Boosting 101
What is boosting?
-Selling items stolen from retail stores. Be aware this is a felony level crime and could land you in prison. If you’re uncomfortable with that, you might want to consider another way of making money. However, it is extremely hard to prove that items are stolen and as long as you keep your business professional and legitimate looking, no one will ask questions and you will be fine.
What do you sell?
-High-end makeup is 95% of my personal boosting (Urban Decay, Too Faced, Lorac palettes; blush, bronzer, highlight, and contour palettes; basically anything popular that you would see on Instagram or Youtube. I stay away from skin color face products as this is varying and tends to take longer to sell. Also things like foundation go bad more quickly and people are more icked out by buying these things from an unofficial seller.)
Keep an eye out for new releases. Follow brands on Instagram or watch makeup videos on Youtube. Do your research and know your market. When brands release new palettes, jump on the bandwagon and snatch a bunch of them up. They will sell like hot cakes for about a month or so after the initial release.
Limited edition products. These are best to collect and wait a few months to a year to list. These items go up in price as supply disappears and collectors will be looking for these items after they’ve left the market
-Designer anything, but specifically wallets. Wallets are easy to lift in my experience because they are small. If you choose to go this route, you will probably want to get a golf detacher. A lot of the wallets I’ve lifted have pencil tags on them and they can be easily taken off with a magnet. Some very expensive wallets and bags (Michael Kors) have screamer tags (the ones with a blinking red light and a speaker). These tags emit one beep when they are detached, but it doesn’t seem too loud and could possibly be muffled. This will require an Alpha S3 key. Be aware I have not detached any of these, so I don’t know from personal experience how loud it is, but I’ve seen videos and it seems possible.
-Electronics. If you choose this route, I would recommend an S3 key as most electronics are either in those clear boxes or spider wrapped. Spider wraps do not make noise when taken off. However, DO NOT cut the wire on a spider wrap as it will emit an extremely loud noise that can’t be turned off. I used to work at Target and we literally had to throw them in the trash compacter and completely destroy them to get them to stop. Hard drives and flash drives have been the best sellers in my experience. Video games and DVDs don’t have a good resale value, plus they are internally tagged so you would have to open them to detag and it just isn’t worth it.
Where do you get this stuff?
-Ulta is the easiest place to get high-end makeup. Sephora is also possible, but this is a little tricker as the SAs there seem to be trained better, care more, and security seems to be better. Kohl’s also sells The Balm and Lorac if you have one of those in your area.
-Kohl’s is where I get Juicy Couture purses and wallets. These boost okay. Typically you have to discount them by about 50% to get them to sell cause it’s not a super high-end brand, but eventually someone will buy them.
-Macy’s is where I get Michael Kors wallets. I’ve also heard of a lot of people lifting Kate Spade at Nordstrom, but I’ve never personally done this.
-Walmart for electronics. The SAs there don’t care because it’s such a crappy job. Just be aware Walmart has good LP so you have to make sure you have a good blind spot and you don’t act sketchy.
Where do you sell?
-Poshmark is where I got my start. It’s limited to the US, so this might not work for some people, but it’s a nice start because the app does a lot of the work for you. You don’t have to worry about weighing stuff for shipping this way because it’s flat rate. This is best for purses and wallets because I’m not sure they sell as well on eBay. I also sell a lot of my used stuff on there, which adds to my pool of money. If you have stuff you want to get rid of to make room for lifted stuff, look into Poshmark. However, they take 20% commission and the people on Posh can be kind of rude and entitled and offer you like $5 for a brand new Naked palette and it can get a bit frustrating at times.
-Mercari is an app almost identical to Poshmark. It isn’t as well known so stuff might not sell as quickly, but they are in beta testing right now and are not taking commission currently, so you get every dollar that you make. Again, the people can be kind of rude though because they’re the same ones that are on Poshmark.
-Amazon is another option, but I personally haven’t used it. My lift partner used to sell video game codes on here and said it was relatively easy and he made a few hundred dollars but ended up getting his account suspended because you’re not allowed to sell just the codes.
-Ebay is where I do the majority of my boosting these days. They take !0% commission I believe and there’s an additional couple percent commission that Paypal takes when you make a sale, but it’s still less than any other selling marketplace I’ve found. Ebay already has a very large makeup selling community so you will get more hits on here than on any other site. People also tend to be a little more civil here because it’s more of a professional atmosphere whereas Poshmark feels kind of like a social media site.
