I started a YouTube channel!

 It’s been over a month since my entire life changed. I spent weeks in mourning. Not eating, not sleeping. I still have my moments. I still find myself crying and wondering how I’ll go on but I have found pockets of joy. I finally decided to start a YouTube channel. I’ve been wanting to start one for a long time and I figured this was a great time to start. I am posting my thrifting videos and hauls. I’ll also film book related content. It’s been so fun and has given me something to look forward to. I need a little joy in my life. I have quite a few videos already up on my channel that you can check out I’ll try to link my channel but you can just search my name Rachel Groeschl and my channel should pop up. I would appreciate any support. I think once I hit 50 subscribers I can go live which would be great cause then I can do reading sprints! I don’t have a whole lot more to share right now. I’ll try to get a few more posts up here soon. I have been reading and I need to get some reviews up. Obviously reading has been a little slower lately but it’s also been a good escape for me. I hope you all are doing well 🩵 

https://youtube.com/@readandthrift?si=JEacKGtWzTl7hdkT

Divorce

 Well here is something I quite literally never thought I would be saying. I’m getting divorced. I’ve seen friends and family get divorced. It was shocking to me every time. I never gave it a thought because when I got married I was married forever. He’s the love of my life and we were forever. Yes, we’ve had issues in our marriage and mostly stemming from issues I’ve had personally that I wish I would’ve dealt with, but I thought there was enough there. I guess there wasn’t. I loved our life. I loved our family. I had so many ideas for our future together and now my life feels like it’s over. I have nothing. He was my whole world. He supported me in every way and I feel abandoned. I’m not going to get into the fact that he already has someone else because that is quite literally killing me inside. I’m afraid I’m turning into the bitter jealous ex wife because I am. This isn’t fair. This is my family and she’s taking everything away from me. I can’t imagine taking a married man from his family and being ok with that. That’s something she’ll have to live with and him too. Karma and all that. I hope she’s worth it because he’s going to be missing out on precious time with his kid. That’s not really the point and I really don’t want to be on here bashing anyone but like I said I am bitter. I am so angry and so depressed and so bitter. I hate him for moving on and acting like everything is fine. I hate feeling like he’s abandoning our family and everything we’ve built together. I hate feeling like the sad pathetic stay at home wife that has no life outside of her husband and kid and should’ve prepared for something like this. I feel betrayed by my best friend and I’m so hurt. I never thought he would hurt me like this. This is so rambly but I felt like I had to get it all out. I don’t really have close friends to talk to so that’s been really hard. I do thankfully have great family support and a kid who although is only 5 years old has been so amazing. He’s so confused and worried but trying to be normal. He just keeps telling me how much he loves me and that he’ll never stop loving me 🩵 he’s the best. I don’t know if I would be here right now if it wasn’t for him. I have to stay strong for him. Keep me and my baby in your thoughts 🩷

What Reselling Platforms I Use

 In the world of reselling there are so many platforms trying to lure you in! They all have their pros and cons and some will work better than others depending on what you’re selling. If you’ve decided that only want to sell hard goods, collectible type items then a platform like Mercari is not going to be the best avenue for you. Or it’s not going to be the ONLY avenue you should choose. I personally think that selling on only 1 platform is selling yourself short but hey plenty of people do it and they do it as a full time job. So I can only talk about the apps that I myself sell on. There are a few others that I know of like Cherish, Etsy, Kidizen (sp?) and Whatnot. I think those are ones to look up as well but again I’ll just talk about the ones I personally use.  

Let’s start with Mercari. Mercari recently got rid of selling fees. Huge deal as a reseller obviously. That means whatever you set your item price at is what you make on that item. I feel like unfortunately that also means that people will list their things a lot lower than they would on other platforms which is great for buyers but not great for resellers trying to make a profit. If I’m being honest I don’t love the Mercari app. I don’t think it has a lot to offer when it comes to being a customer or a seller as far as being able to advertise your items and I just don’t like the interface of the app. I guess that would be the word for it. Also, if your item is over 2 lbs it has to be shipped via FedEx or UPS (the cheapest option) and for me that is an issue as the nearest drop off for either of those is over 30 minutes away. I do think this is a great option for clearing out your closet or for those lower priced items that you don’t mind selling for a little less.  No selling fees is great! You receive money once the buyer receives the item and rates you.

