Latest / The Truth About Reselling / Reselling | She Sold $1 Million on WhatNot Her First Year ft. Wild Ginger Vintage
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hello and welcome back to the podcast. It's been a while, but we're here with Wild Ginger. It has. Yes. Thank you so much for joining us. We're so happy to have you here chatting with us. speaker-1: It's my pleasure. Thanks for asking. speaker-0: Yeah, and so could you introduce yourself to our listeners who may not know you? For instance, people like myself are not on whatnot, but I'm I'm trying to get brave to get on there, to bid, to sell. can you tell us a little about who you are? speaker-1: Sure. Hi guys. I own Wild Ginger Vintage. I am a reseller on the Whatnot platform. I'm also on Instagram as far as on Instagram I post videos, I do sneak peeks, but we do all our sales on whatnot. I came from a background of having a private clientele. I'm in California, Los Angeles to be exact. And so here I have a lot of clients in the industry of a certain stature. And so I have a very streamlined or had a very streamlined, quiet private clientele type of business, which I loved. I was approached by whatnot. And my first reaction was, no, not for me. No, thank you. That's for like garage sales and sports cards and things like that. And the person who reached out to me, Erin, who I'm eternally grateful to and for, said, you know what, just take a look. Take a look. Just let's see how it is. So I looked on there, I saw there were a few other resellers that I knew of and I went, wait a minute. Now if they're on there, there might be something to it. I knew one person that was on there that was my friend's daughter that was selling crystals. I mean, that was my knowledge. And like I said, the the whole garage sale type of thing. So I started poking around and then I went, Okay, wait, there is something to this. So I thought, okay, I'll try it. And I reached back out to her and I said, You're right, let me try it. She Gave me a, you know, tutorial, a lot of support. I got all set up, what I thought was all set up, and did my first live stream. And immediately when I was done, clicked end and burst into tears. Worst experience ever. Done. I had done done some live streaming on Facebook and on Instagram, but it was a very different way of doing it. And here I had people coming at me and I didn't know answers. And you have to really learn how to work with the app. There's a lot of ins and outs that I didn't realize. So that was my first experience on whatnot. And I it just was really frustrating. And I thought, I'm not a quitter. I have to keep going with this. And so I did. And I threw out, you know, a being able to ask Aaron questions. And then I was fortunate enough to have. experienced sellers on the app come into my live streams and introduce themselves to me and support me. And they were like, don't give up. This is we all go through it. Don't give up. The longer you do it, the more regularly you do it, you'll get comfortable. And they were right. It was the best business move I've ever done. So that was that that's how I got here. And speaker-0: So cool. You did a million in sales on your first year on whatnot, right? speaker-1: I didn't. speaker-0: That that is crazy. How long have you been on whatnot now? speaker-1: D I just hit two years, September thirteenth. speaker-0: my gosh. Congrats. How did your two go? speaker-1: Same. Pretty much same. So wow. Yeah. speaker-0: That's incredible. And you were a T V styl or a stylist for T V before as well, right? speaker-1: So I did a lot of fashion styling for photo shoots. I was in the film industry in a different aspect of design. in doing set work. Yeah. And I did a lot of, like I said, styling work for print and for video and music videos, commercials, things like that. So yeah, it was speaker-0: That's so cool. How does live selling compare to that? Cause like I'm speaker-1: No, I'm really loving it. speaker-0: sh I I bet you get the biggest dopamine hit from like seeing something in print. But then also I know t from talking to Amanda who also sells on whatnot, you get that dopamine hit from a show, right? When it goes really well. yeah. speaker-1: Absolutely. And you know, live streaming mostly at night, I don't go to sleep. I just don't sleep. My husband likes speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: it's you can't just go, okay, I'm gonna go home now and go to sleep. I go home, I start doing things. Plus, I source goods all over the world. So when you know, the time change actually works really great for someone that live streams at night because then I can talk to my my suppliers in different parts of the world after my live streams. So it works out great in that sense. I just don't sleep regularly. speaker-0: How does that work though? Do you eventually crash? Because I we Amanda and I just met for the first time in Dallas and we were so just like buzzing because we went there with Becca Thrifts too, and it's you're buzzing, buzzing, buzzing, and then we crashed the next week. We both got sick. Yeah. Yeah, all of us got sick. speaker-1: yeah. That so luckily I knock on wood somewhere. I have been I'm really careful about that. and I do I take vitamins, I don't work out like I should, but I am careful about what I do and how I do it. So and as far as the sleep, I will do like little chunks of sleep, if that makes sense. speaker-0: So I hear they do that in the military. Three hours, three hours, three hours. Yeah. That's great. So I see a lot of logos behind you. I see some Chanel. I saw Fendi on your Instagram. I see some Birkin. So speaker-1: yes. We have lots of Birkins. speaker-0: So there is a kind of kind of like with Deepop too, there is kind of like a stigma about whatnot that it's like you have to have dollar starts, you have to have It's just like cheap stuff. So can you tell us a little about that? Did you have to start off that way or did you start off with your beautiful luxury goods? Yeah. And then tell us like a little bit about your business model because I think it's different than what a lot of other whatnot sellers are. So I think our listeners are going to eat it up. speaker-1: So I am different than your typical whatnot seller. I'm here to create a community and a lot of the sellers on there say that. but I have built a community where I have people I go through their life cycles with them. I have someone who I went through her mother having cancer and passing away. Another client went through cancer and she's knock on wood doing great now. But she would pop into the shows and, you know, she'd say, I just had chemo today. And so I'd go, Okay, loosen up, just Get comfy and relax and you know, I talk to my clients. I create I I don't do the dollar starts and the yelling and the jumping. That's not me. I just I tried it in like my second or third show. I was like, okay, I gotta do this. And it was awful still. it's just and I went, I can't do this. So if I'm gonna do this, I have to do me. obviously I like to talk. So that kind of makes it easy. Except it's frustrating for my family because when I'm not live streaming, I don't want to talk. speaker-0: So they're like, you're like, I unpocked out. that's speaker-1: Yeah, because speaker-0: you too, right? yeah. No, sometimes I'm like, I have to go sit in a dark room for an hour to decompress. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good idea. I have to try that. Yeah. Anyway, so my model is I'm gonna talk to you the way we're talking right now. That's how I do my live streams. It's very natural. It's who I am. If you want to be in here and hang out, you don't have to buy. You can just hang out, you can ask me questions. I just love doing it that way. And I feel like, you know, I see names popping in. I'm like, hi. How's your kids? How's your mom? How's you know, and I love that. It's like chatting with friends, but they're buying. And not always not always buying. A lot of it is, you know, looking and thinking about. I have a bag right here that I'm holding. I'm literally not showing it because I have a couple of bags like that. But I have a client that wants a bag and she can't get it until October. sorry, November. And I said, Don't worry about it because she's bought a lot for me. I'm gonna work with her. speaker-0: So sweet. That's so cool. Yeah. So you actually have a relationship. Yeah. Yeah. speaker-1: And so that's my style. I d like I said, I don't do the jumping around. And as far as dollar starts, the only thing I do, I don't have any in here. I do dollar starts. I have these little designer books that I'm able to get from a supplier of mine. And I will do dollar starts on those. And that's really fun. And everyone gets excited about it. the other thing I do that is a dollar start is once a month to thank my Audience for hanging out with me, I will do a dollar start bag, a designer bag. I've done Chanel, I've done Cendi, and they're not crappy bags. I don't do anything that, you know, is not of excellent to pristine items. I always say this in my shows. I only carry excellent to pristine and I don't do anything with sticky pockets, peeling leather, or residue. And so that's how my niche has formed in the way that I. sell and the items that I sell. speaker-0: Uh-huh. Sound. Can I ask a nosy question? speaker-1: Absolutely. speaker-0: What is the highest you've ever sold something for on what both of you, since both of you have sold on whatnot. I never have. speaker-1: my highest would have been twenty. I'm trying to think it was one bag. Highest accumulative order or highest bag? I'll do highest bag. Whatever. Okay. Highest bag was twenty, I wanna say twenty six thousand somewhere in there. speaker-0: my gosh. Was it a Birkin? speaker-1: It was a Birkin. Yeah. But now the Birkins that you see here are beautiful condition, but I've been able to source them for lower pricing. So these are actually lower than that. So Wow. That's the other part of my business is I work on certain percentages, my formula. And if that means someone's gonna get a bag, okay, I'm gonna show do you want me to show you one real quick? Yes. speaker-0: I do like to see it. All right. Yeah. Please, please. Absolutely. Yes. speaker-1: bag. We can play. So this bag is a Chanel classic medium double flap. It is in patent leather. I'm showing it to you like I sell it. it's in patent leather. It's in beautiful condition. I have to show you this inside. Look at how speaker-0: It's hard to keep not from getting not sticky too. speaker-1: People think that it's it's a fallacy. It's really not. I beat the crap out of my patent leather bags. Yeah, I do. I'm just rough on You know, that's a it it it's a good question. It's part of it is how they're made, when they're made. Like the older ones, if you look at where is it? That big vanity right there, that is never gonna get sticky. It's an older, it's from nineteen ninety four to nineteen ninety six. They made patent leather so differently then. And it's just beautiful. It's not sticky at all. This one's not sticky, but it's a little bit, it's not sticky. I can't explain it. It's a different texture than that. and this is newer. So this bag in store is about well, regular, just plain old leather one is $12.5 now, $12,500. This would be a little more because the patent leather makes it a little more special. So let's say $13.5. My price on this is forty eight hundred. So that's a huge discount. speaker-0: That's huge. Yeah. So the pat the patent leather depends because I got this Ted Baker, which I know is a lower line, but I got this Ted Baker and it was so sticky and I used a little oil on it and that helped, but like just like olive oil. which I don't know why I did that, but speaker-1: I was gonna say that was quite daring. speaker-0: I think it was like e either I do this or it's not usable and it was fine. Yeah. Right. So okay. So here is another kind of I'm guessing. Well, I I'm curious about this because you always hear keep your cost of goods low, keep it low, keep it low, keep it low. You know, people say keep it under three dollars, keep it under two dollars, which I'm in the Bay Area. I know you're in Los Angeles. It is I don't know that I've ever found anything ever for under three dollars. Yeah. And I imagine your stock is not. under three dollars. So speaker-1: No, it is speaker-0: what are your what are your thoughts about that? Like as somebody is growing their business, like how did you just do consignment and you had to give you stuff? Okay. So you actually invested in the speaker-1: This is all investment. There's maybe two pieces in here that are consignment from clients that constantly buy from me. I don't do consignment. So I did. Here's one of the reasons why. there's a couple things actually. Consignment, I always feel uncomfortable. That for me personally, I don't like that I'm holding somebody else's bag. I'm responsible for their income, what they're getting. I just don't and I'm tied to somebody else. This is, you know, I came from a background where I worked for studios and I did th and it was always about I had to do what I needed what I was told to do in a sense, you know, as a stylist. Okay, I need to get this and this and this. This is something, it's just me. It is I get to buy whatever I want, whatever I think is gonna sell, whatever I I I have a bag in here that is I'm gonna probably have for a long time. It's a collector's piece and I can show you that too. Absolutely Okay. so I love that I've built I built this business on just me now. I don't have to deal with producers and directors or clients, you know, private clients or any of that other than selling to them. and I have, like I said, my great group of private clientele. I still have them. They some of them will come watch on whatnot, but they're not gonna buy on here. There's no way. speaker-0: To do and be like, I want this. Like I see what you have and I okay, that's speaker-1: Or I do have one celebrity who I won't name who loves to pop in and take a look and talk and chat and then later we get to she's also a great friend. So we get together and you know, she picks her stuff. But we yeah, I I just so I I totally got away from what you're asking me. But I just don't stick to any of the norms and the rules. I don't. That's not how I do my business. So far it's worked for me. And it's not gonna work for everyone. It's not. I truly trust my gut. And I will say to anyone, you have to trust there is a feeling, whether you realize it or not, and you have to be aware. Right in here, I don't know if you can see it on camera. Right in here, you have to trust that feeling. When you get a little feeling, that means no. That means move away from what you're doing. And