In this engaging conversation, John Rush sits down with Greg Berry, the mastermind behind Municibid, to explore the dynamic world of online auctions. Greg explains the transformative impact of taking municipal auctions online, making it accessible to the general public while ensuring competitive market prices. Listen in to learn how Municibid is breaking barriers in the auction industry, providing a hassle-free way for individuals to find, bid, and buy items previously limited to an inner circle. Whether you’re a public sector employee or a private buyer, this episode will illuminate new opportunities in the world of auctions.
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SPEAKER 07 :
And we are back. Second hour, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Thanks for joining us. Greg Berry joining us now. Greg, welcome. How are you?
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m doing great, John. How are you?
SPEAKER 07 :
I am very good. So you are the CEO and founder of Municibid. Talk about that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, thank you. We’re an online auction platform that state and local governments across the United States use to auction no longer needed items to the public. So it’s open to the public. Anyone can buy.
SPEAKER 07 :
So this isn’t just, you know, you don’t have to be a, you know, licensed reseller or a contractor or something along those lines. Anybody at all that’s looking and see something can participate. That’s correct. OK, because typically and for a lot of you listening and Greg, I’m sure you know this. I’ve been to a lot of, you know, local type municipal auctions and so on. And typically, you know, you’ve got to be, you know, somebody that’s got some sort of standing or, you know, quote unquote, a reason to be there. And and not that, you know, not that it’s that difficult to get in, but it’s not as easy as what you’re making this to be, is my point.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, exactly. It’s the reason I started Municibid. I was on a local town council, and I saw how we were having trouble selling an old police car for a true market value. So we would sell old police cars for $300 when the Blue Book value was $3,000. and um you know and then a couple agenda items later we’re arguing over a thousand bucks and i’m like well we just gave away three grand right and i noticed a lot of other good points we’re having the same the same problem and yeah it was because the processes that they use uh they used to use or you know just kind of out of date not very convenient for uh for the public uh intimidating you have to go down the town hall fill out a bunch of paperwork you have to go out to a drive somewhere for a live auction. And so, yeah, we just made it super easy and very convenient to be able to find the stuff the governments are selling, for one, and then make it very easy to bid and buy the items.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, so I’m online right now. I’m looking at what you’ve got. listed. I just happened to jump into because I’m in that area. I’m in the landscaping end of things. So I jump over to landscaping stuff. You’ve got all sorts of different things from, you know, steel chainsaws to some Makita push mowers and so on. So if I were to buy one of these, is it self-explanatory as to how all that works?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we make it extremely simple and, you know, walk you through the process once you’re interested and ready to go.
SPEAKER 07 :
And for everybody listening, it still is, Greg, an auction whereby, you know, you’re bidding against others that may be interested in the same item. So you have to be kind of aware of what you’re doing there, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s correct. So and all that information is very clearly available and visible. And we are also very transparent. You can go on, you can see what things sold for, you know, obviously see what the current bids are. And yeah, so it’s all available right there. We make it extremely easy to be able to view and to bid.
SPEAKER 07 :
How does the and or does the sales tax end of things come into play? Or is that, you know, is that location dependent? Maybe it’s for me the way for, you know, the best way for me to ask that I should say.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it’s typically location dependent or item specific dependent. So, for example, with a vehicle, typically the tax is not charged at the time of sale. It’s charged at the transfer. So, yeah, it really just kind of depends on the type of the item and or the government that’s selling it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Shipping and all of that, is that something you guys help with or is that something that I as a buyer have to arrange on my own?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it’s pretty much the buyer’s responsibility to pick up the items, and it’s pretty much pick-up only. There are some cases where if the items are smaller and the government is willing to, they’ll ship items, but pretty much everything is the responsibility of the buyer to pick up. Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
So in other words, those of you that are maybe looking at this, kind of keep that in the back of your mind. And if you’re bidding on something that’s on the East Coast, for example, well, who do you have there that could assist you in some of this? And if you’ve got relatives or friends or somebody that would be willing to do so, well, then great, you’re golden. But that’s something to keep in mind, right, Greg?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and we’ll help in that scenario, and we do all the time. And it’s amazing how often cross-country bidding happens.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, I can imagine. Yeah, because, you know, we have, how should I say, it used to be, Greg, everybody sort of lived and grew up, and I’m unique. I still live in the area that I grew up in, which doesn’t happen much anymore. Most everybody, you know, sprouts wings. They go off. They go other places. So point being, because of that, you’ve now got family members in all different parts of the country. So to get some things handled along these lines because you have somebody else there that’s willing to help you on the other end isn’t as big of a deal as it used to be.
