🚗💸 Discover the hidden truth about car flipping profits on this episode of the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! Join the conversation as Sean chats with the mastermind behind JR Garage & Aviation, uncovering the secrets to making serious cash fl
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A
That's our rule number one. We have to make money from what we're buying. At least try our best. And we've only lost money on two cars ever.
B
And we've bought tons.
A
Yeah, like 100, 150.
B
Dude, that's insane. Because most people that flip cars, I feel like it's a tough business.
A
Yeah, no, it definitely is. You learn as you go, and fixing them up and learning about titles and auctions, and you can get screwed really easily. But we kind of started small and, like, worked our way up.
B
All right, guys, got Junior Garage here. Or should I say JR Aviation now?
A
That's the new thing. But it's a pleasure to be here. I've always wanted to be on this podcast since you started. I'm like, this is super cool. Gotta be on that one day.
B
You were one of the first people I ever hit up, actually.
A
Dude. Yeah, it was. It was like we've known each other for a long time, or at least known of each other. Right. We've been following each other on Instagram for, what, eight years now? Seven years. Like 2016, I think.
B
It was crazy. And you always did such interesting things.
A
Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm always wheeling and dealing a bunch of random, weird stuff. So I can't wait to break that down today.
B
Absolutely. We'll start with the cars, and then I want to talk about the jets and the coins, too. But the cars is how you started, right?
A
Right, yeah, that's how the start came on social media. Right. Most people know me from JR Garage, which is my car page that I started back in 2016. I just have a big interest in automobiles and always been interested in cars since I was a kid. And I always wanted cool cars. That's what really motivated me in the business world, which we can unpack there, how we painted for the cars. But you know me, we. My brother and I just have been hooked since then. Started with. With a few Porsches, like early 80s Porsches that are actually pretty cheap. Our first car was like 4300 bucks. Was 944 turbo. Yeah, right. So we're in high school and have this red 944turbo, and everybody thinks it's like some cool car, but it was 4300 bucks, and we ended up selling the rare wheels off of it for 2300. So we were actually in the car. Like 2000 bucks plus 300 wheels. 300 bucks for a Porsche?
B
That's insane. I thought those were, like, six figures.
A
You. Yeah, you. You would think so, but the early 944s, they didn't get much love, but now they're starting to appreciate. That same car today would be worth, like, clean 944 turbos, like 20, 30, 40 to 80 grand if they're low mileage. So.
B
So 5 to 10x.
A
Yes. We're always trying to pick out the cars that are like, good, good, have a good chance of appreciating or at least try our best. Right. Sometimes you get it because you like it. But ideally, you want a car that's going to appreciate in value.
B
How much of your cars went up versus the other way?
A
Almost all of them. And some can even drop a little bit in value. But we don't lose money on them because we just get such a good deal on them. So we know some cars are going to depreciate. Our Rolls Royce is going to depreciate. Okay, cool. But we got it so cheap that we can still make 10, 20 grand on it. So that's our rule number one. We have to make money from what we're buying. At least try our best. And we've only lost money on two cars ever.
B
And we've bought tons.
A
Yeah, like 100, 150.
B
Dude, that's insane. Because most people that flip cars, I feel like it's a tough business.
A
Yeah, no, it definitely is. You, you learn as you go and fixing them up and learning about titles and auctions and dealer stuff and where to maintain it and how to sell it. There's definitely a lot to know. You can get screwed really easily. But we kind of started small and, like, worked our way up very quickly. I mean, people would say, like, what do you mean you started small? You're 17 with a Lamborghini. But, like, we had a few cars before then and we just took calculators.
B
You guys started in high school?
A
Yeah, high school. That's when the channel blew up. So talking about the channel, like, yeah, 2016, that one video went viral. You probably remember it, like, driving my Dodge Viper to high school. That was the video.
B
23 million views I saw yesterday.
A
Yep, Yep. Driving the Lambo to high school. Yeah, that was the sequel. And every video we post that having to do with like a supercar and being young in high school just went crazy viral. So we went from like a thousand subscribers to one week later, over a hundred thousand subscribers.
B
Crazy.
A
That was nuts. That was the early days of YouTube where, like, you could have one viral video and, like, gain 100k subs. It's a lot harder now.
B
Way harder now. Now everyone's views are down like 80%.
A
Yeah. Cuz there's so much competition. I hate when people say it. Competition. Like seeing their fellow creators as competitors. Like they're just friends, especially in the car space. Like they're, they're just fellow acquaintances that also love cars. I don't see them as competitors at all. Yeah, but other people in different niches will see other channels as competitors and want to like beat them and stuff. But not how I see it. But inevitably there's a lot more channels out there creating. So it's hard to get those eyeballs. You're fighting for those same people. And it's can be hard.
B
I think the same way when I see podcasters question that, I get pumped.
A
Yeah, yeah, right. It should fire you up because you see, like, okay, wait, it's possible. Like, let me put my own twist on out. Let me, let me get a piece of that pie.
B
Absolutely.
A
Like you're doing. You've taken quite a big piece early.
B
On trying to get like Rogan, man, you're really crossing. How many cars you have right now. Did you sell most of it.
A
Oh, shoot. That's what everybody always asks. And like the answer is so bad when I'm like, you don't even know.
B
No, you're that many.
A
Oh, it's so bad to say. But, but like, I, I lost count like 30, 40 cars ago. Probably, if I had to guess right now, maybe 70 cars.
B
Damn, where do you even keep that money?
A
And, and it sounds all fine and dandy and it was cool for like the first few years of having 60, 70 cars. But like right now, I, I do not want that many. I want to downsize, keeping track of like, just like license plates alone, registration. I go to take a car out and it's like, oh, shoot, that plate expired like a year and a half ago. Crap. Like, oops, like that battery's dead. Just batteries alone are like the bane of my existence.
B
Because if you don't turn them on for a year.
A
Oh yeah. And unfortunately a lot of these cars sit. So it's like 100 battery there, 100 battery there. Battery, battery, battery, battery. That's one of my biggest expenses, batteries. I gotta drive these cars more. I gotta pull a Jay Leno and hire somebody just to drive them.
B
Yeah, that's crazy. You got a personal favorite?
A
Yeah, a few favorites I really enjoyed. We had this. I say had. I'll tell you the story. We had this Ferrari FF. Crap. Great car. V12 naturally aspirated, 650 horsepower, all wheel drive four seats, modern, great car. That was like my favorite all around car until it burned. Burned to the ground.
B
Whoa. Yeah, you drove too fast.
A
No, it was not me. It was somebody that was using the car. I explained on my YouTube channel. But yeah, unfortunately they called and they're like, hey bro, your car's on fire. And yeah.
B
That must have been the worst phone call of your life.
A
Yeah, I'm, that was, I was like, you must be joking. He said no. And sure enough it was a pile of ash. So it's completely ruined. Destroyed. Yeah. There the, the, the rear wheels were like the only thing left.
B
Holy crap.
A
Yeah, he was in a remote part so it took fire department so long to get to him. By the time they got to it, it's just a blaze. I'll show you some pictures. It was just a fireball.
B
That's rough. I hear nightmare stories of luxury car rental companies that, that happen.
