseller Remix and found out that that was, like I said, the last puzzle piece that fell into place. Yeah. And right after that is when I came back and, you know, got my, first, got my head straight because I knew I had to do the rest of this the right way. And so I did a little bit of strategic thinking and knew that if I gave my notice at a certain point I would get my bonus and four weeks vacation that I didn’t take. I would get paid for that.
Clara:
I know I calculated that too. I wanna, I wanna get paid that much. You don’t get reimbursed sick time. Okay. Vacations. They do have to execute the payment with the final check.
Kim:
So, as impatient as you may feel like you are, you have to take that deep breath and be patient. Because I wanted to call them while I was at the Remix and give my notice. I knew I couldn’t. So, you know, I went, I came home and, and like I said, I, you know, did some thinking, Okay, if I do do my anniversaries this day, I even waited until my anniversary day to give my notice because I didn’t want them to get any kind of chance, you know, to you know, if I had given it a week before my anniversary and they said, No, it’s okay. You can just leave now, then I would’ve missed out on my one year. All that, you know. So I waited and it’s hard. It’s so hard. But it, you know, knowing that I did, did it the right way and even though it was difficult and then, you know, having that patience and just sticking it out.
Clara:
I love what you just said, doing it the right way. And I wanna bring something up to you audience, and I wanna give you some food for thought when she says the right way. Did you see Cheryl and Kim just gave us growing different investments. Okay. Paths that they took for their businesses. However, the right way was perfect for each of them. So make sure that planning is strategic to your needs. Okay. Spiritual business, financial family needs, everybody’s different. Don’t try to follow Okay. People with the magic <laugh> recipe of success. Okay. You know inflation and recession is a reality here in the USA and it’s something that Americans are, you know, not used to. Recently, of course, America went through, you know, many challenges, cash, you know in the thirties and whatnot. Right. But, you know right now and 2018, oh gosh, and many other years, but, okay what we’re going through right now, you know, especially after a pandemic is very different. So, thinking of eCommerce and reselling online as a supplemental source of income is crucial. What propelled you Cheryl to choose eCommerce among other gigs? You know you mentioned that you love being in your house and I got a sense that it’s like being your own boss or, or what was it? You know, that in the nineties already. Okay. So much younger. Okay. You’re already like E-commerce, so you’re a visionaire, What was it?
Cheryl:
The love of shopping <laugh> and, and just finding those treasures. And then you gotta have something to do with it. I mean, I’ve got collections out the wazoo of my own, but then I discovered, hey, I could sell, somebody else might want this thing. Yeah. That I found. And I told my, the lady that taught me everything I know about junking, my sister-in-law used to say that, Oh my gosh, you know, I would jump out of the car before I even stopped putting the car in park if I saw a yard sale. Which is still true. I just wanna say something about Kim and her. I met Kim last year at the Remix, and she was talking about what she wanted to do. And I was already there that I wanted to quit. I was ready to do this full time. I wanted to do it, but I knew that I had to be smart about it. I didn’t have the retirement that was coming. I didn’t have any. Right. So I had started before Remix, I had started a YouTube channel, cuz of course all the cool kids were doing it. And my husband kept saying, Well, you know, you could do that. So I had started it. I have apparently seven videos. That’s as far as I got. Cuz editing is a bear, let me tell you. But I also, because I knew that I had to have a plan since I wasn’t gonna have a retirement or a bonus or anything coming to me. And I’m old enough to draw Social Security. Yeah. I know. It’s hard to believe, but this is COVID…
Kim:
Whatever…
Clara:
Come on.
Cheryl:
But so I’m old enough to draw it as far as early retirement, not official, official, like, don’t get crazy. I’m not that old.
