How I got Started Reselling Online

Happy Monday! I thought I’d take some time and write about one of my hobbies that I enjoy that also makes me some extra money. That’s a win-win in my book!

About a year ago I started selling some of my clothes I no longer wanted on Poshmark and Mercari. For those of you that have never heard of Poshmark or Mercari they are online selling platforms. Poshmark is mainly for clothing and handbags. You can sell pretty much anything on Mercari from household goods to clothing to electronics.

When I first started I had no clue what I was doing (which I think most resellers will tell you as well). I thought you’d just take a couple pictures and then list stuff and it would quickly sell - if only it were that easy! And every once in awhile things do sell right away for me. But a lot of times it takes a little more time and work.

I’ve had better luck with Mercari than with Poshmark. There are pros and cons to both sites. For example, Poshmark has more of a social media kind of feel with features like sharing your listings or other people’s listings, commenting, liking listings, gaining followers, etc. Some people like that, others do not. I personally think it adds a lot more work and can be frustrating when things just sit in your closet for a long time even though you’re doing everything Poshmark tells you to do. In contrast, Mercari doesn’t have any of that. You can promote your listings by either dropping the price for the item, which will bump it up in people’s searches, or you can send a private offer to everyone who has liked the listing. In my personal experience, I’ve had more people buy an item on Mercari when I send them an offer than I have on Poshmark. I think it all depends on what you’re trying to sell as well. It seems like the more expensive brands do better on Poshmark and less expensive ones do better on Mercari

My biggest piece of advice would be to list often! The more items you have listed the more likely you are to have sales. Once things have been sitting for awhile relist them so that they are fresh brand new listings again. Poshmark makes that pretty easy to do with their copy feature.

Another tip would be to try new platforms! Having your items listed in as many places as possible never hurts. That’s all the more chances you have of making a sale. Over the past few weeks I’ve been listing things on Facebook Marketplace with shipping and already made a few sales. Things have sold there that I’ve had listed on Poshmark or Mercari for several months and no one was interested on those platforms. If you’re worried about your friends seeing everything you’re listing for sale they do have a setting where you can hide listings from your friend, but everyone else on Facebook can see the listing.

I’m no pro at reselling, it’s just something I do in my spare time to earn a little extra money. I’m still learning new tricks and tips all the time. One of the biggest things that helped me was following other resellers on Instagram and learning from what they have to say. There are so many resellers on Instagram and they share a wealth of information everyday! From talking about brands that sell well to shipping tips to learning that Goodwill Outlet (also called the bins) was a thing. I have yet to go to a Goodwill Outlet but it’s on my bucket list. Maybe this summer when I’m on maternity leave 😉

Well I think that’s enough rambling for now. Hope that this post can help someone who’s looking to start reselling! It’s honestly very fun and it’s so satisfying when you make a sale and get to pack it up to go to it’s new home!

If you have any questions or suggestions for something else you’d like me to write a blog post about comment below or send me a message on the Contact Me page.

Have a great day!

Ally