Selling Toys Online: A Beginner’s Guide

Toys, for some, will always have a special place in their hearts. From plastic cars with no greater purpose than crashing into things, to highly sought-after and rare collectibles destined to stay within a controlled and clean glass display case, toys will always have a place in this world as a source of joy. They’re often the quickest way to get in touch with your inner child and can bring back some great memories from when times were just a little bit simpler.

As an adult, though, what if you wanted to take the purpose of toys in a different direction and be the one on the other side? What if you could provide the fun and entertainment for a kid on their birthday or a collector seeking the next best item for their treasure trove?

Wanting to sell toys online, sell old toys, and sell collectibles is a noble pursuit, and is always welcome in the modern online market. The online toy industry alone was worth at least $90 billion, and has only been growing since. The industry has grown by about 13% from 2014 to 2019. Combined with its astounding worth in 2019 that has only been growing, business is certainly booming. This means there are plenty of opportunities to get in on the action.

Figures are consistently promising in this field, but how does one get started? Let’s take a look at where to acquire an inventory and look at some of the best places to sell toys online.

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Filling the Toybox

So you want to sell toys online? Well, the first thing to do if you don’t have readily available toys from years and years ago lying around, is to have some toys to sell. Most likely, you probably got rid of a lot of those wares and affects from your childhood ages ago. Rest assured, though, there are plenty of resources available to provide a steady supply of toys for reselling. Toys suppliers are always in business as long as shelves need stocking. Or, in a more relevant sense, people who want to sell toys online need to keep their inventory padded.

One of the best options for newcomers trying to sell toys online is to get in contact with someone who sells toys wholesale. Wholesale is a magic word amongst those looking to build a quick inventory for their store. Buying toys wholesale will usually guarantee to get a large, bulk supply of toys at the most affordable rates available.

One of the first places you’ll find when looking for a solid toys supplier is actually Amazon. Amazon, with all that they have to offer, has an entire section devoted to bulk shopping, and more specifically for buying toys wholesale. Other great places to look would be Faire and Kole Imports. Keep track of what toy suppliers you come across in your search for buying toys wholesale, as you may come across the best places to sell toys online.

Every Toy Has Its Niche

The next part of wanting to sell toys online is understanding what your target audience is going to be. Typically, when going into a new business venture, it’s best to find a specific niche of the market you’re looking at to focus your advertising efforts. Knowing what communities to aim for will help prevent a few things. It will prevent you from spreading yourself too thin trying to cater to every field available.

There are a bunch of different niches to consider if you want to sell toys online. These range from traditional toys, action figures, video games, board games, hobby kits, lego, craft supplies, stuffed animals, different age brackets, and more. The different homes for toys are nearly endless.

Take, for instance, if you’re trying to sell old toys. There are certain crowds that specifically look for vintage toys, as well as many physical shops that also have the same focus on retro items. Many of these are sought-after by some simply looking for a slice of nostalgia. This group also brings us into another large portion of the online toy market community: collectibles.

Wanting to sell collectibles changes things a bit, as many of what people are looking for are either unopened packages, or near-perfect-condition toys. Todd McFarland is a great example of high-quality collectibles. Albeit on the dark side, many of the toys coming out of that company incorporate such a high level of detail and fragility that they might as well be tiny statues.

If you want to sell collectibles, it’s good to keep in mind that people are looking for things to put on display in pristine glass cabinets, as opposed to wanting something to play with. Understanding these differences will help narrow down where you can find the best places to sell toys online.

Find a product that will help you stand out from your competitors. It can be both small collectible figurines and large toys. For example, sluggo.company.site sells soft colored slugs

On Display

Once you’ve got all of that figured out and know which niche you fit into, it’s time to put it all on display. What this requires is a good combination of finding the right website as your stage and making sure all of your social media accounts are in order.

For the site, there are plenty of great options out there called content management systems, such as Ecwid. These services can facilitate all the tools necessary to set up an online site.

There are also other places such as Etsy or eBay that make setting up an online shop to sell toys online easy. However, these sites offer much less customization and freedom. Beyond that is the fun game of maintaining a consistent social media presence across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

By having an easy and efficient way to display what is going on with your business, your customers will always feel like they are being kept in the loop. It also helps to increase customer interaction, as nothing is better for maintaining a loyal customer base than knowing that they are engaging with a responsive human on the other side. So enough toying around. It’s time to get to business with Ecwid!

About The Author
Anastasia Prokofieva is a content writer at Ecwid. She writes about online marketing and promotion to make entrepreneurs’ daily routine easier and more rewarding. She also has a soft spot for cats, chocolate, and making kombucha at home.

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