It was President’s Day weekend 2019. My dog, Cashew, had just been neutered and I decided to stay at home to keep an eye on him. I also, had just watched the very first episode of “Tidying Up” on Netflix and I decided immediately to start decluttering everything starting with of course… my boyfriend’s old stuff.  He had 8 of the exact same black Ralph Lauren Polo shirts and I was over it. A couple of hours later, I had about 3 piles of clothes that I was ready to dump, but I thought what the hell and listed a few pairs his old Levi Jeans on eBay, and one sold only hours after posting. I was on to something. We had a total of 8 pairs of Levi’s and Ralph Lauren Jeans, All size 36×34 of various colors and cuts, and they all sold. Each at about $27 all-in (I’ll use all-in a lot. All-in =Sales price + Shipping cost). So that was like $200 during a long weekend. All I had to was takes a few photos, describe the items on eBay, and throw them in the wash because no one wants dirty jeans in the mail.

From there it kind of snowballed into me selling anything we did not use. Here’s a list of stuff I successfully sold on Ebay. All are used!!! 

• Men’s Levi Jeans 511/513 “straight cut” size 36×34 various colors
• Ralph Lauren Jeans 36×34 various colors. all varick straight cut
• Lululemon anything even if they had some signs of use: tops, yoga bottoms, shorts, yoga towel (used to keep you from slipping on your mat)
• Old gaming controllers (we didn’t even have the system anymore)
• Samsung Tablets
• Apple Watch Gen 1
• Gap Denim
• Used Hydroflask
• Used Klean Kanteen
• New Vegetable Peeler (I have no idea why we had two!)
• Amazon Echo Dot (I had gotten them as a promotional gift from some work thing)
• Used Boxing Hand wraps
• Philips Electric toothbrush (yup a used electric toothbrush, I obviously threw in a new tooth brush head)
• My dog’s old harnesses (he had recently grown 5x and his old stuff no longer fit)
• Wireless Mouse

There were a few things that I could not sell on eBay and mostly it was my own stuff – Women’s clothing. My coworker suggested POSHMARK. At first, I sort of ignored the idea and then I put up an old Comme des Garcons t shirt that I had and an old pair of One Teaspoon Denim Shorts. Both great condition and very cute but I had not worn in like 5+ years. Both of those sold same day that I posted them. And now I had found the perfect place to sell stuff for Women’s Clothing.

Here’s a list of Brands that I have successfully sold on Poshmark. All used!

• Everlane – anything everlane will sell i swear so if you see something at a thrift store with this logo and it’s under say $10 pick it up to resell it online
• Madewell
• Jcrew
• Comme de Garcons
• One Teaspoon
• Nike
• Lululemon
• Adidas
• Kate Spade
• Patagonia
• Lacoste
• Penfield
• Rachel Comey

Then, I tried Mercari. I sold a few things here and there. It represents maybe 10% of my total sales so far so I don’t always list there first. I’ll list on eBay and Poshmark, then Mercari if I can’t seem to sell it.

List of stuff sold on Mercari. All used

• Nike NFL Jersey’s for kids
• Dog Puzzles
• Nike Tank
• Kenneth Cole Men’s Watch
• Michael kors watch

Summary:

After all of that I made a little over $2000 reselling online in my first 60-days. Right now I’m on month 4 and i’ve sold probably closer to $4000 now. I’ve bought a few things on clearance that I’ve resold but this represents only about 15% of my total. So 85% of what I’ve sold up to this point are used things I no longer need or want. This makes sense since the average household has $3k worth of unused junk (I swear that I read this somewhere. I just can’t remember where). I’ve sold quite a lot of my clothing and electronics mostly which is fine since I’m trying to live more minimally and now I don’t feel so bad about buying a new pair of pants or a new top here and there. I just make sure to only buy quality items that I know I can resell. So brands that I have seen sell well on eBay or Poshmark.

Here’s a breakdown of what I think sells well and on what platform

• Ebay: Men’s clothing, Electronics, Collectibles, Random Junk
• Poshmark: Women’s clothing and Luxury Goods
• Mercari: Whatever I can’t sell above
• BONUS: Facebook Marketplace: Big items that I cannot figure out how to ship (sold a Juicer). I like it because it seems so far less scary
• BONUS: Goat: Sneakers like Yeezy
• BONUS: Local stuff Offerup/Letgo/Craigslist: I don’t like offerup and letgo because they focus on LOCAL and local pick up is just plain flakey… everyone says they want to meet up but never do. It’s why I don’t use Craigslist either.

The Future:

Looking to connect with people who have experience sourcing new products whether it’s in-store clearance aisle (retail arbitrage),  Online arbitrage (very interested in online arbitrage since there is not a walmart for like 30m in Los Angeles and everything I’ve seen is Walmart clearance), wholesale, Bulq, going direct or whatever. I would potentially like to create a local Group in Marina Del Rey or on the Westside of Los Angeles.

Next up: Read “How to Sell on Poshmark” for a step by step guide to selling on Poshmark with my go-to shipping hacks!

I’ve also written about No Cost Affiliate Marketing Hacks and How to use Daily Deal Sites to promote your Online Course