I Failed at Being a Full-Time Reseller + My Career Goals and Plans for the Future 

As a “mature” adult, I can speak from experience that one thing in life that never changes is the fact that “things are always changing”. I don’t think you failed at all. You learned.

You didn’t fail! You learned what works best for you. I hope you have a fantastic year with your 1st graders.

You didn't fail. You tried, discerned and changed course. Sometimes when we stop doing something we realize how much we love it. We need great teachers more than we need resellers.

This is a refreshing honest review of reselling our community needs. You did not fail. You rediscovered your REAL passion! ❤

I'm a retired elementary teacher of 38 years, and I see the love of teaching in you. I resell part time because I've always loved thrifting. It's been 3 years now and I've learned so much from you! I taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. You'll love 1st grade! I'm so very happy for you! ❤

You didn’t fail. Things just changed. You had the courage to give it a go and that says a lot! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You learned a lot along the way about yourself and that’s always a good thing.

the transparency in this video is much needed, presented with class in it too, it also helped me because i am no longer interested in going full time - i love love my custodian job and want to go back to school, so working with educators like yourself fills my bucket. i'm so happy for you're new teaching position, the kids are so lucky to have you.

Thank you so much for being transparent. I see so many videos “Especially lately”of all these full time RU-vidrs making it look like the dream. As someone who is on there 3rd year of reselling, it is definitely not easy & has a lot of ups & downs. I feel bad for the new people trying to resell because I think many are getting really mislead.

I totally resonate with this as a Nurse who left to also pursue Full Time Reselling in 2023. I think you and I both chose one of the hardest years to go full time lol There are so many external factors outside of our control that determine the trajectory of our business even when we are continuously adapting and putting forth effort. DO NOT chalk up your attempt to go full time as a fail-- absolutely not. Reselling is so much more difficult than most people think! I personally felt as though it tried me in more ways than Nursing ever did. It is not easy to stay tenacious and accountable when the payout is not guaranteed. You are responsibly assessing your situation and making changes as needed as will I! Sales will come back and if you're still selling anything during these economic times, you are winning! Congrats on the new position. Wishing you all the success and abundance. Looking forward to future content. Head up-- this is God's way =)

Your perspective is awesome 👏🏼 Another way to think about why reselling FULL TIME is so hard is because you turn into a business owner and that’s filled with much more headaches and stress than just doing the reselling work on the side.

Reselling is hard when everyone and their dog is doing it. It’s great for the environment because more clothing is being saved from going to landfills. But sadly it’s going into our inventory “warehouse” and being stored there forever because there are more sellers than buyers and it’s simple supply verses demand. I have over 6000 items listed on both Poshmark and eBay and I’m fkn broke. I keep hoping things will change bc I hate my full time job. I’m so happy you have a love for education and are going back! I’m excited for you!! Thanks for sharing this sensitive topic with us!! 😀

Congratulations on your new teaching job. Thank you for your transparency about reselling.

You can still succeed don’t give up. I just viewed your store on eBay. A few things and please take this as good advice I sell hundreds a month. One include measurements in all your listings with a measuring tape. Two need more vibrant clearer pictures and take the creases and wrinkles out of all the clothes. Three run a coupon at 25 percent take off the 45 percent mark down it’s looks like your going out of business. Four veriety get into other types of clothes maybe some children and some men’s clothes also get different sets of eyes on the store. Five get out there and get 30 items a day and list 20 a day. Get your store up to 3 or 4 thousand items. I pride myself in selling low sell through rate items for a profit I’m not saying you should do that. But you need more items. It’s a joke when all these RU-vid gurus tell everyone to not list that much only high sell through etc etc. I’ve worked for a multi million dollar eBay business here in the bay area and they listed it all. They had hundreds of thousands of items in their huge warehouse and they made enough to live in the Cupertino hills and drive lambos. I learned everything about reselling watching them run their business’s we talking a 50k square foot warehouse with thirty employees so I’ve seen it all. You have to be hungry it’s not over you just began.