How do you sell the stuff?
-Poshmark/Mercari is pretty easy. I tend to price my stuff at about 20%-30% off retail. It doesn’t tend to sell for what I list it because people on Poshmark are always trying to get a deal, so you might have to do some negotiating with people. I’ve sold about 10-12 Naked palettes on Posh for $42 or $43 and people don’t tend to want to pay more than that so be prepared to end up only making about half of retail after commission and everything. Still worth it in my opinion cause it’s pure profit, but keep it in mind. Poshmark is nice because it takes care of shipping for you. You just print the label they email you and package the item.
-Ebay is far easier in my opinion. People are more likely to just buy stuff and not negotiate, especially if you have a good deal already. Depending on the popularity of the item, I sell for an average of a $5 discount. Some items are more in demand though. For example, I consistently sell Anastasia Brow Wiz pencils for $19.99 plus free shipping. People think they’re getting a great deal saving $1 and some people buy multiple ones from me. When you add in about $2 for shipping and the Ebay and Paypal commission, I make around $15 per pencil which isn’t a lot but they’re so small and I can easily get 10-12 pencils in one Ulta trip so it’s a good way to make some quick money. Do a little research to see how people are pricing the item and then undersell them by $2-3. If it’s been a week or so and you have hardly any views and no watchers, lower the price by $1-2 until people become interested. Similarly, if things are selling well at a certain price, raise it by $1-2 to make the most of your profit.
I usually offer free shipping because the stuff I sell is less than 10 oz and shipping is only about $2-3 per item. You can prepay and print your labels at home through eBay as well which makes it much easier. Then you just have to drop your items off at the post office. For heavier stuff, you might want to charge like $3 for shipping to offset the cost a bit. For the US, if your item is under 13 oz, first class mail is the way to go because it’s cheap and you get free tracking. For expensive items, use priority mail because it’s safer. I don’t know what the mailing services are like in other countries though.
What do you do with the money?
-Boosting is basically like selling drugs. Transfer the money to your bank account and take out cash as soon as you can. If you live at home, perhaps get a locking cash box to keep under your bed to hide. If you’re old enough and/or able to, I would also recommend getting a bank account not connected to your parents in any way. I have 2 bank accounts and 1 is exclusively for boosting. Only connect this bank account to your Paypal and Poshmark for deposits. It’s basically just a way to funnel your money.
-Then spend it as you please!
You won’t see money immediately. It takes a bit of time to get used to the different selling platforms and to build up your profile. On eBay, I would recommend using stock photos to seem like more of a professional business. On Poshmark though, people want to see actual pictures of the product. Always be polite to people if they have questions about products. Some people will ask you to prove if the item is authentic so just send them a picture of the serial number on the product or some other identifier that can assure them you have the real item. Sometimes people will try to bargain. Go with it! Remember, boosting is pure profit, so if you have someone who’s only interested if you take $5 off, ask them if you can meet in the middle and make it $3. Sometimes that’s enough to make the sale. Offer free shipping if possible because this entices people and makes them think they’re getting an even better deal.
I first started listing a few palettes in July and have been boosting pretty hard since about September. I can pretty much rely on it right now as I steal most of the things I need for daily life like groceries and stuff. This is obviously not a replacement for a job or career, but it’s good especially if you’re struggling or trying to get through college. It’s a lot easier and less stressful than having a shitty retail job in my opinion and I make more doing this than I would working full time minimum wage. It’s also a good supplemental income if you do have a job.
As always, be smart about it. Don’t get greedy. Don’t think you can walk out with a stack of 25 Naked palettes under your arm and call it a day. It does take work. I’ve probably put in a few hundred hours between the actual stealing, listing and photographing items, negotiating prices and answering questions, and packing and shipping items. But I’ve made about $6,000 before all the commission and stuff so I believe it’s well worth the work.
If you have questions about anything I didn’t cover or want clarification, send me a message. Hell, message me even if you just want to chat. I love talking to you guys so much!
Reblogged for anon
this has helped sm although all high end makeup is SO difficult, I’ve only done it once in a really good lp place so yh idk where to get makeup from but do clothes boost? idk what I could lift since all eyes are always on me in Debenhams I NEED MONEY AHHHH
