Should You Start an Ebay Business Out of Your Apartment or Condo?

If you live in an apartment, condo, or small house, you may have wondered whether you have enough room to run a reselling business. The short answer is yes - but only if you build the business differently than someone with a three-car garage.

I started selling on Ebay about a year-and-a-half ago, and have already made nearly $8,000 in sales. Are there people out there making way more than that? Definitely. But I’ve taken a slow and steady growth attitude, and it’s paying off. I want you to know that you can do that, too, and I’ll show you on this blog exactly how I’m doing it.

Reselling can be a great way to make extra money, declutter your home, or even build a full-time business. But before you dive in, there are a few real-world things to think about. Here are some things you’ll want to consider.

First of all, I want to clear up a common misconception …

You don’t need a warehouse to be successful.

One of the biggest misconceptions about reselling is that success requires thousands of listings or a rented storage unit. It doesn’t.

The truth is that there is room in the reselling world for all sizes of seller. If you live in a condo, apartment, or small house, your business may look different, but different doesn't mean worse. Will you be able to sell enough to replace the salary from your part time job? Probably not. But you can definitely carve out enough space to turn reselling into a lucrative side hustle.

Get clear on your reason for reselling.

What do you want to get out of reselling? You might simply want to earn some extra cash. Maybe you already have a large number of items related to a hobby, like video games or records that you want to get rid of. Or you might be dream of being able to give up your day job. and be thinking about making reselling a full time gig. All of these are good reasons to start a reselling business, but it’s important to get clear on your reason before you take any action. As with anything else in life that takes work, remembering your reason for doing it will help to keep you motivated in the long run.

You’ll need some type of storage system before you buy inventory.

Even if you’re selling small items like clothing or collectibles, inventory takes up space. Before you start, figure out where you’ll store everything. You can start small and expand on your storage spaces over time as your inventory grows. That’s what I did. When I first started, I set aside two shipping boxes for inventory. For the first six months or so, that was all the space I needed. Then as my business grew, I eventually started carving out additional spaces - a shelf here, closet corner there. It’s all been very gradual, and I’ve never needed to do a major reorganization my condo to accommodate everything.

• Do you have a closet, shelving unit, or under-bed bins you can dedicate to inventory?

• Can you keep your items organized and easy to find once they sell?

A messy setup turns into chaos quickly - trust me, I speak from experience! Early on, I would take photos and list items, then just put them down wherever there was space in the immediate vicinity - on the floor, bed, desk, etc. Not only did that lead to disorganized piles everywhere, making my living space chaotic, but I also had to keep a mental list of where everything was. That was clearly not going to be sustainable for the long term!

A clear system - like labeling bins and keeping a spreadsheet of what’s where - will save you a lot of frustration. I wrote more about how I have found storage spaces around my condo here.

Think about where you’ll source inventory.

You need to have a long term plan for finding inventory. Maybe you are a thrifting enthusiast, or you love to hit up yard sales. Or maybe you have a large, readymade inventory of CDs, video games or comic books that you want to unload. You can also sell items you have lying around your home! I have sold my kids’ old clothes and toys, as well as my own sunglasses and some unused office supplies. Mostly, though, I buy my inventory from thrift stores and the occasional estate sale.

I see large resellers talk about buying pallets of items and bulk buying at flea markets, etc. They seem to make a lot of money doing those things. But the reality is that when you live in an apartment or condo, you can only store so much inventory. Chances are that you are not ready to rent a storage space for your business, and if you’re like me, you never will.

The truth is that there is room in the reselling world for all sizes of seller, and we small home dwellers can absolutely find success! But you have to have a long term plan for restocking your inventory.

Listing inventory takes longer than most people expect.

Sourcing is the fun part, but then you have to actually list your items! This is where many people fall short. Each item has to be photographed, measured, described, and priced - and that takes longer than most people think. The last thing you want is for your inventory items to end up in a messy pile that sits, untouched, forever.

So ask yourself … do you have the discipline to consistently list your items? Setting up systems helps. You can set up systems for photographing, listing, labeling and storing your items, but it ultimately takes discipline to do it. The difference between people who make money reselling and those who don’t often comes down to having the discipline to actually list their items consistently over time.

And listing doesn’t have to take a ton of time. Many successful resellers spend 30-60 minutes per day listing items. I have a goal of listing three items per day, and that takes me about an hour. But the trick is to be consistent and keep try to keep yourself to a time limit.

Every new reseller goes through a learning curve.

You won’t be successful right away. You’ll have to put effort into learning what sells and how to price items, determine your shipping costs, take good photos, source shipping materials, and more. Are you the kind of person who can learn from mistakes and be nimble? Are you perseverant or easily discouraged?

All of this matters when deciding whether to start a reselling business. Just like with any other business, you’ll have to make adjustments as you go. The average person quits selling on Ebay after three months. But in order to find success, you have to be willing to treat every challenge as a lesson, adopt a growth mindset, and just keep going.

You don’t have to grow fast.

My approach to successful reselling is slow and steady growth - not racing to make six figures in the first year. It’s perfectly okay, and even advisable, to start small and expand what you’re doing over time. Dip a toe in the water by listing just a few items to see if you even like reselling. If you do, list a few more and then a few more. Take the time to set up systems. Most people get frustrated or burn out after the first few months because they expect too much too soon, or are surprised by how much work is actually involved.

I’ve been reselling for a year-and-a-half, and I really enjoy it. I’m not making a ton of money, but I make a few hundred dollars every month and enjoy watching my monthly profits increase little-by-little over time because of the systems I’ve put in place. I enjoy learning about what sells and how to price items properly. And I enjoy the little feeling of excitement that comes with every sale.

Final thoughts

Starting an eBay reselling business is absolutely doable - even from a tiny condo or apartment. The key is to start slow, stay organized, and treat it like a work-in-progress. You’ll make mistakes, but you’ll also learn what sells, what doesn’t, and what kind of business you want to build.

If you’re still excited after reading this, I hope you’ll stick around. This blog isn’t about building the biggest reselling business possible. It’s about building one that fits your home, your schedule, and your life. If that sounds like the kind of business you want to build, you’re in the right place.

READ NEXT: My First 10 Sales (What I Learned and What I’d Do Differently)