Find MORE Inventory and INCREASE SALES! Grow Your Reselling Business on Poshmark, eBay, and Mercari
in today's video we're going to talk about three ways that you can grow your reselling business by expanding what you sell stay tuned [Music] oh hi everyone my name is Becky Park I'm a part-time reseller on a variety of reselling platforms and what I mean by part-time is that I actually have a full-time job I'm a high school choir teacher I'm also a mom of two little children who have lots of activities I'm married I'm involved in my church I do a lot of things so while I do take my reselling business very seriously and enjoy it a lot and put as much time as I can into it the truth is I don't have that much time to spend on my reselling business and so on this channel I like to share all of the hacks that I can from the perspective of someone who like I said just doesn't have that much time to invest in their business and so I like to share with you just the ways that you can maximize the little time that you're putting into your reselling business so that you can make as much money as possible so in today's video we are going to be talking about three ways to Branch out as far as what it is that you're selling to help you make more money as a reseller even if you're only doing it part-time like myself if this kind of content sounds interesting to you especially reselling content from the perspective of a part-time reseller definitely consider hitting that subscribe button because I do strive to put two videos up on YouTube every single week sometimes I'll fail sometimes I do a little bit more but in today's video like I said we're going to talk about three ways that I have personally tried expanding in terms of finding new items to sell online and just growing my reselling business by having more options as far as what it is that I'm selling so the first thing that we'll talk about is taking small risks when it comes to trying out new items and this is what I mean I think the key word to hone in on is small start small when you're taking risks and start small when you're trying new things because I think it's very easy for resellers to get overwhelmed by too much inventory especially inventory that they don't know very much about so one example of a time that I took a small risk and tried branching out as far as what it is that I saw online is at school we had a situation where we had to clean out this one room that was primarily used for storage and for storing things like music and whatnot and one of the things that we found while we were cleaning out the space was a box of old cassette tapes and I asked my boss like the music supervisor of our district has said what are we going to do with these tapes and he's like we're probably just going to throw them out they've just been sitting not being used because I don't even know if there is a cassette player or like a tape recorder anywhere in our building and we were just gonna throw them out so I said hey instead of throwing them out can I take them home and he said absolutely because they were going to be garbage there's probably like I don't know I didn't even count 10 to 20 cassette tapes in there and I know that these are things that I could sell on eBay and make a little bit of money off of so it's a great way for me to try something new the risk is very low because I got these things absolutely for free and it's just one box of them there's not too many of them and it's all one skew which means it's all one type of item so I can actually just do a multi-quantity listing and I don't have to sit there and do research on a ton of different kinds of items or a ton of different brands of cassette tapes it's literally just 10 to 20 of one specific type of cassette tape so it's a win I just have to do a little bit of research on something that I don't know anything about but once that research is done I can go ahead and list 10 to 20 items within one listing as a multi-quantity listing I'm learning something new I'm taking a small risk and by doing so I'm gonna make a little bit of money and figure out if this is something worth sourcing in the future if I come across it at a thrift store at a garage sale I'll know how much is worth spending on something like this because I will have you experience selling something like this I'll know how long I have to sit on it what kind of Interest these kinds of items get and all four like I said relatively zero risk because I didn't have to spend any money on these items they're just going to take up a little bit of space in my home take up a little bit of my time in terms of doing research but in the process I'm going to learn all about a new category of product or inventory for myself and make a little money doing it another example of when I took a small risk and tried something new was when I was having a garage sale at my house I think my neighbors took the opportunity to also just kind of put things out you know on their driveway that they didn't want and they just put a sign in front of all their stuff that said free they didn't want to go through the effort of actually running a garage sale but they knew that people would be coming you know to the area because of our garage sale and so they just put out a bunch of stuff that they wanted to get rid of they didn't want to have to just throw it in the garbage but they wanted it to go you know to a new home so of course my family and I wandered over there to see if there's anything that we wanted for ourselves and for