5 Ideas for a Reselling Business

Key Points

• You might be surprised by how many products resell

• Anyone can turn a profit with minimal experience

• From basic flips to big ones, this is what you need to know

Maybe you’re an experienced reseller. Maybe you’re just getting started. Maybe you want to make a little money on the side, or maybe you’re trying to break out of the 9 to 5 completely. No matter what your goals, you can always benefit from a focused approach. On this blog, we cover a huge variety of items, but today we’re talking about specifics. Here are five ideas for your next reselling business.

What makes a good Reselling Business

Now, starting a business always seems like a pretty daunting prospect. If you’ve never tried your hand at running your own business, you might have some concerns

For one, it can seem quite expensive. You might not have the experience or business degrees you believe it takes, but that’s not always the case.

In fact, it’s never been so easy to start your business, especially if you’re going to be reselling products. The startup capital is minimal, and the office and warehouse can wait until things get rolling.

But what should you focus on? While many resellers go after all sorts of products, some prefer to stick to a particular niche.

Here are a few factors to consider:

Profit

Okay, duh. That’s why we’re starting a business in the first place, right? Unless you’ve already got money and are just looking for a hobby, profit will be your first, second, third, maybe even fourth concern.

Fortunately, reselling is pretty much all profit. The items we talk about on this blog are some the most anticipated and heavily hyped out there, and there’s no shortage people out there willing to fork over money to you.

As long as you’re doing appropriate research before buying, profit shouldn’t be hard to find.

Cost

This one is personal. Items that resell can range wildly in price, and the amount of money your willing to sink into a flip can be affected by a lot of factors.

Some of the items we’ve written about cost under $10. Some have started at nearly $10,000. Within each item there’s different degrees of risk, but ultimately you need to decide what you are able to spend.

Generally speaking, a bigger risk equals a bigger reward, but that is NOT a reason for you to start taking out loans to flip watches.

Make a budget before starting a reselling business, and figure out a solid dollar amount that you’re okay with spending. Remember, some flips can take months to come to fruition. Certain items may fluctuate in price, and unexpected events can make or break your profits.

There’s always risk in any business, but there are many ways to mitigate it.

Personal Interests

Many resellers got their starts as hobbyists. While streetwear and sneaker culture is extremely commercialized nowadays, there was a period where it was primarily a collector’s circle. Passionate people trading gear among themselves, learning about their value and what they think things are worth.

Don’t be afraid to consider your own interests. If you see anything on this list that speaks to you personally, keep that in mind. What’s better than mixing fun with profit?

Reselling Business Examples

Alright, that’s enough abstract talk. We promised specific ideas, and we have some here for you. There’s plenty of money and opportunities here to go around.

While some of these ideas may be expected, you might be surprised by others. In fact, let’s get started with a business you’re probably familiar with, but you may not have realized how accessible it is.

Reselling Cars for Profit

Now hang on. Yes, this is intended as a entry-level list. Yes, cars are generally pretty damn expensive. Yes, there’s already a well-established network of dealers that control the car market.

And yes, you can make a profit from reselling cars. Now, we’re not talking about the average lemon. Like most products, there’s a lot of variety in the car market. There are expensive ones, there are cheap ones (that are still expensive), and there are ones that people really want.

Over the past year, we’ve covered some specific automobiles that were incredible opportunities for resellers. The best part? These required basically no upfront investment. We’re talking about $100 to $1,000 deposits, almost always refundable.

Let’s get specific:

• Tesla Cybertruck. These were definitely a longshot. RC first got in on the Cybertruck back in 2019, and members started calling dealerships for to place preorders as soon as possible. It’s been a few years, but those preorders are looking like they’re just about to deliver. The upshot? Aftermarket sales are looking to be more than $100,000 over the retail price.
• GMC Hummer EV. Yes, we did just put out an article on the market for these crashing. As of now, these are no longer a profitable car to flip. But just after release? That was a different story. Auctions for these crept into the $200,000 range. If you got in early and sold early, this was a win.
• Dodge Demon: Dodge walked back their claim that the 2018 cars were the last production run, and spun up the Demon for a last hurrah this year. These were a profitable flip provided the dealer didn’t mark it up to hell and back.

These cars were all extremely profitable for the resellers that made deposits early. If you want to learn more about reselling cars, check out our guide here.

Reselling Collectibles

Collectibles are bread and butter for most resellers, but really it’s quite a broad term. Most of the items on this list can be considered a “collectible” in some way or another.

