2020 has been filled with constant changes and unknowns. I have been a reseller for over 10 years and prior to the closures 100% of my inventory came from thrift stores, my routine was set and I was happy but all that ended and I had to come up with a new way to source since reselling is my full time job and thrifting was how I got my inventory. Needless to say I had no other option but to turn to the internet. I experimented with BULQ, Wholesale Ninjas, Thred Up and B&G Trading. I had no idea I could gather so much inventory without leaving my house! Each site has its good and bad & I will go through my experiences with you.
BULQ has a variety of inventory lot options to go through from electronics to baby items and they add new lots 3 times per day, each lot has a manifest assigned to it and thankfully their manifests are extremely accurate and are very helpful for researching what your possible return on investment (ROI) could be but the downside I found was that I was not quick enough to gather all my data before the lot sold and lots widely vary so it’s hard to predict ROI unless you do your homework. With BULQ I personally focused on general merchandise which includes beauty items so after a while it became easier to gain an idea of what my ROI would be.
Wholesale Ninjas was another site I purchased from, similar items to BULQ I focused on their beauty items. However Wholesale Ninjas have multiple lots of the same items and they also sell those same items in pallets for a cheaper price than the box prices which makes sense but this allows larger seller to price their items at a lower resale price to consumers so the smaller sellers have a harder time competing being that they are buying the same items at a higher cost.
Thred up widely known as the largest online thrift store, so similar to sourcing at thrift stores I was able to source items to resell on their site. What I did was sort items by “assorted brands” these are generally priced lower because their brand is not listed, however most brands has visible logos in the pictures, it is very time consuming but I was able to find brands with a high resale value being sold for much less on Thred Up, once my purchases arrived I listed them with the correct brand on sites such as eBay and Poshmark and was able to sell for a higher price once they were listed accurately… imagine that! Thred up also gives a discount code for first time purchases and sometimes will be running a sale so I would recommend purchasing when those are available to increase your ROI.
B&G Trading is an apparel wholesaler. They offer name brand clothing at very reasonable costs. Bundles are broken down by brand quality, Premier Brands which have an MSRP of $69+, mid value brands which have an MSRP of $30-68, popular retailer returns which have an MSRP of $29-$59, and economy items which have an MSRP of $29 or less. They also have what they call ”special offers” which are randomly listed as they become available, for example I have purchased bundles of Ted Baker bathing suits, sunglasses and shoes. I like the idea of having an assortment of items to add to my online store. Click here for $20
All of these sites have allowed me to offer a variety of items to my consumers, from beauty items to all types clothing and accessories during a time of uncertainty. I know I can count on these sites to provide me with enough inventory and reasonable pricing to keep my online store active. Change is always difficult but knowing that I had options made it a bit less stressful. Online sourcing options combined with having access to multiple reselling platforms made resale doable, without thrift stores. While I am so thankful that thrift stores are open again I am grateful for the learning experiences. I plan to continue buying inventory online in conjunction with thrifting.
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