Reselling items on sites like eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari could earn you some extra pocket money.
It could also evolve into a full-time, seven-figure business, like it has for Richard Senko, who started selling cellphones on eBay in 2008 after getting laid off from his job.
Or, it could serve as a “double salary,” as it does for Yinka Ogunsunlade, a full-time lawyer who earns six figures from his eBay side hustle, which he started in 2005.
Whether you just want some extra cash to play with each month or are looking to run a full-fledged reselling operation, Senko and Ogunsunlade, with their decades of experience, have some advice.
Start with what you already have. Chances are, you can list an item on a platform like eBay today without having to leave your house.
“Don’t go out and spend a bunch of money and hope stuff will sell,” said Senko. “Start around your house. Evaluate the stuff that you don’t need.”
When he switched from reselling electronics to apparel, the first clothing item he listed was a vintage Buffalo Bills jersey that he pulled out of his closet: “There’s no reason at all to reach inside your pocket and start an eBay business when we can turn these items that we have inside our house into cash.”
It’s a low-stakes way to test whether you even like the process of reselling — if you do, you can start going out and buying items to resell, but if it’s not for you, you spent minimal time and money testing the waters.
Source profitable products from discount stores and sites. After starting with items they already had on hand, both Senko and Ogunsunlade’s next step was to source inventory.
Senko’s go-to discount spots were Goodwill, Salvation Army, and local thrift stores; Ogunsunlade frequented Neiman Marcus Last Call and Saks OFF 5th, and now uses websites like YOOX and NET-A-PORTER to land deals.
Both were paying attention to two numbers: the price of the item they planned to buy and resell, and the prices of comparable items on eBay. To find the latter, don’t just look at what items are listed for — use the “sold items” filter, as there could be a big discrepancy between what something is listed for and what it sells for.
Senko said his sweet spot was finding an item for about $5 that he could sell for $30. After shipping and eBay fees, that would leave him with about $20 per item, he said: “If you do that 14 times a day, that’s $280 in profit a day. You can make $100,000 a year selling 14 items a day on eBay.”
That’s not to say you can’t run a profitable business with lower price points. If you find an item for $1 that you can list for $10, “you can run a great business — however, it’s going to involve more processing, more listing, and more photos.”
Niche down and become an expert in your category. The advantage of niching down is knowing your category inside and out. Senko’s company, technsports, focuses on pre-owned men’s apparel. Ogunsunlade, who runs Fashionably Legal, specifically sells athletic sneakers and apparel.
It’s easier to follow the trends when you’re an expert in your category. For example, at the start of football season, Ogunsunlade knows he has to stock up on cleats: “Once July and August roll around, I know there’s a parent somewhere in America with a kid that needs some football cleats.”
When thinking about what you want to resell, start with what you like.
“I think it’s definitely beneficial to sell something that you’re passionate about,” said Ogunsunlade. It’ll help prevent burnout. Plus, you’ll find it easier to source and list items that you know well.
Include specifics in your listing page. Building an accurate, engaging listing page is “the most important part of the process,” said Senko. To do so, you first have to know who your customer is.
“The customer for a Tommy Bahama shirt is totally different from a customer who wants a Nike skateboard shirt,” he said. “I need to create a listing that will capture the customer that I’m looking for.”
That requires using specific keywords in the listing title. For example, if you’re selling a Tommy Bahama shirt, don’t just title your listing “Tommy Bahama shirt,” he said. “Everybody can put that part into their title. It’s what comes after that, the nuance, and that’s the separator of how you get your item seen versus your item never selling.”
In addition to keywords, your listing should have clear photos and a detailed description.
If you’re selling clothing, “you have to provide measurements because the customer is buying it sight unseen, so they need a fundamental idea of what they are purchasing,” he said. Or, “If there is any sort of flaw or thing you need to bring attention to the buyer, you need to have that filled in.”
Before listing anything, Ogunsunlade considers the listing from the buyer’s perspective. If he were to click on the listing as a buyer, would it answer all of the questions he would have about the item?
Provide excellent customer service, including a return policy. In any industry, “the most expensive thing for most businesses is the cost of customer acquisition,” said Senko. “So, once we have the buyer in the funnel, if we can sell to them again, that’s just a free customer for us.”
He has a few strategies for retaining customers, including a 60-day free return policy, which is the most aggressive policy eBay offers.
Ogunsunlade has also learned that to be competitive on a site like eBay, offering a return policy “is necessary.” Strong reviews, which can be earned through good communication and fast handling times, are also essential, he said. “Just as with anything you purchase, you want to see the feedback. If you’re looking to purchase a car, you want to purchase from a reputable dealer.”
Give it time. Neither Senko nor Ogunsunlade experienced overnight success with their reselling businesses.
“That first year, it was very, very low margins,” said Ogunsunlade, whose initial goal with the side hustle was to earn enough money a month to cover his cellphone bill. From there, he set a goal to grow his side hustle income every year.
He’s grown gradually, but it’s required a lot of time. He estimates that he spends 30 hours per week on his eBay side hustle, but he likes that there’s “a direct return on the amount of effort that you put in.”
Ultimately, he added, “There’s no cap on how much you can make on eBay.”
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