SPEAKER 04 :
Exactly. And we work as a liaison between the buyers and the selling agencies as well to make sure that everything happens smoothly.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. For those that are listening, because we get all different walks of life, Greg, that listen to me, a lot of other business owners, even folks that are in county, city governments and so on. I know they work there because I get messages from them and so on. And so I know there’s some of those that are listening. How do they get in touch with you if there’s somebody out there that’s listening that would like to put something up for auction?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we make it very easy. So we have a bunch of different ways. So the website is munisabid.com. And on there, there’s a live chat. So that comes to an actual human. We have our phone number, email. However you feel comfortable getting in touch with us, we’re here and ready. to respond.
SPEAKER 07 :
So those of you out there listening where you think, hey, I’m a larger contractor and I’ve got a bunch of things I’d like to sell or I’m a municipal, you know, maybe you’re a buyer seller for one of the municipalities or you’re on council somewhere and you’re thinking, hey, you know, we might be able to do a lot better than what we’ve been doing in the past. Question I have for you along those lines, because I also know that on the typical auctions, this is where I think a lot of these towns, by the way, And I’m not against guys that do auctions. I want to make sure I’m very clear on that because I think a lot of the folks that are out there locally doing things, Greg, you know, they’re doing what they need to to make a living and so on. But a lot of the fees that get charged from the buying and selling aspect, I hate to say this, but there are days where the only way you’re making money at the end of the day is the guy running the auction.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So, you know, it really it depends. But in our case, it’s very clear. So the governments are it’s 100 percent free for them. They keep 100 percent of what they sell. So if something sells for ten thousand dollars, they keep the ten thousand dollars the way we earn money. revenue is we charge a buyer fee just to the winning buyer only and that’s it. There’s no extra fees or other charges or anything like that. And that fee, both the percent and the dollar amount is shown to you each time you place a bid and
SPEAKER 07 :
And the reason I say that, for a lot of you listening that are thinking of doing auctions or something along those lines, especially on the municipal side of things, Greg, it’s anywhere from 8% to 12% on the auction fee, typically even for that city or county that’s selling off said items.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, ours is 7% to 9%, no higher than 9%.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, so there you go. So, again, folks, great way for you to, A, for those of you listening that may be looking for some great deals on some items that you know a lot of these are going to be well-maintained and taken care of, that’s the first thing. And then for a lot of you that are listening that may be finding yourself in a position where, hey, I want to get some things auctioned off, I guess last question for me, Greg, is there a min-max on what they can auction off, or can it be one item?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so a government can list something as small as a desk or a chair or as big as acres of land, and literally we’ve had everything in between.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, so it doesn’t have to be a minimum of 100 items or something along those lines to be listed. They just call you and get things rolling. That’s correct. Okay. Greg, I appreciate this very much. I will keep passing this around. I’ll be watching it myself as well because I do a lot of these from time to time as a business owner as well. So, Greg, thank you again. I appreciate it very much.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, thank you so much, John.
SPEAKER 07 :
You bet. Have a great evening, sir. You too. All right. So it’s Municibid, M-U-N-I-C-I-B-I-D, municibid.com, for those of you listening. And as he said earlier, and I checked it all out before we had him on, it’s pretty straightforward. And for those of you that are listening that might even be in some of these areas where you have some influence upon how things actually – gets sold at the end of the day, there could be another option for you that might actually generate your city, town, school, whatever it happens to be. Keep in mind, a lot of you that are even on school boards and things like that where you’re looking at auctioning things off, charter schools and so on, this is another avenue for some of you out there to raise some money that you might not have otherwise been able to have done or maybe would be more beneficial for you to go this way because your overall fees are going to be less at the end of the day. Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning, by the way, they’re there to take care of all of your HVAC needs. Call them today. Find them at klzradio.com.
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Putting reason into your afternoon drive. This is John Rush.