Next is Poshmark. I wish they would take a note from Mercari and get rid of these selling fees! Ok something that I think is both a good thing and a bad thing about Poshmark is the advertising and live shows you can do. You definitely are able to get your items out there way easier than other platforms. Once you’re approved you can do live shows and sell items that way which I know can be a game changer for people. I am not into that. Maybe down the road but not now and so now I just think it’s annoying cause that’s all I see in my feed! But hey everyone’s trying to hustle. So Poshmark does have selling fees and a flat rate shipping which I love. I hate having to figure out shipping prices on items. Listing items is very easy and self explanatory. They have one of the easier listing processes. I like using Poshmark as a reference when I’m sourcing to see if a brand is popular on there. I don’t think Poshmark is what it used to be and I do think they’re trying to stay with the times. I’ll be curious to see what they do in the future. I do recommend selling on here if you plan on selling clothing, shoes, jewelry, handbags, and even small hard goods. I think if it’s anything over 5 lbs I wouldn’t bother. You receive money once your buyer receives the item and rates you.

Next up is one that I think is super underrated and that is Depop! Depop is a newer platform. It’s been around awhile now but this is where I sell mostly to my Gen Z girlies and guys. If you know anything about Gen Z it’s that they love thrifting and they love shopping online. They are very into vintage and they love the 90s and 2000s and anything nostalgic. They are willing to pay for nostalgia. Depop also just recently got rid of selling fees! They have a very no frills app. It’s like here’s this cute top let me know if you want it! Even though it’s what I don’t like about Mercari somehow Depop makes it work. It feels fresher over there. I’ve been surprised what I’ve sold over there. Very easy to list on there like I said and they don’t have flat rate shipping but it’s just under 4oz is this under 8oz this etc so it’s not too complicated. I can’t remember when you receive your money but it is not right away. Probably when the buyer receives the item. I would suggest primarily clothing/shoes/handbags/ there but I have also sold random things like vintage coasters and random hard-goods. 

Alright I saved the best and my favorite for last. This is the selling platform that you need to be on. It’s eBay of course! I can not tell you how terrified I was of eBay! When I first started I was thinking I’d put a few listings on there just to see if I liked it and try it out. Well now it is by far my highest selling platform and it has my highest number of items listed. I was so intimidated by it. I thought it was just for collector items and auctions and comic books. I genuinely had no idea people were just selling clothing on there! So I do sell a variety of items on eBay because I enjoy looking for a variety of things. You can also niche down which I talked about in previous posts but I just love all the things! So I sell mostly clothing but also purses, shoes, and miscellaneous hard goods, antiques, linens etc. The thing that intimidated me most about eBay at first was just signing up, starting a store and doing my first listing. Again, I highly recommend YouTube to guide you through that. Also utilize things like Google lens. Take a photo of your item. Most of the time you can find your exact item and sometimes if your lucky someone else already has one listed and you click “sell one like this” or “sell similar” and that makes listing really easy. I don’t know if I mentioned this in my post about what you need for reselling but I do recommend buying a digital scale for weighing your items because for platforms like Depop, Mercari and especially eBay you’ll need to know how much it weighs when you make your listings. I do offer international shipping because eBay makes it very easy so I would offer that. Something I don’t offer with eBay is returns. This is a bit controversial as most resellers would probably tell you to offer them but it’s just not something I want to deal with. I know I would probably her get more sales if I offered them but it’s just not worth the hassle for me. Do what works for you. As far as getting paid, when you first start out it takes time for your money to go through because they need to make sure you are an established store front. It doesn’t take too long though and before too long the money will be in your bank account within a day or two. The more sales and reviews and the closer you can get to become a top rated seller which is what you are striving for. That will come with more opportunities to offer sales, coupons, flyers, newsletters etc. eBay is going to be the platform where you will get the most eyes on your item and I highly recommend giving it a try. 

