Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - Kanye West Fuels Major Counterfeit Scam
Episode Date: September 13, 2024Kanye West Fuels Major Counterfeit Scam ...
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Kanye West.
He's into wearing that preppy stuff at the time.
These are straight up illegal.
So I'm reaching out to everybody like, you want to make some free money?
He's got to set an eBay account up.
He gets out of prison next week.
He got out of prison a couple of years.
Because when you're young, you're dumb, the money's coming quick.
And I end up doing eBay.
But my mom denies me in terms of creating an account under an A.
So I acquire my mother's credit card or her credentials, I should say.
Right.
Remember, you have to be 18, right?
So I find this seller on there in New Mexico.
And he sells me the silver for Garo chain.
It was popular at the time.
Now it's a Cuban link.
I buy one off of them.
my sisters are like what the
like Daniel
these things are turning green
right and this guy's got like incredible feedback
right like on eBay you have feedback right
to measure like
whether your stuff's good or not yeah well yeah
and I mean that could be skewed right
something I learned a long time ago is that like
the stat is something like 70% of people
that post a review right
is going to be negative
Okay. You know what I mean? That's just stats. You're not going to go out of your way because you had a pleasant experience at the McDonald's and 79th Street. Right. Right. So I hit him up. Say, hey, listen, you know, something's wrong with your merchandise. I need a refund. This is like a 50-something plus Native American man on the res in New Mexico. So he plays me, right? He plays me. He says, well, yeah.
You know, maybe it didn't fit correctly.
How old are you again?
I go, well, I'm 5'10.
And I'm like 12, whatever.
I'm like, well, I'm 5.10.
And, you know, it should not like snap.
The other one snapped off.
And I'm not fat.
Like, it's your product.
And he said, yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it.
I'll take care of it.
I got you.
I got you, man.
Like real nice.
Like an Indian scammer.
I got you friend.
Right.
Hey, friend.
You know.
So a great deal for you, friend.
So I basically say, man, your shit is bunk.
Like, you rip me off.
He reports me after getting out of me that I'm 11 years old or 12 years old.
Okay.
So he reports me.
I get my first account ever on eBay band.
So I'm looking online and I'm like, I want to sell a product on eBay, just like the native American.
But I don't want to rip 11 year olds off and get them kicked off.
I'm going to do something that people want.
Right.
So ninth grade, I find a wholesale forum.
So on the wholesale forum, you had legitimate businessmen and women that anything from somebody
that owns the kiosk and a mall, you know, and multiple other businesses to somebody that's
like, hey, man, like, I'll send you a message if you're interested in getting these knockoff
Ralph Lauren Polos.
It was a man I met in Thailand.
And he said, I had these authentic lacrosse polos, best quality, best quality, A plus plus.
I got, I could only put together enough to get like 25 pieces.
A piece is one of these.
Yeah.
That's what we used to call him.
So I get him in from, from Thailand.
And, you know, they, they were terrible.
They were so bad.
It was, it was so bad because, like, I think every.
Everybody, I didn't even mean a hustler, but any, any, like, business person has got a product where they're like, I got to sell it, take the L, take the loss, take it on the chin.
But I got to get it off, though.
Yeah.
Somehow.
Right?
Like, I'm not going to just burn it, you know, I spent the money.
I may break even.
I may liquidate, whatever.
But me, Matt, I was like, this is the best polo you ever seen.
Let me show you.
You know, I'm showing family friends, my sisters.
Everybody is clouding me.
Yeah, you know, just making fun of it.
Like, but I bet I'll sell them, though.
So I actually convinced my mother to open another eBay account.
Right.
So, because now I'm going legit.
I'm not getting, I'm not buying thing to her anymore.
So I get into selling on that account.
And as I mentioned, I'm going to sell these things.
Right.
Everybody's making fun of them.
that sees them in person.
I got him for, I was getting middleman, got him for 18,
tried to sell them for like 35.
Right.
But I'm looking at the market actively on eBay at like what's selling, what color
ways, like everything.
And so I end up selling and getting off that 25 pack.
And some bad reviews, you know, but there's always a way to, you know, put in the,
bad feedback well listen I always offer 100% guarantee right and that you know this guy
doesn't know what he's talking about it didn't fit them that's that's a size issue right you know
that's not on me so I'm like this isn't it this isn't the the connect I need right so I'm in
the wholesale forum mind you I'm on Skype at a young age I've always had this deep voice right
so I go in there and I'm on audio so I don't think I had a webcam
back then. If I did, I wouldn't be on it though. Right. Right. They'll see I'm a kid. Yeah.
So I go ahead and just start networking with all these people, these adults. And they all think
that I'm like 21. That's what I say I am. And I'm kind of weeding out, like the people that
actually have the direct connections in different countries to biolos. So those were the cost.
I did buy Ralph Lauren from somebody
that actually
Ralph Lauren Polos
that actually
had a contract
with the manufacturer
to develop them
to manufacture them
so they were real
sometimes I could get real
but it was called gray market
on the forum because you're not
a lot to sell outside of the authorized
channel
so they're supposed to sell it to somebody that has
a contract right but there's the same people that manufactures the shirts that are
staying that channel they're just manufacturing an extra 40 shirts and selling them on the
side so they're the same shirts like the shirt doesn't know that it did and that it left the
chain of command or the chain of custody right exactly exactly later on we did and i'll get
into that in a moment but um yeah exactly we used to call them um overprints so you know they would
just write off 30 shirts say that they weren't up to the
the quality that Ralph Lauren wanted, and I would buy those, you know, and I'm doing well
with that, because at the time, things started to really blow up in terms of those brands,
specifically, Ralph Lauren and LeCost.
Right.
Because rappers were wearing them.
It was very popular because of that.
So I'm in these chats, and I'm finding multiple suppliers, really just worry.
my way up, you know, and I have that guy that can get me the Ralph Lauren, because he's got
the contract. And I'm doing that for a little bit. The money is good, but it turned out to be saturated
with that brand. So I say, let me switch to LaCost. And that's what I first started with. So I find
somebody that is in India. And they also have a factory. But these are straight.
up like illegal like these are completely bullock right like he doesn't have a contract to produce
he's just doing it massive scale so I'm buying from him and I realize a lot of people on that
forum and eBay while I'm looking and studying you know what's selling what what is bringing
the highest dollar value you know and it was like cost polos right so I actually work with that
guy for a little bit and then I say all right let me find somebody else I meet somebody else I believe
he was in Chennai why find somebody else because the person in India the quality again just really
wasn't there okay it was better it was it made the other ones look like you know a little kid bait
them right you know but they still weren't as close as you wanted to the real thing exactly and
I used that money I made off of that lot of 25 of the bullshit polos to get to talk into this other supplier that was in India as well.
But start talking to them on Skype, you know, let me start small, this and that.