Thank you for sharing! It's brave to take risks and just as brave to embrace your true self and not go by other expectations. Good Luck! You give the rest of us the courage to face our truths.

I am a full time reseller and have been for five years and can say from experience that the first year (maybe two) are the hardest. I felt so much of what you shared here because it is NOT EASY. For me, my passion was still working form home and owning my time and schedule so I continuously worked on improving my processes in reselling so that i didn't find myself having to go back to an employer. For you it sounds like to just needed that break to figure things out. Congrats on your new teaching job! Thanks again for sharing your experience!

Yay! So happy for you to be embracing what brings you joy and makes you happy😊

It’s awesome that you were able to double your income while working a full time job and doing reselling on the side. I know I would be so gutted if I went full time into reselling and it started to crash. I don’t know your numbers, items, self employment habits, and more so I can’t really give any advice unfortunately. But what matters most at the end of the day is that you gave it your best. I never like to shut doors completely, so I guess my only advice/encouragement is to not close the door on reselling if you still enjoy it, maybe just hit pause for now. You never know what the future holds. ❤

Thank you so much for your honesty! I am a SAHM and reseller since 2017, and last year was so awful for sales. I can't imagine that being my first full-time year! Totally agree that I hate all of the BS accounts saying they are making millions with no proof. People need to see these honest accounts. I think you'll take what you have learned and grow your reselling business in ways that make sense for you.

Thanks for your honest sharing! It is not so much about you failing in reselling but ultimately you found your passion is still in teaching and you miss meeting & connecting with people. We always do best with the things we enjoy. Great idea to do teaching full time and reselling part time. Certain things can be enjoyable doing part time; but doing full time can be another different story altogether.

Thank you for this! I've been thinking of going full time but i know it is a crazy hard path.

I love that you had the courage to share all of your thoughts & feelings! It’s so refreshing to hear you say that you had all of these realizations. I am a full time teacher & part time reseller (& fellow introvert 😊) & I can identify with wanting to be around co-workers. It’s a real thing for sure. Your future students will be so lucky to have you as a teacher. Best of luck in this new chapter of your life 🎉

I’m a thrifter but NOT a reseller. Your honesty is refreshing & I think a lot of resellers on RU-vid make it look like they’re raking in huge profits but probably aren’t. There’s a lot of competition reselling & there’s a lot of resellers that are starting to kind of admit that their sales are way lower this year than previous years. Good luck teaching 1st grade. Reselling is hard work & you didn’t fail, you just learned that it might not be sustainable for you. ❤

Thank you for your honesty. The community you built here supports u 😊

I was full time solely for about 2 years, it was hardddd. After that I picked up case management clients ( what I did pre reselling) and have done that ever since & added a freelance 20 hour a week admin assistant remote job. It's a great balance for me & reselling is fun again. I also dog sit :)

This is such a great perspective of how we are unaware truly how many hours we put in when reselling is not our full time! And then something that is an outlet, a destressor, etc becomes your primary source of income it no longer has the appearance of fun but necessity. The great thing here is that you made the early adjustment. I know many folks would say stick it out, give it time, but you evaluated and pivoted. This is a great video of understanding your needs and adjusting. I tell my son’s teacher often that she has a gift for little ppl and we need more ppl willing to use those gifts!

I so feel for you. I tried to go full time about a year and a half ago when the job I had kept cutting my hours. I went from doing this part time (around 20 hours a week) to full time (around 60 hours a week). My numbers went up, yes. But never close to what I needed to survive. Within 6 months I found a great new job with all the benefits and I'm back to doing this part time. This is reality for most of us. Thank you for being real.

I went full-time reselling last year. Started off good during the first few months, but then had major problems sourcing profitable items I could resell. It's surrealistic seeing all these "RU-vid resellers" going to these thrift stores and finding all of these profitable items to resell.