so I've kind of I you know it's how I And the funny thing is it really does relate to how I deal with my clients as well on whatnot. For example, I have certain clients that when I'm buying things, I go, so and so will like this. Yeah. And I will show it to them and they'll go, my God, that's exactly what I had in mind. And so I'm kind of like becoming this matchmaker. I know it sounds so cheesy. But it's speaker-0: No, but it's beautiful too. speaker-1: a match yeah, it is. It's styling for people, but I've never met them. I don't know what they look like. That's what's so funny. speaker-0: Crazy. You just know them well enough that you know their interests and you know what they like and what they've yeah. speaker-1: And it works sometimes and sometimes it backfires. Sometimes it, you know, I'm I've got a bag that I think someone's gonna like and they don't. And I'm like, okay, well have to find someone else to sell it. speaker-0: Right. Hold on to that. Yeah. So I'm curious how starting out on Whatnot went. Did you already have your inventory and then you brought that to Whatnot? Or like how did that work because it was so new? speaker-1: Right. So I had a much smaller inventory. And I really was catering, like I said, to private clientele. And then I had a few bags here and there. And I did, like I said, I did some sales on Facebook and on Instagram, but not like this. Yeah. and this is just a small portion of what we have. Yeah. if you look in my shop, there's like four hundred items in there, and then there's more that's not in the shop. So there's a lot of inventory. So I started collecting once I realized okay, I'm gonna do this, I started collecting more and more from my suppliers and building more of an inventory to the point where my husband walked into my office one day and he goes, do you wanna talk about this? Are you just like trying to have a really great collect? speaker-0: It's like speaker-1: Are you gonna sell these or are you just kinda because but from the time Aaron reached out to the time I started was a few months okay in between. So he he just walked in, he's like, What? I don't know what to think here. Are you just do you wanna just collect bags and wear them and and that's okay if that's what you want to do, but let me know what's going on. And so once we started, once I started selling on whatnot. Then he was like, I get it now. I Yeah, I had to build up an inventory to be able to show people, you know, I couldn't go on with fifteen items and although people do. People do all the time. and I'm not knocking that at all. You do not have to invest the way I've invested in my business at all. speaker-0: Yeah, it is interesting because I have invested in inventory as Amanda knows. I have three storage units, don't tell anyone. and it is one of those things where it's like when you love beautiful stuff and you have expensive taste and you're like, I know this will sell and I'm just collecting it. But it's interesting that you also did that but for whatnot. So you ha you invested a lot because again, you hear from a lot of people, and I'm learning from Amanda too, but everybody does their business differently where it's people just reinvest whatever they make, but you invested Ahead of schedule. Right. Yeah. Which is kind of how I've done. And so your first show was bad, your second show was bad. When did it start getting good? Because I can imagine you have all this inventory. It's very expensive. Like speaker-1: Freaked me out. speaker-0: Yeah, but it did. Yeah. I mean, like that's enough to send anyone into a bit of a spiral. How did you kind of keep pushing through? speaker-1: You know, I remember when I had when I had my first big sale of probably, you know, 'cause my bags, I do now carry bags at various price ranges, you know, under a thousand, as low as like sometimes I'll bring in bags three, five hundred dollars, typically not, but I do like to have them there so that if someone wants to buy a gift for someone else, they can do that. Or if someone doesn't have the budget but they want something that anyway. speaker-0: It's like an entry bag. speaker-1: Yes, exactly. And so I when I started and I sold my first bag that was probably a three thousand dollar bag or something like that. Maybe it was even higher. I went, okay, I can do this. I got one down, I can do this. And then there was I had to learn about what's called rating. And rating means when you have a show and you're ending your show, you take your audience and you send them into another seller's audience. Now I was really hesitant to do that because to me, why am I giving buyers to another seller? Why am I giving them money that could be mine or giving them clients that could be mine? And so I didn't do that. So speaker-0: Exactly. Yeah. speaker-1: I did not do that initially. And then I did it and that person went, my god. And I only had, I can tell you, I think I had like 30 followers at the time. And so that person was like, my gosh, she has 30 followers. Are you new on here? And started a whole conversation with me. wow and he said, Guys, let's get her to 50 followers. And he did. He, you know, there's a way that you can get people to you ask people to follow the whoever you're talking about. And so he did. He got me to 50 followers. And I was so excited. I remember saying to my husband, I just want to get to a hundred followers. And, you know, I got to a hundred and then I was like, I just want to get to a thousand. And now I'm at Just about sixteen thousand. I think I'm like fifteen, eight and change. And, you know, now I'm looking forward to getting to twenty thousand and then fifty, you know, I wanna keep growing. So yeah, that's what did it though, was that just that initi I don't need a lot of validation. I just need a little bit. A little bit of validation goes. Yeah. speaker-0: Yeah, just I think could work. Yeah. speaker-1: A little validation goes a long way with me. So that's what happened. And that's what gave me that. urge to keep going with it. And I did like it. I I have to admit, also, I think growing up around the industry and everything, it's kind of fun to be on camera. There is a little bit of that performance thing that you're doing. While I'm not jumping all around, I'm animated. I joke at my own expense usually. Right. you know, and and it's fun. I really truly enjoy. I look forward to doing my shows. speaker-0: Yeah. So how many shows a week do you do? speaker-1: I do regularly I do three and then I pop in when I can with more. Yeah. So yeah. It's usually Monday night, Thursday night, and Friday night. I'm trying to switch to Monday night, Thursday afternoon in LA, which is still evening on the East Coast. Yeah. and then Friday night. My Monday nights are new bag drops, new item drops. And Friday nights I call them Friday night steals and deals. So Friday night, everything in here is on sale. Now everybody gets a sale price. So yeah. speaker-0: That's cool. That's because like if you want to be first, if budget doesn't matter, then you go to the Monday show. If you are trying to get it at a discount, that's that's so interesting. I love it. And then you also have access. So I went to Vegas this past weekend for thrifting and for our husbands went to the Raiders game and it was one of those things where I love to experience thrifting and or shopping in general in different