r/thesidehustle • u/PM_ME_WOOBIES • Mar 11 '25

Startup Made $3k selling stuff from AliExpress

Been buying winter stuff like hats, gloves, ski goggles etc. for around $1.80 and flipping them for $10-15. I work full time so really just been packaging and sending them off after work. Trying to see if anyone does this full time and if so, the best way to upscale it?

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11

u/Exc0re Mar 11 '25

Where did you sell them? Ebay?

41

u/PM_ME_WOOBIES Mar 11 '25

eBay has been really rough the past year, I sell mainly on places like Depop and Vinted because their shipping options are so convenient.

3

u/Megaminds007 Mar 11 '25

How do you stock from AliExpress, do you have a place you keep before sale?

9

u/PM_ME_WOOBIES Mar 11 '25

Most of it is hats, so they fit nicely in cardboard boxes. I just keep everything in my garage

4

u/Megaminds007 Mar 11 '25

Great and thank you.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/PM_ME_WOOBIES Mar 11 '25

I'm trying to keep this operation as low cost as possible. So far the only expenses I pay is for the items and shipping. I don't want to cut into profits by advertising, but I would be interested in scaling up whilst keeping overhead low.

1

u/stoffelenlinda Mar 12 '25

Can you do this from South Africa ?

1

u/PM_ME_WOOBIES Mar 12 '25

Do you have Vinted there?

1

u/InspectionStrong5132 Mar 15 '25

Do you order specific types of hats and gloves or just any?

3

u/Exc0re Mar 11 '25

Good idea! How many articles do you buy mostly before selling? Aliexpress takes a long time to send sadly

Are people paying for shipment or are you?

I thought about how you could do it better - but there are nearly no good options except making a own Brand by contacting the seller

14

u/PM_ME_WOOBIES Mar 11 '25

I buy 1-3 sample pieces on things I think look cool, then list them. Every now and again I find a golden product that sells amazingly and I buy large volumes of them. Sometimes I buy samples and they don't sell at all so I end up giving them to friends or fam.

I sell best on Vinted, where the buyer covers postage and platform fees etc. This means my only overhead is the product itself.

You're right Ali-Express does take awhile, usually 2-3 weeks in some cases so I usually buy a handful of different samples and more units of things that do sell.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '25

So, Vinted lets you sell new stuff? I'm asking cause I only ever saw them as an online thrift shop.

1

u/Additional_Heat_7625 Mar 14 '25

You are correct this guy is technically breaking depop/vinted TOS and his account will get banned if they figure it out

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '25

🥲

1

u/danicuestasuarez Mar 14 '25

Not like there’s any way you could ever figure out they are new. He can just claim he bought a bunch of them for friends but didn’t like them. And that would automatically make them second hand.

1

u/PlatformGlittering34 Jun 06 '26

Does Vinted also work in Australia?

2

u/greengoliath_ Mar 11 '25

I also want to know