There have been many moments in my 10 year reselling journey where I have felt extremely overwhelmed and frustrated. The number one component of the reselling business that causes these sentiments is my inventory. At the time that I am writing this post, I have over 1600+ active listings in my main closet and 400+ listings in my secondary closet. It can be very difficult to manage 2000+ items at times and I can become extremely overwhelmed. Today, I wanted to share with you how I handle being overwhelmed with inventory as a full-time reseller.
Look for Opportunities to Liquidate Inventory
Whenever I feel overwhelmed with my inventory, one of the first steps that I take is to look for opportunities to liquidate inventory. Specifically, I am looking to liquidate inventory that is over 1 year old, damaged, and/or no longer a trending style or brand. In order to do this, I will go through my Poshmark app and filter items by date to find my oldest items. Usually these items are already marked down in price as I try to move them on my reselling platforms before liquidating so they are pretty easy to locate. From there, I will make a list of the items and pull them from storage. I will then research local buy-sell-trade locations near me and learn what items they are looking to buy in [Note: This information is usually available on their social media platforms.] Any items that they do not purchase from me will either be further reduced on my reselling platforms or be donated.
Keep an Efficient and Organized Inventory Storage and Prep System
As someone who needs things in their life to be organized at all times, having an efficient and organized inventory storage system helps me to feel less overwhelmed. My inventory storage system has changed at least 5 times in the past 10 years to get to where it is now; The system that I have currently is my most efficient and organized one yet. It is very easy for me to to put away, store, and pull items which helps to decrease my stress surrounding my inventory. If you are interested in learning more about my current inventory storage system, check out THIS post.
Stop Buying Inventory Until I Am Caught Up With My Current Inventory
Some people are going to have mixed opinions on this but when I feel overwhelmed, I find it best to temporarily stop buying new inventory. It just doesn’t make sense to me to keep adding more inventory to the equation when you feel overwhelmed with what you already have. During this time, I focus my attention on the processes listed above, in addition to, working through my pile of unlisted inventory. Once I have regained control of the situation and feel like I am in a good place with my inventory levels, I will resume buying new inventory.
Determine My Inventory “Sweet Spot”
When it comes to how much inventory one should have in their reselling business there is no right or wrong answer. Different resellers will have different inventory levels depending on their Average Sales Price (ASP) and niche. However, I do believe that there is a “sweet spot” when it comes to how much inventory I should have available in my closet at all times. This is a concept that I have experimented with for years and my exact number has varied drastically throughout my reselling journey. From my experience, I have determined that there is a certain number of old and new listings that I need to have in my closet in order to have consistent daily sales and have a high sell through rate.
Let’s look at my current closet situation: In my main closet, I have 1600+ active listings and in my secondary closet, I have 400+ listings. My ASP in my main closet is $45 and I typically sell anywhere from 5-10 items+ per day. Additionally, I list 10 new items Monday through Friday. In my secondary closet, my ASP is less at $30 and I typically sell 5-10 items per week. In this closet, I only add 3 new items per day Monday through Friday. Based on this information, it is clear that within my closets there is a relationship between the items that I am listing per day, my closet size, and how many items I sell on a daily basis. [Note: I sell desirable, trending items in both of my closets.]
Take a Break and Revisit It at a Later Time
Sometimes it is best to just walk away from the situation, do something completely unrelated for a little while, and then revisit it at a later time. Taking a break from stressful situations helps me to clear my mind and regroup. I am able to formulate a strategy to tackle the problem and work through it.
I hope that you find this post helpful! If you have any questions or just want to chat, please reach out!
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