I quit my job Of 21 years in May. I had a plan in place, and a lot saved for the “just Incase”. Before I quit I made sure I had lots of inventory ready to list, I took a week off work and worked the reselling part to try out some sort of schedule, and to see what life as an every day reseller is like. The best advice I can give is make a schedule. Just like a job. They want you to do a 9-5, you need to make sure you have the discipline to get the work done. Don’t forget, this’ll be more than a 40 hour a week job if you want to be successful. At least at first it will. My downfall is getting constantly distracted. I need to unplug, put my head down, and get to work. That being said, g2g. Thanks for the video!
Just started April myself. Distractions ruin me so I need to just get out and do something at the start of the day to get the ball rolling, usually getting coffee and trying to enjoy that in the car without phone time!
I quit my job in Aug 2020 to resell full time. I think it is way more work that people realize. One thing I did to prepare was save enough money to pay cash for a good reliable vehicle. At my job my employer provided my vehicle, so I knew this would be a necessity. I also knew that my income would be fluctuating, so I didn’t want to be strapped with a car payment on top of my other bills. It feels awesome to go get in my car, turn on the seat heaters, and know it is 100% paid for.
Health insurance is very expensive when self-employed unless you have a spouse that can add you to their insurance policy. Many Ebayers have spouses that cover them on their medical insurance policy, but they don't really feel the need to mention this. Health Insurance is a big deal for people with preexisting conditions and middle-aged people. The lack of Health insurance may not be a deal-breaker for younger adults because they can risk not having insurance for some time.
Awesome advice for people thinking about doing this full-time! I've been doing this full-time since July, and it's definitely lots of work. There are days when it's hard to focus, and there is no one else to tell me to get back on track. I've been trying to plan the entire week, and block off hours in my Google calendar for certain things like photographing and listing. I'm always tempted to go sourcing when I don't need to, so the calendar really helps me with that. Thanks for the video!
Very helpful vid. My job left me (lay off) unexpectedly. I had already been considering trying to make reselling work. Lot of items to consider in terms of knowing your numbers. Thank you!
You are one of the top reselling RU-vidrs in my book. You are so incredibly helpful! I started reselling part time last year when I became a SAHM…with baby #2 coming, I’m hoping to move full time in the next year and resell until both my girls are in elementary school. Btw your makeup/lashes are 🔥…love it!
I love that you mentioned making sure you can source enough items to be full time - it’s sooo important to have your sourcing strategy down before diving in full time. Great advice! :)
Fantastic information. This industry really is playing the long game, consistency linked with sell through/product knowledge is key! Thank you for sharing.
Your video came up on my feed and I'm so glad I watched. I'm working and probably will for the next 4 years when I'll be 60 years young and I want to resell full-time. So this video is timely and you gave a lot of great information for me to digest, work on and plan in the next few years. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and insight from your personal experience. I've subscribed and am looking forward to watching many more of your videos.
Reseller since 2001. Part time as a side gig is realistic. When you consider the work involved to try and reach a full time NET income of say 40K a year, you are working constantly. Tons of sourcing, researching, listing, driving around. Then there’s the no insurance/no benefits, and there will be a percentage of items that don’t sell. There’s a lot of competition now with so many resellers and so many platforms….so- you have to be very fashion/trend savvy.
You hit it spot on about the loans. There are a few things holding me back from taking that leap and that is 1 of them. Ive only been partime reselling with dreams of being full time, maybe one day.....
Because of the pandemic I was thrust into full time; my job did not reopen and we ended up making a 1600 mile cross country move. Sourcing is very different here; we are establishing a new rhythm but it's tough and people do not realize how tough it is to resell and to make that commitment I love what I do and am writing goals for 2022 based on much of what you talked about Great video
Another thing I think about is medical insurance. If you are in a position where all your medical is paid and then you go self employed and you have to pay that on your own it may not be worth it. For me its not. So think about your benefits at your full time job.
yep. Just having health insurance my deductible to me is still too high. That, and my credit card bills is holding me back from quitting my full time job.
Wow! I loved this video Cayley! Even though Ive been doing this for a while it’s still good to hear all of your advice and tips around this topic. There are definitely areas that you touched on that I am still struggling with and am working to improve. Thanks for being such an awesome part of the reselling community and sharing your knowledge with us!