Clara:
Yeah. But the more you wait, the more you get, the more you get. The earlier you retire, the less percentage you get. So, No, I saw that was like…
Cheryl:
Yes. So that’s why I knew I had to have a plan. Cuz I knew that barring any emergencies, which, you know, who knows, God will laugh at me and something will happen and I’ll just deal with it. It’ll be alright. But I knew I had to have a plan because I didn’t wanna draw as early as I wanted to quit. So <laugh>. Right. I wanted to do that so bad. Yeah, me too. Right. I love it, So I, I knew that I had to have a plan. So my plan was once I had paid everything off, all the credit cards were paid off and I was able to start saving. I knew what our, what my husband, this drives him crazy, but it’s the way my brain works. Yeah. His disability pays for X bills. Yes. In my brain, my, whatever I’m making, working, reselling, whatever, pays for these bills, you know, food, gas, fun, whatever. So I knew after paying everything off what my side of the bills was gonna be and how much I would have to cover rather than coming home from Remix, which I wanted to quit like Kim did. And I was jealous, I was so happy for her. But I was like, dad,gummit I wanted to do that so bad. But I knew I couldn’t, it wasn’t time yet. So I had to ramp up my selling, queue List Perfectly. And I had, cuz I did, I came back from, from there and I’m like, I have like 200 things listed I list perfectly. That’s for people that have like thousands and things. I don’t have that much. But I learned that that was not the case. And as Clara loves to remind me that every time I tell her I wanna get my top rated seller back on eBay and I can’t because things keep selling on other platforms. She always loves to say, and I won’t do the accent, but that, were they selling on eBay? No, they were not <laugh>. So it doesn’t, you’re not gonna get your top rated seller back anyway because they’re selling on these other platforms. You’re gonna get money because they’re selling on other platforms. <Laugh>. So I did, I branched out cuz I had always been an eBay girl. All these other platforms were like, I had tried Bonanza whatever, let’s bring back the Cartwrights. Cause that’s about as good as it does. But I just knew I had to, I had to make more money. The YouTube I discovered was hard as crud cuz there’s only so many hours in a day and trying to work all day at a very stressful job and then try to resell and try to do YouTube videos and try to, you know, forget about being a Yaya grandma.
Cheryl:
There’s no time. Yeah. So I stopped the YouTube for a combination of reasons. I’m coming back to it. Hang tight kids. Ooh, yay. But I stopped because in my, again, the way my brain works, I thought, like Kim said, don’t say anything before the time is right. Cuz I was afraid. I do have a YouTube channel, seven old videos go and laugh. It’s hysterical. YaYa Rambles really hard to figure out. <Laugh>. But I was afraid because my job was at a corporate company that somehow, some way someone would find my YouTube and I was talking, it was about on the road to retirement. So I was afraid they would see that and go, Oh, you wanna retire? Do it. Well, so I decided I needed to stop doing that in case they saw it. Cuz as Kim said, you don’t wanna make your, you know, don’t show your cards until it’s time. So I had to watch Kim retire. I was so happy for you, <laugh>. And I said, Okay, we are gonna save, save, save. So yeah. My plan right now, when I, when I left and I did the same thing you did Kim, I plotted out. Okay. I heard about Flip Con. I decided, well, I wanna go to Flip Con. That’s just right up the road for me. You know, it’s only nine hours away. And so I figured out there was, there were meetings coming up in August that I felt I needed to go to because of my job and what it was, I thought I would bring my replacement and introduce them to these people that they were gonna be working with. So that put me at, and I figured out, okay, pay periods, when does the pay period end and once, you know, that kind of stuff. So that’s why I picked August 19th as my last day. I waited, like Kim said, I waited until a month. I gave them a month’s notice Hoping that they would replace me and I could train the person. And, you know, I was, I was trying to be a good person.
Clara:
Yeah. You did your legal duty, you’re just abandoning the job, right? Well that’s a breach of contract. But you gave a, that’s your legal and actually first time some states are required just two weeks, you know? Arizona is an at will state. So you can leave any time.
Cheryl:
Yep. So I gave a month’s notice and then they ended up sticking somebody with my job. That was the last thing I wanted to happen because God love her. She’s about to go crazy with it. I was covering two counties. Oh. I was the only person covering it and it was the biggest two counties in the state. So yeah, I apologize again to my friend that they did that too. And the person, I gave them a resume of a person…
Clara:
It’s not your fault Cheryl. It’s your right to retire. You paid the dues and they had a month to find, you know, someone to, It happens, you know? Yeah. It happens even List Perfectly you know, we have people that, you know, left the team and you know, you just, when you are smart, you know, you just plan accordingly. You always have a plan B. So I feel it for your friend, you know, but at the same time, you know this could be, you know, and stuff a challenge, an opportunity for her in the, you know, and embrace it. Because you… <Laugh>
Cheryl:
I have to tell you something real quick. The day after I was leaving, or the, the next day after, would’ve been my last day. I got a message on my computer that was telling me that was gonna, that day, which would be August the 20th. Yeah. Which happened to have been my birthday, which is another part of the plan Yeah. I had to change my password on my computer. And so I thought that this person was going to be given my work laptop. Yeah. So thinking that she would be able to use all my files and all that stuff to try to make it easier, I went ahead and changed the password and I changed it to just say no 2022. Because that’s what I kept telling her, saying no, when they tell you to do say no <laugh>, I don’t think she kept the password.
Clara:
It’s a good reminder. There you have it. You were able to resist. Okay, you went to a reseller’s event, you’re able to resist, you’re seeing your friend, you know, retiring and, or I’m sorry, you’re seeing your friend quitting her job. Okay. I’m just starting to take the leap of faith into reselling and you’re like, Nope, I’m gonna hold. I’m gonna have discipline. I’m gonna stick to my plan. You know, you took it okay. Ingredients from, you know, different people to make the secret recipe of success for Yaya, If you please. Now, from all the process, what would you say was the toughest decision that you had to make to make this happen? In which one was the one that you would’ve been like, I wish I could’ve known earlier, that would’ve been so easy?