A
So sounds a great all around car. But like my favorite like weekend cars, I'd say Lamborghini takes the cake. No, I'm not, not a big Urus fan. Just Because Twin Turbo V8i not fast enough for you? No, no, it can be plenty fast, but it's just such a, oh, dare I say boring car. I might catch some.
B
Oh, you're gonna get some.
A
Yeah, I will. But they've made so many of them. Like 10, 15, 000. You see them every day. Twin turbo V8, that's, it's the same as an RSQ8, just twice the price. Like no thanks Lamborghini. I'm talking Gallardos Mercy Lagos. I'm even, I'm not even a huge like Aventador fan. Everybody goes, oh, svj Lamborghini Aventador. No, I, I, I like the older cars like the Mercy Lagos. So we've had a few of those and like that's, that's been one of my best buys. The Mercy Lago and our first or second second Gallardo was actually our like biggest profit on a car. Really worked out nicely.
B
Wow.
A
Twin turbo gardo.
B
Yeah, you made a good killing on that.
A
Yeah, that worked out quite well. We bought it at an auction, crashed. Super crazy weird story. This car was like the fastest manual transmission car in the world in like 2015. It did a half standing half mile, like zero to half mile distance and a trap speed of 220 miles an hour. This car was stupid fast. So it had 2200 horsepower. When underground racing was racing it back in 2014, 2015 when it set those records, they tuned it down to 1850 wheel horsepower, which is just ridiculous. 40 psi boost on the V10. And then they sold it to a guy who was, I mean, great guy, but he, he told me he's legally blind. I don't know why he bought this car, but 100 miles later he crashed it. We ended up buying it from auction for super cheap, like only 68, 000 bucks. I don't think people saw like the twin turbo kit and then we fixed it for about 8,000. So we were in.
B
That's it?
A
Yeah, that's it. It was super minor. We got really smart buying like used parts and like kind of hacking it and just not hacking in a bad way, but like hacking the deal of like not buying new parts, just saving money where we could and. Yeah. So we were in at 75 grand and we sold it. I got an offer of 150,000, so kind of. Yeah.
B
Wow.
A
That was a good profit off Lamborghini. So just. People have the misconception that you buy Lamborghini, you lose money. You buy a supercar, you lose money. No, like we need to like stop promoting that idea. If you just know what you're doing and you buy a good deal, then you're going to make money.
B
Yeah. Any car brands you won't touch. Just too many issues.
A
People ask that a lot. Overrated cars. And I'm not a fan of like new BMWs. Never have been. Oh man, the new M5 that just got released, like weighing 4, 700 pounds. Like the new M5 weighs more than a Rolls Royce. Like, are you kidding me? It's ridiculous. But Even like the M3s, M4s, I just think they're a little overrated. Once again, I'll catch some flack for that. But I just don't think they sound the great, the greatest. I don't think they're just, they're just a boring overrated car, in my opinion. Oh boy, here come the comments.
B
But I could see that.
A
Yeah, never had one. I don't think I'll ever buy one.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah.
B
You like the older models, I've noticed.
A
Yeah. I mean, I had one M3, so I can't heat too much, but it was an, you know, E90s naturally aspirated V8. Like that's going to be a great investment car. It already has been. Prices are going up on them because it's the only V8, M3 naturally aspirated, six speed manual. I mean, like, that's a great car. I sold it actually.
B
I mean, you're Doing something right. You're the only one I know that actually makes money off the cars you buy.
A
Yeah, yeah. It's. It's. It's. I guess maybe I've gotten lucky at times, but if you. If you're just really calculated and you spread your reach super wide, you don't just look in your hometown. Like, I look across the whole country. I'm constantly scanning the auctions and the. The government auctions. Like, yeah, I buy some interesting.
B
Auctions are where you could get a good deal.
A
Yeah. In general, those are usually where you find the best deals. Because you're bidding. You're usually bidding against, like, wholesale buyers, not the general public, where stuff on Facebook, a good deal is gone. Facebook marketplace. In like, 20 minutes, boom, gone.
B
People sell cars on Facebook Marketplace.
A
Yeah, it's one of the biggest places to sell cars now.
B
Really?
A
Yeah, it's kind of shifted from cars.com and all these, like, old, old kind of deal online dealers to now, like, Facebook Marketplace. Because people. It's just simple. Toss up a little description 10 pictures and post them up. But there's constantly people scanning for good deals. So you'll. You gotta be. You gotta act so quick if you want a good deal off Facebook Marketplace. So instead I go to the auctions where it's a lot less competition.
B
That makes sense. And you've recently transitioned into planes.
A
Yeah. Right. You know what, what's next after cars? Once you collect all the Pokemon, when it comes to cars, all the brands, it's like, well, where do you go from there? Airplanes. So that's been. That's been a fun challenge to, like, learn that whole world. But it's the same idea. Buy good deals, enjoy them, keep them for a year or two, and then sell them for profit. Done it time and time again. And now I do know the number of current airplanes. I don't know cars, but planes. It's like seven or seven or eight planes, I guess. I don't know the answer. Cancer.
B
Okay.
A
Right now. Seven or eight.
B
That's quick for you. Only started, what, two years ago.
A
Yeah. Our first. Our first, like, plane flip was in 2021. This bonanza. I told you, I got crazy stories on where I get these things from. This one was seized by the government for running some illegal things in it.
B
Drug trafficking.
A
Yeah. And it was found with, like, $200,000 in cash on it. They busted them after, like, a drop or whatever. I don't know.
B
Wow.
A
So five years later, when this plane comes up for auction, they take forever to go through all the court battles and all this stuff. But anyway, it finally came up to auction. I was ready to bid on it sight unseen. I bought it. It was risky, but I could tell from the pictures and a couple key things on that plane. Like, I knew it was like modded in a very good, very nice way. It had an upgraded turbocharger put on it had extended range fuel tanks. It had all these avionics upgrades. Typical stuff that these drug runners would want, like souped up planes, right? So I could see all these upgrades, and I don't think other people did. So I ended up getting that plane for 110,000 bucks.
B
Oh, that's it?
A
Yeah, that's it. Planes don't have to be a lot of money. I just bought a plane for 10,000. We can get into that next. But. But yeah, this plane was 110 grand. Then we put like 20 grand into like some maintenance, fixing it up, couple upgrades, and then once again, we kept it for a year, enjoyed it, flew it all around the country. Not me, my buddy, I'm just a student pilot, learning, learning as I go. But my buddy Owen, shout out to him, Fly with Owen. He's the best pilot out there. He flies Gulf streams, all these cool planes, but he's the one who teams up with us on these deals. And anyway, yeah, we sold for 235,000 bucks.
B
Damn.
A
Made $100,000 while owning our first plane. So once that happened, I'm like, oh, game on. Like, let's go. More planes. So we've bought a lot of planes.
B
Since you bought one for 10 grand.
A
You said $10,000 airplane. Oh, you got to be kidding me. No way. That's going to fly nowhere that's safe. You're crazy. I'd never step foot in that. That's what I hear all the time with this plane. But no, it's a perfectly safe plane. It's a great plane. It's a Cherokee 180, which is like a entry level training plane, but it has a upgraded engine, so it's very popular plane. These planes go for like 40, 50, 60, $70,000 in average condition. And this one was posted up onto like this little plain classified website for like 19, 000 bucks. I'm like, holy smokes, that's a great deal. I messaged the guy right away a day after he posted. I'm like, yeah, like, I'm interested. Tell me more about the plane. He's like, oh, I got, I got somebody coming tomorrow to buy it. You know, you're too late. You can be next in line. I'm like, dang, missed out. And then the next day, he messages me. He's like, yeah, the guy came by. He offered like 9,000 bucks for the plane. So, like, do you want it for 10? And I'm like, say last year's the money. So wired the money site unseen to this guy, hoping that it wasn't a scam. And it wasn't a scam.