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All right. And really quick, by the way, somebody called in even and asked for Dr. Scott’s phone number. Anytime you guys need that, you can always text or email or call Charlie. But Scott’s number, really quick, 303-663-6990. 303-663-6990. He hosted, by the way, filled in for me yesterday, which I appreciate greatly. And he is a guy, by the way, where even if you’ve just got a question medically speaking, a lot of things even that come in for Dr. Kelly outside of our program, I anymore am just referring people. Call Scott directly. Kelly can’t take those calls on a personal basis because of all the different things she’s involved in and has going on. But Scott can definitely take those phone calls. So any question you guys ever have, do not hesitate to call him. He is a super nice guy. Whether he’s your doctor or not, he will still spend some time and talk to you. And he’s just that kind of guy. So anyways, really quick, back to Municibid. Another great way for those of you listening to save some money maybe on buying something. Some of you that have even some hobby farms, businesses, things along those lines. Today, Word Password Day. I should say not word, world. So it’s World Password Day. In other words, reminding folks to evaluate your passwords. I do PSAs on this from time to time as well, because a lot of the ways that people end up getting… know scammed and or have their identity taken and so on is by not having good strong passwords i’m not going to get into details i’ve done literally almost complete shows along these lines or several segments dedicated to so i’m not going to spend that much time on this today but the weakest password of all of course is the word password or one two three four one two three four five six you get the drift don’t do that i’ve gone again i’ve done many shows on this in the past as to how you should handle uh getting the correct passwords or having the correct passwords remembering them and so on i’m not going to get into details on that there’s many a program out there nowadays That will help you with the generation of and the storage of passwords, meaning you only need to remember one master password to be able to then have on file all other passwords. In a lot of cases, it will even store those for you with those particular websites you may use and so on. So bottom line, be really careful. When it comes to the password end of things, we want everybody to be safe. We don’t want anybody to get scammed. And I hear horror story after horror story along these lines. And I’ve even had some family members almost luckily not get scammed, but almost due to things along these lines. So be very, very careful when it comes to those things. Something else that’s going on, I read yesterday, speaking of scams, that I wanted to go ahead and bring to everybody’s attention, is the scammers are now preying on people. That have previously been scammed. And the way they’re doing it is they will invite you to a quote unquote. chat room or a three party chat whereby they’re pretending one of the persons involved in the chat is an FBI person that will help you with the recovery of what you’ve lost, therefore even scamming you more than you were originally. But they’re preying on people that have already been scammed in that way. So be really careful when it comes to who you talk to online. Yes, like Charlie just said in my ear, they get you to repeat all of the same information once again that you’ve already been scammed with, therefore opening the door to be scammed again. Because all you’re going to do is give the FBI quote unquote person all of your, you know, unique information that you should not be giving out to anybody, anytime, anywhere. The other scam that’s also big and going around, and this affects a lot of individuals, especially those that start to get maybe a little bit older. is the cryptocurrency scams that are out there. There are so many people out there, and I get these sort of text messages and things on a routine basis where they want you to invest in this, and they want you to do that, and they’re going to help you make this, and they’re going to help you make that. It is all a scam. There are individuals out there that I can refer you to that if you decide you want to invest in anything along those lines, there are places you can go and do that in a very safe way and have somebody really help you legitimately along the way. And we even interview those folks here from time to time. One of those, of course, is David. He is the CEO of Sound Planning Group. He does a lot of crypto and things like that. So if that’s something that you really want to get involved in, we have ways to help you with that whereby you’re not going to get scammed. At the end of the day. All right. What did I learn from vacation? Charlie always asks, you know, what did I learn? And number one, and I say this all the time when I come back, because it’s one of the reasons why I go. I like to go and observe and watch people and what’s going on and what’s their spending habits like and so on. And I will tell you that despite what you’ll hear from the news media. People still spend money. And I will tell you that this is not to be critical, but you can typically not always, but you can typically see the quote unquote caliber of individual that you’re traveling around, you know, based upon lots of things. Actions, how they talk, what they’re wearing, on and on we go. Now, I get it. Some people that maybe have a lot of means will still travel in their pajamas, but not usually. Not usually. I’ll just tell you straight up. Most people traveling in their jammies. are not well to do. And I’m sorry, if you’re somebody that travels in your jammies and you do, and