It’s safe to say all her hard work is paying off. Last year, Gallegos reveals she pulled in $30K in extra cash by reselling women’s clothing and handbags. On Mercari, a selling app that has 45M downloads where people buy and sell items, she’s seen success in marking down her items and doing clearance sales. (According to Mercari, the average U.S. seller on Mercari makes $114 per month, which is about $1,300 per year.) “I use Mercari primarily as my clearance or outlet store,” she tells Parade. “If something has sat for an extended period of time, I push to Mercari. The fees are so low it makes it easy to do and a lot of my stuff is listed for $5 on the platform.” Gallegos, who first started reselling online about 12 years ago on eBay, says she puts in about 10-20 hours a week on reselling, from inventory to accounting. Some of the fun moments are when she finds something amazing for dirt cheap and then resells it for a huge profit. “I got a Green Day concert tee at a garage sale for 25 cents and it sold for $650,” she recalls. “Within the last year, I sold a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes for $185 that I paid about $1 for them at Goodwill.” Her side hustle has allowed her to scale back on her workload as an IT consultant and switch to her new job, which doesn’t require as much travel so she can spend more time with her family. She says she was able to make that choice because of the extra income from thrifting and reselling. “I’d say reselling has actually sort of saved my life,” she shares. “Reselling provides me with supplemental income.” “I think it’s always best to start with selling things from your own closet to get a feel for the process and test out what sells best. Based on that knowledge and when you’re comfortable with the selling process, then you might hit a thrift store. I find that the ROI has been the best for women’s apparel, particularly if you can find higher end brand name items, so focusing there is a good goal,” says Gallegos. Are you interested in selling on Mercari but not sure where to start? Gallegos is sharing her top tips for you:
How to sell on Mercari
If you are new to reselling, start with stuff around your house.
This allows you to get familiar with what people want/like and learn the platform without a large investment. Once you are ready to take the leap to investing in your side hustle/business, be sure to do your research. Just because a dress is cute or from a talented designer doesn’t mean it has good resale value. Instead, look at both what has sold and what is your competition—if the marketplace is saturated, there is a good chance the price can tank."
Take good, clean photos—but there is no need to go out and buy lots of fancy equipment.
Use a bright area—preferably natural sunlight—and you can simply hang the clothing on a white wall from your phone. For shoes, jewelry, accessories you can use simple white poster boards from the Dollar Tree. Once you start making more money, you can invest in a full lighting set-up."
Good title, good description.
Think how you buyer would shop online. If the dress is bohemian or perfect for festival season, put that in your description or use the Mercari hashtags. Additionally, your title should follow this format: “Brand, Type, Size.” For example: J. Crew Brown A-Line Skirt Size 4. You should also include measurements in the description, as this helps your buyer when they are determining fit."
Create an organized system for yourself.
This helps streamline your process as an efficient side hustle. For example, you might follow these steps every time: -Steam all the clothes and hang in the photo area. -Photograph a batch of clothes and edit your cover shot right way to keep all the photos together. -Measure list the items. It’s easiest to measure as you create the listing, which then gets an inventory number to determine where this item is stored. -Bag & Tag: put the clothing in a poly-bag to make it easier when shipping time comes around, and put a label on the bag that corresponds to the inventory number in the listing. -Ship quickly when an item sells. Have your shipping supplies organized—stock up on bubble wrap and boxes."
Remember to have fun!
Never forget when you do this it is fun, there are so many things you can sell online so pick something that you are passionate about and have fun doing it. I have been found from time to time to dance with my clothes as I jam to my music while listing." Have side hustle idea? Find out how a side hustle can add passion—and a big payoff—to your career! Click here.
