From eBay to Apps: How Reselling Has Become More Efficient with Technology

In 1995, eBay was founded and was an overnight success. Since then, numerous other reselling websites have sprung up which has resulted in a vast digital marketplace for those looking to get into the business.

While the idea of selling used items has been around for centuries, it is the prominence of these digital reselling platforms that are allowing this waste-reducing tradition to permeate the 21st century during the age of online commerce.

Someone very familiar with the world of reselling is Clara Albornoz, a digital reseller turned CEO. Albornoz is co-founder and co-CEO of List Perfectly, an online platform developed to simplify online reselling.

The seven-year-old website allows users to list items for sale onto eleven reselling websites and apps at greater speeds than ever before, eliminating a tedious task for people making their income reselling.

As platforms for this type of eCommerce grow in popularity, so does reselling as a means of making money, and List Perfectly is here to promote this waste-conserving industry by making it less time intensive and therefore more financially reliable.

“Our work is reducing landfills and creating a source of income,” says Albornoz.

The website is responsible for more than one hundred million cross-posted items for sale, which translates to 100 million items that would otherwise presumably end up in landfills.

“We found things with mold,” she shares about her experience as a reseller before explaining the lengthy process it is to restore clothing from these conditions.

Without people willing to do the reparative work on old and damaged items, those items would more than likely end up in landfills.

Average people typically do not have the tools, time, knowledge, or interest to repair items that wind up broken, making trashing it and buying another the go-to solution.

“When I was a full-time reseller my mission and my vision was to restore clothing” she shares when stressing the importance of this role in preventing waste from going to landfills.

It is about more than just selling old items. It is about creating dependable jobs for people whose work directly reduces items from unnecessarily hitting the landfill.

Due to developments in the mass production of material products like clothing and furniture, prices of these items is decreasing and making it easier for people to simply throw out their old items and buy new ones. Digital reselling counteracts this by providing quality, unique, and even sentimental products.

“This is not like Target or Walmart where everything is about volume. They are emotional purchases. They have stories,” Albornoz stresses.

Resellers are taking items that are vintage, rare, or otherwise hold sentimental value, repairing them to excellent condition, and using platforms such as eBay, Maercari, and Depop to give them a new life. With the help of creations such as List Perfectly, people are able to not only make money from this, but make upwards of six figure salaries.

Just as is the case for Albornoz, people are able to take their passions for sustainable causes, rehabilitating broken or worn products, and selling items and turn it into a career.

Whether you are drawn in to the idea of reselling by the possibility of high pay or want a role in this recycling practice, Albornoz emphasizes following her passions as a keystone in her successes and urges you to do the same.

“I came to this country with nothing and now because I follow what I love, and I stopped chasing the money—I'm not saying stop being profitable, ok, keep an eye on profit—success has come to me. Follow what you love, resell what you love, and money will follow.”