Thrifting has been gaining a lot of popularity over the years, and if you want to start reselling or you're already reselling online, it's always important to take into consideration where you’ll go sourcing, how much you’re going to spend, what king of inventory you want to source for, among many other things! Especially if you want to make the most out of the budget that you have.
In this blog post, we want to cover 6 sourcing tips that will help you make money selling online. Some of these tips apply to any reselling business, whether big or small.
So let's dive into the most useful thrifting tips to get the most out of your budget.
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Select the right days to shop
Selecting days that offer discounts or promotions can help you keep your inventory costs low. Donations come in all day everyday, so you can find good items at any time. Try introducing new stores onto your route. Because thrifting at many different stores will help increase your chances of success in finding great items.
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Define a budget and the list of things you're looking for
It's always important not to go overboard when going thrifting, so we do advise you that before you go, create a list of things you'd like to buy and a budget that you can't go over. If you must, only take cash with you and leave your cards at home, that way you’ll make sure you don’t go over budget.
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Source your inventory
There are plenty of places you can go to find valuable items to resell online.
For example: Sample sales taking place online or near you, there are also sample sale mailing lists you can subscribe to. Try to stay on the lookout for yard or garage sales; these are places where you can find very unique treasures for amazing prices. You can download yard sale apps on your phone, these apps keep you updated about sales in your area, here are some interesting apps we stumbled upon while doing research - Yard Sale Treasure Map, Varage Sale, YardHopping and Wallapop (which works if you’re in the UK, Spain or France).
You can also look for auctions and just like the sample sales, they can take place online or somewhere close to where you are. You can also consider sourcing on places such as Facebook Marketplace and flea markets.
You may also like: How to Source Inventory for Free or With a Low Budget
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Try to source for items you’re familiar with
This way it will be easy for you to identify if it’s worth buying, if it’s real or fake and if it’s in good condition. Selling things you’re knowledgeable about will always play to your advantage!
However, if you want to purchase something new to you here’s our sourcing tip 5.
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Before you make a purchase, look up the item online
Before you purchase something you’re not entirely familiar with it’s always important to look up that product online. If there are lots of products like that one you’d like to buy, it might mean the product isn’t selling as much as it should. You can also look at how much the selling price for that item is, and how much you’re going to buy it for, that way you’ll know if the item is worth purchasing.
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And last but not least, always double check the condition of each item you're going to purchase
Before buying items to resell online, it’s important to carefully double check the condition of each item. Used clothing can have stains, tears, broken zippers, or missing buttons.
There are many other things you can do such as donate things that you're not currently using or things that have been in your inventory for a long time, to see if you can get some store credit or discount, and also, be very patient! Sourcing for good inventory can take some time, so be sure not to be in a rush when you visit the thrift store. With this being said, don’t forget to leave your comments below, letting us know if you’ve applied these sourcing tips and which you believe has worked best for you.