myself I was actually looking to see if there was anything that I could resell so there were a few weights and you know exercise equipment that we brought home to use for personal use but there were also these really weird and interesting controller things that were clearly for some sort of video game console I have no idea what um they were very scary to me because I don't know very much about video games I have very little experience selling anything related to video game consoles I have sold a few video games in the past but it's really something that I don't enjoy doing the research for and as a result those kinds of things tend to sit for me but because it was just two controllers they were some sort of joystick thing and because they were both the same exact thing again I knew I just had to do a little bit of research and I could list them as a multi-quantity listing or even just list both of them as one listing because I was assuming maybe this was something that people would enjoy having two of and in doing so again I learned about something new I had little risk into this item because I didn't spend any money on it because it was something that my neighbors had put out for free but I learned about something new and made some money in the process if you keep your eye out for things that people are trying to get rid of for free or for very little money and you don't have to take home a whole bunch of said item at once I think that it's a really good way to learn about new kinds of inventory and see if there's something out there that you actually really enjoy selling what I would say away from are opportunities that will actually leave you feeling more overwhelmed than excited when it comes to listing so for example I've heard stories in the past from resellers who came into really great deals or opportunities they felt like you know maybe someone was getting rid of their entire CD or records collection for very cheap they were getting items for super cheap maybe like 10 cents an item but they were going home with boxes and boxes of CDs or boxes and boxes of records or other similar things I don't know I just keep coming after cities and records and even though the cost per item is relatively low they still have a decent amount into everything because they bought so many pieces and not only that they get everything home and they're just feeling so overwhelmed because it's not like they just have one skew and a ton of that SKU but if you're talking about records or CDs or books or you know uh Pokemon cards or something like that when you're bringing home a ton of this stuff and you don't know anything about it you actually might feel like you have to research each and every single one because one CD is going to have a different value than another one and there's a difference in how you price Things based on if something is sealed versus if it isn't and maybe you have to actually listen to the tracks on all of the CDs to make sure there aren't any skips I don't know I don't know anything about selling CDs I'm just like making stuff up at this point but you get what I'm saying when it comes to getting in over your head buying a huge amount of something because you're getting it for a good deal and because you want to learn about a new category in terms of selling something new online but in doing so you actually end up feeling overwhelmed so I do stress the word small when I say take small risks and you know try new things a little bit at a time to make sure that you enjoy it and if you realize man I really enjoy selling these weird video game consoles or I really enjoy selling blank cassette tapes or I really enjoy selling CDs and all of the research that goes into studying each individual CD that I get then knock yourself out look for people who are offloading their entire life collection of CDs but before you get to that point take small risks try new things in small batches and make sure that it's something that you enjoy the second way that I think you can grow your reselling business by expanding what it is that you sell is to Branch out slowly from what you already know so for example I myself like to sell clothing online I sell primarily used in new clothing if I can find it on on platforms like Poshmark eBay mercari kit isn't there's a lot of platforms that you can sell clothes on I primarily sell women's clothes because I myself as a woman am pretty comfortable with how women's sizing works I know what women's brands are pretty popular um I myself am interested in women's fashion so it's pretty easy I don't have to do that much extra research because it's something that I'm already pretty knowledgeable about I mean you can probably tell from this super fashion forward shirt that I have on okay but a natural extension of selling women's clothes for me was trying out things like men's clothing and accessories and shoes or even children's clothing and accessories and shoes yes there's a lot more to learn when you start branching out to men's or to kids because there are things like different kinds of sizing to learn and figure out there's different brands that are popular for you know men or for children but it's still in the same wheelhouse you're still familiar with you know what it is is that you're looking for as far as Fabrics are concerned you're still familiar with how to ship out these kinds of items you're still familiar with how to measure these kinds of items and because it's a natural extension it's not going to feel as overwhelming as