None of us will ever get younger. As we grow with age, we have to ask ourselves how are we going to wind down. As a reseller, it's tough because we will have to one day ask ourselves, "How will this show go on without me?" This is important because we have to set ourselves up for when that time comes where reselling is no longer in our day-to-day routine. I've thought of this before I started Poskmark and here's my take on it.

While there are a number of ways that a business can end, I'll only be discussing a few that might be of interest to the Poshmark reselling community.

1. Hand it over
2. Sell the business
3. Liquidate inventory and move on
4. Resell on a small scale (not so much an exit but still worth talking about)

These 4 methods are relevant to me and I hope they are to you. While we have our own ways of doing things when it comes to reselling, there are only a few ways that it can end.

Talking about the end of something is usually a tough talk. I wrote this post because I would rather we all think way into the future than just week-to-week or month-to-month. But by having this idea of the end in our minds we can make better decisions moving forward. When we have the end in mind, our strategies and tactics change. We become better at long-term decision making. Decisions that deals with sourcing, inventory management, people management and so on get put under more scrutiny. In a way, accepting the end will come will make us all more efficient at reselling. Next, let's dig deeper into the ways it can end for us as a reseller.

This is my first choice if I have to choose the end scenario. When I first started selling on Poshmark I knew this is how I wanted things to end and I've built everything from day 1 with this ending in mind. The processes I have in place are dummy-proofed so whenever I have to hire someone new, they will easily understand how I like things done. I've developed a network of suppliers that understands my needs and an inventory system that can be handed down. To be clear, I will still own PrettiBone and all of its assets but I will be phasing myself out from the day-to-day reselling responsibilities as time goes on.

The only problem I see with this ending is my anticipation of PrettiBone becoming bigger than just an account on Poshmark or a blog. If things work out the way I want them to, I think I'll stay on a lot longer than I initially anticipated.

If you would like to someday sell your reselling business, make sure you have everything in place legally. This means creating a legal business structure and running it as such. Also, understand that you just can't "sell" your business when you want to. Work on adding things to your business that will differentiate yourself from others so buyers will be attracted to the business you're selling. This could mean simple things such as a marketable name and logo or technical things such as your own reselling website or even having your own line of clothing. This one is really difficult to execute because it takes so much time and planning to build a company that someone wants to buy a great multiple.

I've actually seen someone do this from personal experience and I think this is the route most of us will take. A couple of months back, I actually paid $600 for an entire collection of clothes from another reseller. She has been a reseller for more than 10 years and felt that it was time to move on. Slow sales was also the deciding factor of her exit. As I was wheeling things out of office, it really made me think about the ending of my reselling story. She's actually the inspiration for this post. 

This exit is popular because it can literally be done the same day if you can find the right buyer. This is also the most bitter end because there was really no closure beyond receiving a few bucks.

Those that LOVE reselling will inevitably end here. This method is the most versatile because you can do this even after you went with a different exit plan. All you gotta do is simply just "pick it back up" but this time on a smaller scale.
 

If you resell full-time, there's no 401k or other traditional retirement plans.  You're your own retirement plan and should take time every week or month to assess yourself. I truly wish you all the best when it comes to reselling and hopefully it will last longer than you anticipate. Enjoy the damn journey but make sure you think about yourself as time goes on. And if reselling ever ends for you, set yourself up in a way where you can walk away with at least a bitter-sweet feeling.