you do have means, okay, then you’re the anomaly. But typically speaking, what I have found is most people traveling in their jammies don’t have a lot of means. And yet I continue to see people on airplanes continually that just travel in jammies. And I get it. Some do. They want to be comfortable, whatever. But gone are the days of dressing up and being classy on an airplane. I complain about that constantly anytime I travel because it’s still the number one thing that I view. When I’m traveling is just how do people travel? What do they look like? How do they act? How do they behave? How respectful to one another are they? And the one thing that I continually just continually am down on when it comes to people in general is their route. They’re not nice in a lot of cases. They’re only out for themselves. Let’s just say that at the end of the day. But, you know, outside of that, what did I learn? There’s still a lot of people traveling. And when I go through the airports and granted, it was kind of the tail end of spring break, but literally the tail end. where a lot of the traveling should start to be dropping off. And typically the two slowest months of the year for travel and destinations and so on are May and September. Some of October as well, but typically May and after Labor Day. So before Memorial Day in May, after Labor Day in September. Those are typically the two downtimes of the year that if you want to travel anywhere and have a lot less people to deal with and have more room at the resorts and so on, that’s the time of the year to travel. But in my end of things… I there’s still a lot of people traveling, still a lot of people out there doing things, spending money at restaurants and so on, you know, still had to make reservations at a lot of places to get in. And at the end of the day, even in a downtime of the year, still people traveling and doing things. And again, in spite of all of the naysayers that are out there in the media, which I’m going to come back and talk about some of the, quote unquote, possible shortages from tariffs. And I you guys know me. I’m just not a naysayer on that end of things like a lot of people are. I read a lot of things that are out there on social media and so on. I do not watch any news, didn’t watch any while I was gone. In fact, I don’t think I watched hardly an ounce of TV while I was gone on vacation. I don’t know that I even turned the TV on if ever, and if I did, it had to have been for a very, very short amount of time, but I just don’t watch much TV anymore, and I definitely don’t watch much news. And that’s on purpose because most of them are complete knuckleheads reading from a script that has gone out to literally, you’ve seen the reports on this, literally almost every single public type news organization that’s out there has the same script. If it’s on any kind of a topic, tariffs, et cetera, they’re reading from basically the same script that’s out there. and the majority of stations are owned by probably one of three or four different companies nationwide, and that’s about it. Yeah, there’s a few little guys here and there that own some things, but most of it’s all underneath one conglomerate, and they’re being fed the information that they’re wanting to be read on air. So I didn’t watch much television or anything along those lines, but one of the things that I did see and did keep up on was some of the tariff talk, and I’ll talk about some of that here when we come back in a moment. But was there any big… You know, things that I learned from vacation, different things I saw. I will say, and my wife even said this, I will say on this particular trip, outside of a couple of different families, all in all, on this particular trip, kids were well-behaved. I was actually very surprised, and that came from airplane to the resorts and dinners and so on. I will say that this particular trip, and I don’t know why, I don’t know what the different makeup of individuals were, but the kids seem to be a lot more well-behaved on this particular trip than what I’ve seen before. in the past because most of the time they’re little monsters running around and mom and dad have no clue what they’re doing this particular time around it was not that way at all so that one that one probably was the biggest surprise for me this last time around was how well behaved a lot of the kids actually were and i was very shocked at that and just so you all know i don’t know if i’ve ever said this on air i’m even though most adults can be somewhat intimidated by me because my voice is loud and I don’t mince any words, and you all know me. You listen to me on a regular basis. Kids, on the other hand, it’s like the opposite. I can be anywhere, and some kid will be nearby, and I can have a conversation with some little kid just because they are not intimidated by me one bit. They will just start a conversation or bring me a toy or do whatever, and it’s the weirdest thing ever. But kids are not intimidated by me at all, and I’ve always had good – communication, I guess you could say, with even little kids. I mean, kids that are all the way down to where they’re just first starting to walk and so on. And again, this particular trip, the kids seem to be a lot more behaved than what I’ve seen in the past. And I don’t know why. I’ll just leave it at that. We’ll talk about possible, possible. I’m going to put air quotes around that. Possible shortages from tariffs. I’ll get into that here in a moment. Don’t go anywhere. Up next, Golden Eagle Financial. Speaking of finances and all of that. And the other thing I was going to say, too, is there’s a trend I’ll talk about as well when I come back. No buy 2025. 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SPEAKER 07 :