pivoting into something completely different going from again selling primarily women's clothing online to Pottery I don't know anything about pottery and there's hardly any similarities between clothing and pottery they're almost completely different in every aspect that I could possibly think of they're completely different as far as how you Source the items how you list the items how you photograph the items the different qualities that you're looking for in the items even how you store the items and ship the items are completely different so for me to go from selling women's clothing to all of a sudden including Pottery into the mix that's a hard pivot and one that's hard to transition into seamlessly unless you also happen to be like a pottery expert then go right on it but as someone who doesn't know anything about pottery that would be a weird decision to make to all of a sudden Branch out to something like that and this is something that I think a lot of resellers struggle with especially resellers who enjoy the reseller Community aspect of reselling you know I'm sure that you're aware of this if you're watching my channel but there is a lot of reselling content online on YouTube on Instagram on Reddit and a lot of people enjoy you know learning from that kind of content because it helps them stay fresh it helps them stay knowledgeable and learn more about their craft when it comes to reselling that being said I know from first-hand experience that sometimes what happens from you know learning from a variety of different kinds of resellers is we feel like we have to sell all of the things that all of the resellers are selling I remember there was a phase where a lot of people seem to be talking about selling pots and pans and I remember watching that hustle and hooks video on you know the best pots and pans to sell and I remember feeling like okay well I gotta go out here and I gotta Source pots and pans and that was like the first section I would go to at the thrift store for a while and I found some really great pieces but I quickly learned wow I super hate selling pots and pans for a number of reasons one it took so much more time for me to research you know what pot it was that I had in my possession and it was really annoying having to store these pots and pans having to clean these pots and pans and then furthermore to ship out said pots and pans I realized very quickly that this was not for me regardless of the fact that there were a lot of resellers out there making a lot of really good money selling pots and pans it just was not for me and I had to kind of go through the pain of trying it out before I realized okay no thank you like I'm gonna stay very far away from this anyone else in my area can sell this because I'm not doing it I'm leaving all the good pots and pans for everyone else to pick up and sell another example of this was golf clubs I know there are a lot of resellers out there who make a killing selling golf clubs and I would go to the golf club section of thrift stores and very quickly realize you need to know a lot about Golf and a lot about golf clubs to be good at the golf club game I know nothing about golf I myself have never one step foot on a golf course and tried golfing myself I also have no desire to learn about Golf and to learn about all the different what are they called Putters drivers kickers I don't there's all these weird names for all the sticks that you use to hit the ball and I don't know why you can't just use one stick I don't get it I don't care to get it I don't care to learn about it I will leave the golf clubs for someone else to buy and sell so yes Branch out slowly from what it is that you love and know or Branch into other hobbies that you may have you know it's not really weird for someone to sell both clothing and vintage Barbie dolls if someone has a passion for clothing and vintage Barbie dolls if someone already knows a lot about those two things but if you want to expand what it is that you're selling and you're really only an expert about one thing or you really only have experience selling one thing I would say find a way to Branch out slowly from the category that you know pretty well take really small pivots Branch out really slowly to broaden what it is that you're able to Source try a few new things here and there in categories that are very similar to what you already sell just kind of feel out you know the new kinds of inventory like I was saying even in that first tip and in doing so again you're not going to overwhelm yourself with a whole new vernacular that comes with you know learning about a new category but you're able to stay within a world that you already know a lot about that's why like I said you know I'm in a place now where I do feel really comfortable selling women's clothing and shoes and accessories but also I feel really comfortable selling men's clothes I'm growing my comfort in selling children's clothes I don't like it as much just because I feel like it's a little bit harder to find children's clothes that have as much value as adult clothing but I'm learning more about it and again it was a natural extension from what I already knew from selling women's clothing and shoes and accessories over the years the final tip that I have for you when it comes to growing a reselling business by growing your inventory is to learn about different sourcing opportunities I know a lot of us primarily Source at places like garage sales or at thrift stores or at Goodwill Outlet because