Turning my OfferUp account into an LLC
Scaling your side hustle.
My wife and I have been consistently accruing income on OfferUp and now believe it’s time to double down and maximize our profits.
We’ve made $300+ on the platform for multiple months last year but we’re limited on the resources needed to make this a consistent month-after-month occurrence. The opportunity is there and with the economy in such an uncertain state, we want to develop a more consistent income stream.
It’s time to take our side hustle to the next level, it’s time to scale.
This is how I plan to turn my OfferUp account into an LLC:
#1: Register LLC
For us here in Florida that would be done on Sunbiz. Search “Register LLC in _______ (insert your state)” on Google.
Do your due diligence when options populate, if you’re weary then call your city hall or library, they’re usually able to point you in the right direction.
#2: Find a low-cost storage unit
This is easy and prices are competitive so shop around. Googling “storage units near me” will do the trick.
Throughout the year you can always find units with deals such as “first month for $1” or your first month entirely free.
Things to consider are:
- Location: Is the unit in an area that’s easy to commute to? Is it near a Home Depot or other truck rental service if you decide to go that route? Is it near a high theft sector?
- Insurance policy: What do they cover? What are the associated costs for additional coverage?
Why a storage unit? It provides the following but is not limited to:
- An offsite area where strangers aren’t visiting our home
- We free up real estate within our home
- Has the capacity to hold more oversized items
- Multiple cameras at the correct facility so there’s additional protection for our assets
The best part is that I can write off a portion of my storage fee on my taxes since it will be a standard business expense under the LLC.
#3. Procure transportation
To acquire the type of items we’re looking to flip and resell I’ll need a truck.
Home Depot’s rental process is seamless and cost-efficient. In our area, we pay $19 plus gas (Home Depot doesn’t charge by mileage but requires you to refill before returning) for an hour and 15 minutes of use.
Since this is an additional cost, I make sure we maximize our profits by picking up multiple items within whatever timeframe we agreed to with Home Depot.
Also, I use my Highlander which has a great deal of space once both rows are dropped.
Hey, you’re an entrepreneur, you gotta use all the leverage you can.
Renting a truck however isn’t the long-term plan. In the future, I’ll get a pickup. Why not now? I don’t want to be the fool who scaled too quickly. Let the business make consistent income first, we can get better toys later.
By now you probably already guessed that the purchase of the truck in the future and the rental fees and gas that we put funds toward is another tax write-off.
I’ll take this moment to say that this article isn't meant to give you any financial advice and you should speak with a professional.
That said, let’s run through a quick scenario of how this will play out in the real world.
Take One:
My wife and I hop on OfferUp and search for free items.
Free? Yes.
There are times we’ll buy and resell. But there are plenty of times when someone wants to get rid of something fast and they don’t want to pay a professional moving team to do it.
That’s where we come in. In business, find the need, find the gap, and become the solution.
Upon finding a good/great condition item we coordinate pickup with the seller, bring the items back to our storage, post pics of them on our OfferUp accounts, and then let the marketplace work from there.
The storage offsets me having to get rid of an item for too low simply because it's now taking up space in my house.
However, if an item sits on our accounts for too long we usually decrease the price, lowering our margin (unless we got it for free) but ensuring a sale.
There will be items you’ll have to trash but if you keep your eye on what’s selling then you can minimize this. A way to do so is when you click the search bar in the app OfferUp tells you what searches are popular.
Keep in mind we’ll also pick up smaller items as these can be shipped to customers out of state (or picked up locally of course). This option opens the door for an additional income avenue.
However, that completes my plan on how we’ll turn our OfferUp account into an LLC. Hope this is helpful for you!
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