Congratulations everyone! We are more than halfway through my FREE Reselling as a Business Mini Course! I hope that this course has been helpful to you and your reselling business thus far! Today, we are going to talk about something that many people have questions about. You guessed it… inventory! This topic is something that can be quite controversial amongst resellers for many reasons and tends to bring up a lot of mixed opinions. That being said, it is something that I think is important to talk about especially when considering starting a reselling business. BUT before we get started, if you missed any of my previous discussions and want to give them a look, please visit these posts: HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Week 4: Inventory
In this section of the course, we will be discussing 3 topics related to inventory:
How Do I Select Sellable Inventory?
What is the Best Way to Store My Inventory?
How Do I Sell My Inventory Quickly?
A) Inventory Selection
Inventory selection is something that many newer resellers tend to struggle with, especially in the beginning stages of his or her reselling career. And that is understandably so! When I was a newer reseller, I had no idea what items would make me money. The early stages of my reselling career involved a LOT of trial and error and learning along the way. Over time, I learned what items worked for me and my business and established a reselling identity that was unique to me! In order to do that, I discovered that there are 4 key elements (or the 4 S’) to choosing the best inventory for your reselling business:
Sellability
Is the item going to sell? This is the #1 question that you need to ask yourself when selecting inventory to sell on reselling platforms. Your goal as a reseller is to sell the item as quickly as you can so you want to make sure that the item that you are selecting is a desirable item on the reselling market. In order to learn what items are desirable in the reselling market, you have to do some research and run comps on any items that you find while sourcing. This will help you to determine how “sellable” an item is.
Style
Style goes hand in hand with sellability. As a reseller, it is important to know what styles are desirable on the reseller market at any given time. Many people will be searching for items that are on-trend within a specific fashion season and/or are blogger favorites. If you are able to stay on top of trending styles, then it will be much easier for you to choose items that are desirable and in-demand within reselling platforms.
Seasonality
Seasonality is a tricky topic for many resellers as we all have different views on it. Some resellers like to sell all seasons year round while other resellers, only sell items that are seasonally appropriate. Personally, I like to sell all seasons year round. Why? Because you never know what people may be shopping for at any given time of the year. In the middle of January, someone may be shopping for an upcoming beach vacation and if you don’t have any summer garb in your closet, then you might be missing out on a sale!
Size
Some sizes are easier to sell than others. Personally, I have learned that odd sizes don’t do as well for me, including petite and tall sizes. While sourcing, you will notice that it is much easier to find “normal” sizes such as S-L and much more difficult to find plus sizes. Although plus sized items are much harder to find, they typically sell for more money and much quicker. The key here is to know your audience and buy inventory that fulfills their needs.
B) Inventory Storage
Over the past 8+ years of reselling, my inventory storage methods have changed multiple times. When I first started reselling, I had a plethora of space to store my items in and didn’t have to think twice about how much room I would need to set aside for my inventory. All of my items were stored in neatly organized bins and hanging racks. Fast forward to September of 2020 when I moved to another state and had a fraction of the space for my inventory. At that time, I had to acquire a new system for my inventory and had to switch my reselling mindset and strategy. Most of my items are now stored in SpaceBags and small cardboard boxes.
If you would like to see the evolution of my storage set-ups visit THIS post.
Knowing what I know now about inventory storage, the biggest tip that I could give when it comes to inventory storage is to:
Use a method of storage where you can see ALL of your items and they are readily available to you!
This is something that is key in my inventory storage methods these days. Why? Since I don’t provide measurements in my listings, people are always asking for me for them. I have to constantly locate and take down my items to provide my customers with measurements. I don’t mind doing it but it can sometimes be difficult to find items if they are in solid colored containers. By placing items in clear bags or totes, it makes it SO much easier to locate items as you can see what is in the container before moving it.
C) Selling Inventory
Every reseller out there will tell you that they have their own method for selling their inventory. Some use automation tools to share their Poshmark closets, some will hire assistants to perform everyday tasks for them, while others will claim that they have conquered a reselling platform’s algorithm. Honestly, I use none of the above. Instead, I take an analytical approach to reselling. In order to make the best use of my time, I like to only perform tasks within these apps that are logical and beneficial to my business.
I do have a Poshmark sharing method that works well for me and my business. This is something that I have discussed with you previously and it is something that works for me consistently. My Poshmark Sharing Method only takes about 5 minutes to do and yields big results. If you are interested in learning my methods, be sure to visit THIS post and THIS post.
If you don’t already, be sure to check out my Instagram for more Reselling Tips at @ RecycledRosesGuide (Click HERE) and my Facebook page HERE.
You can instantly shop all of my looks by following me on the LIKEtoKNOW.it shopping app HERE.
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