All right, there is a trend going on right now. It’s all over social media. No Buy 25. And it’s a trend that’s encouraging consumers. And by the way, this trend isn’t for people to just save money. This is a way to put another notch in the belt against Donald Trump. That’s what this is all about. This has nothing to do with helping people save money at the end of the day. Don’t be fooled. Now, we on this program talk all the time about making good decisions, good purchases, stay out of debt, on and on we go. And we will continue to do that. That’s not going to change. But would I ever encourage somebody not to buy in 25? No. That’s how you cripple an economy. That’s the idea. Quote, unquote. That’s what they’re trying to do with this particular movement, I guess you could say. Now, I will tell you, and my wife said the same thing on the trip we just took, No Buy 25 wasn’t working out too well for people. Because they were all spending money. Didn’t matter where they were, they were spending money. What you do when you travel, you spend money. So anyways, it’s a trend encouraging consumers to reduce or eliminate non-essential spending for a year. Well, isn’t it interesting? That’s the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, and that would have a huge impact upon the midterms next year in 2026. So again, folks, you have to read between the lines when you see these movements come out. And this isn’t Dave Ramsey. This isn’t something Dave Ramsey came up with. For those of you maybe that don’t know, Dave Ramsey, I think most everybody knows who he is, but he’s the financial guru that for a lot of people I think works very well, especially for folks that are somehow deep in debt and they don’t have too many means to help get out of debt. He’s got all sorts of ways where he helps people with things along those lines and so on. And yeah, in some cases he will tell you, stop spending money. But believe me, this is not from Dave Ramsey. This is and by the way, this isn’t what these individuals want this to be. This is not so people will be more financially independent when it’s all said and done. This is to put a hurt on Donald Trump and his presidency. That’s all this is about. So the goal is to save money. This is what they’re saying. The goal is to save money, reduce clutter and potentially address consumerism. Participants also focus on spending on necessities like groceries and utilities while cutting back on discretionary items like clothes, entertainment, and travel. So, folks, again, this isn’t what it seems. And I guarantee you, I would bet my life… That if you sat down with the organizers of said event and had the ability to speak candidly one-on-one, not with the press or anybody else around, what I’m telling you is exactly what they’re after. This has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with helping out individuals on a financial basis. This is being done strictly financially. to go against Donald Trump, his administration, and what’s happening along those lines. That’s all this is. So, number one, don’t buy into this. Number two, tell anybody you know what I just said, that this isn’t anything to do with people saving money. Now, like I said earlier, and as I opened with, I would always tell everybody, don’t buy things you don’t need. Now, if you’ve got nice disposable income and you’ve got the ability to buy something that you like, you know what? You guys know me. Knock your socks off. Go buy a new car. Great. Go for it. If you can afford it, go for it. I’ll never stop somebody from buying something that they can afford. I will tell people not to buy things they can’t afford. That’s just dumb. That’s being dumb with your money. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. And unfortunately, in the United States of America, we get caught up in that trap of buying things that you can’t afford. Everything from big screen TVs to houses to cars to boats to you name it. So, yeah, unless you can afford it, don’t buy it. But I’m also one and you know me. If you can afford it, go for it. Knock your socks off. You’ve earned it. Have at it. Go for it. You can’t take it with you. So you know what? Enjoy it while you can. Have fun. I’m also one that I believe, yes, you need to help others, different charitable organizations, churches, et cetera. You guys know what I mean by that. There needs to be a proper balance, but I would never tell somebody don’t spend money on something that you’d like as long as you have it. This movement is telling you that. Even if you have it, don’t spend it. And again, they’re doing that as a way to have a dig at Donald Trump when it’s all said and done. There is no other way around it. Trust me. I don’t care what anybody says, what they tell you, what you read on social media. This is by no means to help individuals out. That’s not what the left does. Keep in mind, they don’t help individuals. We’ve proven that on this program over and over and over again. They’re not out to help individuals. So this is by no means going to help individuals. That’s not the goal here. The goal is to how do we defeat Donald Trump? How do we gain seats in the midterms in 2026? This is what this movement is about. This isn’t about anything other than that. So, all right, tariffs, possible shortages. Now, you’re hearing a lot of talk on this. I watched several different videos on the airplane yesterday, even as I was traveling back and watching a few people and some quote-unquote experts, which I don’t really consider them to be experts. Oh, my word. The hype around potential empty shelves is ridiculous. I mean, these people out there that are pushing this nonsense are making it sound like this is going to be COVID 2.0. And it’s not going to be. It’s not going to be, folks. I’ve even heard