We’re so excited to share an interview we did about reselling clothes with Julie from Casa Chic. Julie has been an eBay reseller for many years and specializes in fashion items.
How Did You Get Into Reselling?
Julie was a trial lawyer and her husband was a stockbroker. She loved being a trial lawyer but she was very busy all the time. She had two kids and took two three-month maternity leaves. On her first day back to work after her second child, they caught their nanny in a lie and Julie quit working. They went from two salaries to one overnight. Julie started selling her nice maternity suits on eBay. Everything was auctioned and sold within a week. Then she started selling items around her house.
One day she was at the park with her mom friends, and she told them she had sold a handbag out of her own closet for $300. They started giving her clothes from their closets and that’s how Julie started doing consignment. Her business grew through word of mouth and she made enough money that she didn’t have to go back to law.
Today she does law very part-time through consulting. Her kids are grown and she’s been reselling this whole time. With reselling, Julie was able to bring in a full-time income while working part-time, and she was able to volunteer at her kids’ school and be very present in their lives.
How Has Your Consignment Business Morphed Into Reselling Now?
Julie has always said if an item can’t fit in her car she’s not interested. She is a fashion reseller in general. When she started her consignment business, people would really clean out their closets that were full of stuff for years and years and years, and give it to her. Then from there, they’d give her smaller amounts of items every six months. She needed more items to come in, so she started thrifting items to resell. Today, Julie’s business is a mix of consignment and thrifting.
How Have Things Changed Since The Pandemic?
Julie says the pandemic made everyone of all ages be even more comfortable buying online. Despite challenges with the economy, Julie is selling more than ever. She said it’s key to adapt. Julie doesn’t buy items you can find on Amazon or at Target. She’s buying things that people want and that people with disposable income will pay for. There are still people with disposable income and now they’re shopping online more.
Some of the wealthy people she knows have surprised her by discovering secondhand shopping. It’s not because they can’t afford to go to the mall; it’s because the mall isn’t great anymore and there’s nothing to buy there.
Tell Us About Your Business Model.
Julie teaches her students to buy items for $3-$5 and resell them for $30-$50. There needs to be an easy $20 or more of profit in an item. If they sell five items a day they can make $36,000 a year in profit as a side hustle. To make $100,000, sell 15 things a day with $20 profit.
If you take your kids out for burgers, you’re spending a hundred bucks, so spending $50 on a top isn’t that hard. She sells nice items, but the designer brands like Gucci and Prada are a very small percentage of the items.
How’d You Get Started On Poshmark?
Julie says she wished she would have started selling on Poshmark sooner. She has always been on eBay and has two eBay stores. At one point she had a retail store in a mall and airport too. They eventually got rid of those and then she joined Poshmark. Some months her Poshmark sales beat her eBay sales.
What Reselling Platform Do You Prefer?
Julie says eBay has superior customer service for sellers. It’s difficult to get an actual person on the phone with Poshmark, but Poshmark is great for shipping. It’s $8 for anything under five pounds, which makes it great to sell heavier clothing items. Julie has also sold items on Mercari.
What Would You Tell Someone Getting Into The Business?
Julie says reselling is fun, but if you want to do it as a business, you have to treat it as a business. You have to analyze it like a business. You have to be disciplined and consistent. When first starting out, it’s good to sell items from your home and then branch into items you’re interested in. If you don’t care about clothes and don’t enjoy learning about them, it might not be the right fit for you. Pick something you enjoy. For example if you like golf, you could specialize in clubs or golf apparel.
Would You Recommend Doing Consignment?
Julie says consignment is such a great way to add inventory to your reselling business. Tell your friends, family, neighbors, hairdresser, school teachers, and anyone. They don’t have to live in mansions. Everyone has too much stuff and no one knows what to do with it.
Most people don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to put it online. It’s a great way of getting inventory without paying for it upfront so it helps with your cash flow.
Show Notes
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FURTHER RESOURCES
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