From a post-COVID stock scramble to a $40,000 leap into liquidation, Bert Leffel, CEO of AuctionFuel and Listernaut, has seen what occurs if you go all in.
Nowadays, he’s not simply flipping product – he’s constructing software program, consulting with auctioneers, and serving to others transfer quick and suppose smarter with AI. We talked about the place it began, what’s modified, and why he thinks the actual alternative in resale continues to be forward.
Enterprise Evolution
- November 2021: Bert and his enterprise companions, Jeff Kaplan and Melissa Shepherd, bought a bankrupt e-commerce enterprise and re-launched as AuctionFuel
- November 2022: AuctionFuel is up and operating on HiBid, a web based public sale platform
- August 2023: Software program device, Listernaut, is developed
- Current: Consults auctioneers on scaling through AI software program adoption
Alternative Presents Itself: From Athletic Tape to Truckloads
Like many companies, Bert’s was hit by main provide chain disruptions and product shortages throughout COVID; his difficulty occurred to be securing athletic tape, which was their best-selling product on the time. “There was an ink scarcity for athletic tape, of all issues,” Bert mentioned. Abruptly, they had been left with simply plain white tape and no alternate options.
Bert thought-about stockpiling the stock at wholesale costs to remain forward, but it surely was a significant funding. That’s when he found B-Inventory and determined to take an opportunity. As an alternative of shopping for his normal quantity of product – about 7 pallets – he went all in: “We determined… let’s take what we’d sometimes spend in a month on wholesale and make investments that in B-Inventory.” What confirmed up? Seven full semi-trucks of stock.
“It virtually gave me a coronary heart assault,” he joked. “I broke out in hives.” However within the chaos got here an enormous alternative. That large cargo, which value about $40,000, helped launch his enterprise, AuctionFuel, ahead. “It was like a present from the gods,” Bert mentioned.
Since then, Bert has centered on constructing a extra constant and predictable system for sourcing. The ups and downs of the market are a part of the sport, however he’s discovered to show previous frustrations into smarter shopping for methods.
From Earnings to Software program Improvement
With the success of AuctionFuel and promoting retail returns, Bert determined to reinvest his income into creating software program that might enable the corporate to maneuver stock sooner by means of using AI, picture recognition capabilities, and machine studying. After capturing a photograph of the merchandise, the software program leverages AI to explain what the product is, present a really useful resale worth, and listing dimensions, weights, and extra. The very best half? The software program can even map the merchandise to totally different marketplaces.
With AuctionFuel as a take a look at heart for the brand new software program, Bert moved into this subsequent part of entrepreneurship: monetizing it by enabling different resellers to leverage the software program. “B-Inventory is definitely a trusted ally in what we’re doing,” he mentioned.
“We work with a few of the fastest-moving auctioneers within the nation to permit them to create listings for merchandise on [reselling] platforms, wherever from one to 10 seconds per merchandise.”
What’s the #1 piece of recommendation you’d give to different individuals?
“I completely inform everybody I speak to now to perceive your unit economics.
Do you perceive how a lot it prices you to create a list, to promote it as a reseller? And in the event you don’t, you might want to discover that out sooner somewhat than later as a result of most probably, that’s consuming your corporation alive. Merchandise that don’t have a resale worth of over $20 are costing most firms cash.”
The instance he gave was this: Take into consideration a $10 merchandise. If it’s costing you $7 to get that product shipped, listed, and bought, versus 30 to 50 cents utilizing a list device that does the heavy lifting for you…that’s a giant distinction in revenue margins! And precisely why he developed this software program – to additional empower the public sale business to do what he did and turn into extra environment friendly and worthwhile.
Assume the Market’s Too Crowded? Assume Once more.
Many individuals assume the resale market is just too saturated, however that couldn’t be farther from the reality. “It’s a $2.2 trillion market, and it retains going up yearly,” Bert defined. And even the most important gamers are simply scratching the floor.
“These [big liquidators] transfer thousands and thousands of things a yr,” however to really deal with the quantity of retail returns, “we’d want roughly 247,000 extra of them,” he figures. In different phrases, there’s nonetheless a large alternative.
Should you’re organized, perceive your numbers, and are able to hustle, “you’ll be able to completely flip a worthwhile enterprise very quickly – with little or no down,” Bert affirms.
Planning for What’s Subsequent
Each time occasions are powerful, individuals look to save lots of a greenback wherever they will, and auctions are that space.
Tariff Outlook: Experience Out the Storm
With all of the macroeconomic and provide chain points, stockpiling product appears to be the secret proper now. Large gamers like Dwelling Depot and Amazon are a number of of the retailers which have frontloaded stock. Based on Bert, “They see forward 10 steps. They’re ordering greater than they’re gonna want at this time, and so they’re gonna trip by means of the storm.”
Per Bert, resellers would possibly need to apply the identical methodology:
“You already know, from B-Inventory particularly, it’s a superb product – in the event you purchase it, you’re going to generate profits on it. It’s only a matter of how briskly you need to promote it, the place you need to promote it, and what’s the most effective technique to show by means of the product.”
We cowl extra about tariffs on this weblog→ Why Tariffs May Be a Golden Alternative for Resellers.
Auctions for Client Buying?
Even with the success of eBay, auctions haven’t turn into the norm for the way most customers store. Bert has hope that this could change in time. In his phrases, “I simply suppose there’s not a transparent business chief when it comes to shopper consciousness so far as a platform is anxious as of but.”
From athletic tape shortages to truckloads of stock, Bert turned sudden challenges into main wins. By leaning into public sale sourcing and investing in smarter instruments for stock administration, he’s not solely constructed a thriving enterprise however helps others do the identical. His journey proves there’s nonetheless loads of room (and revenue) within the resale house for these keen to adapt, keep sharp, and suppose massive.
Are you a B-Inventory purchaser who desires to inform us extra about your reselling enterprise? Tell us, and we are able to characteristic you!