I love this video and these tips, I think the only thing I don't agree with is the one where you discuss only focusing on your business and not spreading yourself around. On the one hand I completely see where you are coming from and agree that the bulk of focus should be on the job where your money is primarily coming from. But on the other, sometimes driving for Uber Eats or DoorDash is a supplement that can let us grow more and keep us from worrying about the bills when there is a slow month because slow downs happen we all know this. (I am not a driver for these companies and reselling is not my full time gig, but even if it were, I would NOT put all my eggs in one basket like that.)I'm just saying, I think sometimes diversifying is a good thing.
great tips! i quit my FT + PT jobs (i was 18 and in college) within two months of starting reselling. i jumped into it full time which was super soon, but i have been very consistent with listing (25+ items daily) and now that it's been two years and i've still been doing FT college, i really couldn't be happier with my life. it was definitely a quick transition, but it worked out really well for me.
Summers r slower guys lots ppl don't know that and I seen them quit. I did same thing girl in 2016 I quit Jan and left. First 2 year taught me to learn to build and u always keep learning how systems work apps work brands I love sleeping a lot rushing to bathroom to see id I made sales etc. And once I did great due to covid summers e better has changed
As a Financial Adviser you should have at least 1 year of emergency fund lined up always no matter self employed or not. Becoming Self Employed takes even more funds savings to have a back up which you did shortly mentioned !
I have been reselling for years I mean even when I was younger I did fb yardsale a lot I started online a few years ago but it's only been part time side hustle, but would love not to work and to just resell because it's like I have no time don't make much.
This was such an informative video. You broke everything down so well. I was listening to a podcast today and would like your opinion on this topic if you don't mind. The person was basically saying that going out sourcing for lower cost items that have a lower ASP, like the bins for example is not a good use of time and resources. They said the time it takes to source, list, photograph 20 items just to make a $10 to $20 profit is not worth it. They suggested that it's better to source and pay up for higher cost items that will net you a higher ASP so that instead of listing 20 items, you only need to list 5 items in order to make the same profit. They suggested that if you don't have access to high cost items locally, you can easily source online. My question is, doesn't it take twice as long to sell a $1,000 item than it does to sell a $50 item? Wouldn't you have to sit on inventory for a while until the right buyer comes along? My apologies for the long comment. Just curious what your thoughts are on this?
Well, to make a long answer short, everyone has different business models. I think ideally everyone would source high asp, high sell through rate, and low cog items. However, that just isn't reality. I think what's important is to focus on what you can source (either in your area or online) that will remain constant. Yes, you're right that a lot of higher priced items do take a while to sell. They are also harder to source. I'd personally rather pick up high sell through rate items no matter their average sale price and make consistent sales everyday. They are just east to find and I rarely have to worry about fakes. It's all just what works for you and what is available to you.
Well i have only ever done reselling very casually wouldn’t even call it part time i want to start slow and possibly start reselling full time still debating as a lot of this is i am not finding good job leads and unhappy in my current job. If a more traditional job comes up sounds better and hires me i might go for that. My plan is a slow start as well as saving a bit to live off before I eventually quit and it may be a long process.
One of the most important factor you forgot to mention !!! You resellers are mostly young and forget to pay into the system Medicare !!! What are you going to do when you get old want to retire or get accidently disabled " god forbit " but you guys do not think paying into the system for yourself who you think pay your retirement later on in life if you want to do this reselling business rest of your life !
How do I build my knowledge on the clothing type,names and material. I have some idea of it, but I see you go into full depth. Is it just researching in terapeak? I've sat down but then I'm like ok what am I looking for? Lol
I started by googling the style names, patterns, prints, etc that I see on Google. It makes it really easy to narrow down comps once you start to remember them.
I’ve got everything in check but the taxes. Just started in February and Poshmark just made me enter my ssn. I’m getting nervous about the taxes part, if anyone has any good downlow on the tax stuff
Depends on your situation. If you're just solo in your house it's probably just as beneficial to stay a sole proprietor. Talk to a CPA for expert advice.
If Im not able to invest the time needed to make $4k profit because that time is being taken by my job, wouldn't it be difficult to make that 4 k without quitting? I also have kids and no help other than with their with their other parent, so my logic is to switch my effort from job to reselling. I guess I am willing to take the risk and can right now and I can't stand working the jobs I have.
Not your dad's cpa is a good place to start. You can look him up on RU-vid with interviews he's done with resellers. I always recommend contacting a CPA.
