What Are Your New Year’s Thrift Shopping & Selling Goals?

With December here, it’s time to celebrate this year’s progress and wins on the selling front. I can’t believe that another year has passed and I’m still here with a profitable side hustle.

Did you have a good year too? Maybe you just started out thrifting and selling, or maybe you sold beyond even your own expectations this year. This is a good time to acknowledge your success.

December is also the time to come up with your plans and goals for next year. I doubt anyone here is thinking, “I’m going to do the exact same thing I did this year to earn the exact same amount next year.”

If anything, you’re reading this post because you want to make changes to do even better at thrifting and selling. So let’s reflect a bit and figure out what’s next.

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** If you don’t have a Poshmark account, you can receive a free $10 bonus when you sign up with my code SFGIRL2015.

** On Mercari, you can get $10 when you sign up with the code JENMHM. The amount may vary by promotion.

What are your new year's thrift shopping & selling goals

Year-end Review

Platforms

- What platforms (apps, websites, etc.) did you use to sell this year? What did you like or dislike about them?

- What platforms would you like to try? What requirements do you have to meet to sell on them? Is there anything holding you back?

Sourcing

- Where did you source your items this year? What are some of the benefits and negatives about your source(s)? How reliable and convenient were they?

- Were you comfortable with the prices, availability, and quality of the goods you received?

- What sources are you interested in trying? How many sources would you like to have? How can you find other sources (e.g., FB groups, other thrift stores, family and friends)?

Products to sell/inventory

- What types of products did you sell this year? Did they sell as well as you wanted? What sold well with your audience? What didn’t? Could you expand on offerings of your best selling items?

- Did buyers or potential buyers offer comments or ideas on what else you could sell?

- Did your listings accurately reflect the look and condition of items? Did you like the way your listings look? Could you try something new like different lighting, using a flat lay versus a mannequin, or styling items in pictures?

- Did you write accurate and detailed descriptions of your items? Did you receive repeated questions about some of the products?

- If you received returned items, what could you do to reduce the number of returns you receive?

- What would you like to try selling next year? What research might you need to do and how can you obtain those items?

Shipping & marketing

- Did you have procedures in place to manage listing and selling items, such as an inventory tracker and organized inventory storage?

- Did you have materials and procedures for cleaning, wrapping, and mailing items quickly?

- In your buyers’ opinions, did you mail items quickly or take too long?

- How much time and money does it take to list items and package them for shipment?

- What can you do to save time and costs (e.g., use pick-up service, ship every other day, order free USPS shipping supplies, order shipping supplies in bulk)?

- Did you use a specific method for marketing your items or sharing them on certain platforms? How well did that work?

- How else can you publicize your items (e.g., pin them to Pinterest, share more frequently on Poshmark, use Facebook ads)?

Profit

- What was your net profit this year? Are you happy with that amount?

- Did you set aside a portion for taxes if that applies to you? Did you deduct any expenses?

- How much do you want to make next year? What are some things you can do the same and differently to make that happen?

- What are some strategies you can use to increase sales and profits (e.g., offering discounted or free shipping)?

- How much are you putting back into your business?

Commitment

- Did you like thrift shopping and selling this year? What did you like and not like personally about the thrifting and selling business?

- How much time did you spend on buying and selling each week? Are you excited and ready to go for more or are you burnt out?

- Do you want to expand your business? Should you adjust your business or stop completely and pursue a different side hustle?

My Experience

This year has been a growing experience for me. I’ve done some things well and others not so much.

On the positive side of things, I’ve had another profitable year of thrifting. I still find it to be a good use of my free time.

No more planning Angry Birds or lazy Saturdays getting nothing done. I make good use of my free time, earn some side income, and have fun doing it.

On the other side of things, thrifting has been most difficult for me this year because stores have been closed several months this year and I’ve been working my day job too. I balance thrift shopping and selling with growing this blog.

Thrifting also hasn’t been easy as stores around me have closed and items are getting more and more expensive at the ones that still exist. The potential for good profit shrinks. Nonetheless, I like what I do and am motivated to keep going.

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My Goals

I like to start working on my goals by thinking of the end result I want to achieve. Where do I want to be exactly one year from now? What will it take to get there? With that, I have some goals in mind. I have my work cut out for me.

Hit 300 listings in my closet

This year I hovered around 120-150 available listings in my Poshmark closet. The best way to grow sales and profit is to increase the amount of low-cost in-demand items you have in your closet or store. I think I can get to one hundred listings with a little more hustle.

Sell more men’s clothing and household goods

I’m trying to branch out from selling only women’s clothes and accessories. I know some top brands and styles for men’s clothing, but it’s still pretty foreign to me. I’ll have my work cut out for me here.

Try at least one other source for items

Like I mentioned above, the thrift stores around me are closing and prices are creeping upwards. I’d like to try sourcing from somewhere other than thrift stores (not sure where yet) and see what difference that makes to sales and profits.

Take better pictures for my listings

I’ve wanted to my photography game for a long time now. I’ve made some progress, but my listings don’t look as good as I want it to. I’m thinking about creating more appealing flat lays next year. I’m still wary of clothes forms and mannequins. Am I the only one who thinks they’re a little creepy?

Now it’s your turn. What are some things that you did well this year and some things that you can improve on? What are some of your thrifting and selling goals for next year?