areas. And to see like the difference. So the Bay Area, we have lots of luxury goods, like lots of new tags, lots of that, which I'm sure you have in LA as well. and Vegas, it was all Shein and Fashion Nova. And I was shocked because, but I guess they even have like a boutique Goodwill that takes all of the luxury that's donated and they sell it in the rich part of town, which is Summerlin. They sell it in the retirement part of town at the higher prices. And it's just so interesting to see how every town works so differently. Like we went to Dallas and it was not like that. You could find whatever everywhere, which is kind of like the Bay Area. But it it is so fascinating just to see how different every town operates so different even in reselling. speaker-1: I agree. I agree. I've done it in Nashville. I've done it in Connecticut. I've done it in where else was I? And it was so different. I I didn't really think about it 'til you just mentioned that. It is very different. speaker-0: Yeah, it's almost like, you know, in LA the billboards are all about movies. In the Bay Area, it's all about AI. And then like in in Dallas even it was a lot of AI. Like that was weird. It was a lot of tech. but it's almost like representing the industries. Where was your favorite place o out of all those places you just named? speaker-1: it depends because for example, in Connecticut, I found really cool things that I wouldn't sell, things that are like little antique home goods kind of things. didn't find a lot of luxury. although Rye, New York has some really beautiful stuff. speaker-0: Ryan York is beautiful. speaker-1: Yeah. And they're very wealthy. Mm-hmm. And they have a consign a couple of consignment stores that are beautiful. So I would say Rye, I did really well there. but I don't do a l I do it for fun. Yeah. My all of my stuff really does come mostly from my suppliers around the world as opposed to thrifting, which I love thrifting as a hobby. Yes. Yep. Even though I do this for a living, I do love thrifting as a hobby. I always have. So But yeah, I I don't look for it. speaker-0: Yeah. I mean, that makes sense because you're I think I'm gonna start move and that's honestly how Amanda is too, right? You your inventory for the most part for the last year has come from other sources, right? Yeah. Yeah I buy palettes. So I'm I I thrift for a hobby and I will throw in like a thrifted show every once in a while. But yeah, that is it even though that's where everything started, that's not really what has sustained me. speaker-1: love to palette shop. I think I mean yeah everyone says it. I would love just love to try to experience it once. I think it would be so cool. speaker-0: It is so fun. Yeah. No, it is it is so fun, but it is overwhelming. And the palettes I buy, like we've gotten designer before, like I've gotten Cartier glasses, and then I get like Amazon stuff. So it really is just the biggest spread and you have no control. So it is like a treasure hunt every time. And that part is like a little addicting because you know the potential of what you could get. Right. But it is also scary and quite the gamble. So yeah. speaker-1: And then on the other side of it, where I don't like when you going back to the consignment and the thrifting, I have a client who's actually she's a dear friend of mine since we were ten years old. wow And so her mom got moved into a facility and she had quite the collection of everything. And she decided she was ready to part with it. So her daughter, my friend, asked me To sell it for. So I did a whole show around it. I said, these are all Jane's goods. Her name is Jane. I said, these are all Jane. And everybody got really into it. And it was great. I mean, but some of it was just beaten up. Some of it was, you it was that kind of a show. And I advertised it as that. I'm like, this is a, you know, speaker-0: An estate sale. speaker-1: yeah, kind of. It was. And Jane's husband was a very high up. in the film industry person. He ran a studio and they had a lot of money and so on. And everything I decided to, I asked my friend, I said, so all of this is authentic, right? And she goes, yeah. And she goes, can you picture my mom with anything inauthentic? And I went, Absolutely not. Well, so I went through it all and I just had a funny feeling. I just had a funny feeling. And so I started authenticating and everything except for there was a go yard And a Louis Vuitton, I think it was two Louis Vuitton in a go yard that came back inauthentic. And I'm so glad I did that. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: So yeah, that was so that taught me a lesson too about you can't just trust in what someone says. And so authenticating every single item is part of that. So everything we sell is authenticated. speaker-0: Amazing. Because you do have a responsibility to make sure, especially when they're spending so much money with you. Yes. To authenticate. I I run into that with palettes because I have gotten fake things and I've gotten real things. And so I am like I would never ever ever want to sell something that was not authentic to somebody that thought they were getting something. And they always pay more for those items. So yeah, that's I didn't realize that what not had that policy. That's cool. speaker-1: Yeah, they do. I know and and there's not everyone abides by it. There are you know, I used to be like, if you want to buy this bag and you wanna have it authenticated, just give me, you know, pay you can buy authentication in the bin in our shop. Yeah. And we'll authenticate it for you. Well, whatnot really in a sense forced my hand and I I fought it. And and now I am so thankful that they did that because we've worked it into just our daily routine. Yes. And I actually prior to that, I felt confident selling items without the certificate of authentication because I make my suppliers supply me with. So speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: I'm covered on that sense. but I get it where I can't give those to my buyers because then they see who my suppliers are. So on your COA it tells you, you know, the company name. So now we just have worked it into our program. And it's fine. And I actually just recently told the people at whatnot how I know I fought it tooth and nail, but I'm so thankful because I don't ever have to worry. speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah. You have that peace of mind too that like they can't come back to you and say, Yeah. Exactly. So you're protecting yourself in a sense. I've speaker-1: had a couple of people come back. I had someone buy a wallet and said, So and so said this is inauthentic. And I go, Well, it's authentic a hundred percent. Yeah. And I said, who did you have? She said she had someone else look at it. And I go, Okay, well, you have your COA from a well known company. Yeah. And who's who authenticated it? It was a company I'd never heard of. They didn't know what they were doing. I offered just for her peace of mind, I actually reauthenticated the item. So she would know that it truly was. And she was fine. You know, we did that and it was fine. So speaker-0: So do you spend a lot of money paying to authenticate things? And you just wrap that into your cost. Yeah. Yeah. speaker-1: It's actually you know what? I it it's expensive because we have so much of it. Hermes is also