people, we had one friend of a family member say, well, you better get stocked up on toilet paper. Toilet paper is made here. We don’t import that. There’s no tariffs on toilet paper. Or a lot of other products along those lines. A lot of the quote-unquote consumables, groceries and so on that we use on a daily basis, they’re not imported, folks. We have total control over those. And somebody’s going to call and say, well, yo, what about such and such? It comes from such and such. I’m not talking about the one-offs. There’s always going to be that one-off food item that we’re bringing in from somewhere. Yeah, I get that. By the way, China’s the biggest one that we’re going to talk about when it comes to tariffs because that’s the one that’s being talked about mostly in the news media and the fear porn that’s out there. They’re the ones that are really pushing this. We import very little food from China, if any. Very little. I mean, there’s some weird kind of odds and ends that we may get in from China, but it’s not much. I even looked it up today. I wanted to double-check myself because I knew this, but I really wanted to double-check myself to see what is the majority of things that we see coming from China that there could be shortages on. Low-cost footwear, apparel. Those two are givens. You know, cheap crap. Sorry, I’m just going to say it as it is. Cheap crap. Footwear, et cetera. Apparel, like I said. Toys, that’s a given as well. Electronics, but that’s also another given. Most of those are heavily concentrated in China. Now, did any of that say food? Or paper products? You know, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, you know, things along those lines. No, folks. None of that list included items that we ran short of in COVID. And by the way, the only reason we ran short in COVID is because people hoarded. Now, if they start hoarding, you could see some shortages along those same lines of paper towels and toilet paper and so on. But it’s not going to be because we’re getting that from China and there’s no tariffs. That’s not where that’s going to be coming from. Again, because we don’t import that. So we do get some perishable items from China. Believe it or not, apple juice and fish. Now, I will tell you that in most cases, apple juice, some, you know, get it and they feed it to their kids or do whatever. But do you have to have apple juice to survive? No, you do not. And do you have to have only fish from China? No. In fact, you’re better off not eating any of that imported fish but buying directly from some of the fisheries that are in places like Alaska and the sorts and actually buying directly from them, which you can, by the way. You can get right online and order directly from some of those fisheries. They’ll be fishing as we speak, gearing up for the season. If you want to do anything along those lines, my suggestion is get with a local fisherman from Alaska that will ship you product right down to your front doorstep that you take out, put in the freezer, and you’re good to go. You do that, you’ll have no issues with getting fish whatsoever. None. That could be halibut, salmon, etc., So could there be some shortages in those areas regarding tariffs in China? Yes, but no offense, you can do without apple juice and fish from China and we’ll be just fine. And probably better off in the end. All of the other items I just mentioned, footwear, apparel, toys, there’s other sources for that as well. There’s other countries, by the way, that make apparel and footwear and toys. The electronic thing is probably going to be the biggest, and that’s going to affect different industries. I’ve been telling everybody that I coach that has an automotive repair shop to be very careful in what you quote to your customer, making sure they understand that that price could change tomorrow. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that. It could change tomorrow. You know, that electronic item that’s needed for your car, it very well could go up in price tomorrow. Or there could be a shortage on it. Yes, those sorts of things there could be a shortage on. But by the way, those aren’t on a store shelf that you would normally shop at anyways. Those are coming through, you know, normal supply chains coming through, people that would be working on your vehicle and so on, Napa Auto Parts, those kind of things. Could there be some shortages there? I doubt there’ll be shortages. There’ll just be higher prices in some items. Now, at the same time, in your reading about this, a lot of these companies are doing their best to try and figure out how can we move some of this back home or to another country that wouldn’t have the amount of tariffs that China will have. The other thing, too, that there’s a huge misconception on is who’s paying the tariff? Not China, by the way. Not the Chinese companies. The importers of said item are paying the tariff. Now, remember, the tariff is only going to be charged at the cost of said item. It’s another misconception everybody’s got. They’re thinking, well, if a tennis shoe is $100 and there’s a 100% tariff on that, then that’s on the retail price. No, it’s not. It’s not. That’s on the cost of the product, not the retail selling price of the product. Something else, by the way, that news media out there is not telling you anything about what I just said. Part of it because they don’t know. Part of it is because they don’t want you to know. They don’t want you to think about it the way that I just said. So I’ll come back, talk a little bit more about that. Paul Leuenberger is up next. He is my insurance agent. Would love to help you with all of your insurance needs. He is a broker now. He will shop what’s best for you and help you save money at the same time. 303-662-0789.