And I start selling those polos from him.
and I just continually
just sold more
and I'm timing the auctions at this point
you know like if I put something up at the time
to end at 3 p.m. Eastern
it would fetch like 50% less
as opposed to like an end date of the auction
being after 6pm EST right
so I'm looking at these things I'm timing it
I'm looking at the verbiage people are using, you know, in their descriptions.
I'm setting up my auctions.
I'm taking photos of my polos in the grass and the sun, you know, like.
Right.
Really, you know, this is through the first Indian supplier.
And they do a lot better, you know, this product.
But then I find this other person.
And you're saying that this is, you're saying on eBay, you're hitting like this is a real quality.
This is the real deal.
100% off that.
always okay always um but you know the competition was doing the same right and i found out they were
being supplied by my same suppliers so i'm like i got to have a competitive edge right i need the
best quality i can get so i'm skyping this other dude in india that owned the factory and i got a sample
small order maybe like 10 just to test the quality it was beautiful they were great quality
and they retail it $69.50 at the time.
So we had the legitimate poly bags that he would make with a cost on it.
We would have really, you know, the tags, let's say $69.50.
The RN numbers matched up, which is like, you know, the manufacturer tag, right?
So they were all, they look legit.
Right.
So I'm doing this for a while.
I'm doing very well with this person.
this is about ninth grade
10th grade
I'm playing sports
but I'm still
running this eBay business
and doing that
so I'm making a lot of money doing that
I continue to do it 10th grade
they get kicked off a couple of times
for non-authentic items
but I always found a way
with different resources
to basically
make sure that I was able to keep growing and doing it.
And my relationship was going very well with the supplier.
So anywho, I get too busy, though.
So it's just too much for me.
So about 04, actually it was 05.
I bring in Sean, my best friend to this day, right, one of them.
But I bring Sean on.
And I say, hey, listen, man, you know, we're getting,
I'm getting too many polos to my parents' house.
You know, you're getting a hundred at a time from the second supplier
that has the best quality.
And he told me, you know, at the time, it was like $15.50 a shirt.
But as I developed that rapport and you saw the consistency.
Right.
And I'm paying with whatever method you wanted.
Because I'm accepting back then money orders.
That was my bread and butter.
Right.
Because you're paying.
I found out about flat rate boxes.
there was a brand new thing.
So shipping and handling, quote unquote,
everybody overcharged on.
It's making a shitload of money just on that.
But then I figure out the flat rate boxes
where if I could fit five polos in there
for the price of one
and then charge them 25 to 30 bucks
for the shipping and handling,
where it really only costs me, I think,
$3.85 for the flat rate box.
So I'm doing that and making a lot of money like that.
I'm climbing up.
I'm saving my money every time.
You know, I get a hundred.
I'm selling them, taking the profit, and just reinvesting.
Because there's some days that, you know, there was a monsoon in southern India at the time.
You know, where he was shipping from in his facility where they had monsoons.
And we would use like DHL, you know, like all these foreign couriers.
And, you know, it may get held up by customs.
it may get held up by the monsoon and he sent me photos so this is why your shipment's late
because the whole shipping courier trucks are all underwater right now right
I'm like I hope you're not trying to scam me you know but I've been working with you now
for a couple years so I get too busy is what happened I had to scale and that's when I brought
in one of my most trusted friends and I had Sean receiving the product
at his house because I couldn't fit it I met my bedroom that I was in I built my own computer
from scratch from Tiger direct I don't think they exist anymore but from scratch like
ninth grade and I'm just my my bedroom is like connected to my sisters you have to walk through
it so like literally if you go into this day like you would have to duck a little bit very small room
All my friends to this day call it the attic, but that was my bedroom.
How many polos can you fit?
You know what I mean?
When you're getting 200 at a time now, that's, that's, you know, stacked to the ceiling.
Right.
Of that little bedroom that I was living in.
So anywho, I get better pricing from him because he's like, man, listen, I will front you another 200.
I know you're good for it.
And I'm like, I got you.
Because I've always felt that if I say I'm going to do something,
I'm going to do it.
Like, I told you I was going to come here about two weeks ago.
And, you know, I thought a couple times I didn't hear back about a confirmation.
I'm going to still set my schedule, so I'm going to be here.
You know, I always commit to what I do.
And I did that with him.
And so he was very comfortable with me.
And he'd been doing it since, like, the 70s, this producer and supplier.
And he's fronting me.
I'm buying 200 and then he's fronting me another 200 and just he knows me and he knows how I'm moving
right the velocity like he he sees it um so then I start selling lots and I'm like why not supply
and keep elevating and start selling to the people that are resellers as well then I get banned
again because a competitor that was on the wholesale forum was buying from my supplier.
Right.
So I get on Skype, I hit the supplier up, say, hey, listen, man, I keep getting these negative
complaints.
What's up with that?
Do you happen to know a guy trendy buys?
He also went by Trinity distributing.
He was out of upstate New York or Ohio.
He may have done both.
but yeah thanks for that one
but he uh he was he was snitching on me right so i hit the supplier of say hey who's giving me
problems i'm doing good business i'm selling lots of like 50 at a time making good money
and uh and that shipping and handling quote unquote money is free money right so whatever you know
make another account i mean i've been banned so many times make another account and then
And that's when I say to my, my buddy, Sean, say, hey, listen, you know, I'm going to be going to college, summer of O'5.
So in O5, which is when we graduated high school, that year, I taught him every day.
I taught him how to have it shipped to his house from our supplier.
And at this time, I'd pay for 200.
I'd get 300.
Or he'd offer me 200 and 200 on the front.
But I don't like owing people.
I'm that type of dude.
Yeah, no.
I'd done it with the 100 and 100 on the front.
I was like, I don't know, man.
So I'm a very generous person.
I try to be at least, and especially in this scenario, I tell my buddy, I say, hey, listen, you know, if I can teach you how to do the logistics and how to receive it, I can introduce you to my supplier.
And I'll give you a 50% split down the line and all the capital fronted is on me.
I'm paying for it off, like out of pocket for every order.
And then the profit, we're splitting 50-50.
Right.
So I was very generous as I grew older.
I learned it should have been less, but I'm looking out, right?
I want us all to eat.
Right.
So.
Are you doing anything at this point?
Other than you've set up the business and you're putting up the capital, right?
Yeah, I'm doing things.
I'm selling 200.
I thought you were going to college and leaving him to do it.
Not yet.
Okay.
Not yet.
Right.
I'm glad you asked.
Yeah.
So I was already doing fantastic with it on my own.
Right.
But I'm like, I'm going to be in a dorm room, super small.
How am I going to have these loads coming in?
Right.
But he's still going to use your capital.
Correct.
Okay.
Yeah.
So I quarterbacked everything.
Yeah.
On my own.
And with the supplier and said, hey, listen, I vouch for him.
And he being here today with us right now, tell him the story.
Right.
If he could make it.
But anywho, I'm doing very well.
and I have Sean working that for me.
I teach him how to, you know,
look for the best allocations that we could request
because we have that rapport with the supplier.
Right.
It's usually like, you know, you get 100 polos.