Cheryl:
Yeah. Well, I wish that I would’ve started saving earlier, obviously, but I couldn’t. I mean, I started as soon as I could. Yeah. And it’s funny, once I made the decision, things started happening at the job that, Well, I’ll give you a perfect example. I don’t know if this answers your question, but a couple of days before I gave my notice they announced that the position has always been a remote position, always working from home. They were now requiring everyone to go into an office. The office is an hour away from my home each way. I thought, I hear you. You’re telling me it’s time. It’s a good decision.
Clara:
The universe is like, retire, retire, retire.
Cheryl:
Exactly. Oh my gosh. So that was my thing. And then just the fact that things started selling, it seemed like you said, once I made the decision and I set my course and I set, I gave myself a year. Yeah. From the time, from the last remix. And you know, and I didn’t accelerate it, even though Kim was killing me. I was like, I’m gonna, I’m so happy. No, I’m <laugh> I was so happy for you. But I was just like, okay, it’s okay. That is her story. This is your story. So I just kept plugging and I kept plugging and I, and I, and I actually had a thermometer, like I drew a thermometer Yeah. With the goal number I needed to save because as I said before, I knew how much I needed every month Okay. To cover our bills. And I’m trying, my plan is to not draw social security for at least another year. Okay. And who knows, you know, if Yaya’s rolling in the List Perfectly funded money, you know, cuz of all these sales, you know, I’ll, I’ll put it off again. But I knew what I needed to get through that year. Barring, you know, and seeing whatever. Which we go back to the fact that all the credit card companies are throwing cards at me all of a sudden. So, you know, I don’t recommend it, but I’m saying if I need it…
Clara:
Called the repayment habit. Anybody that repays their debt on, we call it recurring debt. And also anybody that does that. Okay. On recurring accounts. Okay. It will take. So I can’t wait to, Okay, this is what I do for…
Cheryl:
We’re gonna chat. We’ll chat, can’t wait.
Clara:
We’ll talk about the financial part. So the best thing that you did was to wait patiently. Visualized. You visualized that number, you pictured yourself. Okay. Reaching that number. You stick to it with a lot of discipline. Now we talk about, that’s something that you did amazingly. Now what’s the one thing, do you have any regrets of something that, well, you said about saving earlier, but you couldn’t. Right. Can we go with something that, you know, that you wish you would’ve? So let’s put it this way, for someone that is thinking of retirement and you can think on your early days. Okay. What is something that, you know, you would say, don’t let this hold you back like I did with you. Remember when you were scared and you’re like, Clara, but what if I sell in multiple marketplaces? And I was like, What, what is your biggest problem? Not making enough money or making a lot of money. Okay. And <laugh>, multiple channels. Very simple because problems in life are constant. There is no career. There is no even crypto that was supposed to be like, Wow, The haven. Okay. you know, look at that. No. Okay. You know, obstacles are constant. Okay. So, you know, that was my answer to Cheryl when she told me, Clara I’m scared that if I go out of eBay, I’m gonna have many sales and then I’m gonna lose my top rated seller. So there are many ways A, not to lose your top braided seller and still cancel sales. B what’s a bigger problem? Having a lot of money. Okay. And losing your top rated seller. Okay. Or, but I’m not asking you to go below standard. That’s painful. That one is a big no go below the standard we’re talking about. That’s
Cheryl:
No and it wasn’t…
Clara:
That’s different, but your issue was like your fear was losing the top-rated status because of the cancellation ratio that you could experience by accelerating sales. That was your objection. And what would you say to someone that is like you know I don’t know where to start planning for retirement and you know, I don’t have, I cannot start saving. What would you tell them?
Cheryl:
Well, you’ve got to, like you said, we keep talking about a plan. You’ve got to do the hard work and sit down. Because so many people have no idea what their bills are every month. It’s, you know, they really don’t, they don’t realize what’s going out or what has to go out every month. So you, that’s the first step. That was the first thing I did. I put a budget in place. And I, that’s one of my videos by the way. I put a budget in place and I knew exactly what needed to be paid every month, how much I needed to make in order to have that happen. At the time, my job was more than covering that. So I was like, okay. And I started squiring away and then as I would pay off a bill, whatever amount I was taking that month, you know, to pay that month, that started going into the savings. And as I paid off the next one, whatever amount I had been sending to that bill went into savings. And it got to the point where half my salary was going into savings every month.
Clara:
There you go.