SPEAKER 08 :
Looking for top-notch home, auto, classic car, and business insurance? Look no further than Paul Leuenberger. Paul is now an insurance broker with access to industry leaders like Hartford, Travelers, Safeco, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Allstate, AIG, Chubb, Pure, Berkeley, Grundy, and Hagerty. Paul has you covered. Paul is also proud to continue his work with American National for all non-property insurance needs as well. Paul Leuenberger now serves Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas, with more states on the way. Paul’s mission is simple, to connect you with the right coverage at the best value. Are you ready to protect what matters most? Call Paul Leuenberger today at 662-0789. That’s 662-0789.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, something you should look at and refer to on a routine basis to make sure things are updated, much like your finances, is, of course, your estate and your estate planning. I talk a lot about Al Smith from Golden Eagle, but your estate plan coincides with that as well. Talk to Michael today. He is a mobile estate planner. He’ll come to you. Find him at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
When it comes to your estate, you really don’t want to leave things up to luck. Michael Bailey doesn’t rely on chance. He relies on solid, thorough planning and getting to know you as you develop your plan together. That’s because a good estate plan isn’t about luck. It’s about wisdom, preparation, and making sure your family is protected no matter what. Think about it. When you pass on, will you leave your family to guess what to do with your possessions, investments, and other assets? Or would you want to make those instructions very clear so your family can know your final wishes in detail? That’s what an estate plan does. It’s not about luck. It’s about making sure what you want to happen is followed, your assets are protected, and your family isn’t left searching for answers. Rely on solid planning from Michael Bailey, not good luck charms. Find the mobile estate planner Michael Bailey on the klzradio.com advertisers page to make sure your last wishes are followed.
SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560. All right, going back to tariffs really quick when it comes to, again, a lot of the, it’s just fear. And folks, it is. I’ve had this conversation even with certain family members whereby I just tell them, turn off the TV. Quit reading the news. Quit reading Twitter even and some of those things that are out there. Because the reality is if you go about your day-to-day life, turning all of that off, Not knowing any of that’s even going on, will you notice any effect? Probably not. Probably not. You might even notice some things changing in price and might even be a lessening of depending upon what said product is. And remember, the whole idea of this is to make an even playing field. Across the board, when it’s all said and done, yes, I’ve heard all of the arguments for and against. I get emails and text messages from people, both sides of the aisle continually. And some hate them. Some love them. Some are in between. Some are more of the, well, I guess we’ll see how it pans out. And it’s everything in between. I’m one that will say something had to happen. We couldn’t keep going down the path that we’re going down. It’s sort of like Social Security. If we keep going down the same path, eventually it’s going to be insolvent. At some point, somebody’s going to have to buck up and make a change. Terrorists and this lack of free trade that was going on between other countries, China especially, has to have some adjustments made. Yes, it might be painful for a little bit, just like a family going through some sort of an adjustment financially. No one likes that. We’ve got to cut a vacation out. We can’t go do this. We can’t go to the movies. We’ve got to make some adjustments. Got to eat in a little more than we were once before. Everybody goes through those times at times. And it’s never fun. Because change, for the most part, no one likes. And it’s never fun. But I’m telling you, it has to happen. We don’t have any choice. And I’ve heard everybody from the trucking industry to folks in stores to you name it. And a lot of people are really upset with what’s going on. And I get it. You know, in your own little microcosm of your world, these things can have a huge impact on you. And I get that. And I’m sympathetic to that. Believe me. But on the same token, just because it’s hurting you. Doesn’t mean that overall it won’t be a help across the board. And I’m sorry to say it that way, but there’s times where, yes, some things are going to hurt and hurt different things differently. I get that. But at the end of the day, is it what’s needed as a country to get things on a more level playing field? It absolutely is. And remember, too, and I say this a lot, China’s not in as good a shape as everybody says. I’ve been saying that for years. Jordan Goodman and I were having arguments about China, you know, years ago. And as it’s turned out, I’ve been right. Not that Jordan’s been wrong, but I’ve been right on China. And they’re not the fear or, you know, they’re not the country to