How to Start a Reselling Business in 4 Easy Steps

Apps and smartphones make starting a resale business easier than ever.

Resale is no longer just a thing your Auntie does to sell a couple of her knit hats to her closest friends. The number of adults who have bought or are open to buying secondhand products increased from 86% to 93% in 2021.

Getting a shop up and running has never been easier. You can become an online reseller in as little as five minutes with a product and an affordable smartphone.

Some folks might prefer to plan their entrance into resale before diving in. Here's how to start a reselling business in four easy steps.

1. Decide what you want to sell

The world is your market: clothes, antiques, old video games. Rifle through your closet for inspiration. There are niches for just about anything you care to sell. Here are some of the biggest categories:

• Clothes and apparel
• Electronics and video games
• Cards and figurines
• Furniture
• Seasonal decor

If you'd like, you can expand to an "everything store," but there are perks to starting with one or two categories. Return customers know what to expect, and you can quickly speed up that niche's research/listing process.

2. Choose a marketplace

Where you sell your products matters a lot. For example, eBay has way more shoppers than Mercari, but Mercari makes it simpler for sellers to post listings. Plus, some sellers choose to open shops on the best e-commerce platforms and sell to buyers directly.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• If you'd like to list items quickly, consider Mercari, OfferUp, or Facebook Marketplace.
• If you want to appeal to the biggest crowds, consider eBay or Facebook Marketplace.
• If you want the marketplace to sell apparel for you, consider ThredUp or The RealReal.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Trial and error taught me that vintage items sell well on eBay, but listing them was a hassle. And while Mercari helped me quickly sell used Halloween decorations, it didn't help me sell cheaper clothing brands.

3. Create your listings

Listing items will probably take up most of your time. Listings require pictures of the product and a product description. Typically, the more helpful information you put on your listing, the quicker it will sell.

Note some resale platforms like ThredUP and TheRealReal will do your listings for you in exchange for a bigger cut of the profits.

You can try a few tools to kick your listings up a notch. Here's the ones I use:

• A smartphone with a decent camera
• Measuring tape
• A box light

Lighting will make or break your pictures. Using lighting equipment or taking pictures in natural lighting is one of the best ways to boost sales. No need to invest in a fancy camera -- the modern smartphone is good enough for most business needs.

4. Package and ship your items

You'll want packaging supplies if you need to ship your items once they sell. You can order Priority Mail boxes from the USPS website for free -- try ordering a bunch of different sizes and go from there. You can reuse old Amazon boxes, too.

Here are some other packing materials you might want to consider:

• Packaging tape
• A printer (for labels)
• Padding to protect the items you're shipping

Hot tip: Use bubble wrap and recycled plastic bags to protect fragile items, so your stuff isn't damaged en route to the buyer.

That's it. Once you pick a product and marketplace, all you need to do is list and ship. Casual sellers could make hundreds of dollars a month selling used items.

To expand your business, consider sourcing items from friends and family. Or dive into the closest Goodwill and look for deals. There's plenty of land to grab for the entrepreneurial reseller -- and the secondhand market is only getting bigger.