Ok these are just the apps I personally use but feel free to explore what else is out there and please do your own research on fees and shipping and all of that no hope this was somewhat helpful for you. Feel free to ask any questions you may have :) 

Starting your Resell Business

6 months ago I was watching YouTube and stumbled on videos of people thrifting and garage saling and then turning around and selling those things for a profit. At first I thought ok that’s kind of weird but I loved thrifting so I was intrigued. At this point I really only thrifted books and home decor. I could not believe the kind of money they were getting on the most random things! I figured I was already thrifting for fun so why not take a closer look while I was out and see what I could find. I was very naive and a little too slap happy when I started lol. If it looked old or interesting I bought it. Now I’ve been doing this for a few months and I’ve learned a lot. I am obviously not an expert but like I said I have learned a lot and I thought I would share what I needed to start my business. First you will need a phone/computer. I do almost everything from my phone but I will occasionally use a computer. The phone is great for Googling things when thrifting and looking up comps. You’ll also need it to post your items for sale on whatever platforms you decided to use. I use a printer to print out packing slips but that isn’t necessarily needed as you can have the post office scan  it from your phone when you bring your package in. You will also want to figure out what you want to sell. Are you just going to focus on clothing? Will you niche down even further and just focus on shirts or jeans? Maybe you just want to do hard goods. Maybe you just want to do glassware or sneakers. Personally I prefer a variety because I like shopping for a variety of things. If I just sold jeans I would get so bored and I would begin to dread thrifting. On the other hand just selling jeans would mean you could streamline your thrift trips and shipping. Listing would be a heck of a lot easier too. I love a variety. It makes the hunt that much more fun. Yes this has become a “job” for me but it’s also a hobby, it’s something I thoroughly enjoy doing and I want to keep it that way. Something else I do think you should invest in are poly mailers for clothing or other items that don’t need to be shipped in boxes. I store all my clothing in clear plastic bags and then those go in stronger heavy duty mailers when they’re shipped out. Amazon has good ones, even Dollar Tree and I also order them from JiaroPack. I tend to use sizes around 13x15 for my storage bags and then my mailers I use 12x15.5 and 13x10 and then I have giant ones like 24x24 for things like blankets and pillows. Always be on the lookout for free boxes, bubble wrap etc if that’s something you’ll need. Places like Dollar General are good places to look at. USPS also offers free Priority Mail boxes which is amazing. However, if you are selling on platforms other than Poshmark you have to be really careful when you use those boxes. I used one once on Depop and the buyer ended up having to pay more when she picked up her package. Those boxes are only permitted if you are shopping via priority mail! So you need inventory, a phone or computer to sell, packing supplies, add in tape too, and really that’s all you need to start. As far as inventory goes, look in your closet. Go through and see what you were planning on donating and instead sell it! Again, not everything is worth selling but if it’s something you already own and were already planning on donating it’s probably worth it. Track your mileage and keep your receipts for everything. Every thrift trip, every item you purchase for your business etc. Even meals you buy during thrifting can be a write off. So it doesn’t take much to actually get started. You do not need much you just need to make the decision to start! Take the leap and do it. In my next post I will go over the platforms I use to sell on. I am new to this. I am not all knowing. There is so much information out there from folks who have been doing this for years but I can share my experience so far and what the pros and cons have been for me. If you have any questions let me know! 