be, you know, to be fearful of. Like, I think a lot of people want us to be. They want us to be. Donald Trump’s not afraid of China at all, by the way. I’m not either. China has their own set of issues economically speaking. They are pumping. You know, billions upon billions of dollars into their economy right now. Huge amounts. In fact, I think I read the other day, I’ve got to double check this, but I think they pumped a trillion plus dollars into their economy recently. They just printed the money, pumped it in. They’re struggling. Their real estate’s struggling. They’re laying off workers because of what’s happening right now with these tariffs because as people cancel orders and they’re not ordering as much, there’s not the ability for those people to actually work. It’s a snowball effect. And frankly, we can outlast China. We can outlast China for a long time. That’s something China doesn’t, well, they’re going to understand. I think actually they understand it full well right now. They’re just playing tough. They want a safe face. They’ve got that Asian, you know, ideal to whereby, you know, they can never be wrong. And they’ve got a safe face and they can’t, they’ll never say they are. But they are. A lot of products get made in China. They have done very well at producing things on the cheap. Now, keep in mind, when you have basic slave labor, you can do things on the cheap. You can build things very inexpensively when there’s no labor involved, or very little cost, I should say. And in a lot of things that are made in China, that’s the way it is. There’s a lot of these factories whereby the workers are literally, you might as well call them slaves because that’s what they are. They work there because they have to. And it’s long hours and it’s hot and it’s sweaty and it’s conditions that the majority of people in this country would never sit through. Wouldn’t be allowed in this country, by the way. Our laws won’t allow it. It’s why we can’t do labor the way they do, because we have laws that protect workers from that. So it’s always interesting to talk to a liberal especially about all of this topic and then mention to them that, well, wouldn’t you rather have people working in America that aren’t in those types of conditions that are in some of these other countries, especially China, and then get the look on their face? Because they don’t think that way. No one’s ever told them that these things are like that or they’ve chosen to ignore that that fact is out there. But the reality is these products that are made in those types of countries, China included, they’re made exactly like I just said. The working conditions, no American would work under or few Americans would work under, I guess is what I should say. And again, as I will repeat, our laws wouldn’t allow that in the first place. You couldn’t have the conditions they have in a lot of countries like China here in the U.S. because our laws don’t allow it. So my point with all of this is, is are you going to see a lot of empty shelves? Like a lot of lefties, folks on the left are predicting. No, I don’t think you’re going to. Unless people get scared and there’s a run on products like toilet paper and paper towels, you’re not going to see any shortages. If there’s shortages, it’s not because of what we’ve done, China and tariffs. It’s because of the fear porn that has been put out by the news media. That’s the only reason you’re going to see shortages. Remember that if, in fact, they come. And I don’t know that they will, truthfully. Roof Savers of Colorado coming up next. All under one roof. They can take care of your commercial roof, your residential roof. Extend the life of your residential roof, by the way, and take care of all of your roofing needs. 303-710-6916.
SPEAKER 01 :
At Roof Savers Colorado, we are about more than roofs. We are about helping you make the best decisions with the right information. Being a homeowner isn’t getting any easier or cheaper, and neither is getting your roof the solution it needs. Deductibles are going through the roof, and with every passing year, insurance covers less than the one before. Due to a record amount of hailstorms recently, insurance companies have started limiting your coverage and pulling out of states entirely. We know the industry. With over 3,000 roofs under our belts and 23 years of experience, Dave Hart and his team are ready to complete a free roof inspection and discuss the option that is best for you. Don’t wait. Policy renewals are increasing by as much as 50%. Now is the time to get the solution you need. Call Roof Savers Colorado today at 303- 710-6916 or go to roofsaversco.com that’s 303-710-6916 or go to roofsaversco.com to schedule your free inspection and start saving your roof today this isn’t rage radio this is real relatable radio back to rush to reason
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, we have a, for you car guys, a Corvette expert coming on next. Douglas Ernst is going to join us, and we’re going to talk about tariffs in light of him and his business. And by the way, it’s been good for his business. So we’ll talk about that here in a moment when we come back. Hour 3 is next. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
Rich guy.