The colors could be 30 pink, five this color.
You get what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Random.
But I had such rapport with him.
I would be like, you know, Kanye is coming out at the time right now.
And he's into wearing that preppy stuff at the time, Kanye West.
So, and other artists too.
But I'm like telling him, you know,
there's another item I need and it's the one with the stripes.
And that's what the rappers were wearing.
Right.
So I had him make those for me off a prototype that I had sent to him.
And pictures, all that.
He gets on video with me, the supplier that had the best quality I'm talking about.
the latest one yeah and he shows me he says what color ways do you want and i give them like boom
everything that's popular right now in the media etc etc rappers because i know these are the
popping ones these are going to be the money makers right so i do that and i'm selling those and then i take
sean on i teach him how to receive the product how to go through it he's got the intro call for
and that most recent supplier that I mentioned,
he's Skyping him on his own, right?
Sending, remitting money to him to India on his own.
So his mother was a secretary.
So at a law firm, very prestigious law firm.
They actually even took on Ann and Nicole Smith's case,
and my buddy's mother was able to get him a job
because he wasn't going to go to college
to get him a job as a
passing out the mail
at the firm.
So there's another person that
that we knew named Pablo,
which was a great guy,
but he was a gay,
Colombian, black panther
from New York City.
Right.
But he will fuck you up.
Right. He's hardcore.
So, but he became our buddy.
You know, he's an older cat,
you know, at the time.
Obviously still.
So Sean is watching him and they're becoming friends of the law firm and he sees an area that he can go to to ship the products and build it to clients.
So now we have free shipping completely profit because we're having, Sean is having it done for free and building the shipping fees to the law firm.
The law firm's clients.
Right.
Yeah.
So we're doing that.
And he's getting
he's getting shipments of 300 at a time,
sometimes 400 of the good ones,
the best ones that we ever had to his house.
And they're in potato sacks.
Why?
The way that he shipped,
because it was such bulk.
Because previously,
with something that's gray market, quote unquote,
or in apparel at least,
you know, you would ship, you know,
25 in each box.
Right.
So I was getting like eight boxes.
But we grew to the point where I guess he switched the shipping courier because shirts would come missing.
Sean had his little brother, you know, his little do-boy, bring in the potato sacks in from the driveway when they're delivered, counting out, writing it down in Microsoft Word, because I love Excel now, but I didn't then.
I wish I did.
but I'm manually putting it together in a in a basic word you know spreadsheet but just in
Microsoft Word and I have Sean and his brother and I'm calling them and because by now I'm in
Jacksonville Cornell College and I'm overseeing everything but I have them doing that the
logistics the shipping of everything and I'm just like the CEO at this point if you really think
about it. I say that to say that we're making a shitload of money off of all that.
What kind of money? Like what are you guys making? I mean, your kids. Right. So a lot of money to
me then, right? On my own before the split, the 50-50, I would make, I mean, this is high school
days. I'd make a thousand bucks, I'm sorry, a couple thousand a week net. Right. And that's not
with the shipping and handling that I was making money off of, you know, because I was doing the flat rate
boxes um so i i remember times i would make four grand right but then conversely right the next
week the shipment may have been held up by customs so i was always uh reaching out to my supplier
and saying hey listen i'm reading the phob i'm reading you know the that's the report of where
it went through the tracking right all that right and saying hey man like i'm short like 18
shirts out of 200
I would call
him on Skype and say that and we had that trust
he'd say that's my customs broker
it's almost Christmas time
right he wants to have something for his kids
said well that's cool
and all you can take him out of your cut
right but he would always send me
so let's say 18 I just said
hypothetically he'd send me like
25 right like
the next day so
but it was inconsistent because you have
bus at ports you have
had, you know, treacherous seasons, you know, in that region of the world, that these bootleg
guys shipping couriers that we're using, you know, so it was a lot of that.
But he always straightened everything with me because I was very loyal to him.
Right.
And he would tell me, he would say, yeah, that trainee buys, I supply them.
And they told me they've been complaining about somebody taking food off their plate on eBay
and say, well, that guy.
You know what I mean?
I'm young, right?
But you, it's like a drug dealer snitch on each other.
Your competition and what you should be scared of isn't law enforcement and anything illegal.
It should be your competition.
Right.
That's what I learned.
Unfortunately.
But I kept it moving.
You know, I modified the descriptions, item descriptions on new accounts, eBay accounts,
and to look like completely different than my typing style.
Right.
Now, I grew up.
watching my mother get her Ph.D. when I was like five and learning out of type and a typewriter.
So I've always been, have that technical prowess. So I know how to, you know, say this could be perceived as completely different than anything I've ever sold because of the verbiage, the breakdown of the description, the words used, you know, the photo styles that I'm taking. I'm not taking them in the sunlight, in the grass anymore, you know, switch it all up.
so I keep getting snitched on them by these other people and it's annoying man because you make money
then you know you have a PayPal tied to it um you had money orders but those are gone now these days
but yeah so I have Sean take it over and his brother's helping out whatever so there were scenarios
like that you know where a lot was missing but he always made it right to us and in doing so um
I actually kept doing it with Sean for probably about a year or two.
And this is when, to answer your question, after the split, we would make six grand each sometimes a week.
Right.
Net.
And that's not even including the free shipping from his law firm.
Right.
Which is closed now, by the way, since 08.
But, yeah, so we're making money here, there.
Did that have anything to do with you?
What?
The law firm closing.
I'm just joking.
Oh, no, I think it was you.
It was away.
It really was a wait, though.
And that's what they closed our offices because of the corporate, everything that was going on.
This financial crisis.
Exactly.
That you cost.
Right.
Yeah, exactly.
That you cost.
You're completely responsible for her.
So what happened?
So you, how long did this go on before?
I mean.
Us making major money?
I mean, yeah.
And when I brought Sean on.
Yeah.
No, I'm saying how long, how long did you guys do this before?
for eventually, you know, something like, like what happened.
Right.
So what happened is everything was lovely and until it's not.
Right.
And I'm actually like, were you concerned at all at all?
I mean, you're saying your, your competition is, you know, snitching on you and getting
your account shut down or reporting you and doing all these things.
But are you at all concerned that you're, you're selling counterfeit, you know,
know, apparel and eventually that the manufacturer of that apparel might come after you.
Like, like, this is back when people were getting busted.
Like, do you remember when they had CDs and people guys were to bootled CDs and they
would do that?
And every once while you'd hear these guys get busted, they were selling them at, like, flea markets
and suddenly the cops show up, but just arrest them.
And I did a lot of that as well coming up.
That was a major hustle of money.
So I'm saying, were you at all worried?
no because when you're young you're dumb the money's coming quick right yeah no i there was times
where i had like multiple bank accounts i'm using money frivolously after i secure my real money
you know my uh restock money you know what's your mom things happening um our son is a fantastic
entrepreneur right he's uh you know killing it you know and at this time i'm like i'm not going to college bro
I'm going to do this the rest of my life.