Thrifting-Reselling Tips

It’s been about 6 months since I started reselling online. AKA the best decision I’ve ever made. This has given me the opportunity to bring in some kind of income, given me a hobby and made me feel like I am contributing in some way. It has brought me so much joy and fulfillment. I started this on a whim after watching some resellers on YouTube. I thought “hey, I can do that!” I already loved thrifting so this seemed like a no brainer. I will make a separate post about what you will need to start reselling if you are looking to start yourself. Today i just wanted to offer a few tips about thrifting in general and what to look out for and what to avoid. I think the first thing I would go back and tell myself is just because it’s “old” just because it’s a certain brand doesn’t mean you should buy it. An example I can give is Tupperware. Sure some Tupperware is totally worth picking up, especially if it’s just for yourself, but most of it is not.  This is why comps are so important in reselling! Look up what has sold, not just what is listed. Google image is your friend. Also, make sure to look up how many of that thing are currently listed. It doesn’t really matter if something is really cool. If there are 100 of them listed its not a good pickup. Now on the flip side to that, sometimes you have to trust your gut. If you aren’t finding comps or aren’t finding much about it online but you think its something special, then take the risk and get it! Only if its a good deal of course but the more you do this the more you will be able to trust your gut. When it comes to clothing you do learn pretty quickly what brands and fabrics to look out for. Obviously things like linen, wool, alpaca, organic fibers etc are good pickups usually. Vintage is great but doesn’t always equate to profitable. Make sure what you’re picking up is in style or vintage enough where it would be desired. Just because its a popular brand doesn’t mean it will sell. Take Lululemon for example. The resale on that just isn’t what it used to be but especially on their older styles that just aren’t really in fashion anymore. Look at trends, look at at social media, it is a big help! I will go into this more in my other post but also think about what you want to sell. Are you going to niche down to one specific thing or sell a variety? They both have their pros and cons. This tip goes for anything you find but thoroughly check your items before you buy!! I can not tell you how many times I have brought home something with a rip or a tear or stain and I had just completely missed it! Keep in mind a stain or rip doesn’t mean it wont sell it just means you have to disclose it and possibly reduce the price. Also, make sure clothing has the size tag! Of course this isn’t a deal breaker but it does make it harder to resell. This next tip is pretty obvious but seek out smaller locally owned thrift stores. Not only are you giving local businesses your business but they tend to be much much cheaper. Shop the sales and tags of the day and be strategic about what you buy. Thrift stores are the best place to find home decor and kitchen supplies like dishes and glassware. All of my art is from thrifting and so much better than the mass produced stuff at the retail stores. Thrifting is the best way to change up your style on a budget. Look for classic pieces that will last through the years. This tip is for my fellow bookworms out there! Get your books from the thrift store! I have over 400 books in my personal collection and I would guess 96% of them were thrifted. Im talking new books, classics and everything in between. I know I will think of more things but that is enough for now. A lof of this is common sense but I hope its helpful to someone out there. If you have questions please ask away! I will be making a lot more reselling posts in the future so keep a look out for those. Happy Thrifting!

My 5 Star Reads So Far This Year

Well here we are already more than half way done with 2024! I’m not sure how that happened but yikes 😳 anyway I figured since it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted (so sorry about that) I would do a quick roundup of all of my 5 star reads so far this year. I pretty drastically reduced the number of books I’m reading this year so I’ve read 27 and out of those 10 were a 5 star. Well a 4.5-5 star rounded up. Let’s start with my first 5 star of the year which was The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. Looking back I’m definitely thinking this is closer to a 4.5 but great romance, comedy, family drama and heartbreak. Super sweet book. Next is The Island by Adrian McKinty. If you want a page turning thriller then check this one out! It’s a survival type thriller with some really messed up people. Maybe check trigger warnings on this one. Next up is Mean Spirited by Nick Roberts. Finally an actual great supernatural ghost story! This one actually creeped me out a few times. Excellent, original storyline and it does get gory. Also might want to check trigger warnings. Next is Funny Story by Emily Henry. Gosh I love her writing so much! I was told this gave off  New Girl vibes and I can see that. I loved the characters in this book and their development throughout the story. Can’t go wrong with Emily. Next is What Happened To Nina by Dervla McTiernan. Great thriller mystery with multiple POVs. This is a story about the lengths you would go to in order to protect your child. A girl is missing and her boyfriend is the number 1 suspect. I loved the story and it really went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Ok next is Mary by Nat Cassidy. Ah I love him and this bonkers crazy book! This is about women and menopause and cults and ghosts and it just gets kooky! Stick with it as it does meander a bit but it’s worth the pay off. Please check trigger warnings. I will say there is animal mutilation. It’s quick but it’s there. The Next Mrs.Parrish by Liv Constantine is up next. This is a sequel to The Last Mrs.Parrish so if you haven’t read that yet go do that now. So many morally gray characters. Just the worst kinds of people who will do whatever it takes to be in power. Hard to read at times for sure. And talking about hard to read…The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim. This isn’t a fast paced, in your face horror book but it does get disgusting and horrific. This deals with a lot of misogyny, racism, fetishization of Asian women and yes, cannibalism. Very unique book that will stick with me! Sign Here by Claudia Lux is up next. I heard this was kind of a comedy about Hell and it actually turned out to be way more of a thriller. It did have comedic parts for sure and I enjoyed how Hell was portrayed in this office setting. Another really unique story and it got so intense at the end! The last one on this list is Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. This is about a young single mom who decides to start doing OnlyFans when she realizes the babies father, and no one else in her life, is going to help her with her baby and expenses. Of course there is way more to this book. The father of her baby is her professor, her father is an ex wrestler with a drug addiction. Her relationship with her mother is strained and she is now seeing a religious man who is putting more strain on their relationship. So much girl power here. I loved the look at OnlyFans and sex work (sex work is legitimate work!) and how it is seen in the legal system. It was also very funny and heartwarming. I absolutely loved it! 

