Office equipment

• Printer  

When it comes to starting your online business you are going to need a printer to print your shipping labels.  

Whether you plan on selling on Amazon, eBay, Mercari or any other place you will need a printer.   Don't bother with inkjet printers, they will bleed money.  

Get yourself a solid HP laserjet printer on Amazon.  They are reasonbly priced.

Once you get the hang of it, I would highly recommend getting a thermal label printer such as a zebra LP 2844.  These printers will save you time and money.

• Desktop, laptop or ipad

You will need some sort of device to list your products, keep track of inventory, and accounting.  At a minimum you should have a desktop computer where you can list your products and conduct general business.  

Shipping supplies

• Tape

Having quality tape is important when you are selling products online.  You do not want your customers to recieve an empty box because the cheap tape you ordered won't stick to the box.

• Boxes

Good boxes can be found on Amazon, but there are plenty of places you can get free boxes.  Check your local recycling centers, and dollar stores.

• Polybags

Polybags are a must if you plan on selling clothing on eBay or Mercari.  They are the cheapest method for shipping and protect your clothing from getting wet.  Amazon is the best source for cheap poly bags.

• Bubble mailers

If you are shipping music CDs, DVDs or vidoe games for your online business you are going to want to buy a bunch of bubble mailers.  They area great way to keep your products safe during shipment.

• Packing peanuts

• Packing paper

Cutting equipment

• Box cutter

• Scissor

Boxes

• Assorted boxes

Consumables

• Cleaning supplies

If you plan on selling used goods, there are some great cleaning supplies I would recommend to any seller.

1. Magic erasers

2. LA's totally awesome

3. Lemon Oil for plastic

4. Novus plastic scratch remover

5. Microfiber towels

• Trashbags

Product sourcing tool equipment

• Handheld barcode scanner

Want to get into selling on Amazon by doing retail arbitrage or general scanning of products?  A handheld barcode scanner pays for itself in no time.  Check out my recommended barcode stanner to learn more about why I recommend it.

• Battery pack

A battery pack to keep your smart phone charged is another piece of equipment that you shouldn't go without.  There is nothing worse than having a dead smartphone when you come across something that you think might sell, but have no way to know for sure.  

• Smart phone

If you are sourcing used product to sell online, a smartphone is one of the most important pieces of equipment you can have since you can look items up before you buy them so you don't waste money on products that don't sell.

Computer software

• Excell

When it comes to keeping track of your inventory, excell is a must have.

• Tax accounting software