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Are you selling online to make some extra money? Read below to find out more about creating the space to sell.
Times are hard at the moment, right? To weather the storm, many people are getting stuck into side hustles to try and make extra money. One popular side hustle is buying and selling different things. Antiques, clothes, crafts – you name it, people are selling it. With sites like EBay, Depop, Vinted and Facebook Marketplace making it incredibly easy to list and sell pretty much anything, it’s a sellers market out there.
Buying items and then selling online has a lot of upsides – it is better for the environment, it earns you extra cash and it is easy. However, it has one major downside, and that is the amount of space it takes up. The more stock you have, the more space is sucked up at home, potentially causing you to struggle for storage space for essentials. It probably also looks ugly, and causes you to have to sacrifice space for other things, which is a travesty when properties in London can top a worth of over £1100 per square foot (with an average of £500 per square foot across London). Ultimately, you deserve to make the most of every square foot of your home, and that all begins with making space at home for your side hustle stock:
Let’s Declutter First
To make space in your home, you should declutter. This is a general rule that applies to all of us because we all hang on to more than we should. Statistics say that 25% of those with two car garages have filled their garages with so much stuff there is no longer room for a car. And science tells us that clutter is bad for us in more ways that just the space it steals. Clutter causes us to be stressed, to procrastinate, to be more prone to accidents, to have arguments with our partners – it’s just bad news. Before you do anything else, have a good declutter and see how much space you create just by doing that.
Could You Get The Items Off The Floor?
Sometimes, we store items in piles on the floor, which causes the stock to feel more bulky and space-filling than if it was off the floor. A strong clothes rail, a shelf – anything that gets the items off the floor and stored higher up. Often there are strong retail shelving units available to buy second hand, which can really help with storing items off the floor. If you only have boxes at the moment, even packing your stock into boxes and stacking them (not too high or it will be unsafe) will still create more space in your home.
Is The Garage Or Shed For The Taking?
The garage and shed are not ideal storage spots for anything. They are open to extreme temperature changes, pests, insects, mould and more. They are not designed to store anything other than vehicles safely. However, if you need a temporary solution that serves as an intermediary storage solution before you work something else out, they can be really useful. The trick is to ensure the items are well protected in plastic boxes, or similarly robust storage containers. They should also be off the floor if possible, to help protect them from damp. Ideally, they should not be stored in this kind of environment for more than a week or two, because these are high risk areas for all the issues we mentioned above, as well as environmental damage like flooding.
Can You Utilise London Self Storage?
London self storage is incredibly useful when you are selling items online. You can have any sized space, from a gym locker to a football field and everything in between. The contracts are very flexible, so if you have a busy period and then a quiet one, you don’t have to worry about ending your contract. Costs tend to be very attractive compared to warehouse space, or office space too, especially if you’re located near a big city where those kinds of spaces command a huge rental cost per month. Additionally, London self storage is also secure and climate controlled, so anything you store will be in the best possible place to keep it in great condition, and safe, until such a time you get it back out again.
Some people who sell from home choose to store seasonal items and other non-essentials in the unit, so they can have their stock at home without it being cramped. Some people will actively run their side hustle from the unit itself. Not only storing their stock in the unit, but packing it up, sorting out orders and sometimes taking advantage of handy extra services like 24/7 receptions who will take deliveries. There are a lot of advantages to utilising London self storage when you operate an online sales side hustle.
Can You Move Your Side Hustle Completely Online?
Some people find that handling stock is too much and they turn to methods of selling like drop-shipping. This is a great option if perhaps your side hustle is being a creative who prints onto T-shirts, or who sells art prints and photographs. If you choose the right supplier you can ensure your customers receive a high quality item, and you haven’t had to have the item printed, and you don’t have to post it out. All of that is handled by the drop shipper, but you will have to pay a small cost in exchange which is usually a percentage of the sale, but can sometimes be a set fee per item depending on the drop shipper.
Is It Time You Utilised Self Storage For Your Side Hustle?
If you would love premium security, high-quality spaces in different sizes, contract flexibility and great prices to continue your online selling site hustle without losing out on space in the home, speak to your local self storage facility today. It could be the easiest way you go from cluttered, chaotic side hustler to organised, thriving online seller – what’s not to love? It’s time to side hustle like a pro.