Yeah.
Right?
Like, I'm not going to work for somebody.
I'm not going to go to business class and then learn about things I already do since I was 11.
You know what I mean?
So there's that.
But yeah, to answer the question, though, Matt, what ended up happening was we had a good run, man.
We did.
But I have other, I think, to myself.
So I'm doing everything that's gray market or illegal.
So I'm watching styles.
There's no gray market.
This is all illegal.
We used to say gray market, right.
Gray market.
So it's gray market.
That's like when I would change W2.
I was like, okay, it's a gray area.
It's like, it's not gray area.
You just change the W2.
It's fraud.
You just committed fraud.
The whole, the whole loan's fraud now.
Like the whole, but anyway, okay, gray market.
All right.
Makes you feel bad.
That's like.
So, well, that's the verb is that we used back then, you know?
So two things I want to say.
I kept it moving because I saw.
that that other person
that was buying off my supplier
that was ratting on me all the time
Yeah trendy buys
Tristan is he still around
Um
I've looked for him
Right
Just to be friends
Yeah I just want to have
I'm a little guy
I just want to have lunch with you one day
You know what I mean?
I'm a little guy right
Right not you know
I don't mean harm
I'm no hard ass
But you know
I want to have a time
Yeah, but anyhow, so he went out of business or he went to change his name.
Right.
He did that several times.
Some point they're going to catch up with, they catch up with everybody.
He did that several times.
So what I started to do was reach out to the supplier that supplied him as well.
Right.
And a lot of other people and say, hey, listen, I'm going to send them a message this person I see with this username that's selling what I think could be your product.
Right.
And see if I can offer them wholesale.
and sometimes he say I supply them like no
this dude was like doing this since the 70s he told me
right and I'm a kid
he's a full ass adult you know right but to paint a picture on that
but I'm like hey man I'm not gonna stuff on toes I don't do that right
I respect your business your whole family's been doing this you know
I respect it but ABC 123 account name
are you supplying them I see that they're selling a
good amount, you know, the similar products on eBay.
Right.
He would say yes or no.
There was times he said yes, and I would say, I respect that.
There were times he'd say, no.
And I'd say, all right, I need you to add another 100 on to that 300 now because I would
start wholesaling to them.
Okay.
So I'm kind of like trying to get out of the, you know, it's like similar to this may be
corny and cheesy, but drug dealers, you know, you don't want to sell it yourself your whole life.
move up and then have people working for you and wholesaling to them right right that's the
mentality i had growing up around you know watching everything i mentioned you know all these people on
tv you know getting roped or some old miami term getting caught for you know something you know
willie falcon was on the news you know sal you know all that stuff so i just kind of uh really um
thought that I could get ahead by going behind the scenes and wholesaling to those people.
And then I would do lots with only the most popular color ways that I wouldn't sell to them.
Because you don't want to cannibalize your own business market and setting, right, in general.
So I'm doing that and everything's going lovely.
And, you know, we're stashing them at Sean's house, got some of my house still, you know, my little.
attic bedroom as my friends call it and what ended up really happening is we're doing this until
06 so i would have been a sophomore in college and i'm on campus up north and jacks get a call
for my dad you know i have all my mail routed to our house in miami right it's like what's going
on and i say what are you talking about it's i just got this letter i had to open it though you know i
don't like to open your mouth right right but i mean when i become a father i'll probably do that too
but you know he's he's like what is this you're in a lot of trouble i've been warning you
i'm like you you kind of like they when i would get mom those free candles all the time you know
i mean i wasn't spending with it like that Sean was he bought a sell us a bunch of he he bought a
96 s mpala which are you a car guy like would you know these things no
It's worth a lot of money.
Okay.
You know, the card Danzel had in Training Day.
Yeah.
I believe it was like Caprice or a Cutlist?
I think Caprice.
He bought one of those, you know?
But I'm over here the one for, you know, I have the overhead.
So I'm not doing these things.
Right.
You know what I mean?
And I'm just, you know, not frugal, but I'm a big saver.
Right.
I've always been.
So yeah.
So what happens is we get the letter.
I get one to my house in Miami, which is my address tied to.
my eBay and PayPal's, which I had several of each, and bank accounts, you know, multiple
of all that.
And Sean as well, I hooked him up with that on his end.
And, you know, my dad says, he's like, it says right here, this is from the official
Lacoste lawyers.
And I'm standing there, like, on my little flip phone, it's 2006.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah, no, like, I love college.
I was chilling with everybody, playing sports with all the frats.
So, you know, I'm probably in between doing something like that, you know, partying, whatever.
And I get this call and I'm like, what do you mean?
And he knew what I was doing, right?
My whole family did, even my Senate family, right?
You know?
I'm a success story, you know?
So the letter said it had the Lacoste.
how do you say like
officiated at the top?
Like a letterhead?
Letterhead.
Yes, yes.
Thank you.
Official.
Yeah, from them.
And then it said that basically
that what they were doing
because keep in mind,
a lot of the products that I was getting,
I would also at times when I found
a connection that had a contract
to manufacture,
Hollister,
and Abercrombian Fitch.
because it's the same company.
And he was actually a British man from, that sounds funny, he was British.
Right.
And his factory was in, I'm trying to remember, but it was obviously Asian country.
But I was getting legit products from him.
Like, legit gray market, man.
Right, right.
Because they literally were, but I just couldn't sell it anywhere but my store that I have supposedly,
a contract to sell and carry Abercrombie and Hollister.
Right.
So you got, you do have, to be fair, some things that were completely legit, you know,
that I would even sell to my teachers in high school.
Sean would open up the cutlists at the mall, you know, Friday night.
Polos in the back, you know.
Sounds legit.
Right, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I buy all my stuff.
So, you know, he would walk up to people, you know.
It's like when I walked in
You know
You gent said like
I could talk
I won't have a problem right
Right
Well Sean
He's like me on steroids
Right
He may have been on steroids at the time
But anywho
So
So these are some like conversations
That were started with
Pst
What do you mean
Pts
You like lacrosse?
Oh you're saying
When he was
Like hustling it
No no
He's loud
I have a deep
Loud
but he's he's easy my louder and even way more ADHD I've never been diagnosed but let's just
say I can talk and I got a deep voice but Sean though he'd pull up pop the trunk and if it was like
movie night people coming out you know certain time whatever and then other times he would just
walk into the mall to the lacos store and say hey bro why buy that one look at this one right
and bring one piece in with them and come kind of the car you know and
do things like that. So we did it all. Yeah, I had teachers buying my stuff in high school,
all that. Yeah. I'm doing other hustles. I'm writing papers for people for money.
I'm doing that in college. I have other hostels in addition of that. I have other jobs because
they need a job history, you know, for the future. Um, potentially. Right. And we get the letter, though.