Cheryl:
And so I knew that I, so that told me, okay, you know, that’s how much money you’ve been wasting basically because you’re, you screwed up. Well it’s not a screw up. It was what it was. Yeah. But, and all that money that was going to other people instead of to me. So once I freed up that money and was able to start putting it in savings Yeah. And then I thought, okay, so now I know what we actually need to live on. Yeah. You know, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna go wandering the French Riviera anytime soon. But I knew that we could live on a certain amount and I knew what I was gonna have to do in order to make that. So then I made a plan of, okay, what does that mean? How much do I have to sell in order to do that? Because you, as everybody knows…
Clara:
Reversing, it’s reversing what you put your dream, the end goal here and then you reverse the planning. It’s like you’re walking backwards, but you know, each step forwards and backwards. Linear. Right. And not linear. Your plan makes sense.
Cheryl:
Yes. So I would, I was said, okay, how, And I, and I did that recently again. I said, Okay, cuz now I’ve added what not to the mix of everything. Yeah. So it was like, okay, I know how much I need every month to pay the bills and have a little bit of fun money. I don’t want to touch the savings that my plan is don’t touch the savings. That is your emergency. That is your, if you have to, then you can use it, but try not to. So what do I need to sell every month? How does that break down? How much do I have to sell on the platforms? How much, you know, how many not shows do I need to do? How many whatever? I’ve got antique booths that I’ve got stuff cuz goodness knows. And I still buy stuff. Let’s not joke about it at all. <Laugh>, but okay. Yeah, please. As the people that have known me for years, No I’ve had a profit pile. I had the stuff to sell. I just had to do it. So that’s where we go. Let’s do our list. Perfectly commercial. Because it’s true. I should ask, what should I have done? I should have gotten into List Perfectly sooner. I didn’t get to see it at that eBay Open cuz I wasn’t there. <Laugh> remember I was home, I was saving, I was paying off bills.
Clara:
I would have had you right then and there to do it. You could have retired already three years ago.
Cheryl:
Yes. Right then. But I didn’t because I wasn’t there. I didn’t hear about it then. Okay. My, you know, my mentality was, you know, cuz I’m, if I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna go to the top tier and, and do the do it. Right. So I was thinking, I can’t afford that. I’m not, I’m saving money. I’m doing this, I’m doing that. I’ll, you know, and I, I just didn’t understand. I didn’t understand. And it wasn’t until queue BOSS Reseller Remix last year when Kim’s planning to retire and doing all this stuff. You know, I finally understood what List Perfectly could do for me. And instead of working harder, I could work smarter. You know, God bless me and my, my, you know, I’m, it’s not all COVID gray. It’s like okay, let’s be serious. Here I am <laugh>, I’m up there. So I understood, I understood that I could, I could sell the same stuff or I could list the same stuff, but on all these other platforms and you know, right now I sold two things on eBay the other day. They haven’t paid yet. Yeah. I don’t have that problem on other platforms. Yeah, yeah. You know, so that’s true. If they buy on another platform, I usually get paid. Not a problem. So the fact that I was only selling on eBay, I was shooting myself in the foot cuz I wasn’t listing as many things as I should. Yeah. They weren’t, you know, I had things that had been sitting there until they had grown enough dust to make a new whatever it was. Right.
Clara:
<Laugh>, I am the only reality, I felt like I was selling on one platform. It’s like you were almost a collector selling your top shelf and now it’s like you’re a reseller selling everything and targeting different audiences.
Cheryl:
Yes, yes. So yeah. So it’s just, it just took a, took the lady a bit of time and once I realized what I should be doing, I jumped in, I started at the low tier, quickly learned that was dumb. Like I knew it was, but I was thinking like a cheapy, cheapy. So I immediately went to the, you know, and it may have even been, I probably won a free month or something and I thought, oh well let’s go to the top tier cuz I got up for, and I just never looked back.
Clara:
How many hours do you put in for listing every day, Cheryl, please.
Cheryl:
Let’s be honest. Not enough. I told Kim I was gonna be crossposting before the show today. <Laugh>. Well things came up, life came up, that didn’t happen. And after this I have to run to my antique booth cuz they sold a piece of furniture I have to go clean off. So the answer is not enough. But that’s coming. You know, cuz I retired and immediately took a nine day trip. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And since then I’ve had some, I had some doctors things come up. So we are what we have been planning again, the bullet journal, the planning. We are planning how many we’re gonna do every day. Yeah. And we’re gonna make it happen. So honestly not enough. But that’s gonna change.
Clara:
So thank you Cheryl again. Thank you Kimberly for making me have such a great time with you. Go list something, even if it is one item you don’t wanna list, cross post. Just one. Okay. One listing that you can cross post to three marketplaces. Okay. And when you cross post, see if you have the energy. At least a little. For a little tweaking. Maybe increase the prices. Increase the prices. Increase the prices. Okay.