• BI spoke to entrepreneurs who make money buying and reselling items on sites like eBay.
• The best retailers tend to focus on a specific category, like clothing, sneakers, or electronics.
• They use data to inform their purchases and stay abreast of market trends.

Business Insider spoke with a handful of people who were so successful reselling items as a side hustle that they quit their day jobs to do it full time.

One particularly successful dealer, Richard S., who prefers not to disclose his last name for privacy reasons, plans to retire before age 40, thanks to the eBay store he started running after losing his job in 2008.

Although startup costs are low, Kendall VanGilder, another full-time clothing reseller, told BI how she started with no money up front – and everyone can get involved, there is a strategy behind sourcing profitable products.

“You can’t just list trash, for lack of a better term, and expect a great result,” said Richard S.

Him, VanGilder and Val Zapata, who sold millions of sneakers and streetwear via live shows on Whatnotshared their key sourcing strategies. BI verified each individual’s tax returns by reviewing screenshots of their seller dashboards.

1. Niche Down

Rather than selling a variety of items, every successful reseller BI spoke with sells in a specific category – and it’s usually a category they’re already familiar with.

VanGilder has worked in retail for most of her career, including five years at Lululemon, and uses that to her advantage. Reselling clothes “was a natural decision for me because I have the ability to be able to discover brands that are good just by the fabric or the touch,” said the owner of Style Occasion.

Zapata put on sneakers, as she had been collecting them with her father since she was a teenager. She now has a 6,000 square foot warehouse to house all of her inventory.

Richard S. found it useful to nestle into his niche.

Its general strategy is to buy “the basics,” brands like Nike, Lululemon and Ralph Lauren that people wear every day. However, within these big brands, he learned that some items are more effective than others.

For example, he found that while a regular Nike Dri-FIT jersey could sell for $10 to $20, a jersey with the logo of Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal could cost $30 to $70, or even as much as $100. dollars if it was the same style. which they wore during a recent tennis tournament.

With Ralph Lauren items, he looks for something specific, like a polo shirt with a big pony logo and “Germany” written on the front, he said.

2. Rely on data and pay attention to market trends

Take the guesswork out of what will sell and figure out exactly what customers want using the data you have.

Richard S. advises looking at what’s selling well by browsing the “sold items” section of your category on eBay for 30 minutes a day.

Buying data-driven items will help you avoid the common mistake of buying what you personally like and assuming other people will like it too. In the resale business, “it doesn’t matter what I think is cool,” he said. “What matters is what the customer thinks is cool.”

VanGilder uses eBay to discover new brands in his space. For example, she searches for a broad clothing category, like “women’s pants,” and filters by items already selling for $50 and up. While browsing the results, she discovers high-end brands that she will then try to track down during her next shopping trip.

“There have been so many times where I’ve researched a brand I’ve never heard of, and then I’ll go to a thrift store and find it,” she said. “It was probably there all along, but now that I focus it in my mind, I see it.”

Zapata says she keeps up to date with what’s popular in the shoe world by attending events, paying attention to what people are wearing, and observing what her favorite sellers are buying and avoiding.

3. Consistency wins

The combination of market assessment, experimentation with various listings and general experience will prepare you to find “successful articles,” said Richard S. “If you go in with the most information and the more opportunity information you give yourself, the more of these home run elements you’ll encounter.

He doesn’t search for these rare items on a daily basis, he noted: “When people hear these conversations, they think you magically find all these $100, $500, $1,000 items.” the items you find will have more daily value and common items in high demand. They exist, but you have to touch a lot of objects and you have to give yourself a lot of opportunities to be able to do it. find them.”