“Thank you, I really appreciate that. Maybe I should have mentioned this before you hung up, but I was also interested in some coke and molly. The last time you were here, you said that you could get me molly for fifteen dollars a gram. Can I get one-hundred grams of that, and fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of coke too?”
I had debated with myself on whether or not I should obtain coke and molly. My steroid business was beginning to do well, but I couldn’t help but feel that could end at any moment. I needed to leverage my assets now, while the opportunity was here, and generate multiple streams of revenue. I was beginning to make money, and I would not slip back into poverty because I failed to seize some opportunities as they arose. Gene coming in to town, with his incredible connections, was a massive opportunity to run this city’s black market and make a lot of money.
“Fifteen dollars a gram?!”, exclaimed Gene. “When did I say that? I can’t sell it for that, I would hardly make anything from it!”
“You reiterated that last time you were here, more than once!”, I retorted. “I have been making a game plan, and can only make it work with that price. I have a couple guys who can sell a lot of molly, but if the price is too high, then no one will buy it. You have to look at this in the long term, you may not make as much on this sale right now, but, with the right price, I may be able to move of a lot of it, and it will generate massive revenue in the future.”
Gene thought for a few moments, then replied:
“If I send a package here, can you drop it off to someone for me?”
“Yes.”
This could have potentially been dangerous. I didn’t know what kind, or what quantity of drugs that Gene was going to send to my house, which would put me at risk for a very long prison sentence. Yet, I said yes almost instantly. This is the D.O.S.E. response, and it unequivocally proves that people who create a great deal of value for themselves generate an immense amount of respect and admiration that actualizes a coercive power over others. I wanted to be that. I wanted to be so valuable to others that they would show me deference and unwaveringly follow my lead.
Gene still held a pensive look, “I pay nine to twelve dollars a gram for that. I can’t sell it to you for fifteen and only make three hundred dollars for a hundred grams. If you do me a favor by letting me send you a couple packages, and drop them off where I need them to go, I will sell it to you for seventeen a gram. I have never sold to anyone for that low of a price, and don’t tell anyone.”
“Ok, I will take it. Can I get you the money after I receive the product?”
Gene nodded, then got on his phone and started texting. He indicated that my Anavar would come in one package, the coke and molly would come in another, then a third package would be received and he would let me know to whom I should bequeath that. When he was finished, he looked up with a smile on his face:
“Do you see how I run this operation?”
I thought, and answered :
“It appears that you pull the strings to make things happen, not unlike a puppet master.” Gene’s smile widened from ear to ear as he bobbed his head in affirmation. It was awe inspiring.
A few minutes later, Gene’s phone rang. He answered the phone and began speaking down to someone. He had the stern tone of a superior who was berating an employee for a poor work performance. I heard him reiterate to the caller that Gene had fronted the caller two eight balls of coke, and until he paid that off, he wasn’t getting any more. He told the caller that he had to learn to sell it instead of doing it all. I had run in to the same problems in the past. I had people run up debts and never be able to pay, and it broke me on more than one occasion. Consequently, I made a vow never to front anyone anymore, even if I thought they could sell a substantial quantity of the product.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, and I don’t mean to pry, but how do you handle that situation? If he doesn’t pay, are you going to fuck him up to send a message?”, I asked after Gene hung up.
“No!”, Gene said with a snicker. “That quarter ounce I gave him only cost me a hundred and fifty dollars. I will front almost anyone a little bit of product. If they don’t pay, so what? It didn’t cost me too much, and I don’t give them any more. Believe me, they need me more than I need them. If that guy becomes a good salesman, he can make me thousands a week without me having to do a thing.”
Holy shit! I had been looking at this all wrong. There is premise in behavioral psychology called loss aversion. Loss aversion is a cognitive bias that describes why, for individuals, the pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining. The loss felt from money, or any other valuable object, can feel worse than gaining that same amount. Loss aversion refers to an individual’s tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains. Simply put, a person would rather not lose twenty dollars, than to make twenty dollars. I came from the school of thought that people who didn’t pay needed to suffer consequences. I had seen nonpayment as a loss of money and a sign of disrespect, instead of looking at it as an investment. Now that I thought about it, I fronted to several people who paid me back repeatedly, and I had made quite a bit of money from them. Had I never fronted, I never would have made that money. It was really no different than throwing your money at marketing. Not everyone buys your product, but the ones that do are the ones that make you money. You have to put your product in front of as many people as possible in order to maximize your return.
I did not tell Gene that I was a source on iSteroids, nor did I intend to tell him. He knew I sold steroids, but I don’t think he was aware of just how much my business was growing, or that by mimicking his business strategy, I was obtaining success. Once again, I was learning considerably from Gene. I respected Gene. I admired Gene. Observing him gave me the impetus to emulate his business model, his acumen, and his success.
Gene and Christy left a few hours later. After further contemplation, Christy had been acting like she had a boyfriend, and she was acting strangely when she came to my house with Gene. It occurred to me that her new boyfriend was Gene. In ordinary circumstances, this would have bothered me, and I certainly would not want to befriend, or talk to Christy’s new boyfriend. But in the circumstances where Gene had created so much value for me, I found it difficult to be angry with him. As Gene had indicated, I need him way more than he needed me. This is the benefit of creating an immense amount of value for yourself. The D.O.S.E. response dissuades people from having feelings of enmity, anger, or dissension. When you are valuable to countless people, nobody shows you disproval or discontent, and if they do, then they can fuck off and go back to their rudimentary, banal lives steeped in mediocrity.
NEXT >> Episode 16 (Buying a Dodge Charger)
Memoirs of a Steroid Kingpin (Table of Contents)
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Ryan’s Root’s real-life autobiographical story is a must-read account of his rise and fall as one of the largest anabolic steroid dealers on the Internet.
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