Congrats on your new position! This was a great video! Very honest, genuine, and direct. You gave full-time reselling a shot, which is super important that you pursued your dream to see what could happen if you tried it full-time. It sounds like you reflected a ton on your decision and it's great that you recognize that doing it as a hobby helps fill your bucket instead of doing it full-time, which can be stressful if the money is volatile! My hat off to you! 👍😎

🎉 There is no such thing as failure! You learned from this and have decided to pursue what is your true passion! 🎉

She learned the hard way. QUICK TIP FROM A REAL RESELLER: any true reseller doesn't have time to make RU-vid videos about it. TIP TWO: there is no consistency in reselling, some months you're up and some months you're down. Facts. Always remember, any video you see on RU-vid from a reseller is most likely at least 70% BS. Facts

You Never Failed! You’re actually doing something that you were truly passionate about. Please don’t put yourself Down, you are truly being true to yourself. You have feelings and if it’s time to reevaluate then it’s your rights too. Go With Your Heart and Be Happy!!!! Hope you keep your channel so you can keep us updated with your journey with the young people 😊

It is very difficult to be a full time reseller. It is getting harder and harder every year. I have been doing it since 1997. I am working 100 times harder than I used to just a few years ago.

This is refreshing! Way to go, teacher! ❤❤❤

I enjoy your videos and your insight. I’m in the same boat; I turned full time last year and I’m going back to work soon too. I need a steady paycheck and it’s just not a reliable enough income for me as a reseller only. I love it! Love love love it. But it’s just not enough money for us to be comfortable.

Thank you for this honest review of what your year as a full time reseller looked like. I agree with others that you didn't fail, rather learned that teaching is your true calling and reselling is a nice to have side gig. It is perfect timing too, as you didn't stay in FT reselling for too long to have bridges burned with teaching job. All is good. It is better do something and regret than don't do and forever wonder what could've been.

Congratulations! I have taught first grade for 25 years. You will love it!

Best Wishes, thanks for your content!

It was an experiment. A hobby. Not all experiments work out. I too notice the changing consumer habits. I only do reselling part time as a cushion to my pension. I would only recommend it for someone full time if you have the space to store thousands of inventory. If you're on social media and can work 24/7. If you go to the Posh Live shows, some of those sellers are on there 24/7. It's more than a full time business. I wouldn't put that much energy in it. And the winds of change are coming because reselling is saturated. There's going to be a lot of fallout. Another thing resellers forget is TAXES!!!! I spent 4 weeks doing my taxes.

I was able to do full-time reselling after I completed a 31 years 8 months career & I got my pension + healthcare package. I been doing eBay since 2001 part-time. I didn't get burned out from working until I was paid to leave & my wife approved it. You never fail you only grow I have had service station & tire store , a cookie distribution company, a fishing tackle distribution, a retail store business, a online business, I have a real estate license granted these were business while working full-time some with & some without employees.

I wouldn't say you failed. This experience gave you the opportunity to discover what really brings you joy at this time in your life. I definitely see you having that young kid spirit and language. I get needing structure too. I resold "full time" in 96-2005 and it was so hard without external structure. I can't imagine trying now in this market.

I so appreciate your honesty. I have often felt that you tube resellers exaggerate their profits.

The nurses can empathize! Thank you for your transparency. 💜

Thanks for sharing your story. Im also an educator who used to think I could resell full-time because my numbers were so good. You are right, 2023/24 has been different. However, sometimes Im ok with the idea of barely scraping by because thats how fed up I am. The kids I deal with are beyond “rambunctious”, many are deeply troubled, and its draining for me. I dont care if I dont go on another vacation or do whatever “good” money affords. I love reselling though, even when its bad.

Congratulations on your new position.. I have never thought to be a full-time reseller for the same reason, I don't want the financial stress not knowing what I will get paid, and if I will be able to pay my bills next month... ect.. I do it part-time as a side hustle because I enjoy it 😊 .. You were able to figure out that teaching is what makes you happy and you enjoy doing 😊😊...

