Aly McBride, owner and operator of The Main Line Find and an eBay storefront, spoke to lawmakers about the recommerce industry’s impact.
BRYN MAWR, PA — Bryn Mawr’s Aly McBride wanted to spend more time with her family and become a more active member in her community.
The former practicing lawyer, who graduated from Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law, had always been a fan of thrifting and finding vintage and antique items.
She resold items she obtained while thrifting and perusing vintage shops while in law school.
“I quickly realized I could sell stuff on eBay for bar money,” she told Patch. McBride joked her family assumed she meant money for the Bar Association, when in reality it was for places like Kelly’s Taproom in Bryn Mawr.
About 10 years ago, she stopped practicing law and began using eBay to keep income flowing.
“After working so much and so hard, I was a little lost and unfulfilled,” she said. “I needed to figure out something for myself with the time I had.”
So she started slowly selling more items she found in her visits to thrift stores, estate sales, vintage retailers, and more online.
Now, she owns and operates The Main Line Find and her own eBay storefront.
The Main Line Find offers a curated selection of home goods. From vintage vases to antique lava masks, her digital store aims to provide local buyers one-of-kind items that will give their spaces unique pieces to display.
This is possible in large part, she said, thanks to eBay sales.
“eBay has a global reach,” she said. “I can sell anything on there.”
For example, she sold a vintage Garfield figure for $100 on her eBay storefront.
“That’s not part of the curated vision of The Main Line Find,” she said of items like the Garfield figure.
And due to her status as an eBay seller, McBride has become representative of the eBay Government Relations team.
McBride and other sellers, along with eBay CEO Jamie Iannone, visited Washington DC recently for eBay’s annual Advocacy Day.
“It was a brand-new experience for me,” she said of lobbying Washington to support the new Recommerce Caucus. The Recommerce Caucus is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to championing the growing recommerce economy—the buying and selling of pre-owned, refurbished, and secondhand goods.
“It was such an honor to be asked to do this,” she said. “It was a very special experience.”
McBride met with her own congressional representative, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-5th District) and U.S. Sen. David McCormick (R-PA), among elected officials, during her trip to the nation’s capital.
“The conversations were eye-opening for them,” McBride said. “They really wanted to hear our stories, to hear how recommerece has affected our lives.”
She was paired with another recommerce professional whose offerings are quite different from hers: a streetwear and sneaker reseller from Ohio.
“Our passion and experiences, despite differences, are very aligned,” she said.
Their common goal though was sharing what it means to be a reseller, how resellers reduce waste, and how eBay and others online reselling platforms have paved the way for many Americans to become their own bosses.
“I took it really seriously because I represent so many small businesses, online resellers, and so many housewives really, that are creating these teeny-tiny small business that seem sort of insignificant in the large economic climate,” she said. But to sellers, the online recommerce business represents a massive economic impact for them, according to McBride.
According to eBay, more than 70 percent of merchandise sold on eBay is from small business sellers, and 43 percent of eBay’s small businesses live in small towns or rural areas.
And, more than 40 percent of eBay sales come from pre-owned and refurbished items. This generated $5 billion in positive economic impact through recommerce, while at the same time diverting 70,000 metric tons of waste from landfills, according to the company.
eBay, which recently turned 30 earlier this month, puts sellers items in the purview of 134 million buyers across the globe.
The recommerce industry can be a boon for those who put effort into it.
McBride said a few hurdles new resellers may have to overcome are obtaining knowledge of items they’re offering and how to properly invest in their recommerce business.
“There’s so much misinformation about value,” she said of finding items to resell.
The vintage market is always changing, McBride said.
The recommerce community has been joking about a specific LL Bean tote bag, that last year was selling for $40 to $60. Now, McBride said that same bag is going for $300 to $500 through recommerce.
“Things change quickly, so staying current on what’s selling and what’s not is tough,” she said. “You have to train your eye to see a treasure hidden on a packed thrift store shelf.
Factors that affect value include where to source items, how much to source, and what to pay for items that will be resold.
“You will make mistakes,” she said. “You will sell things for less than worth, and you will overpay for things.”
The business comes with a large learning curve, she said.
She said it’s important for recommerce neophytes to first start with items they already have.
“Do not spend money on inventory,” she said of those dipping their toes into recommerce.
Many Americans overconsume and simply have too much stuff, she said.
“Everyone has stuff in their house they want to get rid of,” she said.