B
Why. Why would he sell it that cheap?
A
He needed money really quick, and he. He wasn't flying it. He had it for like a couple of years. And the. The. The previous year flying it, he flew it two hours. You own a plane and fly it like twice. So he just didn't care. He lost interest in it, need the money, and just sold it for 10 grand because I guess that's all he thought it was worth because he got an offer for nine. So he's like, here, if you give me 10, I'm doing all right. Right. So that was a crazy deal.
B
So you flipped that one.
A
Still have that. But I got. Just got an offer. 40,000. It's worth, like 40 to 50 grand. So all we had to do was an annual inspection. Each plane every year has to go through an annual. Big jets have to do a lot of different items. Like sometimes up to 100 different inspections.
B
Holy crap.
A
Yeah. Jets are just a whole. Another world. We'll get in that in just a second. But the. The normal piston small planes, they're one inspection a year, annual inspection. They usually range from like $2,000 to 10 grand, usually on a plane like this. So we got lucky. There wasn't much found on this airplane. It only cost us about 100 bucks in parts and 100 bucks, a thousand dollars in labor for the certified mechanic to come out. We can't do an annual inspection. We're not allowed to. You got to be like, certified. Yeah, they don't mess around with airplanes. So he came out, we paid him a thousand dollars for his labor, and we helped him. An owner assisted. Owner assisted, annual. And then, yeah, out the door about, I guess, 11 or 1200 bucks. I broke it down on my YouTube channel. Yeah, they'll see it if they search. JR Aviation. $10,000 plane.
B
That's insane.
A
It'll pop, right?
B
Yeah. You've really broken my perspective on airplanes. I thought they were millions.
A
We got to get you a plane.
B
Yeah. When they're only this cheap. I'm down.
A
All right.
B
But now we got to dive into economics of flying, because that's where it gets Pricey, Right, Right.
A
It can, it can definitely be expensive and just depends the plane you get. So, sure, $10,000 airplane isn't going to be too much to maintain and own, but it doesn't go very fast. It seats four people. If you want something to zoom around your business meetings, you're probably going to need a turboprop or a jet. And that's, that's like I said, when you just get into stupid, stupid money.
B
Right.
A
I mean, it's no joke. Like everybody coast to coast is. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it's a charter, a jet. Coast to coast, non stop, like a gulf stream. You know, I'm not, I'm not some jet charter broker, so. But off the top of my head, probably talking like 8,000 bucks an hour. So, yeah, five hours. Like we were saying, 40,000 bucks. Flight, flight something in that range. That's ridiculous.
B
That's too much.
A
And you fly first class for, I don't know, 800 bucks. Never flown first class in my life. I'm always just in the back of the bus.
B
Really? Even this day?
A
Bucks? Oh, no, never. I've never flown first.
B
You're six foot five?
A
Yeah. Six foot. Yeah, six, five.
B
Why don't you fly first class or economy plus at least.
A
Shoot, people ask me that all the time. Like, like, wait a second, you're telling me you fly Frontier for $40 when you have a private jet and you're six foot six, you know, and it's like, yeah, I'm just way too frugal. If I could never justify calling up Owen and say, all right, let's go, we're going in the jet for my business meeting in Vegas. No, no, absolutely not.
B
Damn. But you'll drop a million on a jet?
A
Yeah. I mean, if it's a good deal and I can make money on it, but I'm not gonna fly it because there goes my profit if I fly it a bunch. I've flown a few times, but I'm packing in people. There's eight people in that plane. Like I'm getting my money's worth. We're going on a group trip. I'm not gonna go myself. That's ridiculous. To pay six grand and jet fuel to go somewhere when you can pay 50 bucks to go on Frontier. So I'm always economy in the back and that's. I don't think I'll ever change. People ask me, like, come on, much money do you need to have before, like you, you change? I don't know. Clearly I've grown a lot and grown a lot in the bank account. And I'm not changing.
B
So you and Graham Stefan would get along?
A
Yes. That's. That's the number one comparison. I think on a frugality scale, we're both pretty similar. I wonder who would be more frugal.
B
I would say he's got the edge.
A
Yeah.
B
He eats out all you can eat. Sushi buffets for 25 bucks.
A
Dude, I eat all you can eat. But at, you know, Chinese buffets or Golden Crowd or something for $10, I.
B
Wouldn'T even gotta be there, I guess.
A
So, like, I don't know. We're probably pretty similar. I'll call it a tie, but same. Same philosophy.
B
Yeah.
A
Just if you're not getting a return on whatever you're buying, unless you really, really need it or really, really want it, probably shouldn't be buying it.
B
Damn. Do you think it's a fear you have just of losing money? Like, losing everything?
A
Yeah. I wonder. My friends have tried to, like, break it down because they see it firsthand. I mean, I'm always using coupons and, like, just the whole nine yards. And they're just like, dude, you own all these cars and planes, and you're here, like, pinching pennies and. I don't know. I think it's just the way, kind of. We grew up. There wasn't much money in the family at all. So, like, you had to learn to, like, be super, super frugal and, like, know the value of a dollar really early on. And I think that's just always stuck with me. And honestly, I was having this conversation with my girlfriend. Like, I. I think it's. I think it's almost, like, insulting to. To some of the people around you or your family, like your extended family, aunts and uncles and cousins, who, if they're not, like, doing really, really well, and they're, like, struggling a little bit, but I'm doing really, really well. And I'm just gonna go out and treat myself to some. Something from Gucci or some crazy stupid purchase.
B
Yeah.
A
While they're, like, struggling. Like, I just think it's a slap in the face. Like, you better make sure that everyone in your circle. Family number one, immediate family number one, extended family number two, and then, like, friends three. I feel like everyone's got to be taken care of first before you go making those stupid purchases.
B
Wow.
A
And I wouldn't argue that my things are stupid purchases. This Rolex, okay. Oh, he just contradicted himself. No, I mean, this is a Rolex at retail, you know, the game. This is 11,400 bucks, and it's worth 2, 3, 4 grand over retail because it's a desirable watch. Like, if it was worth two grand less. But I just, like, wanted it. Absolutely not. I'm not buying it.
B
Right. I would only buy Rolex retail.
A
Exactly. Yeah. And only the Rolexes that are worth more than retail, because plenty are worth immediate loss. You just got to know which ones to pick. And this happens to be a good one. Master Rhodium Dial Platinum. So anyway, that's just the philosophy I have. I just. I don't hear many people talking about that, but, like, I'm buying my uncle his dream 1970 Chevelle SS Before I go spending, like, stupid money on stupid things.
B
Wow.
A
I'm actually trying to do that. I'm just trying to find the right car, but that's cool. Anyway, so I want to.
B
I'm with you on that, though. Designer is. I don't like designer.
