Could "Reselling" Provide You With a Comfortable Living?

The market for reselling today is bigger than ever. Whether it be tech, sneakers, antiques, action figures, or any other odd end you can think of, there is most likely a market for it. The method of reselling is so popular right now that thredup.com, an online, resell consignment store, estimates that the second hand market will double to nearly $350 billion by 2023.

With technology being where it’s at today, it’s so easy to find an item at a garage sale or a thrift store, snap a couple photos, and boom it’s on sale online and purchasable for anyone with the click of a button. The idea that secondhand selling and shopping is a trend worthy goes hand in hand with the boost in technology that Gen Z utilizes for this market. TikTok and Instagram are huge platforms with influencers pushing the trend of reselling and thrifting.

Linking markets to social media platforms has been a big movement that aids this trend. Shops like Poshmark have linked their online shopping with Snapchat which allows users to browse products while scrolling through their snapchat.

With how accessible the reselling market is, how profitable is it actually? According to smallbiztrends.com, someone selling on eBay can make anywhere from $35,000 to $70,000. Of course the top sellers on the website are the ones making the near $70,000. This all comes down to who is selling it, what they are selling, and how much inventory they can move.

The items that sell best on eBay may surprise you. According to bloggingwizard.com, the number one selling item on eBay is charging cables. Other items in the top 15 include men’s and women’s clothing, fragrances, computers, and action figures. Obviously not all of these are your average thrift finds, but finding these items in bulk for cheap like cables and reselling them for double the price is a viable option.

Aside from the popular items, another great selling point for items is nostalgia or the stories buyers may have behind them. In our latest podcast episode, we talked to longtime CWU professor Terri Reddout. Reddout has recently decided it’s time she steps away from full-time teaching and she said she wants to focus more on her eBay selling. One big point she made was the fact that you can sell more than just an item to someone, to them it could be a memory or it could hold an entire story. There can be so much meaning behind the item she is selling to whoever wants it.

“One thing I get that I did not expect… I get so many cool stories,” Reddout said.

Needless to say, there are endless ways to reach people and find a niche to sell online. There are so many ways to look at and angles to take. The nostalgia route of an item could be your thing or the hot new trend that is sold out and hyped up can be your thing. There are many ways to resell and make money doing it. What it comes down to is your own ability to hunt for the product and have the drive to get it sold. If you are willing and put in the work, you very well could make it it a full time living, the way the market is building makes it very possible in the future.