costs more to authenticate than any other brand. Yeah. They speaker-0: It should have it would be really cool if there was like an a so they do have an official partner that you like a preferred partner 'cause it would be great. speaker-1: There are two that are preferred partners, but I don't have to use them because sometimes they also won't authenticate certain things. speaker-0: Yeah, so don't have to somewhere else, especially like Hermes or whatever, if they're not familiar with a brand. I too, when I buy my luxury stuff, because I do buy luxury, it has to come with a COA. Otherwise, I won't do it. but yeah, this is funny. So the back to what you said about that gut feeling. I have to tell a story. Amanda already knows this because it happened yesterday. And I immediately sent her a voice note. But I had not wanted to go thrifting since we were in Dallas, what, three weeks ago, Amanda? Yeah. Her and Becca also sell on whatnot and they broke me. I have never been out shopped in my life. And I was out We shopped for hours and hours. And I was like, I'm I was like, I'm done. And so yesterday I was like, I don't know why I'm getting this calling. So I got a calling and I had been looking up this is probably too low tier for but like McDougal dresses the night before because I was like, McDougal, I I haven't found one of those in a while. And I walked in the store, new attacks. There's a McDougal right there. And then an Alexander McQueen. My first Algazan armor McQueen. So we're actually gonna get Becca's gonna help me get that authenticated. And I'm pretty sure I also found in Issimiyake, but I have to get it authenticated. And speaker-1: my gosh. speaker-0: it was one of those things where I was like, yeah, you just have to, if you're not feeling it, you just have and then when you do feel it, like you have to you have to listen. And then my gut was like, You need to leave right now. You gotta go. And I was like, Okay, okay, I'm done. And I didn't want that. It but I think that has something about reselling that has really taught me to trust my gut again because in corporate America you're kinda taught not to. Yeah, you just do what you're told. Exactly. And so it's like a re speaker-1: Yeah. I'm kinda rebellious in that way because I did have to go by guidelines for so long and now I'm kinda like I'm doing it my way. speaker-0: You're like, I will do what I feel good about when I feel good about it. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, that's the beauty of having your own business too, which I think is so cool. speaker-1: Yes, it is. speaker-0: There are so many things and I think what people don't realize is a lot of people still think of reselling as like kind of scavenger, kind of scalper a bit. Yes. I do think it's changing, but what are both of your thoughts? Do you feel like that's changing or do people still kind of look down on it a bit a bit? speaker-1: Amanda, what do you think? speaker-0: I think it is changing and I think it is all about the intention you have with reselling. Yeah, I I really do. I think I and I think there's people that give it a bad name, sure, but there are like the scalpers that come in and they're grabbing things that are maybe like hard to find, children's toys, things like that, which is like happening a lot right now. And I think like that's pretty wrong in my eyes, but I do think it's changing. And I think there are people literally making a living selling designer goods. And we're talking to them. No, exactly. Exactly. And and you're selling to people that want exactly what you have and they're paying for your expertise because you can get them a good deal on something that they want and they're willing to pay thousands of dollars for it. Yeah, I don't I don't know. I do think it's changing. And I also think it doesn't even matter if it is changing because there's people that are doing it and they found their people, and that's really all that matters. speaker-1: Yeah. I totally think it's changing. I think there's always gonna be that that element of the scavenger hunt and and the lower end kind of stuff. That's always gonna be there. and that's fine. But I think that people are coming in here and buying Birkins from me for twenty thousand dollars, twenty five thousand, fifteen thousand, whatever it is. And like I said, the ones behind me are less than that. They're in the teens. excuse me, but they so And I do get a lot of repeat clientele. So we specialize, like I said, in the excellent topristine. There's a lot of sellers on, and you know, when someone's selling a bag and they're doing this really fast and you can't see anything. speaker-0: You're like they don't want you to see it. speaker-1: Yeah. So I always tell people in my lives, I go, whether you're buying from me or someone else, please slow down your seller, ask them questions. If they don't answer, if they ignore you, just move on. You you know, do another bag, do whatever. But be careful that that's something that people have to be careful about what they're buying, no matter what price range you're in, whether you're doing luxury, whether you're not, it it people need to pay attention to what they're buying. But I do think the whole aspect of it. And then you also have the sustainability aspect, which is amazing. I mean, I have bags in here from I think my oldest right now would be a series two, which is nineteen ninety-one to ninety-four. Wow. yeah. But you know, like like that big vanity bag back there is nineteen ninety four to ninety-six. It's thirty to thirty-two years old. And You know, I think the sustainability factor is amazing. And I will say that the older pieces are better. speaker-0: Yeah, the quality has gone down. speaker-1: In everything. Things are not meant things are not made to last anymore. You know, I redid a kitchen and and it was the old Viking range was so much better than the new Viking range, you know. Things like that. So it it's all the way around. It's just the way our culture is now. Yeah. Or the way the world is, quite frankly. speaker-0: Really. It makes me think of the Lorax where it's just like everything is just like so fast. Like let's just it's all like meant to what is that? Where like Apple computers, I'm like, great, they just released a new one and now my phone is the battery is going down. I know. Yes. Exactly. speaker-1: Funny how that happens. speaker-0: Planned obsolescence, that is the term. Yeah, where they plan it so that you do have to and I'm like, but that's not good for anyone. And I mean except it's really bad for environment. Yeah. speaker-1: Yeah. Well who the people doing that are so short sighted. They're just in the speaker-0: They care about themselves, they care about exactly how much money they can make. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So I have a couple like what not specific questions for you. Are you selling are they auctions or are you doing buy it now's or like speaker-1: I I do everything has a set price. What speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: I do is like I said, once a month I will do a dollar auction on a designer bag. I can show you. I have the one that I'm doing this month. speaker-0: Yeah, show speaker-1: This month is breast cancer awareness month. I'm a breast cancer survivor. So I have it hits my heart a little more. Yeah. But I have this bag. Let me get it. speaker-0: I'm actually gonna go schedule my mammogram and my MRI because you just said that because I need to. My mom had it a long time ago. So wow. Beautiful. speaker-1: This is the bag. It's it's a bucket bag. It's in gorgeous condition. Louis Vuitton, all leather. And so this will be a dollar start auction. Wow. I speaker-0: Amazing. What an amazing bag for the ball. speaker-1: usually lose my shirt on these. I usually don't make anything on these. If luck if I'm lucky, I'll break even. Rarely do I. but I do it to, you know, thank my audience. And I also do fundraisers where when Texas had those horrible floods, I did where I I asked people to donate tips and all the tips went to that and then I donated a portion of my sales as well and sent money in. So I raised for that I raised I wanna say twenty five hundred dollars, something like that. And speaker-0: That's a speaker-1: yeah. And then I'll do I'll I'll probably do a breast cancer fundraiser. this month. I have to figure that out, along with all the other shows I'm trying to figure out. I I because ideas pop in my head of, I should do this, I should do this, and then I'm like speaker-0: Sounds like someone we know. Sounds like two people we know. I know. We are so similar. Yeah. It is one of those things where it's like that is what's so cool about reselling too is you get to do all the different things. So like if you are a person who gets bored, you're never gonna be bored. Like I don't know that I I haven't been bored since I started doing this at all. speaker-1: Same. speaker-0: The most boring part is like organizing storage or shipping. I really don't like shipping, but then I'm speaker-2: Ugh, yes! speaker-0: It's shipping. So do you hire anything else or do you do it? speaker-1: I do. So that's my worst nightmare is staffing. speaker-0: Admin. Yeah. speaker-1: Ooh and admin. Because here's the the issue for me, because of the value of my inventory. But with staffing, I do because of where where I get my supply, you know, my items from, things like that. Anyone that works for me signs a non-disclosure form. which is great. but I also these people are surrounded by very expensive items. So I have to be really careful about who I hire and you know, so that part is really hard. And finding people that are dedicated, that wanna do this, that don't wanna like learn about it and leave and things like that, that's hard. So it's that's the challenge speaker-0: Yeah. And like learn about it and take your ideas and go start your own thing and speaker-1: So I'm happy to so you know, to help guide someone it you know. speaker-0: Worse. Yeah. speaker-1: And I mean, whatnot has so many more sellers on there now. They're really growing like crazy. So it's it's a growing field. But that is my I have a shipping clerk who's great. I have an assistant who I have I have a lot of part timers right now. I but yeah, I would love to have like I I that's where I'm short right now, is someone an admin person full time. speaker-0: Yeah, admin is a wrestler's worst nightmare. Unless you're type A. If you're type A, I hear they love admin and they love like checking off the boxes and doing the shipping and all of that. But speaker-1: Type A minus. speaker-0: You're A minus. Okay. I'm A minus. Maybe B. I love that. I'm very typey. Yeah, we're both type, very, very typey. our first podcast, I had a hair clip a a chip clip holding up my hair, like because I couldn't find a hair clip. And I was like, well this doesn't represent who I am. Yeah. Exactly. speaker-2: Yeah speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Just whatever you can buy. You know, I ask everyone this who we have on who's on whatnot or any platform, but what are both of you since again you both sell on whatnot, what are your tips for somebody? Pretend you're giving it to maybe a newbie for getting on whatnot. Like what what's like the number one tip you would say to somebody? speaker-1: Wow. speaker-0: Or live selling in general, I should say, because it's not what not specific. It is live selling is such a different beast than traditional static. speaker-1: Think doing your research, I think following and watching other sellers to learn what you do want to do and what you don't want to do, that is huge. that really helped me a lot. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then just being open to advice, g being able to ask for advice. I think those are really important things. Yeah. speaker-0: No, I love that. I think my advice would be just to do it and to make mistakes and to just keep going. Even when you make mistakes 'cause you're going to, I feel like having a willingness to make mistakes and to not let that derail you is what makes someone successful. And if you can just be okay with making mistakes and learning from them and doing better, and like you said, ask for advice. Be like, this happened. I didn't expect it. What would you do in this situation? I think I agree. I think that is what will help make you successful. Okay, those are good ones. We're planning for Amanda and Becca to come out and help me get rid of my stuff and do what live whatnot shows because I'm so nervous. I'm so scared of being online and I'm like, You you guys just help me because I this is like it's so much because like you said, the research and all of that and I learn by watching people like monkeys see monkey do. Yeah. I do too. I mean, and everyone does it different too, which I think is amazing because you can kind of pull like, I like that they do this, I like that they do this, this feels like me. And you don't have to do it exactly the same. Like I think talking to you has been amazing because you do it very different than anyone else that we have talked to on whatnot. And they are gonna learn our listeners are gonna learn something. speaker-1: I think it's great. speaker-0: You know what it reminds me of too? We talked to a woman named Ruth and she sold more than a million on Poshmark, not in a year, but over a five year span. And I think too, it also reminds me personally and probably our listeners, like there is no limit. Like you can do this and you don't have to do it With a three dollar entry. You don't, you can invest in this and you can make it successful. Yes, it takes a shit ton of work for lack of a better word, but like it's going to take a lot of time, effort, education, like educating yourself. but it can be done. And I mean, you did it in a year. You got to that mark, which is incredible. And then you maintained it, which I think is like you didn't have a sophomore slump, which is even more incredible. Right. More speaker-1: because I looked at my numbers like three quarters of the way in to the year and I went, I need to pump it up. So yeah, I was in that sophomore slump and I pulled myself out of it. But you know, you asked me earlier and I didn't really give you an answer to the do I do the dollar starts? I didn't answer you about that. I don't so I do the dollar starts once a month, like I said. And I do it on little those little books I mentioned, and I'll find like little designer ish things that I can do. But yeah, I set my prices and if someone asks me for a discount, I will do that. I always tell people in my lives, if you guys want to make an offer, I am never insulted by low offer. I will either accept it or I'll counter. I will always counter