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Hi all!
I’ve been on eBay since 2000, but have only just started really selling as a side hustle about six months ago. I have limited time to thrift, but have nonetheless been able to achieve Top Rated Seller status and earn a steady couple hundred dollars per month. I’m mostly selling clothing right now since it’s the easiest to find, but I’d like to branch out once I can get better control of my schedule.
I’m in the Charlotte, NC area just across the border in SC. We thankfully still have some good pricing at Goodwill and a number of smaller charity shops that sell for even less. Charlotte is a well off area as well, so quality items are pretty easy to find.
I have a lot left to learn, but I’m happy to share what I learn with others. I’ve been absorbing all the Youtube re-seller shows and podcasts. Just stumbled on Scavenger Life about a month ago and finally decided to join the forum.
I look forward to meeting everyone.
Cheers!
~Christian
Mighty Brilliant (That’s my store name, after finding my first dozen choices taken already. LOL.) -
Welcome Christian. There’s a handful of other scavengers here from South Carolina.
What reseller podcasts/videos do you find useful?
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Thanks…and cool avatar. I’m a huge Trek fan.
There are so many, but aside from yours, I have found Ralli Roots and Rockstar Flipper particularly helpful in answering a number of best practices type questions. I also regularly watch the Auction Professor to discover lots of different niches I never would have become familiar with otherwise. I enjoyed Lindey Glen, though she started focusing a lot more on Amazon before deciding to end her live shows temporarily. (Everyone needs a break now and again.) Raiken Profit has had some interesting interviews. Suzanne Wells has a great “what sold” video every week which has also been informative.
Gosh, I could go on and on.I’m on the road a LOT (about 400 miles a day) so I do a lot of listening in my car. Some videos need the visual, and I’m obviously not going to watch while driving, but many like yours can just be listened to like a podcast which is great.
Learning brands and niches has been the most important for me. I desperately need to hire someone to teach me better photography practices. I’m not horrible, but I know I can do better. Certain colors and patterns I just can’t get right regardless of how much I light, the backdrop I use, whether I hang or flat lay, etc. It’s been rather frustrating at times.
My strength is probably shipping. I’ve been in the logistics industry for years and have a pretty solid grasp of USPS practices and pricing.
I also worked in politics for decades and hope to transfer some of my marketing skills over to reselling once I get more comfortable with all of eBay’s nuances and once I have at least a few replenishable products. Finding wholesale distributors has also been a struggle. I just don’t trust most of the liquidators. My one purchase so far was a disaster. I know it’s hit or miss. I missed. I need more certainty in advance before spending money on a gamble. If I want that, I’ll just head to Harrah’s. LOL.
Anyway, cheers.
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I suppose it is. LOL. I don’t even necessarily need a perpetually replenishable item…maybe just a few dozen of the same thing to make advertising a specific unit realistically worth the time and expense.
My one experience buying a bulk lot was a lot of 50 new clothing items from a Florida based company. I won’t name names here. They did correct one issue when I discovered one of the items received had a hole in the crotch. The assortment was just very poor and given their generally good reviews I must have just gotten a dud. It did teach me that I’ll likely avoid buying anything if I’m not 100% certain of what I will receive.
After shipping I ended up paying $6.28 per item. The majority of the items, though new, were of brands that were so oversaturated in the market that the expected “race to the bottom” made it nearly impossible to break even. I have yet to even sell through the lot after 6 months.
I share some responsibility because I knew some of the brands included in the lot in advance. I was initially under the impression that brands like Calvin Klein and Izod were “good” brands. It was a learning experience for sure. I’ve definitely become more brand conscious and as I said I think it best to know exactly what you order so that you can do your calculations in advance. I was just shocked that most reviews said the lots were easy money doublers. Not.
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