A
Yeah, yeah. You're the same way. I mean, we share a lot of. A lot of things in common. Yeah.
B
I used to cheap out on. So here's where we differ. I don't cheap out on food anymore.
A
Okay.
B
Because I think it impacts your performance.
A
I would agree. My girlfriend's opened me up to that.
B
Yeah. Because I used to get pissed if I spent more than 10 bucks on a meal. I used to, like, literally get mad at my girlfriend when we would go out and it'd be more than 20 bucks.
A
Yeah. Okay. Wow.
B
I've had to shift that mindset.
A
Yes. Wow, that's so interesting. So I. I would. I would agree with you on that. My. My girlfriend is rightfully so, you know, teaching me about, like, nutrition and stuff and, like, the stuff that's in those foods. Okay. They're cheap, but, like, you're gonna pay for it in the long run, which is so true. Gosh, the amount of. It's a whole separate conversation. You've had the experts on your show regarding nutrition, but it's like, it's eye opening what's out there and the disgusting, harmful chemical crap that's in these and that's in this food. So you do want to pay a little bit more and get a better product when it comes to food stuff. I would agree with you there. I'm transitioning into that. Yeah.
B
Found some similar common ground. Now let's dive into coins.
A
Oh, yeah. Coins.
B
How did that start?
A
Oh, man. So. So, yes. That for everybody watching so far, it's like, all right, something ain't adding up. This kid's young, he's got all these cars and planes. He must have a billionaire dad, right? And early on, you probably remember those videos. J.R. garage exposed. His dad is this billionaire that pays for all these cars. And people just make up these random stories. One guy said, my grandpa died and he left me all these cars that I inherited. Like, and they'll get millions of views, talking all these made up lies. And it's like, oh my gosh. But no, like, everything I've always said on social media is true. That, like, it was, it was really tough growing up. Didn't have much money. And that fired us up to want to get nice things in life because we've seen how one side is and like, we certainly wanted to have more money in life, let's just say. And the first business that kind of triggered that. All right, so first, first, of course, it was like the lemonade sand that you have at five years old.
B
Classic.
A
Six years old, seven years old. Every kid has that, right? So we had that toss the basics in business. Cool. But the first real business was, yes, as you say, coins that started in like 2008. That's when we got interested in it. Our aunt actually gave us like a couple old pennies and we're like, whoa, this is really cool. Like, this penny's 100 years old. Like, we want to learn more. We just got kind of some spark was lit and we went to our first coin show and we got really, really interested. These older guys were super nice. Unfortunately, this industry is very, it's, it's slowly dying. Everyone will say, like, you people don't go collecting coins anymore, like young kids. I mean, obviously some, but not like it used to be in like the baby boomers when everyone was collecting coins. So a lot of these guys end up being older. Like they're in their 70s, 80s, 90s, even back when I started in 2008. So a lot of these older guys know that they're not going to live forever. And they're trying to pass on what they know to people that are interested in it. They love seeing a young, young kid with a spark. So they were just like, hey, hey, kid, you know, come over here, let me teach you about coins. So all these guys imparting so much knowledge. We met some really great mentors along the way and they taught us everything we know about coins. Our parents weren't there to teach us about coins. My dad has no idea about coins, but he's like, hey, if there's something you're interested in, like, let's let's go to some coin. Coin shows. Let me take you there. So it started with just 50 bucks buying some coins, and then after maybe running through some of the savings, we're like, oh, we can't collect anymore. We don't have any more money. So we started reselling some of these coins, and we're like, well, if you buy them cheap enough and you sell them, you can get. You can make a profit and buy more coins. So that's what we did. It just slowly started in 2009 was like, our first year, like, flipping coins at 10 years old. I'm 10, my brother's 12. But we. We grossed like, 36,000 bucks in 2009.
B
At 10 years old.
A
10 years old. Yeah. People hear that and, like, you must be lying. Well, I'm not lying. Like, that's just. That's just what it is. And then the next year was like, 72,000 double that. And then it was over 100K. And then it went to a quarter of a million. And then it was. We broke a million in 2014 at, like, 15 years old.
B
Selling coins.
A
Yeah, it's. It's crazy.
B
What coins were you buying exactly?
A
Little. Little bit of everything. So primarily US coins. And people hear coins, and it's like, there's no way there's that. That much money in coins. But there absolutely is. It's a huge industry. I was just at a coin show. That's why I'm here in town wheeling and dealing coins. And I brought a few. I got to show you. So really all coins, but primarily, like I said, US coins. But one of the coolest coins are ancient coins, so take a look at these three.
B
Whoa.
A
You might know some of the people on them.
B
Kingdom of Macedon.
A
Yep. Alexander the Great on that one.
B
Holy crap.
A
So cool about ancient coins. Not that I specialize in ancient coins at all.
B
Yeah.
A
I just know that they're good conversation.
B
How old is this one?
A
300 BC I think it's 336.
B
Yeah. 336 to 323 BC.
A
So, yeah.
B
Holy crap.
A
Do the math. That's a. It's over 2,000-year-old coin that's still in great shape.
B
Roman Empire.
A
Yep. And who's on that label? You read that pretty famous.
B
Marcus Aurelius.
A
Yep. Marcus.
B
Damn. This is history right here.
A
Super rare ancient coin. Rarely see those come up. And then that one is one of the most rare.
B
Julius Caesar.
A
Julius Caesar, wow. He was only in power for, what, two years before he was assassinated.
B
Yeah.
A
46 to 44 B.C. so you never see those coins. When I saw that I'm like all right, I'm keeping these. These are just out of my personal collection. Kind of some cool coins. But history comes to life when you see these coins. That's what got us fired up. One more cool coin that I brought. Check that out. So it's a quarter from 1796. That's the first quarter ever made in America.
B
Who is this on it?
A
That's just Lady Liberty. So now we have like presidents on our coinage. Right. But back then we just had like this fictitious made up Lady Liberty and they designed the coin and that those coins are just extremely extremely rare. So that a little coin right there is probably almost 15,000 bucks.
B
This coin.
A
15,000 bucks.
B
How many of these are there?
A
There are I think a mintage of they only minted in the tens of thousands but still existing today. Mean it's probably in the thousands or some of these coins are under a th000.
B
Wow.
A
And some. Some are under 10 known. The highest coins that are worth millions of dollars. There's 1, 2, 3, 4 known. It's just crazy that in perfect shape would be over a million bucks.
B
Damn. So what what what considers this perfect shape. Is it?
A
Yeah. So. So like cards which you know it goes up to what scale? 10.
B
Yeah.
A
All right. So same same idea with coins. It's not out of 10. It's out of 70. Zero to 70 points. That's the grading. Cl 70 out of 70 being perfect. So that one grades about 25 out of 70. Which the thing that hurts that coin is it's lightly cleaned. It's a little. It's repaired. There was a scratch in the field that somebody tried to like get out. So they like buffed the surface to try to pull the scratch out so you can tell it's repaired if you know what you're doing. So because of the repairing that coins worth 15 grand. If it was all natural VF25, VF30 it'd be a $35,000 coin.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah. So just cuz it was a little mess with and cleaned and Stuff loses 20 grand of its value. That's why you never ever clean coins.
B
Really? Yeah. That even if it's rusty.
