Part time to full time reselling

[eastcoastbella]

Hi!

I started reselling on eBay in may and have fallen in love with having my own little store. I currently work a full time job and ebay has been my side hustle. For different personal reasons, I am considering leaving my full time job and transitioning to full time reselling. Does anyone have any advice for me? Someone who has done the same and has been successful? 
Thanks 😊 

[eastcoastbella]

No, I totally agree, 600 is not enough to live on a month. But I figure, I’ve only been doing EBay part time. Maybe 2 hours a day I dedicate to it. If I dedicated maybe 10 hrs a day to my store, I feel like I would see more sales, possibly enough to live on. 
 But maybe not. It definitely is a gamble. 

[johnrj1226]

Don't quit your full time job until you do some pencil crunchy and know "all" your costs to sell each and every item you sell and what profit margin %age you are making based the selling price including shipping and handling.  Plus you need to factor in a estimated income tax (federal, state etc.).  Currently, you are selling clothing and  there a tons of other sellers doing the  same.  Sales activity has  it ups and downs, you have to save for a rainy day. 

[javie7282]

I wouldn't be so sure into jumping into reselling full time - diving in can be risky & if you have bills like rent & insurance and other bills, its difficult to determine if your store can drive in enough income to cover your living needs.

I would, in short advise you to consider finding a part time job thats fun and easy & still allows you to ebay & resell. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@eastcoastbella wrote:

Hi!

I started reselling on eBay in may and have fallen in love with having my own little store. I currently work a full time job and ebay has been my side hustle. For different personal reasons, I am considering leaving my full time job and transitioning to full time reselling. Does anyone have any advice for me? Someone who has done the same and has been successful? 
Thanks 😊 

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I went to full-time selling from part-time when I was laid off from my last job. The worst problem I had was simply finding enough inventory. If you remain in clothing, clothing sales here are getting tougher and tougher because inventory acquisition costs are going up while sales prices are going down - if you live in a somewhat lower cost area than I do and where there is lots of inventory to be found, that makes it a great deal easier. I could barely keep up with keeping 500-600 items running because I had to keep replenishing the stock (my sales were fine) and I don't live in a fashion haven. I also sold other items and would suggest that.

Then there was storage - I made do with almost no extra space and a small storage area. The hassle of finding places to put inventory, shipping supplies, photo area (one that actually worked for product photography, etc.) was never ending.  The rest - long hours (due to constant inventory hunting), taxes, etc., was a no brainer for me because I was already used to long days and had run a business before - but those are considerations.

If I had my druthers, I'd have a part-time W2 job and do this, but then I retired so this is my part-time job.

I would not precipitously quit your job and jump into this simply because of the learning curve. Get this up and running first, then I would simply look for a part-time job to supplement because sales do go up and down.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Don't do it.

Keep your day job.

For almost 20 years I made my living online. Made pretty good money. The past couple of years have been so bad I actually got a part time job.  I now work less than half the time I worked when I was self employed and make twice the money.  It's so nice now that some days I don't even turn on my computer.

NOTHING online is stable or guaranteed.  Keep it part time, or as much as you want, but don't give up a stable job for a literal crap shoot.

[hurryagain]

As you can see, most if not all who have replied here are saying the same thing...

It's best to keep your day job.

You are new to selling here so you also need to remember that you are currently in the honeymoon stage of selling here... it's all fun and exciting! 

A few years down the road coupled with the fact that it will become a NEED TO DO thing instead of a want to do thing and your POV and feelings will be completely different from what they are now.

I would suggest that you do this part time for at least a year, two years would be better and then see how you feel about it at that time.

For me, it was exciting and fun for the first 1.5 to 2 years then it started to become a J-O-B...

If you are thinking about dedicating 10 hour days to this, I think that you might burn your honeymoon in a year or so.

Then again we all might be wrong!

We all want you to be very cautious in regards to quitting your "day job."

Good luck on which ever decision that you make.

🙂

[eastcoastbella]

That’s a good idea! I actually have been thinking full time EBay, part time “real job.” Just flipping around what I’m doing now. My job now (medical supplies sales) is very draining and demanding. It makes doing anything else difficult. Im tied to my phone and laptop 9am-6pm with no flexibility in my schedule. Definitely sucks!

[ten_o_nine]

@eastcoastbella 

I was thinking the same in 2004, debating whether I could quit my job and do eBay full time, I'll tell you, I am so glad I didn't, sales were so great for me then and actually more than 80% more than what I sell now with less inventory. 

eBay sales went south for me starting in 2011 and never recovered, every year is worse than the year before, eBay is not a something you can hang your hat on, DO NOT DO IT!!!

[collectfest]

Keep your job. Your listings look great, I do not doubt that you will be successful. 

For me I have sold 100's of items a month, now I chose not to list on eBay anymore. I would NEVER put all of my eggs in one basket as it relates to a job to support myself and family.

I appreciate your excitement for selling on eBay. I have had that feeling come and go several times since 1999. I am so glad I have never put all my eggs in one basket.

Unless financially secure, house paid off, have medical insurance, have excess inventory, have cash on hand for future inventory....I wouldn't even dream about it.

[sassykzt]

You've gotten some really good advice here from the eBay community, especially regarding healthcare.  SInce we live in a country  where your work is tied to your health!   If you feel you "must" do this,  you must have put aside 6 -12 mons of your routine payments put aside.  Also, do not put all your eggs in one basket.  Good luck to you -- your items & listings are lovely😊

[rugerskick]

If it will be your only income stream, make sure to sell on multiple platforms.  You dont have to list all the same stuff on each one.  

[lakefor94]

Right now, on this account, I don't see why you would go fulltime. Not remotely close to making a living. Stick with your fulltime job. 

[keziak]

I've been here since 2000 and from day one have sold on two sites. My friend who is a larger, more successful online seller until recently worked all the time and did fixed price and auctions here, Amazon, flea market and antique stall. And probably other things I never heard about. 

For myself, I always had a husband who has paid a lot of the bills (pro hint: pay off that mortgage ASAP) while I was a WAH mom (have never regretted that for a second).  I pay a lot too but the days when I socked away lots and lots of money into my investments ended prior to Covid and that is never coming back. Inventory sources come and go (mainly go) and the costs of doing business go up and up. I sold on commission all that time but recently resigned because the money got to be stupid after all the expenses I was carrying. 

Having said all that, I was happy to quit working for The Man and now I'm closer to retirement and feel no need to go back. I'm just puttering along. But I'd never suggest to a young person to go full -time  in online sales with the caveat that maybe if they found rock-solid sources of consistent, profitable inventory and diversified sales channels like nobody's business. Oh, and it's 7 days a week, 365 days a year and LOTS of hours a day. Fun!

[12345jamesstamps]

You need an inventory before leaving your job. An inventory that's all paid for already. You will have slow periods of time. I have had no sales in 2 days....very unusual. eBay has been making a lot of changes that do affect the sellers. Not sure what eBay is doing but when you start reading the posts here you know something is going on. I would have maybe 2000+ items for sale even before thinking of doing this full time. Plus adding auctions which can be really fun. Good luck. And stock up on shipping supplies.

[ten_o_nine]

@keziak 

But I'd never suggest to a young person to go full -time  in online sales with the caveat that maybe if they found rock-solid sources of consistent, profitable inventory and diversified sales channels like nobody's business. 

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Even if they found rock-solid source, you just can't rely on a third party to buy and sell because that third party could be gone before you are.