If I write about a particular side hustle, money-saving hack, or wealth-building strategy long enough, it’s only a matter of time before I want to attempt it myself.
I’ve invested my HSA money like the fiscally savvy do, lived the no-car and roommate lifestyle like the “super savers” do, and even hired a life coach in the name of “investing in myself.” Most recently, I’ve been experimenting with e-commerce, launching a pickleball paddle company to see what it actually takes to sell a product online after years of interviewing top Amazon sellers.
I’m intrigued by strategies like rental real estate and generating passive income via content creation, but don’t quite have the time, money, or bandwidth to experiment.
Reselling items, specifically clothes, on sites like eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari seemed different. If you’re starting with items you already have lying around your home, it requires zero money to get up and running; all you need is a smartphone to download the selling apps and take photos of items, plus a bit of your time to list items and fulfill orders.
Despite the seemingly low barrier to entry, there’s a lot of upside: I’ve reported on side hustlers pulling in impressive numbers, including a full-time lawyer who earns $120,000 a year reselling sneakers and apparel on eBay and a millennial who turned her thrifting hobby into a full-time job.
I keep a relatively minimal closet, but I have a handful of items I no longer wear. Instead of donating or tossing them, I decided to try reselling. How hard could it be?
Well, I stopped almost as quickly as I started. Here’s what happened.
I downloaded two popular clothing resale apps: Poshmark and Mercari. Of the two, I found Poshmark a bit easier to use, largely because of its AI assistant, which essentially builds a listing for you, including descriptions, titles, and tags, after you upload photos of your item. As someone who doesn’t know clothes all that well, this was particularly helpful.
I took four to five photos per item against a clean, white background (a tip from top resellers) and priced them by loosely comparing similar listings. I didn’t put too much time or thought into my prices, figuring I could always refine them later if necessary.
All in, I was up and running in about 30 minutes and spent exactly $0.
Here’s what my Poshmark profile looks like:
My first sale came through Mercari: a striped Madewell sweater I listed for $20. I was thrilled when I got the notification — until I did the math.
After an $8 shipping fee and a $2 selling fee, Mercari told me that I’d made $10.03. My profit got knocked down to a measly six bucks after I purchased a $4 mailer to ship the sweater.
I was slightly frustrated (was a couple of bucks really worth the hassle of printing labels and dropping off mailers?), but not ready to quit.
My next two sales came through Poshmark while I was out of town, which added another layer of inconvenience. I messaged the buyers to let them know I would ship their orders as soon as I returned home.
I saved on shipping materials this time, opting to use mailers I already had on hand. It’s also worth noting that, because of my pickleball business, I already had a label printer. Without that, I may not have embarked on this project at all. Figuring out how to print shipping labels at a FedEx “Print & Go” likely would have sent me over the edge.
Using my own supplies, I netted $28 from a gently used Tracksmith crewneck and $38.40 from a new top with the tags still on. I removed the buyers’ names for privacy.
Over roughly two months, I made a little more than $100 across five sales. Four came from Poshmark, while one came from Mercari.
For better or for worse, I had no real sense of urgency. It allowed me to price items comfortably rather than racing to the bottom (I did end up lowering prices on some of my items), but it also meant sales trickled in slowly, making it easy for the project to fall by the wayside.
My accounts are still active, and I even have a few listings live. If something sells, great. But I’m not planning to add more inventory, and I certainly won’t be sourcing items beyond my closet.
Reselling isn’t the side hustle for me. It doesn’t play to my strengths, it tested my patience at times, and, ultimately, selling clothes doesn’t excite me enough to justify the time. Unlike the pickleball business, which I genuinely enjoy despite the stress and costs, reselling felt like busywork that I wasn’t even very good at.
The math also only works at scale. Making meaningful money reselling clothes requires volume. It means constantly sourcing inventory, photographing items, managing listings, and shipping orders. That’s a commitment I wasn’t willing to make.
For people who love fashion, thrifting, and the thrill of finding a deal, reselling can absolutely be lucrative, as I’ve reported.
For me, at least for now, I’m staying in my racket-sports lane.
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