Spring Cleaning Checklist: Reseller Edition

Reseller friends, spring is here! 🌸 That means it is time to do some spring cleaning in your reselling business.

Here are a few tips to get organized, tidy up your business, maximize sales and set yourself up for success this season!

Donate Stale Inventory

It is time to donate the stuff that won’t sell. 👋

I know that’s a tough pill to swallow, as we resellers are inclined to hold out to recoup anything we can to mitigate the loss. Hear me out, take the loss. The donation actually might be beneficial for taxes.

The biggest mistakes I have made as a reseller surround not valuing my time appropriately. I used to spend hours trying to revise listings, crosslist, relist, drop prices, send offers, and host sales on inventory that I was already upside down on in terms of my initial COG and the time I had already invested. 

Do not keep pushing yourself further underwater by investing more time to try to get things to sell. Seriously, just cut the loss and donate. It will sting for a second and then feel so nice to let go! Instead, you can focus your time on newer, better inventory that will sell for more.

Clean Your Business

Spring is the perfect time to analyze your books, budgets, and inventory management to make sure everything is perfectly organized. ✨

If you’re anything like me, you start the new year strong in terms of organization and then, come mid-February… forget it.  

Take some time to organize yourself. We’re not even halfway through the year, so you still have time to shine! This is both physical and electronic.

Spring cleaning definitely encompasses physical cleaning! Getting your workspace and inventory organized. 🧹 It will feel so nice to have everything organized! 

In addition to literal clearing, making sure you’re electronically organized is key! Make sure all of the following is set:

•  Your bookkeeping is in order with all of your expenses (products, services, supplies, utilities, miles, etc.)

• You have met with your accountant recently and you know you’re doing everything correctly this year.

• Your accounts are balanced with all earrings confirmed and recorded

• That pile of receipts (or electronic folder) is at least organized by month. 

• You have all of the information year-to-date about everything you have sold

• You have analyzed your Q1 numbers and redefined goals and daily activities to help achieve them

Just starting out? Check out 9 Steps to Start a Reselling Business Online for Profit

Tidy Your Listings

Clean up your listings to set yourself up for seller success!  🚧

Take some time this quarter to evaluate your older listings. Your older listings are likely lacking because we get so much better with time! Little tweaks can make a big difference to promote sales!

Give your listings a spring makeover: 

•  Make sure none of your listings are stale (over 60 days old), and relist daily to be sure that they never are.

  
  

•  Make sure that everything is cross-listed everywhere it should be for maximum exposure.

  
  

• Take a quick look at your titles, descriptions, hashtags, and keywords, and prices to see if there are any improvements to make.

  
  

• As you tidy up your listings, here are two amazing resources to review and keep in mind:

1. A Reseller’s Guide to Keywords & SEO will help you to enhance your titles and descriptions for maximum reach. 

   
   

2. A Reseller’s Guide to Cores & Aesthetics will help you to use style keywords and hashtags to enhance your listings for visibility. 

☝🏽 Those two will change your business forever. Thank us later. 

Host a Spring Sale

A well-orchestrated sale can be an amazing way to clean out some inventory and make some cash! 💰

Hosting a sale can be a lot of work, but if you do it right, it can be very lucrative. 

Many marketplaces have the ability to run a discount sale or send a coupon. Learn about how to best utilize the tools available to you where you sell.

If you’re not up for hosting and promoting a formal sale, a “sale” can be accomplished by strategically promoting listings, dropping prices, or sending bulk offers at the absolute best deal you can! These activities can have the same effect: clearing out inventory and encouraging profit! 🤑

There are many creative ways to create and promote a sale. To learn how to host a sale anywhere, check out the article How to Host a Sale on Poshmark, eBay, Depop, Etsy, and More! 

Cut Down the Deathpile

It goes without saying that you need to work through your unlisted inventory because if it’s not listed, it’s not selling  👏

Before you tackle your death pile, read #1 again. 

Work through your unlisted inventory strategically:

First, prioritize summer. ‘Tis the season. 

Also, create workable “mini death piles” that you will tackle one at a time. Mix items you love with items you don’t so you don’t find yourself avoiding the items you don’t want to list forever. 

You also want to list consistently, so draft and publish strategically rather than pushing them all live at once. This will stimulate your marketplaces and lead to more engagement and sales!

It is tough to stay motivated, but your summer self will thank you for getting all of it listed! Plus, you can go sourcing guilt-free 😎

Having trouble staying motivated? Join the Vendoo Facebook Group where we have weekly challenges and quarterly Listing Challenges to stay motivated and accountable while working together! 

Screenshot this to stay motivated 👇🏽

You might also be interested in 10 Great Marketplaces Every Reseller Should Consider.

Are you doing some spring cleaning in your reselling business? Share your best tips and tricks below!