Resellers: Avoid These Common Money Making Pitfalls

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Reselling is a flexible and potentially lucrative way of making money on the side of your current job or studies, but that doesn’t mean that it requires any less than your best. In reselling, as in most things, you get out what you put in. Many resellers undersell themselves or take an unnecessarily casual attitude towards their activities but then are the first to complain when they don’t make as much money as they were expecting. The truth is that reselling online has many traits in common with any form of retail and it has its own pitfalls and caveats. Steer clear of these and you can ensure that your reselling activities become more than a mildly profitable side venture and become a successful enterprise…

Neglecting marketing

Who says that resellers can’t have a brand? Who says that they shouldn’t enjoy the same perks enjoyed by retailers such as a distinctive voice and presence in the marketplace and a mutually beneficial relationship with their customers. Not all resellers need to do a degree in integrated marketing communications online but they owe it to themselves to at least cover the bases of how to build a brand and establish yourself as an online presence. Set up accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Take photos of some of your rarer and more desirable items and befriend similar (but non-competing) businesses in the same field as you. If, for example, you deal in rare vinyl, associate yourself with vinyl appreciation societies. If you deal in the reselling of DVDs and BluRays, the more film and TV bloggers you can make friends with the better.

Neglecting your customers

Are your transactions one and done affairs on eBay or Amazon? Do you have any kind of follow up with your customers after point of sale? Do you have any form of CRM in place? If not, you’re burning a bridge that could be a potential revenue stream. You’d be astonished how much value there is in shooting a customer an email (personal if you can, few people respond to soulless template emails). Find out what they like, what sort of stuff they’re looking for and if you have opportunities for further sales in future. Over time you’ll be able to build up a robust database of clientele so that when new stock rolls in you’ll shift it faster than ever.

Over diversification

Having a clear out and selling your unwanted clutter on eBay is one thing but making serious money from reselling is another. In order to attain success in the latter you need to find your niche and work at being the best in that niche. You’ll be surprised at how much diversity you’ll find within your niche or how loyal your customers within that niche will be when you earn their trust. Over diversifying your stock will prevent you from building a solid core customer base and your business model will be less sustainable. Remember you’re a reseller, not a supermarket.

Avoiding these common pitfalls will take you out of the realms of casual reselling and make you a serious player in the field.