I am easily old enough to be your mama. The most important message I can send, based on true personal experience,......you DID NOT FAIL! Sometimes walking away makes us realize we were on the correct path, we just needed reassurance. It was a gift to figure that out at your young age, many people spend their whole lives wondering "what if". When you said you understood those little people with lisps, 😢...you are going to make a difference in numeous children's lives and what a gift to the 🌎 world that will be.

Hello, My advice to you is to continue what you're doing since you basically have your business already established (The hard work), Just try to improve it in anyway possible, Every time business gets slow you will feel down like that but this is part of the business and at least you have to try to make it less slow, Your (business) bucket will be more joyful when it's not empty but you will feel the joy when it's full, In my opinion best thing to do right now is to add another line beside clothes in your store, It could be anything but higher priced items always better, Just for example a used Laptop will sell much faster than a used dress if you priced it below market price, You can get a used laptop the same way you get the used shirt, Also when business gets very slow on eBay you can pump the (Advertising Rate) of your items to be the highest without lowering the price, I've been doing this for 20 years and always have good and bad days but when it gets really bad I try anything and everything to get through it to keep my business and generate my average income, Good luck to you on whatever you do.

The issue is most large social media presence resellers aren't that large or don't provide the documents to prove it. I remember in 2019 when I started, I used to watch a lady on RU-vid who eventually decided to 'prove' she was a full time reseller.. She made less than $1k on her reselling business while the rest came from her RU-vid and courses. Needless to say I don't watch her anymore as she completely 'sold a story' that wasn't true as she promoted she was making a full time income with her reselling business. There are many resellers that are killing it out here. The issue is they don't have time to create a social media presence. Good luck to your future goals. I agree with most of your other thoughts though. (loneliness and loss of drive once you go full time.)

Just FYI , your struggle is not entirely your fault. I’m a full time reseller for almost 10 years and last summer EBay hit the crapper. We saw about a 30-40% drop in sales. 2023 started off great , then last summer they did something that simply crashed sales. People couldn’t locate items , view counts sat at zero. It has been an uphill battle due to not only eBay messing up their site but newer sites like postmark Mercari and whatnot. It’s a difficult business and takes up a lot of space if you want to get enough sales. The economy is shaky but there’s still spending , step back to part time if needed. Good luck

I needed to hear this. I started reselling after i watched a RU-vid video. Fast forward 3 years and I'm better and know more but girl my numbers aren't nowhere near where I want them. I barely make 1k a month gross. I'm thinking I need to realize it's not for me and I tried and learned.

great info and presentation

Awesome video

You only fail when you give up. Keep learning and selling part time without the pressure of it being your only income. I promise you this can be a full time business, my business partner and I have done it full time for over 4 years now without any other sources of income. You’re income will increase with this as you’re knowledge and experience does, you’ll just do everything better as you learn. Good look with your new job and your selling business!

Yes it’s much harder then most make it seem. I wish I could be a librarian but that’s a whole lot of college that I can’t do but that’s ok. Great video

It doesn't sound like you actually gave up, you just moved it back to being a hobby. That is how most people should I approach it IMO, I'm the same way. There is no way I could do this full-time given the fluctuations in sales. I think the only way to do it would be to have a year of expenses saved and also it would have to pay more than a FT position doing something else. There is no way I could replace my salary with reselling. I'd probably end up working more hours reselling too. Good luck with your future job teaching children. It sounds like that is what you should be doing.

Maybe Keep reselling part time and build cash on side, while teaching? Then after a few years… You’ll have plenty of cash to where you’re not hard pressed to make sales. You didn’t fail. You just went full time too early like several others on here. Best wishes

I recently got laid off of a 7 year old job and i was in a very similar situation as yourself. I was part time reselling from 2018 till 2024 and it was going very well. Made a good 40k last year only selling part time. Once i got laid off i had to think and ask myself can i do this full time? I kinda took feb pretty much to think about that and last month i took it more seriously listing every day sourcing multiple times a week. Now i probably didnt really do amazing for a first month of taking it seriously made 2k with a 40% str. Not great but i see lots of potential. I have lots more inventory and im learning alot everyday and im getting more and more better inventory. It takes time it seems. I do ask myself can i actually make what i was making? If i stay on the same projection no absolutely not. This is why i love to challenge myself it makes me motivated to grow. Like ok i made 2k this month lets make 3k this month with a 50% str. I can understand the frustrations tho.

