A Beginner's Guide to Getting Started as a Reseller

Summary

Sami breaks down exactly how she and JR built a $300k+ reselling business from scratch — starting with what's already in your closet, checking sold comps before investing time in anything, picking the right platforms for your niche, and setting up systems so nothing falls through the cracks. It's the full beginner roadmap: goals, sourcing, listing, shipping, taxes, and the one thing she says matters most — staying organized.

• Start by selling what you already own — zero investment, and it tells you fast whether reselling is for you.
• Always check sold comps (not just active listings) before spending time cleaning up or fixing an item.
• eBay takes the biggest cut but has the widest audience and best ROI; Whatnot builds real community; Depop, Poshmark, and Mercari each have their own tradeoffs.
• Weigh your items, save free packaging, and reuse boxes — don't overspend on supplies when you're starting out.
• Keep business and personal finances separate from day one (she uses QuickBooks) and talk to a tax pro early.

Transcript

Hi. Hello. You've got time to waste and I'm here to waste it. By the end of this video, you will sell at least one item and it will cost you 0 to do so. Stick around and find out how. Was that good? Are you hooked? I hope you're hooked. Hi. Hello. I'm Sammy. For the past 3 years, my husband and I have been selling vintage clothes to strangers on the internet, and it's gone pretty well. We've done over $300,000 in sales and we've made it his full-time job. So, I thought today in response to a bunch of messages I got, I would walk you through just how to do this, how to become a reseller. There is so much to know. We have made so many mistakes along the way, but it is the most rewarding, fun side hustle you can imagine. So much so that it could be turned into a full-time job. asterisk disclaimer, I make no promises. You get what you put in. Also, it is raining today. So, I hope you enjoy the ambient sounds of rain falling behind me. It feels very cozy. It's very nice. I will be reading from my notes to try to stay on track today. Y'all know my brain is a little bit crazy. If you're new here, you should be aware I am chaotic. I have ADHD. I bounce around and I I go pretty fast. I apologize in advance. If I'm not for you, I'm not for you. That's okay. I'm not water. I'm not for everyone. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to talk about making a plan. Starting with what you have. knowing how to find things that sell and list things that sell at prices that will sell. I'll help you optimize your listings. I'll tell you about taking good photos. We'll talk about all of the different platforms that you can sell on, getting those accounts set up, making sales, dealing with customer service, returns, refunds, packing, shipping, the whole thing. We'll go through it and then we will do a one item walkthrough beginning to end to kind of make it all make sense.

So if you're in, I'm in. There are three people watching this video right now. Either you need to make ends meet. Money's tight. The economy sucks. You know how it is. Or you're just trying to stay busy so you can stay out of trouble. Or maybe you just have a ton of stuff and you really want to clear out all of that stuff and you're thinking, "Hey, maybe there's a way to make some money off of this." Whatever your reason, I got you.

The first thing we should talk about is making a plan. When you very first get started, before you ever list an item, before you do a thing, I want you to make a list of questions that you have to answer before you get started. What's my goal? What do I want to get out of this? What does success look like to me? What am I passionate about? What do I think I could do better than anyone else in the reselling space? You should also ask yourself, what do I like and what don't I like? How much time am I willing to invest in this adventure? Know all of that about yourself before you get started, because it will lay the groundwork for everything else.

Another thing to ask yourself: do you want to be a generalist or a specialist? A generalist deals with things in general, knows a little about a lot, and sells all different categories to different audiences — that diversifies your portfolio, and when one category dips you have others to fall back on. A specialist focuses on a very niche area. For me, that's mid-century clothes, 1940s to 1970s — I love the history and the details, and I'm truly passionate about vintage fashion, so that translated into a great thing for me to sell. JR's specialty is obscure rare band and counterculture tees, but he's a bit of a generalist too since he sources in places where he comes across all kinds of things.

The most important thing from my perspective is to start with what you already have. Resale is one of the few business models you can get into with literally zero money invested. If you have a donate box that's been sitting in your trunk for six months, bring it back inside — you're listing it. Starting with what you have is a quick way to see if this is even the right thing for you, and it doesn't cost any money. By starting with things you have, you'll also start to learn what sells before you invest more.

