Before You Start Reselling, Let’s Be Real

I think the vintage reselling biz is a fantastic side hustle. You can start with very little money and no experience and grow it into something that brings in extra money each month. But. But beware of sellers who claim it’s easy to make six-figure incomes a year doing it. It’s not. And while I love hunting for cool vintage things, this biz is also a grind and a gamble. Nothing is a given. Sales are not a given. Finding great items is not a given. Having good customers is not a given. You can work hard, do everything right, and still not do as well as you want.

Yes, some folks manage to make enough profit to support themselves, but it’s not easy. I know of a couple who both worked full time at their reselling business and sold a bit over $100,000 in inventory last year. But their net profit was around $50,000 which means essentially they made minimum wage. And let’s face it, $50,000 for a year in today’s U.S. economy is not easy to live on. Other full-time vintage resellers are partially bankrolled by their popular YouTube channels or other social media accounts. In fact some make significantly more from their vlogs than from selling items.

Newbies get seduced into thinking reselling is going to be a cash machine and don’t realize 1) all the costs involved in this biz and that 2) sales are not a given! There is a lot of competition. (And likely more coming as more folks lose their jobs and look to sell some of their stuff.) I was naive when I started and assumed folks would fall in love with my great items and everything would sell in a month or two. 😂 😂 The truth is some things have taken years (and years) to sell–things that I know are good, on trend and fairly priced. And I’m not alone in this.

But if you want to try reselling–whether it’s for clothes, vintage stuff, retail arbitrage–here are a few reselling biz costs to consider first:

• Gas, wear and tear on vehicles, etc. when sourcing
• Buying items
• Cleaning and restoring items
• Online platform fees (typically 8% and up)
• Antique booth and flea market stall fees
• Software (accounting, listing, photography, etc.) fees
• Storage (buying bins, shelves, space, etc.) costs
• Shipping material (mailers, bubble wrap, boxes, etc) costs
• Promotions

The Bottom Line

With a little effort the reselling biz can provide supplemental income, but I wouldn’t count on it to support me.

Case in point on Etsy in June 2025 I made $375 (far below my average) in revenue and in July 2025 I made $2,591 (above average) in revenue. August was also a strong month. Now it’s September and I’ve only had one sale. One! There is no rhyme or reason for the disparity between the months. The wild swings. But if I had no other income or means of supporting myself I’d be ripping my hair out!

Now I know some of you may say it’s because I’m trying to sell things no one wants or they are not priced right or I need to diversify or I need to sell on more platforms (right now I’m just on Etsy and eBay) or I need to offer free shipping or I need to take better photos or I need to…well, you get the picture. People love to offer advice and tell you how to run your business. I take it all with a grain of salt.

All this to say, if you’re thinking of trying reselling, go for it, but I recommend starting small and keeping expectations low.