10 Pros Vs. Cons to Being a Multi-Platform Seller

10 Pros Vs. Cons to Being a Multi-Platform Seller

6 Minute Read

When considering multi-platform selling, I’m sure a lot of questions pop into your head, such as they did in mine. Will I have enough time to balance them all? How on Earth will I be able to differentiate shipping between them? Will I get confused during the listing process? If you answered yes to any of these, trust me, I was right there with you! This is why I’ve created a Pros Vs Cons list.

Taking on ONE platform can make your schedule hectic enough as it is. Let alone adding 2, 3 or 4 more! In my opinion, if you take enough time to learn one by one very well, this should be no problem for you. Give yourself a goal and try to be an expert in one before taking on another. You can and you WILL succeed. I know this from experience!

Read on to find out what my personal pros vs cons are of becoming a multi-platform seller, and why I think you, too, should take the jump when you are ready. It can open up a world of possibilities that you could only dream of with just one under your belt.

PROS

A MUCH larger reach. When you expand your platforms, you are reaching a different pool of potential customers that may be searching for your product.

Different age groups. I say this because every different platform usually has a slightly different age group that you are showing your products to. A mom on one site may not be interested in your YOLO bright orange tee shirt, but on another app, that may be just the thing another mom is searching for.

Active Times. A lot of people are online at the same time most days. However, when you start adding international platforms to your portfolio, you start reaching different time zones as well. This means some of your listings will be seen all around the clock instead of just at peak times for your specific country.

Younger people on certain platforms may also be active at different times than say, an older crowd may be, which can also increase the amount of eyes on your items. (Unless you’re like the hubs and I which are almost 30, and go to bed at a measly 8:30 latest…I think we count as the exception!)

Variety of Items. Reselling can be as vast as you make it! The more platforms you choose to stretch yourself on, the larger variety of items become available for you to sell. Compare Ebay to Depop to Kidizen. They are all different and all can benefit you in separate ways.

More diverse inventory. Selling on several different platforms creates the opportunity to look for a broader range of items when thrifting. Certain styles or brands may not sell at all on one, whereas they may sell perfectly well on another. Figuring out what items sell best on each site is something that takes time and practice, but is worth it in the long run. As they say, Knowledge is Power!

CONS

Time consuming. Whenever you decide to take the leap in selling through multiple platforms, you have to keep in mind that each one will take up another good portion of your time. Determine how to be the most efficient on the one (or ones) you have first, before jumping too quickly onto another.

Keeping up! This sort of ties along with being time consuming. When you take on more than you are already used to, you have to keep your time management in check. If you schedule out time blocks for each new platform you add on, keeping up with daily tasks will be much easier.

Staying active. When you dedicate more chunks of time to each platform, this allows you to continuously stay active throughout the day. Staying active is very important to keeping your store in front of the most eyes possible, so having a schedule is extremely helpful if you plan to dive into more work.

Selling the same thing twice. I can truly say that this has only happened to me maybe once or twice, but it is no good. Having a plethora of platforms can be tricky at times, especially if you cross-list items to multiple places. Cross-listing can be really handy in getting your item in front of a larger crowd. Check out my post Services That Create Freedom in Your Business to learn about how I outsource certain tasks to make the most of my time. (Spoiler alert! There is an awesome cross-listing service included!)

However, if you sell it on one site, and forget to remove it from another, it creates a sticky situation to have to reach out to the buyer and tell them you actually don’t have what they just purchased. (On Ebay, cancelling a sale will also cause a strike against your account, so you really want to try and avoid this happening if possible).

You may need an extra hand. Or two. Once I reached three platforms, I decided I needed to start outsourcing more mundane tasks. Wanting to shift my focus to more important aspects of my business, outsourcing became my next best option.

This also meant having to make the decision if I was ready to give up some of my earnings or not. In the end, I made the decision to invest in myself and use my time more wisely instead of wasting it on something else that I could pay a small fee for. (Do the math and figure out if it would be worth it or not for you to invest at your current state before outsourcing. If you can still handle those tasks for free by doing it yourself, think about this before making your decision).

Thank You!

A giant thanks to everyone that has supported me this far into my journey! I greatly appreciate you returning to read my posts hope that you will continue to drop by in the future.

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Happy selling friends!

Platforms

     If you’re up for sifting through some of my one of a kind finds, please be sure to visit any Platform you prefer below!

     We have also created a Merch Store that donates 10% of profits to the National Resources Defense Council. If you are interested in helping out to promote Rooted Drawers Stores, please stop by to contribute! Remaining profits will be put towards our ever-growing business and are always genuinely appreciated.

     Please feel free to drop any comments below that you would like to add! I am always open to advice, suggestions, or even hearing related stories of your own! I stay as active as possible in the comment section, therefore I will reply to any questions asap.

Pop over to Our Blog Posts Page to view all of Rooted in Reselling posts!

Poshmark Store (Linked Above in “Rooted Drawers”)

Be Sure To Check Out My Top Ten Tips to Getting Started on Poshmark!

Ebay Store! Click Here To Read All About How to Get Started on Ebay, and read this when you’re finished for My Best Ebay Selling Tips!

Mercari

Depop

Kidizen

Etsy