So we get the letter. My dad gets at his house in Miami. And my dad says, you know,
lacrosse corporate saying that you know they have taken they have done undercover purchases from you
right for like all of your items so they hired a they had already hired a um like a private
investigator to do buys i was too scared to ever read the letter right i literally didn't want to know
i was just like i'm about to go to prison right well i've interviewed these guys the the i've
interviewed a guy who's uh he's a private investigator that's all he does is go after a counterfeits
counterfeit watches, counterfeit clothes, kind of fit everything.
And he said what they do is they build a file, a case for the FBI.
And they go to them and they're like, I've got four different box, you know, undercover buys.
I've got this.
Here's where it's coming from.
Here's who's doing it.
Here's where they live.
He does a whole thing.
You know, tape phone conversations.
Here's the merchandise.
Here's how I paid them.
Here's the money trail.
The whole thing builds a whole kind of a dossier on this.
fraud that's occurring and brings it to the FBI and then they go okay cool so so so so so so so so so so
like that well they did bring I know for certain that they did send it to a lab in Arizona
because they were like we determined that like X item or brand I should say right was such good
quality that we could even tell like Lacost's corporate office couldn't tell when they
looked at the material and compared it to one of theirs right they literally really
like, we can't tell the difference.
So we got to send it to a lab.
Says, then what are we doing here, fellas?
What are we doing?
I'm selling lacrosse.
I could supply you.
Well, LaCost, but LaCross would have been the bootleg version, right?
Same thing, though, right?
But no, I was like, what are we doing here?
You know, like, everything's legit.
I didn't say any of that.
That's a joke.
I knew I knew it.
I knew it.
And then they were threatening prison time.
First offense.
This is the lawyer for, how do you say it?
La Cros.
La Coss.
La Coss.
Yeah.
Lacos.
So LaCoss is their lawyer saying you're going to prison?
Well, I think it was a combo.
Like I said, I was too scared.
Okay.
To physically have my father, like, send it to me.
Right.
I was just like, I'm, you know?
And then Sean calls me and says,
Hey, man, I just got this letter.
And it's saying all the same thing.
You know, I think it was like, first offense, if we didn't cooperate,
was going to be, I believe it was two to three years in prison.
It is federal, because it's a federal case.
Yeah, this sounds like a target letter.
No, this is legit.
No.
Oh, what do you mean by a target?
The target letter is legit.
A target letter is what the FBI sends out where they lay out what they believe is happening.
And they say, you know, we're, you know, and then they basically ask you to come in and
start cooperating now.
Yeah.
Don't make us, don't make us file information.
Right.
Don't make us, you know, criminal complaint.
Yeah.
That's what happened.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, but they piggyback, though.
Right.
All these people, because the IRS jumped on.
Okay.
Then all of a sudden, I'm like, how do I have?
You got a letter from the IRS?
I have been audited by them a million times.
Right.
Letters.
I mean, yeah.
So, so what has?
And then they drain my bank accounts to negatives.
They drain shons.
I'm like, thank God, I got this money.
order money that I've been saving on to for years, you know, that I cash, you know.
Right.
So your dad says you're in trouble.
What do you guys do?
Do you say, hey, well, then I need to go get a lawyer or I need to do.
What do you do?
Here's the major problem.
So what they said is they had been monitoring our sales and they listed out.
Like, I mean, they sent like a lot of material after this.
Maybe it's a follow up like additional scare to cooperate.
Right?
And, yeah, so it said, you know, $69.50 retail on the tag that's attached to this same shirt.
Yeah.
There's $79.50 now, but irrelevant.
But we see that you've sold X amount of these over the period of since, you know, 2006, starting in 2001.
Right.
And we see that you've been on different usernames.
you've been you know like they tracked it all right and so what they said is this they said there's a
fine that's imposed with the sentence guidelines we didn't even get to that so you can't say
guidelines but the sentence they threat it right right for the feds first defense me and him and um you know
they said but in addition to that there's a restitution you know nothing about yeah but there's a restitution
plus starting as it goes in any case right uh okay well i mean like you know for for violating
laws x y z yeah yeah no i understand was restitution i understand yeah yeah not everybody
gets a 500 000 restitution but anyway fine i'm sorry fine i'm the word i'm looking for is fine okay
it was a fine all right thank you for correcting me so there's that and then we didn't get in
even into like you know the fact that they talked to
about later they said you know i tell my dad put it away we'll take care of it you know the letter
right so then um there's some further communication because sean works at the law firm
they want to charge i'd say me but it was us at this point because of his involvement with
shipping and everything and his name all that um every retail value
The retail value on every polo, you sold since, like, 2000.
It's just like six years.
It's like thousands of polos.
Right.
There's a lot.
You are going to owe the company.
What did that come to?
I mean, do they give you a number?
They just tell you were adding them up.
Too scared to look at the data.
Right.
I thought game over.
Okay.
And that's it.
It was a lot, though.
Yeah, it would have.
I mean,
If I had to quantify, Brad, like, it would have been up there, maybe even close to that five.
Well, yeah, $69.50 multiply by thousands to the math.
I'm terrible at math, but, you know, you do that mentally, you know?
I don't do it mentally.
If it's $3,000, that's $210,000.
At $69.50 apiece?
That's $70 a piece.
Okay.
Same thing.
So a lot of money.
Yeah, it's a chunk of money.
A lot of money.
And what we ended up doing is.
I hit Sean up.
I said, hey, listen.
You got that?
Don't say shit.
No, he called.
Are you good for that, Sean?
He called me.
Yeah.
And said, you know.
You've been saving, right?
He couldn't save.
Yeah.
Not a saver.
I call him or he calls me, Sean.
After the phone call, my father, he's freaking out.
Right?
He's telling me.
He's telling me that, I got this letter.
This is what it says, bro.
you know telling me and I'm like
that's exactly what my father just got
he's like all right we got to give him up
we got to give him up we got to give him up
we got to give ex person up
or supplier you didn't say
Sean I don't worry about that letter
I'm going to take care of everything and then go
go straight to the FBI and rat
out Sean because that's the way to do it
honestly
in retrospect if I wanted to play
that that would have been something
I could have done these guys Sean
we're going to go gangster on I'm I'm going to take
care of getting an attorney i'll let you know in a week
a week later you call him up with a wire
so yeah
though god boy listen to show on you put this thing
together really well
blame everything because he's the kingpin right right
i never was right i know like i can't
believe the way you did this bro
like you guys you really got it put together and you've been
on the wire are you still shipping
oh no i stopped shipping oh man
good good it's good to good idea
here's ex's new email address
hit him up bro
he'll give you a better price than ever by the way
Right.
So anyhow, yeah, I was scared shitless.
He's scared shitless.
He's telling me, he's like, I'm going to, you know, he's all ADHD.
He's like, that.
I'm going in, I'm going to the law office, and I'm going to give him up.
Right.
So I talked to the supplier, and, you know, I Skype him.
Right.
And he never was on video.
This guy's smart.
Right.
Like, Bert, he'd been doing this, like I said, since the 70s.
So, and like, at the top of.
of all this stuff, right?