A
Don't ever clean coins. Especially if you don't really know what you're doing. Do not touch it. Hold it by the edge. Keep it in a protective holder like that. You will ruin the value. If you clean a coin it'll. Like I said it'll Drop usually sometimes up to 50% or more. So you think you're adding value, making it look shinier? It looks better in my collection. No, you are erasing value off that coin. All these, These coins are all original except for that one. And people pay for that patina. You want it dirty, you want it tarnished, you want it toned. Collectors want that. So big PSA to anybody out there. I'm trying to do more coin educating. Everybody says, launch JR Coins. JR Coins share coins. So I did kind of just launch a coin page like a few weeks ago.
B
Okay.
A
Yeah. Called like the coin expert on TikTok and Instagram. So if anyone's interested in coins, they can check that out. I'm trying to just educate people with what these coins are worth. And because I know people are inheriting these collections every day from grandpa that just passed away, and they have no clue what they are. They don't. They don't want them. They just want to sell them and know what they're worth. So that's kind of why I established these pages to give, like, free evaluations. Anybody can message me with what they have and I'll just tell them what it's worth. If they want to sell it, I'll buy it. If not, you know, that's okay.
B
That's cool. Yeah. People could be sitting on gold mines and not even know.
A
Oh, dude, you just have no idea. The. The fifteen thousand dollar quarter, dude. I bought this off a guy in Scotland. He messaged me and he's like, yo, I got the 1796 quarter. I'm like, no way. Send a picture. Sure enough, it was legit. And I'm like, holy cow, Where'd you get that? He's like, I'm in Scotland. I bought it at an antique store for a dollar. It was in a junk box.
B
What?
A
It's in a little junk box. You know, pick any coins for a dollar. He's like, yeah, so you know what, what will you give me, dude? And I'm like, dude, that's a very rare coin. I'm like, I'll give you 5,000 bucks. And he's like, oh, well, now, now, on second thought, like, I want a little more for it. Because I said such a big number. He's like, oh, shoot, it's worth something. So he's like, give me 8,000. I think we met at like 7 grand, so I can still double my money after I work really hard to, like, get it authenticated. Do a lot of work, but yeah, just. Just an example, stuff like that. Is out there.
B
That's cool, man.
A
People are getting these coins every day, and I'm just here to help. Help spread the good word. And by no means am I the coin expert, the most knowledgeable guy. Absolutely not. I was just at a show where guys could probably run circles around me, but they're not on TikTok. These guys aren't social media focus.
B
They're old, right?
A
Yeah, I'm trying to like spread the word on social media. Share what I know.
B
You said you sold a few this morning, right?
A
Yeah, yeah, I. I would have brought it to show you, but it's a really nice coin. I sold this 1894 Morgan Dollar, which is a semi key date, but this one's an extremely high grade. I'm at 64 out of 70. 64 plus out of 70. The give little plus designations when it's just in the middle. And that coin I sold for 10,000 bucks.
B
Damn.
A
Yeah, 10,000 bucks.
B
Is that the most you've sold the coin for?
A
No. People do ask me the most valuable coin I've ever sold, and it would be. There's two that are up there. I'll tell these stories quick in case people are bored with the coins. But this 1865s, 20, maybe 63s, $20 gold piece. It was 10 years ago. When I bought it 12 years ago, I was like 12 years old. This was a big ticket coin. It was at this auction and I'm like, oh, my gosh, this coin's worth a ton. But it was just loose, just like this. It wasn't like certified. So there was no proof that it was real. And I'm 12 years old. So to shell out a bunch of money, it was scary. But, you know, the bidding started, it was like 1500, 2 grand, 2500. Bidding slowed down. I got the coin for 2700 bucks, and I'm like, I think this thing's worth a fortune. But this was the biggest coin I bought up until that point. That was. It had me really worried. So I sent it out to PCGS to be authenticated. And what do you know? It was real. And they graded it ms.63.
B
Damn.
A
And I sold it the next day for 13,000 bucks.
B
Holy crap. At 12 years old?
A
Made 10,000 bucks at 12 years old.
B
That's insane.
A
That was nuts. But couldn't have done it without, you know, the mentors and the guys around me, you know, teaching me what I know. Because at 12 years old, it's hard to make that call. Like, that was a good chunk of the Money I had at the time. And that's cool.
B
Have you bought a fake coin before?
A
Another good question. Right now, fakes are running rampant.
B
Really?
A
It's bad.
B
From China.
A
It's bad. Yeah. Unfortunately, a lot coming from China, and they are so dang good. If you don't know what you're doing, bad things can happen. Because what was always told back in the day is, okay. If you don't know coins really well, buy them when they're certified. Buy them when they're graded. Real, authentic. You know, the deal with cards, you get more money when they're graded because people feel safer. As you've probably seen with cards. Same thing's happening with coins. They're faking the holders, These holders, the whole thing will be fake. The coin is fake, the holder is fake, and the grade is fake.
B
Wow.
A
Everything's fake. So it's so sad. People, collectors, think they see a great deal on that key date, and they buy it and it's all certified and ready to go. And then they, you know, it takes an expert to tell them, dude, I have bad news. Everything is fake and the coin's worthless. I've seen that countless times.
B
Damn.
A
They're starting to roll out. So no one's safe anymore. You can't just buy a certified coin and be safe. So raw coins are fake, you know, ungraded. Just like this. These are fake. It's getting bad.
B
They need to make a digital system where you scan it and it can tell you. Right?
A
Yes. But they're faking the barcodes.
B
No.
A
And the. Yeah, our RFID chips. So you scan it, everything pops up as normal. Holy.
B
It's.
A
It's nuts how sophisticated they're getting. Like. Like the. Maybe if you look at the coin, it'll look slightly different because they're stealing the barcode off a real one, and they're just trying to make the coin look the same. So to an question, I've. I bought like, one or two fake coins in my life early on. Early on. You know, I'm 10, 11, 12 years old, just learning the ropes, so it's understandable why I'd make a mistake like that. But luckily it was from guys who they didn't know either. And I. When I went back to them and said, hey, you know, this coin expert or the grading company said, it's fake. Will you give me my money back? They said, yes. You know, I got really lucky. Yeah, most people, it's gone. They buy it off Craigslist and it's fake. Poof.
B
LOGAN Paul, Pokemon 1 was nuts.
A
Yeah. So what, was there a fake Pokemon?
B
Yeah. You saw that with the million dollar box.
A
Oh, shoot.
B
It was sealed by the grading company. I forget the company. It was like. You didn't see this? It was everywhere.
A
So the. The whole box was fake?
B
It was a box of first edition Pokemon cards, and it was sealed by the grading company. So everyone thought it was real.
A
Yeah.
B
As soon as they opened it. GI Joe cards.
A
No way.
B
Yeah. A million dollars.
A
What the heck? Did they go back to the grading company and say, you certified this? Like.
B
No, it wasn't the grading company. They just faked whoever sold it. Faked the tape or whatever.
A
My gosh. And they opened it on camera.
B
Yeah, live. So cards are being really faked right now too, dude.
A
Okay. Yeah, it's. It's the. It's the same idea. So when people try to understand the coin industry, it's basically just cards, both coins.
B
Yeah. So you really got to buy from just actual coin shops then.
A
Yeah. Reputable guys. If. If again, if you don't really know what you're doing, you know, start with reputable guys. You're safe there. Go to the big conventions, talk to the guys.
