This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
If you have listened to the podcast for a while or if you're familiar with some of my books, you may have heard me talk about reselling or you may have read something I have written about reselling. I often talk about reselling as in buying some items for sale and then selling them for a higher price or at least selling them for a different price, preferably higher. I often talk about how this is the easiest, simplest, and the quickest way to enter the cytosol world. Not everyone is looking for the easiest, simplest, and quickest. Notice that none of those adjectives mean it's the best, but that's okay because if you are like, "I want to get into this world, I want to do something, I need to make some money now," well, reselling is a good way to go. Maybe
it's partly because I have a soft spot for the first business I ever had. More than 20 years ago, I was a reseller buying lots of stuff, selling it online, but also, you know, 20 years later, it remains just as accessible in the midst of so much other change and so much progress and technological advancement. The art and science of buying stuff and selling it for profit is pretty much the same. But hey, of course, it's not for everyone and it can be a lot of work. So that's what today's caller points out. He's like, "Man, this reselling thing, it's a lot of work. He is
looking for a shortcut. Is there such a thing? Is there a shortcut? Is there an easier way to start reselling? As easy as it is, is there an easier way?" Let's talk about it. His question is coming up
after this quick shout out to our sponsor. Hello, Chris, this is Michael and I've been following your project for a couple of years. I noticed that you talk about reselling a lot and I enjoyed the story of Jake and the money tree. I understand that it's relatively simple to buy things at yard sales, for example, and then sell them online for a higher price. But it seems like a lot of work. There are so many tasks and many projects involved, from doing the research, to acquiring
the items, to listing them for sale, buyer communication, accepting payment, and then finally shipping out the item. For a business that doesn't seem terribly lucrative, is there a better way? Or is it just the kind of thing where I'll get better and faster once I start doing it? Thanks, Chris. Well, Michael, here's the thing. You know, there are a good number of tasks. I mean, it's true that
there are many projects. Many is in small, M-I-N-I. A number of many projects, you know, related to the overall endeavor of reselling. But the thing is they are all easily identifiable. And I think that is really key. Like with a lot of creative work, if you're trying to build a bigger project,
uncertainty is a key element. Like there's just simply so many things you could do that it can become overwhelming. And then you get stuck. Like I get stuck doing stuff. Like when I'm writing a book, it's like there's a lot of different ways I could write a book, a lot of decisions I have to make. So with something like reselling, the objective is simple. You know, you want to buy
something at one price and sell it at another, as I said, preferably a higher one. And then you want to do this more than once. So a key part is finding items to sell that you can replenish. So yes, you need a system. You need a workflow for the other parts of it, listing them online for sale, communicating with buyers, shipping out items, all those things Michael mentioned.
So it is a good amount of work. But I think that last thing he said was critical. Once you get started, you will get better and faster at it. Also, who's to say it can't be lucrative? You know, it may not be lucrative all the time in every way. It may not last forever,
but we have had a number of stories we featured on the podcast of people that have done very, very well with reselling. So it really is all about mastering that system and finding the right items and such. Even if it's not lucrative, I would say as a final point, it can be fun. You know, if you've never done this before, it's like a hobby. You're learning skills, but you're getting paid for it as you go. So what's not to love? And that's why I like reselling so
much because it is simple. It is easy for somebody to get into. And very often, just by getting into it, they get the motivation to do something else. And that's what I actually wrote about in the money tree. The story of Jake, he starts by reselling, he moves on to something else. So that's why I think
it's such a fun, accessible, and easy business. But of course, it's not for everyone. And there is a good amount of work. That's my two cents there. Listeners, if you have a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We will continue to feature them throughout the year,
along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. We are almost at episode 1700. Thank you for joining me all this time. Or if you've just tuned in recently, thank you for being part of this community. You're amazing. You're awesome. I hope you'll come back tomorrow.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