an offer. And that kind of opens up the door. speaker-0: Love that. speaker-1: You know, so I I do suggest pricing your items the way you want, but also letting people know that there might be some flexibility in there. speaker-2: Sure. speaker-0: Yeah. No, I think I think that's really cool. I also think that is something that is very different about you than a lot of people that are getting into whatnot, which is starting as low as they possibly can handle just to make e or break even and then hoping it gets fed up from there. I think you are showing that it is absolutely possible to come into whatnot and set the price you need and be successful at it, which people need to hear that, that if that's how they want to run their business, they absolutely can. speaker-1: Absolutely. It's not easy though. I mean, there's a lot of money that I leave on the table. There's a lot of money that I don't get in my shows. You know, it's frustrating sometimes because I watch sho other shows and I see they're going boom, boom, boom, bag after bag after bag. I don't always have that. That's not my kind of show. But also, speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: you know, the price difference. I appreciate that people are spending thousands of dollars and to click that button and spend five thousand dollars is not an easy decision. So speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So how many on average, how many bags do you sell in speaker-1: Varies. Sometimes it's one, you know, and there'll be like small leather goods or I have a lot of Chanel fashion jewelry. I have a huge collection of that that I sell and it's gorgeous and I love it. So I'll sell like a lot of that. I mix it up. I used to do I used to be more stringent about what I'll sell each show. And now I kind of loosened up a little bit and I'm like, Okay, we're not doing bags. Let's switch over and do, you know, this or that. So it can be 20, it can be one. It can it really varies in my shows. speaker-0: So speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: do you sell like things static like on whatnot or on a traditional platform like Poshmark, eBay? Do you also sell there? Okay, but not anymore. speaker-1: No, no. EV, I cannot stand. I'm gonna be really you speaker-0: And me both, sister. She loves it. Amanda loves it. speaker-1: Experience. I had I had an item. It was a bottega vanetta bag and it went from you know, the person bought it, we came to an agreement on a price, she bought it, it went for authentication, and I get a notification saying this bag is authentic, but it's not as represented. Yep. And I'm like, what? And the authenticator said there's a little mark on the hardware that is not disclosed. And I go, okay, first of all, your job and I I responded saying, Your job is to authenticate, not to judge the quality of the item. Is it authentic? Yes, it is. And she reached out to the buyer and said, well, there's a mark on it that wasn't disclosed. So I showed that in the photos you did see and the mark I swear was like a pencil dot. and I did disclose it. I had a close up photo of it in the listing. So I went back, I got a supervisor and I raised hell. I was furious because this was gonna cost me a sale. And it was like a thousand dollars. And I was really upset. Yeah, yeah, I was really upset. I said, Your job is not to discuss the quality of the bag. That's up to the buyer and the seller. You're authenticated. Why would you try to talk her out of buying this bag? And so the luckily the supervisor I got was actually very nice. And she agreed with me and she reached out to the buyer and saved the deal for me. The buyer was gonna back out. wow and she saved yeah, she saved the deal for me. So speaker-0: You know who else does that is Vestiaire. They authenticate for both if it gets shipped to the hub, they authenticate for both authentication and is it as represented. And luckily they always give the buyer a chance to say yes or no. I have not yet had it knock on wood. This one's real wood. That they come back and say that they don't want it. But In theirs, they disclose that that's what it is. It's not just authentication. It has to go through to be authenticated for quality and authentication. But it's very annoying. But then on the buyer's side too. On the buyer's side it's annoying too, because I'm like, wait, I want I want that item. Like, let me have my item. Yeah, absolutely. But I've speaker-1: You know, so one of our mottos also is my staff, they have to wrap everything a certain way. we enclose things with our items that we sell, so little surprises for people. And I want every buyer to feel like they are getting a gift when they open our boxes. Yeah. And I want them to be happily surprised, not upset when they get our items. Yeah. Because I also with buying have that issue with. having it happen to me. I bought a Prada bag and opened the box and I knew I it was disclosed that it had some wear. But I was like, it looked great on camera. Yeah. And I bought it was actually from a seller, a live stream. And I got it and I touched it and I went, my God. It was so disgusting, so nasty. That I didn't even donate the bag 'cause that's normally what I would do. I couldn't even donate it. I literally put it in the trash 'cause I didn't know what was on that bag. It was so vile. Yeah. So speaker-0: Yeah. And the fact that people are selling that. Yeah. speaker-1: So we really try to not do that. speaker-0: Yeah. I love that. I also think you set a precedence with what people can expect from you. And that probably results in a lot of repeat buyers because they know you're trustworthy. Once they get one bag that's in pristine condition or maybe even better condition than they expected, they're gonna know you're a reliable source to come back to. speaker-1: Right. Right. And that's that is the mainstay of my business is repeat, I would say. We you know, it comes in waves. We get all of a sudden I'll get a new like right now, this last two weeks, I've noticed a new influx of lovely buyers. Really nice. and then sometimes, you know, my regular buyers need to take a break. speaker-0: Course, yeah, I can't be spending thousands of dollars on bags every week. Yeah. speaker-1: So speaker-0: Do you see an uptick in Q four? speaker-1: Yes. Yeah. absolutely. Yeah. speaker-0: You know what's interesting is I've heard resellers say, Q four is slow for resellers, and I'm like, What? That's not ever been my experience. granted, I've only done this for this will be my second Q four, but I think especially now that it's changing where people want things secondhand, I think this Q four is gonna be kind of bananas. Yeah. Yeah. And I also think it depends on what you're selling too. True. speaker-1: Yeah. I think December, late December it falls off because everyone's gotten their gifts for everybody and all of that. But then January surprisingly picks up because people got stuff that they didn't want and they're like, No, I wanna get what I want kind of a thing. speaker-0: Or people get Christmas money and they're ready to spend it. Yes. Yeah. That's Yeah. speaker-1: The other part, yeah. speaker-0: Yeah. And then April's a big month for me too. I don't know about you two, but like tax refund time. yeah. Yes. my god. speaker-1: Gosh, I can't believe how many people are going, I'm just waiting for my refund. Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: Which reminds me I need to do one more thing for my taxes. Well, I know we are over time because of technical things and life, but we like to close out the show with a couple of questions. And it's like rose and thorn of the week as a reseller. while you're getting set up. Amanda, what's your rose and thorn? or high and low. I have been sick since I got back from Dallas. So we're gonna go. My rose was Dallas. I did get everything listed like Laundered and not listed. Laundered and photographed. So I feel like from Dallas. None of it's listed. None of it's listed. But it will get listed when I'm feeling better. So that's my good. Born has just I've been sick for two and a half weeks. So I would love to feel better soon. speaker-1: Hope you do. Thank you. let's see. My rose this week. I will say my new clientele is my rose this week. I got such great new buyers this week. a couple in particular, amazing. really made me like I ended shows not necessarily high on dollar amounts, but the appreciation and the contact was amazing. So that's my rose. My thorn is Let's see what would my thorn be. well. I have I have someone that wants to buy something who keeps pushing it off. That's my my thorn is getting that person to just bite the bullet and do it. Yeah. So yeah, the waiting game. Cause that happens with me. I don't know if you guys experience that where someone wants something and they're like, ooh, okay. So, you know, give me two days or give me three days and I'll go. I'm always a sucker for that. I'm always like, Yeah, that's fine. speaker-0: Yeah, you're so sweet. Yeah, you are sweet. I'm like, well if it's here. There you go. If it's here, you can have speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. That's what most people do. speaker-0: Yeah, I'm like I took up brain power to hold things back and and then they rarely on my side, if I have, they don't end up buying it. So that's why I don't. speaker-1: Well, that's what I'm finding. I'm starting to get there's a a couple of people. I have one in particular. She's amazing. She's been buying from me from the beginning. And she will reach out and say, I really want that bag, but I've got to wait until, you know, her bonus check or whatever it is. And I have a cubby in my office that is like my little hold area. And so that's where I put my little special things with notes. And everyone knows don't touch those items. speaker-0: Those are speaker-1: Yeah, those are for different people. And so I do do that, you know, to my benefit or detriment. I'm not sure yet. But I don't do it for a lot. It it they have to be experienced, you know, repeat customers of mine. speaker-0: If you need Yeah, no, that makes sense. That it is very specific people that have already kind of shown. Yeah. And it's like a you it it's almost like you have a live auction boutique, but it's like people would come into your boutique, browse, you know them, put things on hold for them. So it's almost a different experience. What's yours, Sam? My rose is yesterday's rifting. That was really nice to find those pieces. Yeah. They were flawed though. I got home and they were flawed. So we'll see. But they'll it'll be fine. Like they'll still sell. Yeah. Yeah, they'll still sell. I would say my Yeah, Thorn. I guess my Thorn maybe. I you know, was thrifting in Vegas. where obviously Dallas was a few weeks ago. If it that would be my rose, but I would say that wasn't great, but it but honestly it was great to see like, we do have really good thrifting in the Bay Area. Yeah, just remind you. Yeah, but I would say probably c some consignment clients. So I have taken on more consignment clients lately and I they just kind of drop stuff off and whatever. And it's been great, but two new clients came and they're like, Why hasn't my stuff sold? When are you gonna sell? And I'm like, you know, I don't think I wanna do this. And so I think I'm gonna bit get pickier. And it's people who don't have the luxury items. And so I'm always. I'm not. and you know, one of them is plus size, which used to do well, but now with everyone being on the shot. people just aren't buying plus size for me. Like smaller sizes, people used to not buy. Well, I actually I've always had people buy small sizes. but yeah, I'm like, I don't know what to tell you. Like people aren't buying 3X anymore. And there's you can't force people to buy. Yeah. That's just the Yeah. And I never used to find those things in the thrift store either. And I'm finding a lot more plus size than I ever. speaker-1: That makes sense. That makes sense. So that's another thing about selling luxury bags and accessories. You can be any size. Yeah. It doesn't matter. speaker-0: yeah. speaker-1: Shoes are hard though. I have shoes. I I had a client, I did a closet clear out for one of my clients. This is like what I have three clients that I will do consignment for, basically. And so we did a closet clear out and she gave me all these designer shoes. The problem is they were all size Five and a half and six and a half. And so speaker-0: That's my sister any size. speaker-1: I wish I still had I ended up selling really low. And she didn't care. She, you know, and she's given me all sorts of beautiful bags. and she doesn't care because her what she used to do was take and donate So anything she gets, she's so excited. And she's made thousands of dollars from me wow doing it. So but bags and wallets and jewelry anyone can wear. And I even tell my clients if a chain, if you're tall or if you're a curvy. and the chain on a bag is too short to cross body or whatever, there are cobblers that will extend that for you. It's very easy, very inexpensive. speaker-0: So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That that is a great thing. I do like selling bags. The storing of bags is harder. That that they take up so much space. They do. And especially if you want to keep them very nice and pristine. speaker-1: Yeah. And don't touch. You can't let them touch each other. speaker-0: Yes. Yeah. Yes, because then it all yeah. well thank you so much. This has been speaker-1: Ew speaker-0: we could I I am sure we could talk for ages and ages and ages and we will speaker-1: I I would love that. speaker-0: And then where can people find you? We'll put it in the show notes, but where can they find you if they wanna shop your shows, if they wanna check you out on Instagram? speaker-1: So we're Wild Ginger Vintage on Whatnot. Okay. And then on Instagram it's at the Wild Ginger Vintage. Right. speaker-0: Okay. Great. speaker-1: You have to add the word the, but otherwise we're Wild Ginger Vintage on Whatnot. Correct. speaker-0: And remember Monday, Thursday, and Friday. speaker-1: Day and Friday. Mm-hmm. And then we do pop up. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: I would love it. I would love it. It's been so much fun. Thank you guys so much. I'm truly honored to have done this, you know. speaker-0: We appreciate you. We've learned so much from you. I know. speaker-1: I hope I wasn't Yeah, this is my first one. So hope I wasn't too talky. speaker-0: You were not. No, you're amazing. No, that's perfect. Thank speaker-1: good, good. Thank you. speaker-0: you all for listening and we will hopefully see you next week. We're getting back on track with these, so I'll hopefully see you next week.