If you love to shop at thrift stores to find bargains, can adapt to new technologies, and enjoy chatting with customers on social media, becoming an online reseller might be a great work from home career option for you.
And like so many things in life, how much success you have embarking on a new career path as an online reseller, or even building a very lucrative side hustle in that career field category, often depends on a number of factors that can work together in your favor.
The amount of time and money you have to devote to sourcing materials to resell, how well you know your buying audience, your ability to market yourself (and your merchandise), and your willingness to provide excellent customer service all play a role in how much cash you can consistently earn each month.
One young woman recently told Good Morning America (GMA) she was able to pay off $80,000 in student loan debt in about three years by reselling items she purchased at thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, and flea markets while also working in a hospital administration role. Kelsey Mikula, 28, also shares her story with her Facebook (and other social media) followers, regularly uploading day-in-the-life videos of how she was able to leave that job last year and now resells thrifted items full-time, pulling in about $12,000 (or more) a month, according to GMA.
Mikula started her reselling journey years ago, first offering up her old clothes as a teenager. Eventually, she began creating short videos of her thrift shopping hauls, which helped her gain more customers and build a larger audience. She now has 147,000 Facebook followers alone.
If you are ready to make extra money reselling items online or to launch a full-fledged resale business, consider these tips from Mikula and other online entrepreneurs to take your sales (and career goals) to the next level.
1. Find Something You Are Passionate About
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s hard to sell something day in and day out that you couldn’t care less about. So do some research before you jump in. Check out Google Trends to see what people are interested in and what types of products sell best. You can also check in with your local chamber of commerce. They often offer free mentoring programs to help entrepreneurs refine their business model and identify a niche that has the potential to be profitable. Joining your local chamber of commerce is also a great way to let others in your area know about your new business.
2. Sell Across Multiple Platforms and Social Media Channels
After you have decided on what you will be selling, such as women’s apparel, jewelry, electronics, books, or vintage clothing, it’s essential to diversify where you will offer your items for sale. Many resellers find success with online platforms, including eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari, which already have built-in audiences. Mikula, who uses the name Mellowstate for her online business, sells on all of those platforms and has also branched out to become a seller on Whatnot, where she holds live shows where people bid on items in real time. Different platforms may be better or worse for different types of products, so do some research to determine the best platform for you.
3. Don’t Ignore Facebook Marketplace
Launched in 2016, Facebook Marketplace is an online platform that allows Facebook users to buy and sell items directly through the social network. And while it may not get as much attention as Amazon or eBay, the truth is Facebook Marketplace registered more than one billion monthly active users in the first quarter of 2021, according to Statista.com. Those numbers have remained steady, making Facebook Marketplace a site where millions of items are bought and sold month after month. In most cases, Facebook Marketplace doesn’t charge a fee, which likely keeps it attractive to people looking for deals on everything from gently used couches to designer dresses to second-hand SUVs.
If you are looking to sell online and could benefit from a huge daily customer base, it’s hard to ignore these numbers: On average, up to 1.2 billion online shoppers buy something on Facebook Marketplace each month, according to data from Capital One Shopping. That’s billion with a B. And, an estimated 491 million Facebook users log in exclusively to shop on Facebook Marketplace, research shows.
4. Use Automation Tools
Just like millions of people use automation to pay their personal bills each month, it can be smart to invest in some automation technology when setting up a new company. For online resellers, using a service such as Nifty can save you dozens of hours every week that you may spend tracking inventory, removing items you have sold across multiple platforms, and more.
Other systems, including Shopify, offer free trials, so you can find the software solution that best meets your needs. Some resellers have raved about the delisting feature found on Nifty, saying it can be a serious game changer. When an item sells, Nifty will remove the item from other platform listings and also includes analytics and employs automation tools for eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark, notes Mikula. There’s also an inventory management dashboard so you can keep tabs on what’s selling and what’s been hanging around for a while.
5. Look up Comparable Items and Sell Through Rates Before Buying
One of the ways you can decide whether or not to buy an item to sell is by looking it up on eBay to see how it has been selling for other online vendors. One word of caution, though: Just because something sells well for someone else, such as a Ralph Lauren Polo blazer, doesn’t necessarily mean you will have the same results with your preppy pieces. Knowledge is power, though, and seeing how an item is performing can help you make a more informed decision when you are in the heat of the moment at an estate sale where you won’t be able to return the item.
6. Keep up With Policy Updates Across Selling Platforms
Companies have been known to change their policies in short order, which can sometimes have a sharp impact on your profit margin. The way resellers make money, of course, is by buying something for a low price and then selling it for a higher price. So, when resell platforms increase fees or change shipping prices, those updates can impact your bottom line. The thing is, the online marketplaces also have to make money to stay in business, and most of them do that by charging sellers fees or service charges to use their platform.
7. Don’t Forget About Marketing Your Online Business
One way an online reseller can stand out is by employing a sound marketing strategy to let potential buyers know they are out there with products to sell. That can mean making daily posts on social media platforms – hello Instagram – about some of your best items, creating compelling how-to videos to show others how you run your business, or even paying to place some of your merchandise in front of buyers who may be searching for similar items through online ads.
Pro tip: This is not a one-time venture. Successful resellers continually work on marketing and advertising initiatives to stay relevant and in front of customers.
8. Prioritize Shipping Your Sold Items
One thing that drags some resellers down is the not-so-glamorous side of the business, where you have to actually pack up and ship out what you sold. Successful resellers understand that following through on every sale by shipping their items out quickly is a wise move. In this world of overnight shipping, many people have lost patience with more traditional shipping times and want everything yesterday. To maintain good reviews, it’s essential to get things out as soon as you can every single day.
9. Get a Resale License
The folks at Indeed say this is a step that should not be left out when becoming a reseller. Why is that? There are a few reasons. First, a resale license grants permission from the state in which you reside to sell items without paying sales tax on those items. The person who purchases the merchandise will pay sales tax to you, and then you pass it along to your home state. Fortunately, some online marketplaces will do this for you as long as you sign up for an account.
There’s another great reason to register your reselling business with a resale license. It’s so you can gain access to companies that sell in bulk. Some clothing and home goods retailers will actually sell returned or unsold items to resellers. If you have a license, notes Indeed, you will have a better chance of gaining access to those wholesalers and distributors as a source for your business.
10. Follow Other Online Resellers on Social Media
There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to selling items through online stores and marketplaces. That’s why it’s important to build or join a community of like-minded sellers who share their tips and tricks for turning a profit. Those people will often be the first to notice important changes you need to know about. And when you get wind of something that can help others in the community, it’s often a good business practice to share those details with your fellow sellers, especially if they don’t happen to be your direct competition.
How to Earn Six Figures as an Online Reseller: Conclusion
If you decide to try your hand at reselling items online, remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. That means you will need to practice patience in the early days. It’s normal to want to start selling items on the very first day you list them. And sometimes, that might actually happen. Unfortunately, it can take a little time for people to find you, decide they trust you enough to buy something, and then actually make the purchase. Some keys to creating a profitable business as an online reseller who can pull in six figures, though, are doing your research, offering competitive prices, and providing excellent customer service.
