The year is 2002, Ebay and the World Wide Web were still fairly new to the average person. Very few people had a computer or regular access to one. There were no smartphones, social media groups, YouTube videos, or countless online tutorials showing you how to start a reselling business. If you wanted to figure something out, you usually had to learn by doing. Buying and selling online was still a relatively new concept, and Ebay was a very different place back then. You learned by trying, making mistakes, asking questions, and sometimes simply hoping you were doing it right. We had a very active community message board on Ebay where sellers could ask questions, share information, and help each other along the way. There was no roadmap to follow; you were pretty much creating your own as you went along.
My introduction to Ebay actually came from my aunt. She was already buying on Ebay and introduced me to it as a customer. At that point, I had no idea that Ebay would eventually become such a big part of my life.
It wasn’t long before my father in law introduced me to the other side of Ebay – selling. That’s when things really began to change for me.
I started selling on Ebay as a way to find a new home for the things my young son had outgrown. The World Wide Web and Ebay were still very new to me, and so was using a computer. I certainly didn’t start out with the idea of building a reselling business. I was simply looking for a way to sell a few things we no longer needed, never realizing where those first few listings would eventually lead.
The very first things I sold were clothing my son had outgrown and toys he no longer played with. Back then, we didn’t have fancy ring lights or cell phones to take photos. We had to find the best lighting in the house, and I could often be found outside taking pictures when there wasn’t enough light indoors.
Once I took the pictures, there was still a wait. I had to take the film to be developed and then wait a few days to get it back. Then came the moment of truth – hoping I had managed to get some decent photos that I could actually use for my listings.
Once I had my pictures, it was time to create the listing. I had to figure out what to write, what to charge, and how to describe the items well enough that someone would want to buy them. I was learning everything as I went.
It was a few weeks before I got my first sale. It did not happen instantly! I was very excited about it. Back then, we did not get instant payments. The buyer mailed me a check or postal money order from the post office. The mail was not fast then either. It was common to wait a week or longer to receive the payment.
One of my favorite memories from those days was the greeting cards the payments sometimes arrived in. They usually had a nice personal message from the buyer. It was a small thing, but it made the whole experience feel much more personal than it does today.
After receiving payment, it was time to ship the item. Back then, the post office did not provide shipping boxes, so I had to buy them along with all the packaging material. We didn’t have printed shipping labels either. We had to handwrite every label. The post office also didn’t pick up our packages. We had to pack everything up and go stand in line at the post office to ship it.
After a while, I realized this would be a good way for me to earn some extra income for my family. I had a huge problem though! My supply of things to sell was getting low.
That’s when I started going to yard sales, thrift stores, and the clearance aisles of retailers to replenish my stock. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the beginning of a whole new part of my reselling journey. I was no longer just selling things from around my house. I was starting to look at everyday places a little differently, wondering what I might find that someone else would be willing to buy.
Looking back, it’s hard to believe that what started with a few outgrown clothes and toys would become such a big part of my life. I wasn’t trying to build a business when I started selling on Ebay. I was simply trying to find a new home for things my family no longer needed and earn a little extra money along the way.
I had no idea how much I would learn, how many things I would sell, or how much the world of reselling would change over the years. I certainly couldn’t have imagined that more than two decades later, I would still be doing it and enjoy reselling.
There have been plenty of successes, mistakes, changes, and challenges along the way. I’ve learned a lot through all of them, and I’m still learning today. That’s one of the things I love about reselling – there is always something new to discover.
This is where my reseller journey began. The years that followed brought new experiences, new challenges, and a whole lot of learning. I’ll be sharing more of those stories, along with the things I’ve learned along the way, here at The Reseller Journey.
And to think, it all started with a few things my son had outgrown.