I have dabbled in online platforms before (usually more buying than selling) but with the onset of COVID and spending more time inside than out- I started looking around my house. Really looking. What I found was an abundance of collections, clothes in every size from 6-16, and a general feeling of clutter.
A perfect recipe for online sales. There are many different platforms out there. You have Ebay and it’s mercurial home pages. They retired the easiest (in my opinion) main page. You cannot access it at all on mobile devices. Now you have to filter through help articles to try and find out what steps need to be taken to even combine shipping on a purchase. UGH! Then there is the whole fee issue. Fees to post, fees to sell, shipping costs…it can really add up quickly if you are selling any amount of items or products.
However, that being said – it is a tried and true method to find just about anything under the sun for sale. If you are looking for anything discontinued or hard to locate – Ebay should be your first stop. Selling, eh not so much. There are many MANY success stories that have come out of that arena ~ and I certainly applaud any online selling magnates.
Another platform that has been gaining traction, are the local pages you find on Facebook where you can post, trade, and sell everything including job opportunities with local hands on exchanges and meet & greets. . With COVID there are many different arrangements between parties to get the items in the other person’s hands.
Then you have the handmade and creative mecca of online – Etsy. I have not been able to crack into the success stratosphere of this site. I have posted art, photos, cards, and handmade jewelry – used their advertising boost suggestions, and not a whole lot of action. Posting items can be labor intensive as well. Do your research and it may be the right niche for you. Many have had success.
That brings me to my favorite platform – Poshmark.
You are not allowed to sell electronics, perfume, or other restricted USPS shipping items. However, that leaves a WHOLE lot of other categories to choose from! I dipped my toe in the Poshmark pool and BAM. In retrospect, my first posted items were priced on the low end of the spectrum- but, I had sales within an hour of posting. Real Sales $$
This past summer I went through a storage container that I hadn’t been in for 6 years. Anything in there I could easily live without. Every box I opened was more of a collection I had accumulated over the past 20 years. Sentimentality has always played a huge part in my life. Weirdly enough, I was able to objectively look at these items – recall where I got them, enjoy the memory, and then was prepared to let them go.
Don’t get me wrong – I still have every wedding anniversary card I ever got from my Husband – along with every token and gift he ever gave me. Those things aren’t going anywhere.
The Poshmark platform is easy to use, is not labor intensive and does not require your listings to sound like you are a Cambridge Professor making a dissertation. The Poshmark Community is a “Community”. Every “Posher” I have come in contact with has been kind, gracious, and more than willing to help educate the newbies.
Things from your closet do turn into dollars. You still need to list and share but, how much and how often is totally up to you. I had a purse that sat there the better part of a year before it sold. No renewing listings needed. You have the ability to mark things “ For Sale”, or “Not for Sale”. You can even put your closet on vacation if you are unavailable.
No matter what platform you use- now is the time to learn how to navigate it. There are millions of people spending their time on line shopping. Brick and Mortar Stores have so many regulations and requirements that it is far easier to sit on your couch in your sweatshirt and coffee, and click away. The packages come right to you or the post office – if you are buying. Your postman will pick up the packages that you are selling. Easy Peasy.
So, in closing – selling items and listing them is a great hobby to have for these winter days. Having money come in and stuff leave is a wonderful feeling. Even though my living room looks like a thrift store exploded, I have postal boxes in every size decorating any empty areas, and tape and scissors on every flat surface- it is a great feeling to have a productive hobby that I can do as much or as little as I want.
I’ll vacuum tomorrow- I have some cool retro jewelry to post on my page……
The Biz Blog 