He was no petty hustler like I was initially.
Because I did grow to making good money, real good money.
And Sean, too, because of me.
But anyway, yeah, so Sean's like, I'm going.
I'm telling.
I'm like, if you tell, like, he knows my home address.
He knows your home address.
Dude's been doing this since the 70s.
Yeah, bro.
You really think that Indians will have your way.
Indians will come and kidnap.
I don't know, though.
They will not. I don't know.
They can't get if they were, if they could get, they can't even get
out of India.
He can.
They've got waves knocking them out every four or five years.
A wave comes through and wipes out half the country.
And my polos.
And your polos.
If they could leave that country, they would.
No, he did travel overseas and domestically here.
Okay.
He actually did.
But I'm thinking to myself, right?
I'm like, you know what?
Let me at least.
See these two kids walk around their polos and screen?
On the bicycles, yelling at each other, screaming.
He's like, oh, my God, what are we going to do?
It's like, this is counterfeiting, bro.
Like, no, when we got the letters, he's in Miami.
I'm in Jax in college.
Right.
I understand.
I'm just saying the movie versus YouTube.
I'm not squealing, you're 12 years old, screaming at each other,
that they're going to come and kidnap your entire family and kill you.
Your dad's acting like this is the end of the world.
The truth is it's not that big a deal.
Well, I don't know.
How much times you do?
So.
Okay.
So, we'll get.
to it. So we'll get to it. So I hit up the supplier and I say, hey, listen, we got these notices,
me and Sean. Right now at this point in time, Sean has known him for years now on his own.
Right. Because I facilitated the relationship. Yeah. They both trust each other and me,
vice versa. So I say, hey, listen, this is what we got. Like, IRS jumped on it now. Like,
I'm getting all around. What do I do? They want me to give my supplier. Otherwise, I'm going to have to do some
time and I'm going to have a not restitution but I'm going to have a fine right and then there's
all these other things to you know you're I mean there was other things that they added to it but
those are the most noteworthy right and he says hey listen you know the supplier he says they think
that all of remember I was buying from China before yeah the shitty ones and Thailand yeah
but the real shitty ones for were from China and Thailand but he says to me on Skype he says
Hey, listen, you know, Danny, they think that they're all coming from China.
Like, so here's what we're going to do.
You need to convince your friend not to give me up, tell anything about the operation, like, between you or me and what I've been doing.
Like, I'm going to change my phone number soon, you know, my step number.
I'm going to change my email.
But when it blows over, I'll reach back out.
I say, how are you going to do that?
Right?
like you can't make this magically disappear right it's indian bro he knows things you get me killed
so but you never know though you really don't but anyway i mean there's been doing it 30 years
major money he's making hell of money but anyway i say that to say this that uh yeah so um
i basically tell that supplier i've got into sean's year he's not doing anything like he's
not going to cooperate.
So he says perfect.
This guy's sitting there like, you know, like, I'm thinking that he's a mastermind behind all this.
I can hear the, uh, the Indian music in the background.
Hey, nothing wrong with adjusting to.
What's really funny is he thinks he's dealing with two for like 35, four year old men.
Exactly.
He's like a couple 17 year olds.
17, 18, the 19.
Right.
Yeah.
But exactly, though, right?
You know, I'm on the phone like, hey, you know, so, yeah, I'd like to make another order, though.
But I don't want to get fronted again.
But you know what I mean?
I'm playing it up, you know, my deep voice.
Yeah, you know, I got to pick up the Wi-Fi later, you know.
I never had a girlfriend, you know.
I mean, so he's threatening to kidnapper, his sisters, and he's through a lot of sacrifice his sisters.
Take him.
He's the Andy and Liam Neeson.
We don't know.
You know, right?
So anyway, so I convince Sean.
I'm like, we're going to take care of this with so-and-so.
And he says, here's this business card.
I'm going to email it to you.
This email is not going to be active tomorrow.
I'm deactivating.
And it's probably on a VPN going through a million different channels in the world.
You know what I mean?
Because he's selling a lot of product and manufacturing a lot of product, not just the cost.
A lot of brands and products, legitimate or not.
But anyway, so yeah, that's what happened is he said to me, here's a business card, and I look at it.
And it's like in Guangdong, China, and I'm like, you don't do anything with China, like to any degree.
I always knew that about this guy.
So I'm like, what is this business card?
He said, what you're going to do is bring that to a lawyer and look at all corporate as well and provide that to them.
and say that this is your supplier and it had like all the information the email the the owner's
name right and i'm thinking i'm like so have you ever seen the tv show breaking bad
okay so basically what happens in a certain season there was a character named badger who got
arrested selling meth for jesse right the main character pinkman and then it was badger his underling
he gets arrested so um one of wall you know walter white's guys yeah um hires this guy to come in
and take the fall meets him at a bus stop purposely with a bag of meth badger gets up walks away
they walk up are you badger arrest him so it's very similar to that how how we maneuvered and manipulated
the situation because that's essentially what happened he sent us disinformation
on a manufacturing facility in China that he knew for a fact had only, like, t-shirts.
Right.
Like unbranded.
You know what I mean?
Like, and they kept thinking everything was coming from China.
And at the time it was except for people like me.
Right.
But so that's what happened.
And I sent it to him.
Sean gets a lawyer.
His mother is still working at the law firm.
So is he.
And he gets his mother.
to convince one of their top lawyers.
I mean, they're all top lawyers.
But convinces one of them to take the case for us pro bono and write Lacoste corporate back, say these were the suppliers.
These are just some, you know, good teenagers that got involved with the wrong crowd, you know, type scenario.
Right.
It's like what she's telling this, this lawyer, please, I've worked here for 25 years under you.
It's a secretary, you know.
Yeah.
And my son works here.
We don't want all these things to happen.
So he basically says, you know, well, listen, holy shit.
Like, to Sean, my partner.
Holy shit.
Like, you guys were doing all this?
Like, wow.
Impressive.
Like, okay.
And Sean's like, yeah, well, what are we going to do to get out of this?
right right and he goes well you know you gave me this business card what is this
Sean says everything I just said right this is our supplier etc etc so the guy ends up
taking us pro bono and um reach that's a lacos corporate and when he's doing that um I'm just
scared shit list so you know what the guy did was convinced them that we're cooperating and um
you know that they could drain all of our accounts
and take all the money and we're going to lock up this major supplier right in china evil chinese
so they're raided manufacturer they right who raids them the chinese uh version of the fbi
not sure that supplier reached out to me right on a brand new email about a week later maybe two weeks later
the ind the indian guy yeah okay he reached out and you told me he's like hey this this email's safe now
you know right and i'm like yeah bullshit like you know that's like somebody
getting out of prison and being like, hey, I want to sell you something illegal the next day.
No.
Yeah, yeah.
You're hot.
I don't want to do with you.
You know what I mean?
So it was like that.
So I said, okay, cool.
You know, it's like, yeah, you know, everything worked out though, right?
