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SPORTS Friday 29 april 2022

Millennial Money: Kick-start your online clothing resale gig

By DALIA RAMIREZ of Nerd- items under $15 and 20%
Wallet for items over $15. PayPal,
With the recent rise of resale which integrates with De-
apps like Depop and Posh- pop, Poshmark and eBay,
mark, the idea of selling old charges another 3.49% plus
clothes online is becoming 49 cents per transaction for
more fashionable. Many payment processing.
people have turned cloth- On top of that, you'll need
ing resale into a lucrative to pay for packaging, la-
side gig or even a full-time bel printing and possibly
job, gaining thousands of storing inventory including
followers and making doz- bins, hangers and shelves.
ens of sales per week. Top sellers also recommend
The secondhand-clothing adding a personal touch in
market is projected to more shipments, like free stick-
than triple by 2030, accord- ers, small accessories or a
ing to a 2021 study by resell- thank-you note. When all
ing platform Mercari and those costs add up, you
research firm GlobalData, may find that only higher-
as more fashion enthusiasts value items are worth list-
clean out their closets and ing.
search thrift stores to find You can cut costs by reus-
valuable pieces to resell. ing shipping mailers and
But whether you have a A UPS driver enters a United Parcel Service store with packages in Jackson, Miss., Monday, July boxes, and printing labels
collection of band T-shirts 26, 2021. at your local FedEx or UPS
or office attire, finding suc- Associated Press store instead of purchasing
cess on these platforms a label printer. Or, reduce
takes time and effort. Be- counts. Vogue in 2021 for her De- "It takes a lot of time and shipping costs for buyers by
fore diving into your closet, "Sales can be sporadic," pop success. She responds dedication," says Castillo. bundling several items into
there are a few things to says Andres Castillo of Los to messages daily, on top Top-notch sellers have to a single shipment, which
know. Angeles, who sells rare de- of taking product photos, learn to take eye-catching can motivate buyers to
YOU SET YOUR PRICES signer pieces through De- sewing custom pieces, and photos, understand ship- purchase more from your
Unlike consignment and re- pop, eBay and Instagram packaging and shipping ping rates, negotiate over shop.
sale shops, you can price under the name Debonair orders. text, and research brands THE SOCIAL ASPECT IS A PRI-
items yourself on an online Vintage. Communicating clearly and trends to make the ORITY
platform. Before listing a With rare or high-value with first-time buyers is es- most of their inventory. The most successful online
piece of clothing, look it items, it may take a while sential: "If you don't build OVERHEAD COSTS ADD UP resellers have one thing in
up on multiple platforms to to find the right buyer, es- that relationship, then you Yes, you can set your prices common: a strong personal
find out what it's currently pecially if you're looking won't get sales and return- — but there are a few over- brand. Finding your niche
selling for. Depending on to break even or make a ing customers," she adds. head costs to factor in. On- and building a loyal follow-
age, condition and brand, profit. Although you have control line resale platforms charge ing is essential to long-term
prices can vary widely. THERE'S A BIG TIME COM- over the prices, reselling commission fees, plus ad- success on a resale plat-
You can also take advan- MITMENT online takes much more ditional fees for shipping form.
tage of direct messaging "I treat (reselling clothes) time and energy than sell- through the platform or ac- "It's like Instagram, but for
to negotiate with buyers like my job," says Eve Perez, ing to consignment stores. cepting payments through selling," says Perez, who fo-
and use features on apps a full-time student in Leba- According to Depop, sell- a processor like PayPal. cuses on curating a consis-
like Depop and Poshmark non, Pennsylvania, who sells ers who list consistently — Depop takes 10% of every tent aesthetic and market-
that let you accept offers under the name Fitsfinesse around 15 items per week sale and eBay takes 15%; ing her shop on social me-
and create multi-item dis- and was featured in Teen — sell more over time. Poshmark takes $2.95 for dia platforms like TikTok.q