An Unlikely Journey?

 Welcome to the Sidequest Inn! Here is the first tale told by me (james@sidequester.ca)

Selling things has not always come naturally to me.  My personality will skew towards being introverted but in a direct contradiction, I am not uncomfortable speaking in front of strangers.  Sales always had this feeling of "nuisance" to me.  I never believed that the value of any item that I was trying to sell would exceed the amount of annoyance that I was placing on the prospective buyer.  The good feeling of "the sell" was exceeded by my feeling of being glad that the pitch was finished.  The wilder the claims about the product, the less likely I was inclined to portray that I believed them myself.

It might come as a bit of a surprise that I have had experiences working as a door-to-door salesman, a bill collector, a telemarketing sales agent, a food server and bartender with upselling requirements, amongst others.  If I converted a sale, it was mostly because I found someone as pragmatic as I was - there are NOT many of us and I would self-refer myself as a TERRIBLE salesman.

I have always had the innate ability to spot a good deal, mostly based on my doubt of "Pure Salesfolk" trying to pitch me bad ones and simply choosing to find the best deal myself.  I am highly suspicious by nature and salespeople make me for the lack of a better term: Itchy and uncomfortable.

Over the past several years, I discovered online auctions.  Typically overstock, returns, failed deliveries and the like.  I found that I gained access to many items that our family would not be able to afford: kitchen appliances, extra air conditioners, neat toys and collectibles.  I learned bidding strategies, which sites had the better quality of goods and which ones were better at Selling.  If you haven't already, you can now freely substitute "Sales" with "Bullsh*t".

This expanded into legitimate liquidation sales (not the "Going out of Business" sales that never seem to end with an actual going out of business".  The Sears closure in Brantford got us a portable air conditioner, a very nice dishwasher and a MegaBloks Star Ship Enterprise for about $700 total.  I look back when I made those purchases and regret that I could now do better.

I started my journey into online sales in December 2024, seeking some extra cash to help out around Christmas.  I had some G1 Transformers in decent shape with some nostalgic value from my childhood.  Nothing sealed in the box and some were complete with the weapons.  They were enjoyed but not "enjoyed by a pitbull" enjoyed.  I chose Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji as my chosen platforms, instinctively looking to target different audiences.

Sales were decent, there were some negotiations and some lessons were learned, which I rely upon today.  I am pleased to say that all of those original listings have long since sold.  I also made some connections - buyers who loved dealing with me again.  My style tends to be professional, focused and minimizes "farting around" from either side.  This early, albeit limited, success convinced me to start listing some of the items that I found online.  I started with 27 listings on December 8th of 2024, I have 146 listed today and am working to list about 300 more items.  Some items don't even make it to listing - bought before they can go through the process.  Some clients have me seeking unique goods and Sidequest Loot has a large enough vendor network that we can often find it and at a great price.

I have expanded my acquisitions from auctions and motivated selling to acquiring items of interest on Facebook Marketplace.  I have had success by finding a "sweet spot" for a selling price that will range from 40 - 100% of Fair Market Value, along with using my other skills to find the right words that will help the potential buyer to find my products in the mess that is Marketplace.  I pride myself on being responsive, having encountered the frustration with unresponsive sellers in my own experiences.

More to come in future...

We would love to share your Sidequest Story! If you have started a business or side hustle, if you're thinking of doing it or if you have no idea whatsoever of what you want to do, we would love to share your story.  We find that when the buyer knows you better, they are more likely to buy.  We don't mind if you mix in some advertisement, sales pitch (ugh!) or simply supportive thoughts for other Sidequesters going through the same thing.

Email: mysidequest@sidequester.ca and let us know what you want to do!  There is no charge for posting but we will give a final editorial review and might provide some suggestions.  You will be provided with a final draft before we publish.  All submissions will become the property of Sidequest Loot but will not be used without your consent.  We like to provide an author name but can limit this to first name or name of your business, if you wish.