So that concludes all of my 5 star books so far this year. I have a few new releases that I am very excited for so hopefully I have a lot more 5 stars to come 😊 

My Favorite Books Of 2023

 Happy New Year! 2023 was the year I read the most books I have ever read in my life. 85 books 😮 my goal was 80 so I am very pleased. I think my average rating was a 3.8 which I think is pretty good. I do tend to give a lot of 3.5/4 star so that tracks. So I will insert a visual of my best of 2023 bracket and then my honorable mentions which are all 4 star or higher. 

So here are my best books of 2023! We have mostly horror/suspense/thriller but a couple general/historical fiction and 1 romance. If you are looking for great suspense thrillers definitely check out The Southern Book Clubs Guide To Slaying Vampires, Razorblade Tears, None Of This Is True and The Only One Left. If you’re looking for a true extreme horror then Maeve Fly is the perfect book! If paranormal,sci-fi is your thing then I suggest Kindred and My Best Friends Exorcism. The Push is very much about generational trauma and motherhood. Kind of in a group all its own but still considered a thriller. Shark Heart is a romance but it’s also fantasy. It’s so beautiful and heartbreaking. Unlike anything I’ve read before. That brings us to my two favorite books of the year. I could not pick just one. The first one Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine is something that will stay with me forever. I know it won’t resonate with everyone. I know some will see it as a some weird book about paranoia but it was so much more for me. I have never cried so much reading a book. Definitely check trigger warnings as it does talk about miscarriage, IVF, infertility etc. The overall narrative of how women are gaslit so much especially when it comes to their bodies and their health in the medical system. Not knowing if you can trust your own thoughts and feelings. She really did a fantastic job showing the emotions a person goes through while trying to conceive and trying to understand this foreign thing in your body! Her authors note at the end was brilliant and I wish that was made into a book itself! Even if it went in a bit of a strange direction I don’t care because the rest of it was so perfect. I will be rereading this at some point. My other favorite of the year is 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I am still so shocked that I loved this book as much as I did. A time travel book about JFK? That doesn’t really sound like my thing. It was so much more than that though. That is the premise though. This man goes back in time to prevent Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating JFK. I loved the rules of the time travel and the idea of the butterfly effect. There were so many excellent characters in this book and to me Kings writing is like a screenplay which is why so many of his books translate so well into tv. I am still thinking about those characters and that world. It was 850 pages and I wanted more. This is sci-fi but it’s also suspense and romance. The romance is unexpected and so good! I really took my time reading this book and now I’m sad it’s over. I have a new favorite book character Jake/George. I need to watch the series now just so I can go back to that world. 

So those were my most favorite books of 2023. It was really hard choosing those because as you can see I had a lot that I loved. If I had to choose a top 5 from Honorable Mentions it would be Nestlings by Nat Cassidy, The Only Safe Place Left Is The Dark By Warren Wagner, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig and The House In The Cerulean Sea by T.J Klune. But I would recommend them all! What were your favorite books of 2023! Any that were on my list? I can’t wait to see what makes it to the top this year! Happy Reading!