B
Yeah.
A
Who to buy from and, you know, you'll be safe. But. But me, of course, I dabble in buying all sorts of collections and stuff. So I. I got to know. Or else I get burned. Like, I'm not going to buy a collection off somebody off Instagram and it be fake and be like, hey, I need my money back. No. Like, that's my fault. So I got to be able to tell from a picture alone. So it's really hard, but hopefully I can keep up my track record of not buying fake stuff.
B
Yeah, I got to look into that. I. I'm into this stuff. I bought George Washington's hair.
A
Oh, shoot.
B
Yeah, I'm into historical items.
A
It's so cool. Want to get more into that. You know, with these coins, you inevitably run into some old documents and stuff. Have you. What, besides the hair, have you ever had any?
B
I've been presented documents, but no, the hair was just interesting to me, so I got it.
A
Dude, that's cool. And who it's certified by.
B
Yeah, it's certified. It was a mystery box. So you didn't know what president's hair you were getting, but it was every president's hair that could potentially be in there, Dude.
A
And you pulled the George Washington.
B
Yeah. Pulled the rares one.
A
That's.
B
They had Lincoln, I believe.
A
Yeah. Yeah, it's. It's so Interesting. These, like, they're a new take on trading cards, right? But, like, historical cards.
B
I can't believe they even saved.
A
Interesting. Yeah, like.
B
Like the hair.
A
I wonder how they would prove the provenance, because that's really hard. Unless they've, like, written documentation from. All right, Martha Washington and then her granddaughter.
B
Dude, that's a good point, because you cheap. So, yeah, it could have been fake.
A
Honestly, hair could be off the dude who put the package together. No, that'd be a crazy scam. But, yeah, it's all about the documentation and the certification companies, they do the. They do their work to ensure what they're saying is legit.
B
But you collect anything else?
A
Not exactly. Just a couple of those documents. Like I said, some old bills. Like, I had a bill printed by Benjamin Franklin. That was pretty cool. It says, you know, right on it. Printed by B. Franklin.
B
That's cool.
A
So, yeah, aside from coins, there's. There's bills as well. I got to show you a few of them. People always get a kick out of these wall. It's just falling with stuff. But look at that one. So printed 1777.
B
What, this is a bill?
A
Yep, yep.
B
Nine.
A
I think that's Massachusetts. Look at the top. It just. They're crazy. Look, to counterfeit is death.
B
Whoa.
A
They weren't messing around back then. Like, you counterfeit our money, you die.
B
Holy crap. How much is this worth?
A
They're actually not as rare as you think. Unless they're printed by, like, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin stuff will be thousands. But this I probably bought for, like, 60 bucks. Okay, so kind of cool piece of history, that is.
B
Yeah.
A
17-4-4, 1777. All right, couple more. People always get a kick out of this one. Check that out. People don't know those existed.
B
$500 bill.
A
$500 bill. They're like, what? This is fake?
B
No way.
A
There's no way.
B
Can you use this right now?
A
Yep. Legal tender.
B
Really?
A
I can spend that right now.
B
And they'll accept it?
A
They have to. Yeah. Bank would have to accept that. So people. People didn't know these bills existed. And they are so cool. The 500. A thousand. There's a 5,000, there's a 10,000, and there was a $100,000 bill.
B
No way.
A
Yeah. So it's.
B
Imagine paying for a car with $100,000 bill.
A
Yeah. Yeah. You could make a video of the hundred thousand are now legal to own. They were only for, like, you know, kind of between banks and big transactions back in the 30s. So those you can't have Any more. But up to a 10,000 you can legally own. And those are worth 2, 300,000 bucks.
B
Oh, so it's not even worth paying with those?
A
No, do not, do not pay with that. Even this. It'd be so stupid to pay with it because it's worth about a thousand bucks.
B
Wow. What about $2 bills?
A
All right, $2 bills, good question. Yeah, you can feed me any, any question of any bill coin. So $2 bills, most of them are not. Not worth anything. If it's a green seal, more than likely it's only worth $2. Unless it's an error. Unless it's a star note which has a little star at the end of the serial number, or unless it's in like perfect mint condition. But Otherwise it's only $2. Where they start to get good is 1963 and before when they had red, red ink on them. I probably have one here. This is funny.
B
You got everything.
A
Oh man, it's not here anymore. Okay. Hope that didn't fall out. Anyway, $2 bill from 1963 and before the Red Seals, those are worth like 4, 5, 6 dollars. And then when you get before that, they get to be the large size currency, which is like this stuff. Huge bills. Yeah. The 1917 $2 bill was the last large size two dollar bill. And those are like 100 bucks. Then they just go up big time. I mean, wow. There's $2 bills that have sold for tens, hundreds of thousands of dollars from the 1860s, 1870s, 1880s.
B
Holy crap.
A
So yeah, they get really rare. But to answer your question, no. Most of the green seals spend it.
B
I didn't know those bills were bigger back in the day too.
A
Yeah, they were huge. Like that's a confederate bill from 1864.
B
Wow.
A
I love bringing these things with me because people get a kick out of them.
B
History man.
A
Yeah.
B
So that no Illuminati eye on the back on this one?
A
No, not on that one. But it looks like fake monopoly money. Little Confederate currency. And back in the day that's what they use. And then last one, 10 cent bill, people didn't realize they made fractional currency.
B
10 cent bill.
A
Yeah. So when they had some shortages of metals to make coins, they're like, well, screw it, let's just like make them out of bills. So tiny little bills.
B
Who is this?
A
That is the Secretary of State, I believe. So I can spend this as well. Imagine going to payment for 7, 11. Whip out 10 of these savage 10 cent bills. They would never take them, but they legally, like they have to.
B
Yeah.
A
I don't know, maybe I actually don't.
B
Carry change anymore, which I probably should because some of them are rare.
A
Oh, you never know what your credit card only.
B
I just feel like it's annoying to carry change personally.
A
Yeah, a lot.
B
I know that probably breaks your heart.
A
Yeah, it does, it does. But I always tell people, you know, when they do get change your bills, it doesn't hurt to take a five second pass just to look at them because once again, you don't know what's out there.
B
Well, the banks probably know the rare ones though, right?
A
You would think, but no, not, not really. Bank tellers will sometimes, I mean, they're within their rights to like see a rare thing come across and then buy it out, keep it for themselves. But sometimes they get like fired for it. This one story which is true, this old lady brought in 20. 20 gold pieces. 20 gold pieces. These suckers are like almost an ounce of gold right now. They're worth like 2200 bucks a piece.
B
Damn.
A
She brought them in to deposit for $20 a piece. She's like, hey, you know, I just, I got these for my husband, you know, can I deposit them? And the teller didn't tell her like, hey, these are super rare. He took them, he cashed them out. He gave 400 bucks for him, took them home, you know, sold them for a fortune. And then, yeah, he got fired because I guess, wow, I guess it wasn't right to like steal those from that granny. But you're not stealing anything.
B
I mean, technically not stealing.
A
It's $20. But I guess he should have told her, like, hey, please go sell these for a lot more money.
B
I didn't know gold appreciated like that.
