I was reflecting yesterday on the hours I’ve worked, the parties I missed, the dinners I didn’t go to. The amount of myself I’ve poured into this business. The word passion comes from the Latin passio, meaning suffering, endurance, bearing. Not excitement. Not hype. Real commitment usually costs something. That definition resonates with me more than ever. I’m deeply passionate about this business and this industry, and I want to share some of the mistakes I’ve made so you don’t have to repeat them. I set on the venture with my business partner 5 years ago to create something incredible, I didn't quite know what that looked like at the time, We were just chasing month by month revenue, eventually chasing stock count, daily uploads etc. We got to 1000 items total stock and 10K per month revenue in about 5 Months. Each time we hit a new landmark we instantly reset. At the start me and my partner were in complete other sides of the country, had 2 bases of stock, he had all our Ebay stock and I had all the Depop stock. In that early period We both had jobs and would list 20 items a day each to each platform. We eventually joined together and then synchronised the inventory, eventually listing to ebay then cross posting to Depop. I rememeber coming into the storage unit we were renting at 9, finishing between 7 or 9 depending on the day, going to the gym and then going again every day. We built systems to save time, hired a VA to handle cross posting, Had a Depop software built to collect all labels so we Didn't have to spend 30 mins each day typing orders up. Learnt how to store the items so that once a task which could take 2 hours now only took 30 mins. When time became a bottle neck we hired a part time photographer to assist us uploading more. eventually a part time shipper so we could upload even more items. Then eventually hiring fellow listers. We grew the stock count from 0-20K active items by early 2025. In an effort to grow even more we took on loans hired staff and did everything we thought we needed to do. I made an error though, I didn't track there work output as aggressively I did my own. This led to though we had a bigger team the output stayed the same, because I had to spend time grading stock, managing as well as listing and other tasks. This led to us now paying off loans, paying more staff and not making anymore money.

Something I actively do in my business is make sure I sell on multiple platforms, Ebay, Vinted, Depop, Whatnot, Tilt, Etsy are some of the ones I have or do sell on. Today we received a notification from vinted informing us our account was restricted due listing items incorrectly, I have submitted an appeal to the case and should hear back soon. But this is one of the reasons I sell on other platforms, at any given time I make sure my inventory is listed on all the ones I use. This has also happened on Depop and Ebay at different times and for different reasons. Platforms have the real control and this is one of the ways that I protect my income so that if something like this does happen it isn't the end of the world.

The guy got back to me and is in such a rush to clear his stock that he is willing to let 2000 pieces go at 50P a piece and also has other premium bits I am waiting to be priced up on so should be a great cash deal coming our way!

As we start building this community, I’d love to hear everyone’s story and what you’re working towards. Here’s mine. I’m James Gore, I’m from the UK, and I started reselling as a teenager buying from outlets — mainly trainers. In my second month I made just over £3,000 and realised pretty quickly that this was something real. I kept going until I moved to Canada for two years to serve a mission for my church. While I was there I met another Brit who had been reselling before he left too, but he focused on vintage and sportswear. When we both came back to the UK, we relaunched Open Outfit — the business he had originally started — and I invested to become a co-owner . Fast forward about 4.5 years and we now process around 4,000 items a month through Open Outfit, and we’ve also built a wholesale business alongside it that regularly processes full containers of stock. I created this group as a way to expand my circle, share what we’ve learned along the way, and have a place where people in reselling can ask questions, compare notes, and help each other move forward. Would love to hear who you are, what you’re doing, and where you’re trying to get to, please make it an official post rather than a comment below