If you’ve been wondering who is behind Nearly New Guide, then wonder no longer, as this blog post will introduce the very small, nay, ‘party-of-one’ team!
NNG was started at the tail end of January 2021 by Jess Li, an avid thrift shopper and bargain hunter – that’s me! Having started seriously secondhand shopping in 2016, and buying nearly only preloved items for the whole of 2017, I always felt like I was missing out on the hidden gems and small independent shops when I online searched for secondhand shops. Or, often op shops were well represented, but other secondhand antique dealers where left out. So I decided to start a directory website for all the different types of secondhand shopping, be it brick and mortar large chain charity stores, or small independent Instagram resellers. I have actually been kind of blown away and overwhelmed at the same time with the amount of innovative side hustle reselling businesses that are online and part of the circular economy.
Speaking of reselling – I also a clothing and homewares reseller for about 2 years. I started to resell in 2017, first with my thrifted cast offs that no longer ‘sparked joy’ and then sourcing with the intent to resell. I started on Depop, Facebook Marketplace and face-to-face preloved markets, and moved to eBay at the end of 2019 (where I had way more success). Reselling is hard work, but the reward is definitely there if you can find the time to dedicate to it – which I quickly ran out of at the start of 2021 when I started up NNG as it’s just me managing the WordPress website, scouting locations, running social media and doing marketing. Did I mention I also work 2 days a week as an Environmental Science consultant? It just all got too much and I sold my stock to another reseller. I’m hoping to write a couple of blog posts on my tips for successful secondhand shopping for resellers and what to look out for. I also know there is a bit of controversy about reselling charity store items, and I am going to talk about that more on the blog at a later date.
I’m currently based on Perth, Western Australia with my husband, young daughter and two cats. My daydreams for NNG revolve around travelling to other states (and *gasp* dare-I-say internationally) to start adding more stores to the directory, having over 1000 listings (mostly added by the community), sponsoring (or running) preloved markets, collabs with other like minded people on Instagram and working in a real office and not my home one (trying to sneak past my 15 month old during pee breaks from the home office gets old real quick – my MIL is a masterful babysitter though). If you can help me out or provide me with any inspiration with any of these please let me know!
Well, that’s a little about me and NNG! It’s been a challenging and very busy few months with many hours spent in front of the computer and less in op shops than I would have liked, but I am really excited for the future and what our wonderful community of like minded, environmentally savvy and conscious consumers might be able to build together.