I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're fine.
Nothing to worry about, you know?
So, yeah, so that's how we beat it is that lawyer going pro bono and going to bat for us.
And, you know, that's really what happened.
And there was actually a time after that, though.
speaking about eBay,
go back to other hustles, right?
Well, I mean, what happened?
So they dropped the whole thing?
You never heard from it again?
They said, okay, they're good with the manufacturer.
They raided the place.
Nothing ever happened.
They found their quote-unquote big dog, big fish.
Because that person's making the actual products.
Right.
You know, that he's working off of and sewing these on.
Okay.
is what they think.
Yeah, yeah.
That's not what he ever did.
Right.
But that's the story that.
Maybe he did.
No, I know, because I've seen Chinese and how they do it.
What they will do, though, is back in the day, is they would take like this unbranded and then ship it to.
There was somebody that I used to work with that got arrested and raided and rally North Carolina.
Take a while.
Guess where he's from?
You just said rally in North Carolina.
Where the person's from before they moved and got a stash house there.
India.
India.
okay so anywho um i never so they mail the stuff there and the guys already got the little
labels and he irons them on or something he's got a crew right you know of indians it's like
an indian sweat shop inside of raleigh north carolina you know they're sewing back there
and yeah they never leave the house but yeah people would do that though yeah you know they
would bring it overseas and then because you know if you got a bag of boxes full of well
Those coming over without the labels, perfectly legal.
Correct.
Right?
So then they get here and then he irons them on.
Yeah, it's a loophole.
I don't know if it's ironing.
I don't know how they do it.
Well, it's imported, actually.
They probably sold them on, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, the authentic ones were the Great Warker ones.
I think they're fine.
Same thing.
Same factory.
No, I mean, sometimes it was.
Sometimes it wasn't.
But, yeah, we ended up beating that.
And I was super spook still.
So you didn't go back to the, to the ending?
guy and say start shipping them again yes and no right okay so as a 19 20 year old in college
I was like I'm I'm working as I mentioned earlier I'm working like every job you know I can go in to
so many jobs I've worked right while attending classes and running this mini empire however you
want to cook it right right this operation and you know we're banned again
uh my paypal's banned again everything so what i would do is i still had stuff at shons right
product because uh you know what are we going to do he's not going to hop right back on ebay
and sell it and then get another letter right so i wait like six months probably probably around
like six months and again I'm living I'm about 20 maybe 21 and I have samples that I would hold
in my dorm room or on campus housing at that time as a sophomore and Sean had a shitload
of products still at his house so I'm thinking we're going to get rated but it never happened
I'm waiting for the call from Sean the next one right like what the fuck man like
Like, they just kicked down my door, you know?
My sister's room was getting graded, you know?
Like when they did the bus on my parents' house, you know?
But that never happened.
And so what I did was I found people that friends of mine that I could trust not to run off with my money,
but I drove back down to Miami, picked up a good amount of polos, you know, the strike ones that were popular for.
from Kanye and Farrell.
Right.
It was like a blue stripe and white,
the ones I had custom done prototypes with my biggest supplier.
And, you know, I picked them on, brought them back to campus.
And six hours drive north, right back, loaded my little car up.
And I brought them.
And I was trying to sell them on campus.
I put little, you know, when you see like Lost Dog,
take a I made those with like photos of them put it by the mailboxes in the dorms everybody laughed
at me all right everybody was like but I'm making serious money though and you guys don't know that
you know but nobody bit I wait a little bit right and I'm finding people to make ebb accounts for me
right but I'm like I can't have it on my computer that I've logged in on eBay before because
the IP addresses right so I'm like we got to do this on your computer it's perfectly illegal
bro. Perfectly legal. I'll give you 50%. And in the money, you know, I'm, I'm fronting it once again, right?
So I did that with, I did that with one friend. And we made good money. I mean, I started small again.
He gets out of prison next week. No.
He got out of prison a couple years ago. Not for this. He did seven years because he robbed in Houston.
in and we should have them on here.
But he,
shout out Dougie Fresh.
He actually robbed a drug pharmacy,
like the distributor center.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, where they're like wholesale?
Yeah.
They're the ones that they get the stuff
and they distribute it to like all the Walgreens or whatever.
He found the biggest one and then ran in there,
guns drawn and caught a really big charge over that.
and then did uh actually that was another friend he was supposed to do i think seven but he served
like four first timer okay um you know programs while he was in stuff like that okay yeah now so
you had him set up the account i had him set up the account on his computer right yeah you know
it's like i just want to oversee it just want to watch you fresh i want to see while you do it teach you
how to write it out you know and uh you know change the descriptions
You know, you're typing style or mine that I'm providing him.
So, anyway, what happens is banned.
Like, we would sell, like, I started small again.
I would sell, like, 10 of those that cost striped polos, again, that Kanye and Farrell are
wearing on tour right now.
So they're popping.
They're very popular.
So I'm like, I can squeeze the juice out of this still.
There's still money there, you know?
So I have Doug doing that on his account.
I saw like 10 polos, you know, it's good money.
I mean, it's, it's nothing.
But I'm saying it's good profit still, you know, two years later after the, us getting roped.
And, you know, then he gets banned after our like third sale.
Really?
And I'm like, all right, all right, go to your PayPal real quick, you know?
And let's go ahead and just put that 50-50 real quick.
Take it.
PayPal account is frozen
Because of me
Because of my involvement
So having said that
Then I say to another friend
I'm like hey listen
I got a great opportunity
Free money for you
So I'm just going through my Rolodex
Right
And I had a lot of friends
Like I mentioned earlier in college
Like all groups
So I'm reaching out to everybody like
You want to make some free money
Just got to set an eBay account up
Let me get on your computer
And write it up
And it's literally free money because I'm, I'm fronning the product and paying for it.
Until the government, I mean, until eBay takes to that person out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they did.
Right.
So they took my other, my other boy out.
Yeah.
And you're running out of friends.
No.
I had a lot.
Yeah.
Not for long.
Well, no.
They got over it.
All right.
I made it right.
I took care of him.
But, you know, so then I had another friend.
I tried this with.
And I waited like six months this time.
Right.
Same shit happens again.
I'm like, all right.
You know, I'm, I'm just not poised for success in this game anymore.
Right.
You know, I beat the case, you know, and all of that.
But yeah, no, it was that pro bono lawyer that really helped you out.
That really did that.
Yeah.
And I mean, there's just so much that I could talk about, like within these years that
Yeah, no, I mean, I just think I was always money motivated and it taught me how to run my own business.
Right.
Because I was a business major, me and my best friend.
And he was doing his own hustles.
And we were in business class together and we lived together for years.
