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What is a resale business?
With this kind of business you buy finished products and resell them, or you order from the creator/manufacturer on behalf of the customer.
The customer sees you as the owner of the product and they deal directly with you, rather than the creator/manufacturer.
You make money by selling at a higher price than you buy.
Resale is one of 19 types of online business and considered a Level 3 online business, according to our framework.
6 Levels and 19 Types of Online Business
Level 1 = Novice
Okay for side income or beer money, but hard to earn a living.
Level 2 = Intermediate
Best for earning a living online when you’re starting out, but hard to scale.
Level 3 = Advanced
Easier to scale and higher income potential, but you usually need significant investment of time and/or money upfront.
Level 4 = Superior
Even more scalable and even higher income potential, but also more complex / difficult / expensive.
Level 5 = Distinguished
Most complex / difficult / expensive, but the rewards here can be massive.
Level X = Wildcard
These are the misfits. Many aren’t even considered businesses in the traditional sense, but they are all ways to make money online. You typically need a lot of time, money, or luck to succeed with anything here.
How can you make money online with a resale business?
Here are the legit ways I’ve found to make money online as a reseller…
Start a Dropshipping Business
Dropshipping is probably the most famous type of resale business.
⚠️ It seems to be harder to succeed with dropshipping nowadays, but people like Rene Delgado were seeing fast success with it a few years back…
Rene Delgado
- Bounce House Dropshipper
- $300,000 revenue in first year
Matt Scott got started in around 2014 and by 2019 had grown his business to “seven figures”…
Matt Scott
- Dropshipper
- $1+ million annual revenue
Both Rene and Matt report that they built their businesses with the help of a course called Drop Ship Lifestyle.
Resell with Amazon FBA
Dan Meadors and his business partner have had great success with this…
Dan Meadors
- Co-founder of The Wholesale Formula
- $400,000+ monthly amazon wholesale revenue
They buy products in bulk, get those products shipped to Amazon’s FBA warehouses, then resell them on Amazon.com.
Resell on eBay
This is one of several ways Ryan Roots and his wife make money online…
Ryan Roots
- Co-founder of Ralli Roots
- $24,176 Ralli Roots monthly revenue reselling on ebay
However, there is a significant offline component to Ryan’s business – they store quite a lot of product in a warehouse and ship it to customers themselves.
Resell a Digital Product
Aaron Kerr finds classic literature with expired copyright, formats the text for Kindle and sells on Amazon…
Aaron Kerr
- Public Domain Publisher
- $1,300 monthly revenue
Flip Domains
The glory days of domain flipping seem to be long gone.
Unless you have a time machine, you’re not going to replicate the success of someone like Glenn Stokes. He bought the domain plants.com for dirt cheap in 1995 and sold it for a bundle 23 years later…
Glenn Stokes
- Domain Flipper
- $450,000 sale of one domain
However, domain flippers like Jonas Nielsen show that it’s still possible to flip domains for a small profit in a few weeks…
Jonas Nielsen
- Domain Flipper
- $824 from one domain flip
Flip Websites
This is more complex than flipping domains but it can be a solid way to make money online if you have the right skills.
Like Doron here…
Doron Wolffberg
- Co-founder of Cliverse Media
- $124,750 company profit from one website flip
Pros and Cons of Resale Businesses
- No need to create a product yourself.
- Quite scalable.
- Strong passive income potential, so long as you don’t have to hold inventory yourself.
- Usually requires a complex set of skills.
- Customer service headaches.
- Slow and/or expensive to start. Usually takes months or years to earn a living from this.
- Can be quality control issues, since you’re dependent on other people creating the product.
- Lots of fake gurus and scams promising quick and easy success.
Is a resale business a good way to earn a living online?
It can be, but this is a tough one for beginners as there are a lot of moving parts.
You have to work well with both creators and customers – first sourcing good products, then marketing them effectively – and you’re on the hook for any quality control issues.
I wouldn’t recommend jumping into resale as your first online business.
Resale Business Resources
- Ralli Roots YouTube channel
Helpful videos by successful online resellers. - Empire Flippers
A well-respected marketplace for buying and selling websites. - Flippa
A popular marketplace for buying and selling websites and domains. - Drop Ship Lifestyle
A popular course that I’ve seen successful dropshippers recommending.