A
Yeah, gold's an interesting one. It's been, you know, up and down a lot. It's nothing like these. Some of these huge stocks that just go 10x gold. Gold's not something just like, oh, I'm gonna buy, and then in a couple years, gonna 10x. No, like, it's Peter Schiff. It's been at around a thousand to 2400 for the last, whatever, 20 something years.
B
Stable, right?
A
It doesn't change much. People like to just park money in it. But a lot of people are saying gold and silver about to go crazy.
B
Really?
A
Yeah.
B
Too slow for me, man.
A
Yeah, it, yeah, for this younger generation, they want instant returns, they want instant gratification. They don't want to deal on this old metals. But like people are saying the instability in the US dollar, all the stuff going on with Russia and China.
B
The dollar does worry me, dude. So I'm keeping very few dollars right now.
A
Okay. Right, yeah, put it, put it in assets. Yeah. Don't just park in a bank for, for starters. Obviously you're losing it to inflation, but it's like, what's going to happen? I'm sure you know, nothing crazy is going to happen the US dollar, but like, if it does, the people who bought gold are going to be looking a lot better than the people holding fiat currency. Our currency is worthless. It's just fiat currency. It's just made up, nothing backing it. Back in the day, it was backed by gold and silver. Not anymore.
B
They need to go back to that.
A
Yeah, a lot of people are calling for us to go back onto the gold standard, but I, I would need an economics major to break that down. There's so much to it. It's not just some, some simple one sentence like, okay, here we go. And it's going to fix the US dollar.
B
You got any crypto?
A
Yeah, a little bit. You, you probably remember I was back, geez, when that blew up and the 2017, you could put money into anything crypto related, boom, 10x within a week. It was crazy. So I hopped on that train a little bit, you know, threw some money here, there and everywhere. And then, yeah, everything went berserk. Made a few YouTube videos about it.
B
Yeah.
A
And those videos got a lot of.
B
Views you could have missed. Dude, it was nuts.
A
Yeah, Yeah, I, I just didn't love that. That was a interesting few month run. It was crazy. I mean, I every. You just hate to see something go up. So crazy. And then people just like a lot of people lost.
B
When someone makes money, someone loses.
A
So yeah, that's true. But you just, people, however, however many times you say it, only invest what you can afford to lose. Dude, you see it every day. People just putting their life savings, going all in on something and they lose it. It's like. H I. I would just feel really bad for them because I mean, people like do. Yeah. Can't say it on the podcast, but people make some bad decisions after they lose their life savings and you know, that's why the statement is true. Only forward. You can only lose. Only invest what you can afford to lose. And that's what I did, you know. So, yes, I most certainly got hit with that decline as well, but, oh, I got wrecked. I don't care. Like, I put a little money into it, wasn't much. It's a little bit of crypto, to answer your question.
B
Yeah, I got blasted.
A
What coin or what?
B
Everything.
A
Well, yeah, I guess that's true.
B
Everything was down 90. Yeah, but that's the thing. I. I went a little too hard, and it was a good lesson, right?
A
Yeah, you definitely learned something, but you had. You had the potential upside, and you probably did. Yeah. Remember, you posted a few things. I mean, you. You were up a ton, but it's just knowing when. Knowing when to time it, and it's so hard.
B
Luckily, I had the skill set to make money during the down, so I was able to withhold it, and now I still have everything and it's picking back up, so.
A
Exactly. I'm the same way. Like, why. Why mess around with crypto if I don't know it inside and out when I could focus on cars, plays, and coins and have pretty much guaranteed investment returns?
B
No, it's fascinating to me because you're in risky industries, but your risk mitigation is phenomenal.
A
Thank you. I appreciate.
B
It's very impressive because a lot of people in your spaces lose money.
A
You're right. Yeah. Cars, planes, all those things are terrible on paper. And I'm sure plenty of people will tell me that I'm crazy and that my luck is going to run out or whatever, but I don't think so. It's very strategic. It's partially luck, but partially doing your homework and just really knowing what you're doing and having the right people in your circle to ask questions to.
B
Absolutely. Yeah. You've only lost on two cars. No losses on planes yet, right?
A
No, no, not a single plane. And some really good returns. The jet. The jet is crazy. Yeah. So for those. For the. Those of you out there watching. Yeah, we'll. We'll see how that one goes.
B
What'd you drop on that?
A
Not that much.
B
You're good at that, man.
A
People will be surprised. So I'll be okay on it, but people think jets equals tens of millions of dollars, which it usually does.
B
Yeah.
A
Well, you had a Grant Cardone in here not too long ago, right? His. He has a G650. It's like a $70 million plane.
B
Holy.
A
$70 million. And he did it for. For the tax reasons. The government gave huge incentives to buy planes. It was crazy.
B
80%, right?
A
People don't. 100% accelerated appreciation. 100% accelerated appreciation with, like, no limit. So Grant Cardone, you heard him say on the Logan Paul podcast, he. I wired that money and I told my accountant, write that whole thing off. You know, that viral clip.
B
Yeah.
A
It's technically true. It's For Business use 100%. Business use 100%. Business 100%. Accelerated depreciation write off. And now, now it's phasing out. They're minusing 20% each year. So you're right. I think last year was like 80%. This year's probably 60%. But for a while there, it was crazy. Guys were just buying planes left and right. And the thing was, it wasn't just new. So cars for section 179, it's gotta be a new car, right? Over 6,000 gross weight or whatever. But a plane, it could be a used plane. So that just exploded the market for used airplanes. So I wasn't complaining because I had a couple. The, the prices on planes just went crazy.
B
Nice.
A
Like some just nearly like doubled, tripled with COVID everyone's like, life's too short. Like, I'm gonna go learn to fly. So you got those people buying planes and then you got the business people with the Trump, this tax thing that he put in in 2017 or whatever, and that also blew up the market.
B
I hope he brings it back, man.
A
Yeah, well, we'll see what happens. Yeah. I wonder if he gets reelected, will he reinstate the 100 tax write off on airplanes?
B
That's if he does. I'm gonna hit you up as soon as it passes, text me and I'm in.
A
Then it is.
B
I actually bought a G wagon last year because of that tax code.
A
Yeah, you know the drill. So it's a huge kind of loophole and a lot of people don't like it. I guess I can see their arguments. But for, for the aviation industry, it did amazing things. Mechanics were busier than ever. Salespeople, manufacturers, cirrus, all these companies were just cranking out planes. Everybody was cranking out planes. And it was, it was good for that industry. And it's still pretty hot now, even with it slowly tapering off. So it'll come down a bit, it'll cool off a bit. But I saw it as a really good thing. It was, it was interesting to watch. But yeah, when I do call you up on that jet I got you, I can help you.
B
Yeah, I'm gonna hit you up in the car too, because I got ripped off, dude.
A
Oh, yeah? Any cars, planes? Cars? I, I pretty much, I feel like no. Pretty darn well I can advise you. Good on. But jet, I'm still learning, you know, I, I, dude, it's nuts. I just got called saying like, hey, for this phase inspection for your jet, like I said, there's like up to 100 or 50 of them or whatever. Phase 49 inspects, like Windows and stuff. And they're like, dude, I don't think that your windshield is going to pass the inspection. You might need a new windshield. I'm like, okay, how much is a windshield on jet? And they're like, it's gonna be like over 40, 000.
B
Holy crap. For a windshield.