Basically, a collectible is anything produced in limited numbers, sold at an inflated price, and intended to collect dust on a shelf. And believe us, there is tons of money to be made here, even off the kind of stuff you wouldn’t expect.

Here are some easy examples:

• SpaceX Starship Torch: Oh look, another Elon product on the list. You shouldn’t be too surprised; pretty much anything with a Tesla or SpaceX badge resells. These torches were available as a preorder for $175, now they go for $300+
• Chuck Sperry Grateful Dead Posters: These are prints of a poster design made by Chuck Sperry. Limited, hyped, and expensive. Resellers that got in early were flipping them for over a grand.
• Shohei Ohtani Coors Can: This is an empty beer can, with a small black box printed on it. If you want to understand why people were buying this, you’ll need to read the article. The (very) short version is that it retailed for $17, and resold for more than $100.

Reselling Music and Vinyl

You know what’s never going out of style? Vinyl. No, seriously.

We’ve talked about vinyl a ton on this blog, and it’s actually a great medium for resellers. It’s a way for fans to own and play a physical representation of the music they love, and vinyl is just straight up cooler than a CD.

We’ve written about wacky pressings like the Dopesmoker weed-infused vinyl, signed records from Lainey Wilson and Taylor Swift, to the more mundane but still popular stuff. In fact, we have an entire guide dedicated to reselling vinyl that you can check out here.

And there are even examples of CDs that have resold too. Olivia Rodrigo’s signed Guts CDs, exclusive Taylor Swift albums, Nicki Minaj; there’s just so much money in the music industry (who knew!)

Reselling Electronics

Of course there’s always room for functional items to resell as well. Electronics are a great option for flipping because a few reasons. For one, they’re expensive, which is a big plus. Most electronics tend to be underproduced as well, at least relative to demand.

The constantly changing state of technology means the market is always moving, and consumers are always needing to upgrade.

You’re probably familiar with how consoles were basically unobtainable at retail for much of the pandemic, but there are other examples too. We’ve talked about the Panic Playdate handheld console, the new PlayStation Portal controller, even a device used for cheating in online games.

For a deeper dive into reselling electronics, check out our guide here.

Reselling Cards for Profit

What would a list of reselling ideas be without cards? They’ve been a big business for decades, and for good reason.

Sports cards, Pokemon, even famous scientists, cards just refuse to die. And don’t worry, you haven’t missed the boat. While the market has changed, there are still plenty of opportunities to make a profit flipping cards.

Here are some highlights from the last few months:

• Bob Ross Topps Boxes: Yes, everybody’s favorite white afro-rocker made an appearance in a Topps set, and the packs were trading well above retail. Resellers could expect to make anywhere from $50 to $200 in profit per box.
• MTG Rings of Power Cards: Earlier this year, Magic: The Gathering got a Lord of the Rings-themed expansion. Part of the set included cards based on the Rings of Power, including the ultra-rare One Ring. Many of these cards sold for hundreds of dollars.
• Disney Lorcana: We’ve been talking about this new card game from Disney for months now. Lorcana cards have been reselling for thousands of dollars even before the game officially launched, and resellers have been there for every step of the game’s release.

Where to find items to resell?

Alright, we’ve talked a lot of game here, but by now you’re probably wondering “is it really this easy?” If it was, wouldn’t everyone already be making easy money by reselling stuff?

The truth is that turning a real, reliable profit through flipping is hard. There are so, so many items being produced, and while many of them market themselves as rare and valuable, most are pretty much crap.

Even if you have a line on something that’s legitimately resellable, how can you even buy it in the first place? It seems like all of the best flips sell out in seconds, or are being heavily botted.

The most successful resellers have generally been doing it for years. They’re experienced, and highly attuned to the markets they sell in. They know what the new releases are, they know what to buy, and they know how to do it.

How can you compete?

The answer is simple. You don’t. Instead of grinding your teeth and wasting your money, you join a community where the experienced resellers give you literally all the knowledge you need to succeed, where the newest flips are posted for you before the item goes live, and where you have an advantage on every drop.

Pretty much every product you see written about on this blog or on our item pages was posted in Resell Calendar ahead of time for our members. Every example of profit you see is a real reseller turning $50 into $500, day in, day out.

Does that kind of experience sound intriguing? Maybe it’s your turn to join RC Elite too.