I've been selling on Depop for about two years, mostly picking up items from thrift stores and clearance racks. Recently I switched to buying wholesale lots from a few suppliers. The margins are better and I can list more consistently, but it's a completely different way of working. Curious if anyone else has made this shift and how you handle the upfront cost and storage.
Sourcing
Wholesale sourcing is changing how I run my Depop shop
How much are you buying at once? I looked into wholesale but the minimums were way too high for my small volume.
I did wholesale for a while. The main thing that got me was the lack of control over what you get. You end up with a lot of stuff that sits forever and eats into your margins. How are you handling the dead stock?
The dead stock is real. I've started bundling slower items into lots and selling them cheap, but it's not perfect. Right now I'm buying about 50 pieces per order from one supplier.
50 pieces feels manageable. Are you using a storage unit or just your garage?
Just a spzare room right now, but it's getting tight. I might need to look into a small unit if I keep scaling.
That's the part that worries me. My place is already full.
Wholesale changed my shop too, but in a different way way. I used to spend weekends sourcing and now I spend that time photographing and listing. Honestly the listing side is more exhausting for me. The upfront cost was a hurdle but I found a supplier that lets me do a smaller first order, which helped.
FrazzledFern, did your supplier give you a better price on the first order or was it the same rate? I'm curious how you negotiated that.
It was the same rate, just a lower minimum. I asked directly and they said they could do a trial order. Didn't hurt to ask I guess.
I've been avoiding wholesale because I like the hunt. But the consistency argument is strong. How long does it take you to list a wholesale batch compared to thrifted items?
Listing wholesale is faster since the items are similar and I can batch photos. Thrifted stuff takes more staging because everything is unique. But wholesale is less fun, not goingg to lie.
Less fun but more predictable. I guess that's the tradeoff.
The predictability is what made me leave wholesale. I liked knowing what I had, but I didn't like feeling like a warehouse. Everyone's different though.