Like my brother, rest in peace, he's not with us anymore.
but I'm you know what am I learning in business school everything I'm doing in my mind sure
I was going to say I'm pretty sure there's an ethics issue here as far as business is a concern
but I hear you not in my opinion no no I'm sure at least not in 18 years old 17 16 15 14
up to 23 yeah La Coss feels differently I'm sure but yeah yeah absolutely they do yeah
but um no we we really that's that's how we got out of it and that's why you equated to that scenario
with breaking bad yeah because like we cooperated but we didn't yeah you know what i mean like
and plus i felt like and i think you could um empathize that even if i were to cooperate
i'm still going to get in some fashion yeah you know what i mean right like i don't trust these people
like yeah no they don't i don't care about me i'm a first time offender at 18 19
19, you know, threading me with all this shit, you know.
So I was like, even if I did cooperate, I bet I'll still do like, you know, a year in the feds and, you know, drain my bank accounts like they did right after.
I had like six to eight bank accounts, man.
And then the money orders and all the cash I'll move around.
Like, it was, it really was beautiful.
But I learned so much, though, going back to the business class thing.
You know what I mean?
and my best friend said that.
We left and we walked out and I was doing my thing with what we're saying.
He was doing something else.
And we were both like, man, like this is, this is boring.
This is boring.
We're trying to make money.
We are making money.
So I persevered after about like the fourth, maybe fifth, maybe six person I got banned on eBay.
Right.
Not including like growing up though.
Like where I would like be on a friend's computer.
one of my best friends family
I got banned twice
Right
On their AOL account
How many band accounts
Do you think you have?
Collectively
Including the ones
That were used
In other people's credentials
Completely
Yes
It's a good question
Never thought about it
Say like
We have like five
Five to seven
No no
Five to six people
That in this scenario
If we're going sequentially
Here
Then before that
we had like three
three or four cons
that we made Sean
right um you know separate times
you know um
then you had me
my mom's I got my sister band one time
I got my other friends family band
um from eBay and Aewa
because I was using the stolen
you know the L case
you know stuff
um
yeah probably I don't know
15 right
And I mean, I am pretty sure that, well, I'm scared.
Like, nowadays, what you can do and a lot of friends give me shit for this is because
like I'm really into into shoes, clothing my whole life, right?
But, you know, to get like rare shoes or whatever, they're often on eBay.
But you can sign in now as a guest.
You used to have to have a name.
But now you can sign in as a guest and buy that item.
I'm scared to do that even
Right
You know what I mean
Like because what happens
If I buy that
They see Daniel Smith
You know my government
Somewhere somehow
My all my bank accounts
Are going to be drained again
To the negative negatives
Like
It was bad man
Like
So I still to this day
I won't even do that
I won't touch PayPal
Never again
Um
And PayPal
And PayPal owns other things now too
I forget what
What they
The newer ones
are but you know money remains right you know programs and and uh applications and yeah but i'm
scared to use anything associated with that and no i remember after college right when i went
home um with all these shut off ebay accounts and stuff right i interview with a because i get
my degree um i do a lot of stuff in between that that was very similar to this but we'll talk
about that next time I come on.
Okay.
And, yeah, e-commerce company, they are a Super Bowl sponsor.
I think the last Super Bowl, so they're big.
Right.
But when I graduated in 2010 with my bachelors, they brought me in for an interview.
And what did I have on my resume?
eBay.
Right.
98 to 08, right, with all the things I did.
But, you know, in a legit.
It sounded more legit.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
And it was.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, but, yeah.
Was it, though?
Sometimes, yeah, sometimes not, you know?
Here it was, here was.
Here a little bit.
But no, and I did an interview with them, right?
And I thought this would be noteworthy.
Right.
Because I did an interview.
I beat the cases and all that.
I got rid of the majority of that product that I had left.
you know after getting everybody banned
but uh
I drive back to Miami and I moved back
um and that's where
they see my resume with eBay on it
and I had shown it to my
older sisters and family friends
that know my story and they're like
what the fuck are you doing with eBay on your resume Danny
like that's ridiculous
like take that off and I was like
nah no no no no it's gonna be good you know
yeah I've never had a real
corporate job you know what I mean right so I'm like no I'll keep it on it's good so I
actually get an interview and e-commerce company like I said they kill it like they've grown
like exponentially don't you get a job no and I'll tell you why okay so they said to me and said
hey listen tell me about your experience you're a recent graduate we're looking for that
this was in 2010 so we're still in a recession right and jobs are very bleak and
And especially in Florida, because I was looking everywhere.
But this was in a different location that they grew out of because they grew so tremendously to another location.
And now they're in like their fourth.
I mean, they rhyme with, I can, I can put it in.
I'll leave it alone.
So to answer the question, no, they said, okay, tell us about what you did.
I told them.
And they're very intrigued.
I told them about my leadership, you know, my, uh, my, uh,
cultivation of uh or culmination of all these uh products that i've sold you and i paint a good story
right i'm a talker so i do well and then they go one one last thing one last thing though so remember
the l cases and i cases yeah lower case one of my first names ever i'm 11 right preface was a lack of
effort.
So they said, what was your eBay name?
Lack of effort.
Right.
And so what eBay does, I've learned over the years, is that they'll delete, like, you
know, if you're inactive for X amount of time, let's say six months or a year.
It just won't show anything.
But I still had a trail, you know, from when I was doing that on that name.
Right.
So they, they look it up.
And it says that you're not on eBay.
I'm like, well, did you try I, capital I, ACK, O-F, E-F-F-O-R-T?
Because I picked that name knowing I could I-case it?
Right.
You know what I mean?
To, like, trick the next person if I got banned, my brand recognition would still be there.
You know what I mean?
Okay.
Because it appears like it's the same username, but it's not.
So I'm like, oh, maybe I misspelled it, you know?
Try IACK instead of.
the LACK for lack of effort and they say all right well some of the effect of you know we don't see
anything on that name either we see some sales but you know we see a lot of negative comments and
things like that and I tried to explain that what I mentioned earlier you know marketing studies
show that 70% of people that are going to post a review is going to be negative and they
more than a fan of that approach
And it was for $10 an hour
Right
With a degree required in the field
And I'm over here
This star in my opinion
Right
You know what I mean
I went through all that stuff
I did some shady stuff
Yeah
Did I heard anybody know
I took care of a lot of people
In that time
Yeah and I think I always did the right thing
Then after that I dove into the workforce
I just climbed up doing different things
And yeah, you know, I started to say this earlier that a lot of people have told me, you know, that I should always read a book or a movie or something.
I mean, you did word dogs or some, you have a connection.
Right.
There's connect.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I play basketball to this day at Ennis Park.
Uh-huh.
Do you remember the movie where they go to buy the weed?
Yeah.
So that's literally like they're sitting on a table, a wooden table.
Yeah.
When they go down and they get served the bud.
So I play basketball at that park.
okay like to this day I grew up playing there nice so that's entertaining on the note of
of word ox right um but yeah going back to it though I mean um that I think that would be really
cool to get a story well you should then write a book something I'm gonna I've been considering
for a long time well that's great you can do that till you die you know why you start you know
if you you write a page a day you're done in a few months hey you guys I appreciate you uh
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Thank you so much. See you.