Start Your Own Baby & Toddler Clothing Resale Business

You may have started by clearing out your children's closets and selling what you found on eBay.

But have you ever considered doing this as a full-time business?

Why not open your own Virtual Baby & Toddler Clothing Resale Business? People love high quality, fashionable clothing, but don't want to pay a lot of money for it.

Babies and toddlers grow like weeds, this we all know, and it can be expensive keeping up with all this rapid growth. You can start a business that helps parents keep up without having to spend a lot of money.

Says Donna Bliss of MyMiracleBaby.com, "There is a tremendous market for children's clothing--particularly babies' because they are outgrown so quickly. The brand names are so pricey and offering them for resale gives parents a chance to dress their angels to the nines without going broke. My customers are so grateful and we can barely keep our 'shelves' stocked.  We coined the phrase 'pre-loved' because the clothing we offer is more than just used or resale--its the best of the best and there's plenty of wear left."

 

 

What is a Clothing Resale Business?
Clothing resale is what you make it. You can sell gently used clothing online or you can open up your own home based store ~ or both. What about baby necessities like strollers, bassinets and cribs? Why not include some unique handmade products to your offerings?

You can take items on consignment from local families, businesses, seamstresses and knitters; you can make bulk purchases from your local thrift store or you can buy up the whole lot at a local garage sale.

Your virtual business can include selling on your website, selling at online auction houses and partnering with other websites to sell your merchandise. Says Sandy of her online resale clothing business at TwiceIsNiceKids.com, "This is a work at home option that only requires a few hours a day -- updating items that are sold and adding new inventory. You can put as little or as much time into it as you want."

Clothing Resale Supplies
If you are operating your resale business online, your supply list will be relatively simple:

Clothing & Items for Sale: Well, of course you'll need to get clothing and baby & toddler-related merchandise to sell.

Whether you purchase or take clothing on consignment, be sure to only take quality merchandise that is not well worn.

If you are operating your business online and people are making purchases based on photos, you don't want them to have any surprises.

Packaging & Boxes to Ship Items: You need to ship those orders. Make sure you have enough packing supplies around for fast shipping times.

Digital Camera: If you want people to buy your items online, you have to show them good quality photos. Clothes are photographed best on models (and they're so cute, too) or on a mannequin.

Clothing Resale Skills & Attributes

Marketing Skills: You need marketing skills to run a business. Many of these are skills you can acquire along the way, but be sure to do your preliminary research.

Organizational Skills: You need to keep good records of your sales and not just for tax purposes. You need to be able to keep track of which buyers have paid, which have received their items, etc. Setting up a spreadsheet or database with all the pertinent information should help keep this under control.

Customer Service Skills: You are selling to people who have never met you. You need to ensure that you customer service is impeccable to ensure good feedback on any online auction houses you use and to have repeat customers.

Clothing Resale Prices: Your prices will vary depending on the quality, brand name and what you paid for the items. Calculate all your expenses and determine what you can sell for in order to maintain a profit. You may want to give volume discounts.