How Much Does a Reseller Make: The Real Numbers From My First 24 Months

The Day I Realized Reselling Could Be a Real Income Stream

I’ll never forget March 2, 2021. I listed my first 8 items on Facebook Marketplace and Poshmark: vintage Levi’s, a pair of Air Max sneakers, and some thrifted home décor.

I wasn’t expecting much. But within 48 hours, I’d sold 3 items and made $167 profit. At the time, I was working a 9–5 job, and that weekend flip felt like striking gold.

Fast-forward to today, and I’ve listed over 7,000 items across multiple platforms. Reselling went from a curiosity to a legitimate business. And yes, it pays my rent.

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How Much Does a Reseller Make (On Average)

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Not every reseller makes the same amount. The range is wide:

• Hobby resellers (1–5 hrs/week): $100–$800/month

• Part-time resellers (5–20 hrs/week): $1,000–$4,000/month

• Full-time resellers (20+ hrs/week): $4,000–$15,000+/month

My first full-time year, I averaged $4,841/month in gross sales and about $2,600/month in net profit. I’ve had months that soared past $8,000… and others where things got painfully slow.

And the number depends on three factors:

1. What you sell

2. How efficiently you list

3. Which listing platform you focus on

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How Listing Platforms Affect Reseller Income

I’ve experimented with nearly every major listing platform over the last few years. Each one has its quirks — and income potential.

When I learned how to see when a FB Marketplace listing was posted, I started optimizing my relisting schedule. The difference was night and day — listings near the top convert faster, and stale ones get buried.

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How to See When a FB Marketplace Listing Was Posted

This was a game changer for me.

When I started out, I used to list an item once and forget about it. But Marketplace surfaces newer listings more prominently. So, here’s how I check age:

• Click on the listing as if you were a buyer.

• Scroll down past the description.

• There’s a small gray line that says something like “Posted 3 days ago.”

I now relist items older than 5 days to push them back to the top of search results. That small tweak increased my Facebook conversion rate by 37% in August 2022.

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How Much Does Prime Lister Cost (and Why I Stopped Using It)

For a while, I used Prime Lister to automate crosslisting and delisting.

• How much is Prime Lister? I was paying $29.99/month for the basic plan.

• It worked well for the first 3 months.

• But once I scaled beyond 500 listings, it started getting buggy with duplicate postings on Facebook.

I eventually switched to Closo, which better integrated with my inventory and repricing logic. (I still think Prime Lister is solid for beginners — just not ideal for scaling.)

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Why Listing Fast Matters More Than Listing Perfectly

In October 2022, I timed myself. Listing one item manually, perfectly, with title optimization and multiple photos took me 6 minutes. Using templates and batch workflows, it dropped to 90 seconds.

Here’s what that means in real numbers:

• 6 min × 10 items = 1 hour of work for 10 listings.

• 90 sec × 10 items = 15 minutes.

I went from 300 listings/month to over 900. And when more listings went live, my monthly net jumped by $1,200 without changing anything else.

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Honest Failure: The Summer Slowdown

In July 2022, I had my first real taste of the infamous summer slowdown. My sales plummeted from $6,800 in June to $3,950 in July.

I panicked. But looking back, I learned three lessons:

1. Seasonality is real.

2. Diversifying platforms helps smooth out dips.

3. Listing daily matters more than listing perfectly.

I doubled down on eBay that month, shifted my focus to seasonal back-to-school inventory, and sales rebounded by August.

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How to List Item for Sale Efficiently

A big chunk of reseller income comes down to how fast and consistently you can list item for sale.

Here’s my current workflow:

1. Prep: Steam, clean, or wipe product.

2. Photos: Use Photoroom or my lightbox setup.

3. Template: Title + keywords pre-filled.

4. Post: Crosslist with Closo to eBay, Poshmark, and Facebook.

5. Relist older inventory weekly.

This simple process is why I list 20–25 items a day without burning out.

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How Resellers Actually Make Profit

People often overestimate profit. If something sells for $50, you’re not making $50.

Here’s a typical breakdown from a real flip:

• Nike Dunk Low

• Buy cost: $48

• Sell price: $127

• Platform fee: $15.24

• Shipping cost: $10.25

• Net profit: $53.51

Multiply that by 20–30 sales a week, and that’s where the money happens.

I call it boring profit. It’s not flashy, but it stacks.

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People Always Ask Me… “How Much Can You Realistically Make?”

The answer: it depends on your inputs.

In January 2023, I worked 10 hours/week reselling. My net was $1,120.
In May 2023, I worked 25 hours/week. Net: $3,890.
In November 2023, during Q4, I cleared $7,000 net in 32 hours/week.

Reselling rewards consistency more than talent. I’ve seen beginners beat veterans just by listing daily and reinvesting profits wisely.

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Tools That Boosted My Reseller Income

These are the five tools I’d keep even if I stripped everything else away:

• Closo — pricing automation, listing sync, smart relist triggers

• Photoroom — fast, clean product photos

• Google Lens — quick price checks on thrifted items

• Rollo Printer — bulk shipping labels

• Notion — tracking profits and weekly goals

(Yes, I’ve tried dozens more, but these are my backbone.)

And I use Closo to automate my delist/relist and pricing flows — saving me around 3 hours weekly.

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Honest Failure #2: Overspending on Tools

When I first got serious in late 2021, I subscribed to everything: Vendoo, Prime Lister, Seller Insight, Canva Pro, and five “must-have” Chrome extensions.

My monthly tool bill was $180. My net profit was $600. That didn’t make sense.

I’ve since cut it down to a lean stack. Profit margin matters more than shiny dashboards.

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How Much Does a Reseller Make in Year One vs Year Two

• Year One (2021): $24,680 gross / $10,100 net

• Year Two (2022): $62,740 gross / $28,616 net

• Year Three (Projected): $95,000+ gross / ~$43,000 net

The biggest jump came from scaling listings, not necessarily finding “hotter” products. A larger, optimized store brings compounding returns.

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Why Listing Platform Choice Matters Less Than Execution

I’ve seen sellers making $5,000+ on Facebook Marketplace alone. Others do it all on eBay or Shopify.

What separates hobbyists from serious sellers isn’t the platform — it’s execution:

• Listing daily.

• Pricing intelligently.

• Streamlining operations.

• Leveraging automation.

The platform amplifies your work. It doesn’t replace it.

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Common Question I See: “Do You Need to Quit Your Job to Make Real Money?”

No.

For 18 months, I resold part-time while working full-time. I averaged $1,800–$2,800/month net during that stretch.

I didn’t quit until I saw consistent numbers that replaced 80% of my salary. And even now, I treat this like a business — not a hobby.

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Final Thoughts

So, how much does a reseller make? There’s no one-size-fits-all number. Some make a few hundred dollars a month. Others build six-figure businesses.

But I can say this with confidence: if you build solid listing habits, manage costs, and use tools wisely, it can absolutely become a meaningful income stream.

And for me, pairing my listing workflow with Closo has been one of the biggest time-savers — freeing up hours every week to focus on sourcing and scaling.

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If You Want to Go Deeper

• Explore automation tips in the Closo Seller Hub.

• Check out my guide on How to List Items on eBay.

• Learn from my product picks in Highest Selling Items on eBay.