Let’s talk about storage. Resellers often have a lot of stuff and you might be wondering where to put it all, what to do if you don’t have enough storage, and when is the time to consider getting a storage unit.
We’ll talk about how we progressed with storage. We do not recommend going and getting a storage unit when you’re just getting your flipping business started.
Use Storage Around Your Home
When I first started reselling on eBay, I was renting a duplex. One side of the duplex was a two-bedroom, and I used one as my bedroom and the other as my storage. I started out with the closet and stored everything in the closet of the second bedroom, but eventually it moved into the room. I got started by storing items in my living space.
When Melissa and I got married, we lived in a 575-square-foot house with no storage. We did not have room for storage in the house, so we put a 10-by-12-foot shed in the backyard and that’s where we kept our stuff for flipping. Later I bought a larger shed 16-by-16 or 16-by-20, and eventually we outgrew that too. That’s when we moved to a storage unit.
We’ve also used our garage and even spare rooms in the house before we had all of our kids. At one point we had four storage units before I moved everything into the warehouse that we’re in now.
Grow At Your Own Pace
Where are you at right now? If you’re starting off your business, you don’t have to worry about getting a storage unit.
You don’t have to worry about having a big warehouse or even one storage unit. Start where you’re at. Find those items that you can store in the pockets of your house, in your apartment, or wherever you’re at. Really get the business going so you understand how the business works, how the whole process works from start to finish. Master the beginning stages of your business. Then as you start making some money, consider if it makes sense for you to rent that storage unit.
Once it does make sense financially, it might be beneficial to get one. If you live with someone who is not a reseller or don’t like a lot of clutter, it can be nice to have that stored separately. It might motivate you too to have a separate place. If you know you’re paying $150 a month for the storage unit, it might give you that extra motivation you need to get your stuff listed on eBay.
Storage For Larger Items
If you are selling larger items but don’t have a huge storage unit, can you still sell them? Absolutely. We recently sold a 45-inch cooktop for $2,200 and we paid $100 for it. That was a larger item to store, but we’re not selling 100 of them; it’s just one. If we were trying to make $2,000 in profit selling smaller $20 items, we’d have to sell 100 of them to make that kind of profit. That’s a lot of items to store!
That’s why we gravitate toward the higher profit item model. They are often larger items, but we’re usually only storing one of them versus a ton of smaller items. And you’re only doing one cleaning, one listing, and one shipping. You make more per hour when you break down all the tasks you have to do if you can sell those high profit items.
One of our members got a double oven for free and lived in an apartment. She stored it in a carport with a tarp until it sold in a week or two. Then she rented a truck from UHaul to get it dropped off. After eBay fees and the truck rental, she still made over $600 in profit. Don’t use a lack of storage as an excuse to keep you from getting started.
When To Pay For Storage
A storage unit has to be viable. You have to be enjoying profits, enjoying the process of the business, and wanting to invest back into your business to streamline it and make it better.
If you feel the need to grow or you’re bursting at the seams, it might be a good time to run the numbers and see if you can make it work financially.
What are your profits each month? What are you making hourly and look at what you could make if you had more storage space. How would that impact your income?
Learn More Flipping Tools
We are excited to announce our new Pathway to $10K program, where we help people learn to make $10,000 over the next six months. This is a new program and we’re excited to help people grow their flipping business. Visit learn2flip.com to learn more.
Show Notes
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FURTHER RESOURCES
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