From Reseller to Reseller Supplier: What 8 Years of Reselling Taught Me
Nine years ago, I started reselling clothing for a very simple reason: I hated the idea of perfectly usable clothing being thrown away.
At the time, I also had a young family and wanted to build a business that gave me flexibility. I privately rented our home and wanted the freedom to move anywhere in the country if the right opportunity came along, so having a business that wasn't tied to one particular location was really important to me.
What started as buying and reselling used clothing grew into a much bigger operation than I ever expected.
From a few items to a full reselling business
I didn't just sell women's clothing.
Over the eight years I spent as a reseller, I sold pretty much everything — women's clothing, men's clothing, children's clothing, baby clothes, plus sizes, homeware, toys, books, fancy dress and more.
I built an entire website around it, with different categories for all of those products, and as the business grew, so did the operation behind it.
By my second year, I had staff helping with photography, and by around year five I had taken on additional staff to help with other parts of the business.
I also moved into storage units as the amount of stock I was dealing with grew.
It was no longer simply a case of buying a few bags of clothing and listing them from home. It had become a proper business, with stock to source, store, photograph, upload and sell.
Eight years taught me a lot about reselling
When you're buying stock to resell, it's easy to concentrate on the potential selling price.
But there is so much more to consider.
You have to source the stock, sort through it, decide what is worth keeping, photograph it, measure it, write descriptions, upload it, store it, deal with enquiries, package orders and finally get it sold.
And when you're doing that item after item, the time really adds up.
After eight years of doing it myself, I know exactly how much work goes into reselling individual items. I've written more about what I've learned about
here.
That's something I think is really important when you're choosing where to source your stock.
Why I moved into supplying resellers
After eight years of reselling, I reached a point where I wanted to take everything I'd learned and use that experience in a different way.
Rather than continuing to spend my days selling individual pieces of clothing, I wanted to use my knowledge of sourcing, stock and reselling to help other people build their own businesses.
And that's how I found myself on the other side of the process — supplying stock to other resellers.
It feels like a natural progression.
I've spent years learning what makes a piece of stock exciting to a reseller, what can make a bundle worthwhile and, perhaps most importantly, just how much work goes into turning a pile of clothing into individual items ready for sale.
Why I particularly like unsorted stock
One of the things I love most about our new 15kg Unsorted Clothing Bundles is that they are exactly what they say they are — unsorted.
We don't go through the clothing looking for the best pieces first.
We don't pull out the brands we think will sell for more.
We don't take the “treasure” before it reaches you.
And I can say that with complete confidence because, more importantly, customer satisfaction has always been incredibly important to me. I wouldn't feel comfortable taking the best pieces out of a bundle and then selling the remainder to a customer. If we're selling you an unsorted bundle, I want you to receive the same opportunity to find those great pieces for yourself.
What can you find in an unsorted bundle?
The honest answer is: you never quite know.
Because the clothing hasn't been picked through and separated into different grades or categories, you can get a real mixture.
There may be some cheaper or more worn-looking pieces alongside some really lovely finds.
And that's part of the fun.
You might open a bundle and find something that you know you can sell immediately. You might find a great brand, something unusual, a piece that would have cost considerably more to buy individually — or simply something you know your own customers will love.
It's a little bit of a treasure hunt.
And because you're buying 15kg of clothing rather than paying individually for selected pieces, it can be a really affordable way to build up your reselling stock.
Why I think unsorted stock can work so well for resellers
If you've been reselling for a while, you probably already know what your own customers like.
You don't necessarily need somebody else to decide which pieces are “best” for you.
You might be brilliant at spotting the brands that sell well on Vinted.
You might have customers looking specifically for plus sizes.
You might know that children's clothing flies off your shelves.
Or perhaps you simply enjoy the process of sorting through a bundle and deciding for yourself what has potential.
That's exactly why I think unsorted stock is such an interesting option.
You get the stock — and you make the decisions.
From reseller to supplying resellers
I never set out nine years ago thinking that I'd eventually stop reselling and find myself supplying other people who do it.
But having spent eight years on the other side of the process gives me a perspective that I wouldn't have otherwise.
I know what it's like to be excited about a bundle arriving.
I know what it's like to spot a great piece of clothing amongst a pile of stock.
I know how important margins are.
And I know that when you're buying stock to resell, you want to feel that you're getting a genuine opportunity to make money from it.
That's why I'm particularly excited about our move towards unsorted stock.
We're putting the opportunity back into the hands of the reseller: 15kg of clothing to sort through, with no best bits removed first.
If you're new to reselling, our guide to getting started with reselling is a great place to start, while our 15kg unsorted bundles offer an affordable way to begin building your stock.
And if you're an experienced reseller, you already know exactly what you're looking for.
Ready to have a rummage?
Our 15kg Unsorted Clothing Bundles are available now.
There are no guarantees about exactly what you'll find — that's the nature of unsorted stock — but that's also what makes every bundle a little bit of a treasure hunt.
And after eight years as a reseller, I can honestly say that sometimes the best finds are the ones you weren't expecting.
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