Perhaps look at it this way: The time you went selling full time allowed you to focus on something else, while in the background of your mind…..it allowed you the time away from teaching to realize you might still enjoy teaching. Instead of worrying about going to thrift stores, try garage sales, small scale buying and keep things low key for you. Then it’s still fun, but in a part time way.

I went back to work after years as a reseller. I missed social interaction as well an didn't find reselling fulfilling. My store failed as well full time but I still sell part time on the side.

I know this was a hard decision to make. As a mom to twin 1st graders, I think you’ll be an amazing 1st grade teacher!!

Congrats on the new job as FT teacher !I always thought I wanted to quit my job and become a FT reseller and I thank my lucky stars that I have not quit as my sales are just awful! Horrible pathetic !

the world needs great teachers. Good for you for listening to that small voice inside...

Do you think if you did it full time in a more scheduled,routined, with deadlines, you couldve had more success or a better experience?

Reselling has alot of highs and lows. It takes alot of dedication and patience.

Gold promoters years ago salted mines with gold they already owned. To scam investors. I wonder how many of these sourcing videos founding such great items really did? Just saying.

Just on the being a librarian alone part, have you thought about being a librarian for a city or academic library system instead of the elementary school? I know your income would go up, unless you live in a rural town.

You didn't fail - but maybe you jumped in too fast without a financial plan? I'm a verrryyyyy burned out wedding photographer. I've owned that business for 20 years. Covid caused this burnout as it was 2-3 years of cancelled weddings and ups and downs with reschedules and clients. I started reselling part time as a fun thing. I'm like you up to about 30 hours a week - and I'm pulling in very decent numbers. But I'm not living off of that income right now. I'm still going to plug away at weddings - but cut down on how many. Then I'm packing away - saving and investing all the reseller funds. I'm earring 5% interest off everything right now in safe CDs. I'm going to keep plugging away like this for another 3-4 years. I'm hoping to then be able to pay off our house in what I have in savings. I'll then be in a fully different space where I'll be able to take the bare minimum weddings as a safety net - and then resell - or do whatever else I want. Mortgage free is going to mean so much more freedom. You'll find your balance! Keep going!

Terrible time to start you own business . My wife runs a online business and everyone she knows has went out of business

❤

LOL. I've been trying for 5 years! Still an educator.

A great decision Maddy. There’s always teachers shortage.

Yes reselling is very lonely very

Reselling is a marathon not a sprint. My wife works full time and I wait tables part time. That takes care of the bills. I just reinvest what eBay brings in. You can’t fail until you have a few thousand listings

🫵😂

Hi, took a quick look through your inventory. I see you have a high percentage of dresses and blouses. I infer you paid retail prices for these dresses? The vast majority of dresses have a sell-through rate of 4%. Good resell items are 20% or higher. I think this might be affecting your metrics. Focusing more on sell-through will probably bring improvements, and also possibly "Cost of goods".

What were the numbers you were trying to strive for? You tried full-time reselling for One Year

I bet the mental break from teaching was worth it. Good luck!

Not everyone is cut out to work for themselves some people are just meant to work for someone else. Good luck !

Many resellers wish they had a career in the educational world! And many say reselling is much more enjoyable when it is part time because you enjoy all the fun but not the pressure. Keep doing content for the channel, though!!!

Same here! Trying flea markets to unload my inventory. What next? No idea.🥴

Not long enough. Success is slow not overnight. But, seems your passion is for teaching and you should love what you do.

Genuinely this is why no actual resellers take advice from these RU-vidr that come out of nowhere. It’s not okay that you gave tips that didn’t work.

Hey..it could have been worse....you could have quit your teaching career to sell for Amway or some other MLM ripoff!