Getting Rid of the Stigma of Being a Reseller

Have you ever heard people talk negatively about resellers? It happens a lot, with good reason.

It doesn’t take long to see people complaining about how resellers never offer fairly on their items and it certainly doesn’t take long to have one of these resellers offer well below your (fair) asking price when selling items on the Trading Post.

As a reseller, I often think about what is going through someone’s mind when they see my boards announcing that I’m buying items with pure at a reseller price. I want people to be excited to sell their items to me; I want to make deals with people that make both buyer and seller happy. How can I do that when nobody wants to deal with resellers because of that bad reputation the name drags along behind it?

This is a guide full of my thoughts on how we can make dealing with and being a reseller good again.

A Tip For Both Buyer & Seller:

    ALWAYS be sure of the price of the item you are buying or selling. Check the Trading Post (from here on out, we will refer to the Trading Post as ‘TP’) to see what people have the item priced at. If you can’t find any prices, create a thread on the Trading & Auctions Neoboard asking for a price check. There are many knowledgeable people here who are happy to help.

Being A Good Reseller:

Being a good reseller starts with knowing the current price of the item you are trying to buy. It does not matter what the item was sold at last month, what matters is what the item is selling at today. Too often, I see resellers refusing to offer fairly on an item because it sold for less in the past – this is not the way to get the word ‘reseller’ to receive a positive response.

Deciding how much to offer on an item is arguably the hardest part of being a good reseller. You want to offer low enough that your profit is worth the time it takes to sell the item, while still offering enough that you are offering a fair price to the seller.

I find the easiest thing to do is to set up a few buying guidelines for yourself. My personal buying guidelines are: I will offer anywhere from 60%-75% for items, I will offer more for easy to sell items and less for hard to sell items, and that I try to only buy items in a few categories that I know well.

Sticking to items you know well offers many advantages. Being able to keep better track of price changes and learning how long different items take to sell are a couple of those advantages – advantages that allow you the knowledge you need to make the best offer to reflect the amount of time and effort it will take to sell the items you buy.

This is all important to becoming a reseller that people want to sell to. People will be more likely to sell you their items if you can offer them a fair price; and being a reseller is not worth your time if you cannot make a profit.

If you have your buying guidelines in place, all you need to do is advertise that you’re buying. Make sure you clearly state that you are a reseller and that sellers should expect discounted offers from you. List out the items you are most interested in buying (and whether or not you will look at other items) and let people know what they can expect to see from you in terms of how much you’re offering. I find that people are much happier to sell to me if they know ahead of time how much of a discount I want from them.

Dealing With Resellers:

The first step to successfully dealing with a reseller is knowing what your item is worth. Once you know that, you can decide if you want to hold out for someone to buy it at that price or you can choose to offer a discount – this is where resellers will come in.

Most resellers have a set of their own guidelines they follow in regards to how much they offer on items, as stated above, I generally offer anywhere from 60%-75% depending on the item’s popularity and how easy I think it will be to sell.

If you are not willing to sell for a 25%+ discount, do not offer your item to resellers. You can add “no resellers” to your TP wish list, if you’d like, but whatever you do, make sure you are not posting your items for sale on a reseller’s board. Good resellers will honor your “no resellers” wish if it is made clear that you do not want to entertain reseller offers.

If you do decide that you are willing to discount your item and possibly sell it to a reseller, don’t be afraid to haggle. Many resellers are happy to haggle as long as you are, but always keep in mind that resellers are in this to make a profit.

Are you happy with the offer that was made? Yes? Yay! Make a sale!

No, but the offer is close to what you’d like? Haggle! Come up with a number that works for both of you.

Still not happy with the offer? Say ‘no thank you’ and find someone else to sell to.

Dealing with resellers and coming out happy is that simple. Make sure you know what your item is worth and have a price in mind that you’d sell for. Don’t be afraid to haggle and don’t let a reseller offend you with their discounted offer.

Ending Notes:

Being a reseller doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It is a fantastic way to make a profit and it can be a lot of fun if you let it.

Offering fairly and entertaining haggles can even help you make friends who are more than happy to come to you first when they end up in possession of an item that is right up your alley.

But! Ending the stigma associated with being a reseller isn’t up to resellers alone! We rely heavily on the people we buy from to be willing to accept a discount, haggle with us, and not freak out when we do offer to buy their items at a discount.

So, if you’re out there sitting on an item that you just can’t seem to sell, take a look at the current price of said item and consider passing it along to a reseller. Good resellers are out there and we want to buy your items, if you’ll let us.