A
Yeah. So I really hope that passes the inspection. But that's why I'm like on the fence if I'll make money on that plane or not. Because, like, that it's coming up 40 gram maybe. And then the phase one through four is coming up on that plane and that's like, can be up to like 50, 000 bucks or more, depending what they find. So I'm a little worried on that one. But you got to learn by biting the bull and doing it.
B
So I got to live and learn. Yeah. I overpaid by 40k on my G Wagon. I found out I got wrecked. But that's common. Like when you go to these dealerships.
A
Like, oh, they were charging over sicker. Yeah, right. For it. Yeah, yeah. Especially the G Wagon. Sales were so hot.
B
Yeah.
A
Dang. Yeah.
B
Yeah, that hurt. But this year, when I need a write off in December, I will hit you up.
A
Yeah, yeah, I got you. I can definitely advise you for the best car and airplane when the time comes.
B
Oh, yeah, jr, it's been fun. Where can people find you, man?
A
All over social media? Let's see, we've got the JR garage, we got the JR aviation for planes, and then like I said, the coin expert for the new Coin channel. If anybody knows about coins out there, we'll link below.
B
Thanks for coming on, man.
A
Dude, thank you so much. That was fun. Yeah, More.
B
It was a blast catching up, man. Cool. Thanks for watching, guys, as always. See you tomorrow.
Digital Social Hour: The Hidden Truth About Car Flipping Profits | JR Garage DSH #829
Release Date: October 25, 2024
Host: Sean Kelly
Introduction
In episode #829 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly welcomes JR Garage, now known as JR Aviation, a successful entrepreneur renowned for his ventures in car flipping, aviation, and coin collecting. The episode delves deep into JR's journey, uncovering the strategies behind his impressive profits, the challenges he has faced, and the philosophies that guide his business decisions.
Early Beginnings and Success Metrics
JR shares the foundational rule that has driven his success in car flipping: "We have to make money from what we're buying. At least try our best. And we've only lost money on two cars ever." (00:00). With a portfolio of 100 to 150 cars, JR emphasizes the importance of buying at the right price to ensure profitability.
Learning the Ropes
Starting small, JR and his brother honed their skills by understanding car mechanics, titles, and auction processes. "You learn as you go, and fixing them up and learning about titles and auctions, and you can get screwed really easily. But we kind of started small and worked our way up," he explains (02:02).
Notable Experiences
One of JR’s favorite cars was a Ferrari FF, which tragically burned down due to misuse by a non-owner. "That was the worst phone call of your life," Sean remarks, highlighting the emotional toll of such losses (05:39).
Despite setbacks, JR has maintained an outstanding track record. "We've only lost money on two cars ever," he reiterates (02:00).
Favorite and Overrated Cars
JR expresses a particular fondness for older models like the Lamborghini Mercy Lagos, which provided significant profits. In contrast, he criticizes new BMWs, describing them as "a little overrated" and "boring" (08:33). This candid assessment underscores his strategic approach to car selection.
Venturing into Plane Flipping
Expanding beyond cars, JR ventured into the aviation industry with the same profit-driven mindset. His first plane flip involved purchasing a seized jet at auction for $110,000, investing $20,000 in maintenance, and selling it for $235,000 (11:00).
Economics of Plane Flipping
JR discusses the complexities of plane ownership, including substantial maintenance costs. "It can definitely be expensive and just depends the plane you get," he notes (15:09). The episode highlights the stark difference between small piston planes, which require minimal annual inspections, and large jets that demand extensive, costly maintenance.
Challenges and Risk Management
Maintaining planes involves high stakes. For instance, JR anticipates a potential $40,000 expense for a windshield replacement during an upcoming inspection (46:22). Despite these challenges, JR remains optimistic: "It's nuts. I'm a little worried on that one. But you got to learn by biting the bull and doing it," he admits (46:42).
Origins and Growth
JR’s passion for coins began at age ten, sparked by his aunt’s gift of old pennies. By 2014, his coin flipping business had surpassed one million dollars (21:27). He emphasizes the booming potential of rare coins, advising collectors to avoid cleaning coins to preserve their value. "Don't ever clean coins. Especially if you don't really know what you're doing," he warns (26:35).
Rare Finds and Education
Highlighting rare coins, JR showcases a 1796 quarter, the first ever made in America, worth approximately $15,000 despite grading issues (24:00). He provides educational insights on coin grading and the prevalence of fakes, urging collectors to purchase from reputable sources: "You have to buy from just actual coin shops then," he advises (33:07).
Combating Counterfeits
JR candidly discusses the rise of counterfeit coins, particularly from China, stressing the importance of certification. "Raw coins are fake, you know, ungraded. Just like this. These are fake. It's getting bad," he states (31:32). He shares personal experiences of inadvertently purchasing fake coins early on but credits his mentors for helping him navigate these pitfalls.
Frugality and Investing
JR’s frugal lifestyle is a cornerstone of his success. He compares his approach to that of Graham Stefan, highlighting shared philosophies on financial prudence. "If you're not getting a return on whatever you're buying, unless you really, really need it or really, really want it, probably shouldn't be buying it," he emphasizes (17:27).
Family and Ethical Considerations
JR stresses the importance of supporting immediate and extended family before indulging in personal luxuries. "Your family number one, extended family number two, and then, like, friends three. I feel like everyone's got to be taken care of first before you go making those stupid purchases," he asserts (18:28).
Handling Wealth and Public Perception
Despite his wealth, JR remains grounded, avoiding extravagant spending on personal luxuries unless financially justifiable. He addresses misconceptions about his financial status and counters false narratives about his wealth origins: "But no, like everything I've always said on social media is true. It was, it was really tough growing up. Didn't have much money," (21:28).
Cryptocurrency Experiences
JR briefly touches on his foray into cryptocurrency, noting both the rapid gains during the 2017 boom and the subsequent losses. "Only invest what you can afford to lose," he advises, echoing a common sentiment among cautious investors (41:27).
Historical Collectibles
Beyond coins, JR expresses interest in historical items, engaging in trades like presidential hair and antique bills. He underscores the importance of provenance and certification in valuing such collectibles, sharing intriguing anecdotes about rare items like a $10,000 Morgan Dollar and a 1777 Massachusetts bill (34:00).
Expanding Horizons
JR remains committed to expanding his portfolio in cars, planes, and coins, leveraging his extensive knowledge and strategic investment tactics. His cautious yet optimistic approach ensures continued success despite inherent risks in these industries.
Final Thoughts
In wrapping up the conversation, Sean lauds JR’s strategic acumen and risk mitigation skills, noting, "It's very strategic. It's partially luck, but partially doing your homework and just really knowing what you're doing and having the right people in your circle to ask questions to," (42:49).
JR encourages listeners to educate themselves before diving into niche investment markets and emphasizes the importance of authenticity and due diligence in all transactions.
Key Takeaways:
Notable Quotes:
Social Media and Further Engagement:
JR Garage can be followed across various social media platforms:
Listeners are encouraged to connect with JR through these channels for more insights and real-time updates on his investment ventures.
This summary provides a comprehensive overview of the podcast episode, capturing the essence of JR Garage's entrepreneurial journey, investment strategies, and personal philosophies. It serves as a valuable resource for anyone interested in car flipping, aviation, coin collecting, and strategic investing.