Becoming a reseller is much easier than you probably think and can help generate an extra income that can work around your other commitments. There’s never been a better time to embrace it than now.
There are many benefits to giving this a go including flexibility, freedom of time and making potentially a generous profit for relatively little work.
If you want to up your game or even get started, look at our top tips!
Take a look at what’s for sale in our auctions of retail returns. What can you see that you already know about? Are you a dab hand when it comes to electricals, furniture or clothing? We have a whole range of goods ready for you to bid for right now. You can then use your skills and hidden talents to make reselling a doddle!
Research the stock you’re buying to maximise the precision in your listings and your customer service if bidders have any extra questions. Find out what is popular and trending right now or find some more unusual items that may need some TLC before reaching their final home.
Once you’ve found what items you’re going to start selling and are confident with your product, you need to make it obvious that you’re a trusted, commendable seller.
Ways to do this are:
- Establish your market
- Choose one platform to sell in
- Run regular auctions at the same date/time
- Stick to one/very few categories to show off your niche
- Stay consistent
Stay true to yourself. Saying you’re going to spend 30 hours a week on reselling when you already have a full-time job, two kids and a dog is not realistic and will not help you when starting out.
The key to success and meeting your goals is being as realistic as possible. Set reasonable time frames and profit goals and if you hit them, amazing. If you beat them, incredible!
You will require a small budget to get started on this as you will need your packaging, equipment and of course stock. Make sure you set a limit for the money you commit to your stock otherwise you may get swept away in the excitement of auction and jeopardise your profits in the long run.
To be the very best reseller, precision is key. This means giving as much detail as you can on the items you are selling which can be portrayed through the description, images, price and tags. The tags are specific to William George Auctions and they allow you to categorise the items you are reselling making it quick and easy for buyers to find what they are looking for.
Unlike most auctions, we do not have a limit on the photographs that you upload as we believe your items are much more likely to sell with many images, flaws and all, compared to a single, brief image, leaving customers on the fence.
Having a ‘or best offer’ or ‘out of auction sale’ can be unsettling for buyers. Here at William George, we work in the more traditional way, fair and square bidding with a set opening bid/reserve and the winning bid is final. Deciding your price and setting a realistic outcome will entice bidders as they will feel reassured that they know how to play the game.
When finding your items to resell, consider the time of year/occasions/timeless items and how each of these would be fairly priced and of course research what is also on the market at that point.
Some resellers only think about the stock before getting started but delivery is also a very big factor to consider and you want it to run as smoothly as possible to gain repeat buyers.
Try and be as flexible as possible as you may find that buyers have had good/bad experiences with certain parcel services.
As well as being flexible, you want to stay assertive and show the buyer that you know exactly what is going on and make sure you factor in this cost/service/time for your business. It is worth doing your research to see which parcel services are performing best and giving the best value for money. You may find that having one average price for a small, medium and large parcel could work well giving the time you will have once an auction closes.
Always make sure you keep receipts and tracking codes for deliveries as you never know when you may need them!
To become a great reseller, you need to have a great audience! One of the best ways you can do this is by opting for a marketing package with us. It is completely free to list stock with William George and there isn’t a seller commission so you could put any spare cash you have into a marketing package instead. Our packages start from as little as £250 and that gets you a tailored marketing plan, in front of the right audience created by our experienced team for maximum exposure. It really is a no brainer!
Are you ready to get started? Click here to register as a seller!