fancy free | high fashion for low prices
  • blog
    • shop my looks
  • secondhand boutique
  • weekly dupes
  • reselling resources
  • about
  • contact
Picture

1 Year Full Time Reselling Review

3/31/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wow, I honestly can not believe a whole year has flown by since Bjorn and I came back from our month long trip to the Netherlands and I started on the path of reselling and blogging full time! I'm really proud of this business I grew out of nothing, and it's amazing to look back on where I started and thought I knew then, and what I am doing now (some the same but a lot different!) I thought I would take this time to publicly reflect on this past year and my experiences to hopefully help any other resellers or business owners on their own journey!

What I love!

(Ok this one is super easy!)

- I have always LOVED bargain shopping, and I'm so grateful to have found an outlet where I can do what I love doing and support myself at the same time. 

- When I make a sale and simultaneously help someone also find a great deal on an item they love!

- Making a difference for our environment by promoting the reuse of clothing, shoes, and accessories.

- I am so proud that such a large portion of my business expenses are going to charity via the thrift stores I source at.

- The reselling community is very helpful and supportive!

- Unlike a traditional job with stagnant pay, when I put in extra hard work in my business I see a difference in my paycheck.

What I Didn't Expect

- I did not know as much as about the demand of brands as I thought ( I picked up WAYYY too much Lauren Ralph Lauren just because I personally thought it was nice...)

- The more professional, put together, and cohesive you make your brand, the more customers will treat you like a big business (which is not as nice, fyi)

- You just can't meet everyone's expectations.

​- I will be working way more than 40 hours a week, and even when I try to disconnect I can't stop thinking about working!

- Social media is such an important tool for promoting a business.

- eBay may sound like the cheapest place to sell, but after shipping, subscription fees, PayPal fees, promoted listings, etc, (as recommended by eBay) you are paying well over 20% sellers fees on your items!

What I Don't Love So Much...

- In order to get a free return, people will resort to damaging your items in order to open an "item not as described" case.

​- People will harass you via messages to get a partial/full refund.

​- Working for yourself can be very isolating!

The Changes I'm Making

- As time has passed, I've found I'm not a huge fan of eBay. This is actually the first site I resold on, and for a time this was where I was making my most money. But eBay buyers can be very mean & harassing, and eBay can be harsh when it comes to hiding your listings when you do something they don't like. Plus they have the "buyer is always right" mentality, which has cost me quite a bit of money over time. I've found for me, the stress of receiving an eBay message from an unhappy buyer or possibly not meeting my shipping deadline is just not worth it to me anymore. Since the beginning of 2019 I've started sourcing items geared more towards Poshmark, and hope by this summer when my eBay store subscription expires that I will be able to transition solely to Poshmark. #poshmarkisbae

- At the beginning of reselling full time, I was all about spending the bare minimum for my inventory. If it was more than $1 I would not even think about picking it up, even if it was a great brand I could make money off of! I was just really paranoid about spending money. It is just so much harder to find great inventory at that type of price. Possible, but difficult. My ASP was low and I was having to list and move so much inventory to reach my goals. It was SO much work! Once I got over the thought that spending money was bad, I was making better inventory purchases, had to sell less to make more, and the quality of items I was listing was much more on brand with Fancy Free <3

My Recommendations For New Resellers

- Do you research! Other resellers are so open to share information. Follow them on Instagram , subscribe to their YouTube channels and look out for what they are picking up, what they are selling and at what prices, etc. It is amazing how many brands I look out for at the thrift store that I knew nothing about this time a year ago! (Like, a lot)

- Keep an Excel spreadsheet of your inventory and what you paid for the items so you can keep track of the money you are actually making, how long items have sat around, etc.

- As well, keep track of your expenses and sales NOW so you aren't scrambling come tax time (yes you have to pay taxes on the money you make reselling)

- Make sure to log what you are driving. It is a tax write off!

- EVERYONE has a $0 sales day. It is inevitable. When I get down on a low sales day, I like to look at my numbers and remind myself my reselling business came completely from my own hustle! You got this!

- Don't take returns/unhappy customers/bad review personally. This one took me a long time to learn, but you just can't please everyone, and many people become very confident/mean behind a keyboard. Just do your best. Sometimes you make mistakes. It's ok. Life goes on. There are more important things. Try to do better moving forward. :)
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Live for luxury? No trust fund, no problem!
    Join the fancy free journey as we seek the
    finer things in life, sans millions.

    Press

    - Marie Claire, September 2016

    Categories

    All
    About
    Accessories
    Advice
    Amazon Finds
    Authentication
    Baby
    Beauty On A Budget
    Budget
    DIY
    Dupes
    Entertainment
    Fancy Finds
    Fancy Food
    Fancy Free Boutique
    Fancy Fun
    Fancy Home
    Fancy Travels
    For Him
    Fräulein
    Friday Favorites
    Holidays
    Home Renovations
    How To
    Lust List
    #ootd
    Quick Tip
    Reselling
    Sales
    Save Or Splurge
    Secondhand Deals
    Shopping Smart
    Shopping Tips
    Sponsored
    Styling Secrets
    Trends
    Vlog
    Wardrobe Staples
    Work Wear

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • blog
    • shop my looks
  • secondhand boutique
  • weekly dupes
  • reselling resources
  • about
  • contact