Here's what I want you to do: take the first five items you plan to list and check the sold comps. People can list an item for any amount they want — that doesn't mean it's actually worth that. The sold comps filter on eBay (and Poshmark and Depop also show sold items) will show you exactly how much an item actually sold for, how many sold recently, and in what condition. I like to check sold comps before I start listing anything, because I don't want to invest time in something that's not going to be worth it. We once brought home a cool bag from the Goodwill bins — I spent a solid two hours scrubbing and cleaning it, soaked it overnight, invested five hours total — and it turned out to be worth $9. Was that time investment worth it? No. Check your comps first.

So where do you sell? There are a bazillion secondhand marketplaces. For us, we list everything on eBay first, then break out to Depop, Poshmark, and mostly Whatnot. eBay is by far my top choice — also the most expensive, but the biggest return on investment, the oldest and most reputable, with the widest demographic range. Depop skews younger. Poshmark skews heavily toward women. Mercari feels like 80% robots to me, but when you get a real sale it's good. There's also Etsy (more high-end, requires vintage to be 20+ years old), Vinted (zero fees but small US audience), and Facebook Marketplace (good for local, heavy, or furniture-type items).

On fees: eBay takes about 13.6% of your total item price (item + shipping + tax) plus 30-40 cents per order, though in practice it ends up closer to 30% of the sale when promoted, 20% when not — still comparable to a consignment shop's 30-40% cut, and you're paying for the audience and algorithm visibility. Poshmark charges $2.95 flat under $15 and 20% above that, with buyers covering shipping. Depop has 0% seller fee but a 3.3% + $0.30 processing fee, and the highest buyer fees, which can mean pickier buyers; note they don't have binding offers, so an accepted offer isn't guaranteed to be paid. Mercari charges 10% seller fee with buyers covering shipping — low fees, but Sami finds the quality of sales low and the bot traffic frustrating. Whatnot charges 8% commission plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing, reduced as your volume grows — steep-feeling since items often sell for less on live, but the community and relationships built there are, in her words, incredible.

A few notes: no seller fee doesn't mean no fee at all (Depop still has processing). Cheapest isn't always best (Poshmark costs the most but has the easiest flat-rate shipping). If you charge for shipping on eBay, eBay takes its cut of that shipping charge too. Sami's advice: pick one platform, learn it, then scale — though she admits she didn't do that herself and got overwhelmed listing everywhere at once. She uses Vendoo to crosslist everything from eBay out to the other platforms and keep inventory in sync so nothing accidentally sells twice, but recommends new sellers hold off on a crosslisting tool until they know they're sticking with reselling.

When you're setting up accounts, pick one username and use it everywhere if you can (Sami's own accounts are inconsistently named across platforms — learn from her mistake). Use a real photo of yourself if you're selling as you, and please, she begs you, do not use AI-generated logos or AI-enhanced photos — people spot it, and it reads as an instant red flag associated with scam accounts.

On listings: photos and descriptions matter enormously. Shoot in natural light, use a clean background, and show any flaws (stains, holes) honestly along with accurate measurements. Use eBay's image search to find comps and copy a similar listing structure to save time. Learn basic SEO — use the words your buyers actually search for ("prairie style dress," not the obscure maker's name on the tag).

On sales and customer service: send offers to people who've liked/followed an item, decide your own pricing philosophy (Sami's is roughly "double my money and move on"), expect lowball offers and occasional returns as just part of the business, and don't let any of it get under your skin — she's often been able to resell a returned item for even more than the original sale.

On shipping: weigh every item before listing so you're not over- or under-charging for postage. Get free flat-rate priority boxes from USPS.com, reuse Amazon boxes and poly mailers, and don't buy a postage scale right away — use a bathroom scale and do the math. Eventually invest in a thermal label printer once you're making money.

On staying organized (her top-priority advice): create a system for where items live at every stage — intake, cleaning, ready-to-list, listed — organized by size or category so either she or JR can pick up the process at any point. Track finances separately from personal spending (they use QuickBooks, log mileage, scan receipts) and get a tax professional early, since everything you make is income and everything you spend on the business can be a write-off.

She closes with a full one-item walkthrough: an estate-sale find gets cleaned, photographed, listed on eBay off a sold comp, cross-posted via Vendoo, sold, packed, shipped twice-daily to the post office, and followed up with feedback — plus what to do when a package gets lost or arrives damaged (apologize, help them, or offer a refund).

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