Start at Home
When you’re just starting out, it can be helpful and cost effective to source your own house first before going out and stocking up on inventory. Finding good quality items you no longer have a need for will help you get started at practically no cost.
Stay Organized
Set up a dedicated area for your inventory to easily locate items you list. If you’re just starting, it can be a shelf, a closet, or a bin. Having a dedicated space, and a way to organize and store your items that makes sense to you will save you time and frustration in the long run. Learn more about avoiding inventory overwhelm.
List Regularly
List at least 5 new items each day. Reselling online can be pretty fast-paced. The easiest way to get noticed is to be consistent in your listings. Many marketplaces tend to reward uses that are most active. Some marketplaces will show buyers when you were “last active”. If you list a few things and disappear for 3 months, the platform has little incentive to prioritize your listings in their search results. They will feature other users that are more active and responsive.
Start Small
There are plenty of platforms out there to sell your wares. Pick one and focus on getting your presence and listings up and running there first. After learning the ins and outs of that platform, slowly expand onto others. Use cross-posting tools to make that process easier.
Money-Saving Equipment
Invest in a good postal scale so you can properly weight items and ship from home. You will save a lot of money with discounted online shipping rates (as well as time) when you print your own postage. Some online marketplaces, such as Mercari and Poshmark, will make this step easier by creating labels for you. However, you still need to know how much your item weighs to get the proper label, as prices will fluctuate based on weight.
Re-Use / Recycle
Reuse your boxes and shipping supplies from your own online orders to save money on shipping costs. If you feel comfortable, ask your family and friends to set aside their used boxes for you as well. You can also usually get free boxes from local grocery stores. Learn more about how to save on shipping costs.
Take it Seriously
Treat your new reselling venture as seriously as a part-time job or any other new venture. While it may be frustrating at times, hard work, good wares, good customer service, and consistency will pay off in reselling. There are countless stories of people that were just about to give up when suddenly their sales started to pick up. Learn more about staying motivated.
Ask Questions
Don’t make the same mistakes others have already made and have learned from! If you don’t know, ask. Ask questions here or on other online forums before potentially making a costly mistake.
What other tips would you add to this list? Drop a comment below and let us know!
