Last updated on October 8th, 2022 at 09:05 am
Wanting to start selling on Poshmark, Mercari, or other reselling sites? It can be overwhelming to know what supplies you need, especially if you are starting on a tight budget. I compiled a list of all the supplies you need for a reselling business flipping thrift store finds.
This list includes supplies for photographing items, shipping sold items, cleaning/prep, and storage. While not everything is 100% necessary to have a successful business, having great supplies can increase your productivity, quality of sales, and potential earnings. The goal isn’t to spend a fortune to get your business up and running, I always like to invest in just the basics at first and then buy more as I start to bring in some money.
If you are new here and not quite sure how to start a reselling business, check out my Complete Guide to starting a reselling business.
Here are my basic supplies. These items are extremely useful and if you are just starting out this is what I recommend:
Prep and Cleaning Supplies
- OxiClean— I use OxiClean for items that have all-over staining or yellowing. Just dissolve some in hot water in a sink and let the item soak for at least 30 minutes or even overnight. You can also spot treat by making a paste with just a small bit of water. Apply it right to the stain and let it sit for 15-30 minutes. Then wash in you washing machine like normal. I have learned that if this does not take out the stains nothing will, and I usually count the garment as a loss.
- Tide-to-Go—Perfect for quick spot treatment on most garments.
- Handheld steamer—This steamer is great for getting out wrinkles and making your inventory look pristine for photographs. Its small, lightweight, and easy to store.
- Sewing kit—You can have one of these on hand to fix small rips of tears, but I tend to avoid sourcing anything that needs repair. If you choose to make sure you are up front with your sellers about the condition of the item.
- Lint rollers—Lint rollers are an absolute must for every reseller! Whether you have pets or not, used clothing usually needs to be lint rolled. I like to buy these in bulk and keep them in several places for easy access. Make sure to clean up your items prior to photographing and before shipping sales out to your buyer!
- Goo Gone—This helps remove stuck on tags/stickers and gunk super easily. It is perfect for the soles of shoes and non-clothing items.
Photography Items
- Camera—I personally have always just used my phone camera to take all my inventory photos. There is no need to go invest in an expensive camera to have a successful business. Just make sure to take your photos on the right settings and in good lighting and your pictures will turn out great!
- Measuring tape—I like to include measurements for some of my items in the description. This helps potential buyers know if it is the right fit for them. And I often have people reach out to me asking for measurements, so these are good to have on hand.
- Hooks—I use these hooks to stick on my wall for taking photos. Then I use these hangers for photographing and for storage. I’ve found that storing my inventory hanging helps speed up the shipping process and leaves less need for touching up wrinkles after photographing.
- Backdrop—I usually just take my photos of clothing against a blank wall or on a white board my husband made me for flat lays. If you want to experiment with some other pretty backgrounds, this one, this one, and this one are great options.
Shipping Supplies
- Poly mailers— Poly mailers are a must have items. You can get them extremely cheap. Just a few cents per bag. They are perfect for mailing soft items like clothing and don’t add much to your overall package weight. You can find very cheap grey ones, but I like to spice things up and pick out a new print each time. It makes your sales stand out and buyers love to see colorful, fun packages in the mail. I like to use 6” X 9” for small packages like children’s clothes, 10” X 13” for most adult clothes, and 14.5” by 19” for large sweaters and jackets.
- Printer—For printing your shipping labels right from home.
- Half sheet labels—These have been a huge time saver for me! Just print the shipping label in your regular home printer, peel, and stick. They are waterproof and easily readable. I use the half-sheet ones, but you can also buy 4 per sheet. Just make sure to change the settings on your printer to print properly.
- Packing tape—Have plenty of packing tape on hand to close boxes and waterproof shipping labels if you don’t use the stick-on labels.
- Scale—Scales are important, especially if you are handling the shipping for your buyers. Weight your items before listing and packages before shipping to make sure you don’t get stuck paying more for shipping than planned. I use a small kitchen scale, but for larger packages you will need a larger bathroom scale.
- Bubble wrap—Its important to make sure your shipments are secure and that your products arrive safely to your customers. Ensure your fragile items are packaged properly so that damage does not occur during transit.
- Boxes—these are great for shipping large orders and hard goods. To save money I try to save my shipping boxes from my own online purchases to reuse. Just save a small staff of various sizes and you are good to go. If you want to purchase boxes, these ones are great.
- USPS free shipping supplies—USPS offers free shipping supplies that can be shipped right to your home. Check your reselling platforms requirements before deciding which supplies to order. Some of my favorites are these boxes and bubble mailers.
- Tissue paper—I personally use tissue paper for all my packages. I find that wrapping my clothes looks nice and has made a good impression on my buyers. Plus, it weighs almost nothing and won’t mess with your shipping costs.
Storage
- Storage containers—I use these storage containers and have them labeled to keep my inventory organized. They are easy to see through and make searching for sold merchandise easy.
- Hanging rack—If you don’t have spare closet to store your clothing inventory in this a great option. Keeping clothing on hangers will help prevent wrinkles and make it easy to find on shipping day.
- Shelving unit—A great option for non-clothing merchandise. This shelving unit is easy to assemble and can fit in a corner on in a closet. Organization is key to running a successful reselling business!
- Shoe racks—I purchased a few of these shoe racks to help save space and organize my shoe inventory. They easily stack on each other and fit all sizes of shoes
- Air Freshener—I have a rule that all items must be washed before joining my other inventory in my reselling closet. I also like to use this small air freshener to keep the clothes smelling fresh if they sit there for a few months.
Additional Investment Items
While these are not required to have success, they definitely can help as you scale a small side hustle in a profitable business.
- Lint shaver—I recently invested in this lint shaver and it was a game changer! Before I used small disposable razors to clean up all those pills on clothing, but it was time consuming and a lot of the time did not work as great as I would have liked. Plus, when you add up all those razors and other tricks, this pretty much will pay for itself!
- Lighting kit—This lighting kit can be a lifesaver when trying to take pictures at different times of day or when its cloudy outside. It may not be within budget for those just starting out, but trust me it is a game changer when you start getting the hang of taking pictures.
- Ring Light—Another option for lighting. I used this when I first started out before I upgraded to a lighting kit. Its great for making all my pictures look consistent and helped reduce the need for editing my photos afterwards.
- Mannequin—This is great if you want to have your clothing modeled on a dress form instead of hanging.
Getting started with all the right supplies will help you get your business off and running quickly. Being prepared with the basic supplies will help avoid scrambling when your items start to sell. Remember that quick and efficient shipping it important for any reselling platform. And as your business starts to increase, you can expand your supplies and invest in more tools continue growth.
So now that you’re ready to start your selling journey, best of luck and happy selling!
I have always been interested in this potential business model and appreciate you putting this together for those of us just getting started! It was really helpful!
Let me know if you try it for yourself!
I don’t have a business so no reselling here. But this was so informative to read!
I have been reselling on Poshmark and Depop for years – but this is such a great list of tips! A lot of these I have never considered before.