these are readily available to us but also because these are the places most commonly shown to us in YouTube videos from you know reselling YouTubers people will show footage at garage sales at thrift stores at Goodwill Outlet and a lot of clothing resellers will talk about online sourcing opportunities like thredup or different you know wholesalers that they will purchase pallets and micro bills from but one way that I expanded the amount of inventory that I was exposed to was by studying my area a little harder in my area I live in like a college campus type area it's a little bit more I don't know it's interesting it's kind of rural it's kind of urban it's a mix of a lot of things but it's not a big metropolitan area by any means so we only have two Goodwills we used to have a Salvation Army but it closed down the nearest Goodwill Outlet is about two two and a half hours away um and so I just thought for the longest time that the only place I could Source on a regular basis was at my you know two Goodwills and Salvation Army and garage sales you know during the summer when garage sales are readily available to me however once I started doing a little bit more research I learned oh there's a Plato's Closet in town and by stocking their Facebook page and Instagram I learned oh and Plato's Closet has some really amazing sales sometimes in fact when they have these amazing clearance sales oftentimes the items are cheaper at Plato's Closet than they are at Goodwill and you're able to find much better stuff I also learned that there were a couple consignment stores in the area that had amazing pieces and again by stalking my local consignment stores and figuring out when their sales were I learned that I could get much better prices at my consignment stores than I could even my local Goodwills I also learned that aside from my two Goodwills and Salvation Army that no longer exists I learned of other thrift stores that are actually much more in line with what I believe are ethical and sustainable practices compared to Goodwill and thrift stores that directly give back to the community that I live in and now I know okay if I've got a few hours to Source I'm gonna go to those local thrift stores first rather than going to Goodwill I even learned about local brick and mortar stores that carry great Brands and have amazing clearance sales sometimes that allow me to get pieces for perhaps more than I would at a local thrift store even consignment store when they're having a great sale but pieces that are harder to come by and that can command a really high price point even when reselling so it's worth paying a little bit more up front to make a little bit more money on the back end as well I was able to discover cover all of these new sourcing spots simply by just doing a little bit of research into my own community and seeing what my local community had to offer so even for someone who lives in a pretty small town in a pretty rural area where the closest metropolitan city is about again two two and a half hours away I was able to discover that there are a lot of amazing places to Source right here in my community and let's not forget that there's a whole world online where you can source as well there are online wholesalers and liquidation companies that you can Source from there's Facebook Marketplace there are online auctions so if you feel like your local garage sales and thrift stores and wherever else you typically tend to Source are kind of dry if you feel like your honey hole is no longer providing enough inventory for you I would suggest that you do some research within your own Community to see if there are other places you can go to get some great inventory again I think I spent the first two three years of my reselling career just sourcing at the handful of places that I knew but it's gotten to the point where there are so many places I could source that every time I'm able to visit one of those spots it's filled with brand new inventory because I haven't been there in a while because I'm able to cycle through a good number of places to source for my reselling business so those are the three tips that I have for growing your reselling business by growing your inventory and I don't even necessarily mean growing the size of your inventory by having more items listed for sale although if that's your goal you know that definitely will help but it also just means growing your opportunities for sourcing growing you know the number of items you're able to come across so that you're able to find more items of quality items that you're going to be able to sell for a higher dollar amount versus feeling like you have to settle for items that you know you may be able to purchase for cheap but you know is only going to sell for a very little amount as well I hope you found this video helpful and I would love to hear any other tips that you have on this topic like you know go ahead and leave your tips down in the comments below I say this all the time but I really do learn so much from you guys because not only do you come here to hopefully learn a little something but you have so much knowledge as well from your own reselling Journey so please definitely leave any tips that you have down in the comments below if you enjoyed this video If you learned anything don't forget to hit that like button and thank you so much for watching I appreciate you being here and spending your time with me so thank you so much and I will see you guys in the next one bye
2022-12-20 07:15
