Always building the brand. Even if that wasn't my intention.

Before I registered Sidequest Loot as a business, I was just some dude selling things on Facebook Marketplace.  I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it very much and I'm STILL not certain that it can be any way lucrative.

As I pushed past fifty listings while rotating new products in to replace the ones that were sold, I wanted to at least try to take things a little more seriously.  A lot of this was following the things that I liked in other listings while avoiding things that I didn't like.  Sure, I could have read an article with a professional opinion - make that make sense - or look over an AI overview of suggested advice.  With my odd blend of items, some of those found helpful words weren't going to be much help.

I applied my own logic and my own risk tolerance as a buyer.  Amongst the things that I liked were good, clean photos - but not TOO clean.  A picture of a perfect item with the background photoshopped out always made me feel like the seller had something to hide.  A picture of a box that looked real, followed by pictures taken directly from Amazon and accompanied with the fully plagiarized description didn't provide me with a lot of faith.  It was my "too-good-to-be-true" radar, lit up like a Christmas tree.  Why provider a first "real" image and then dummy up the rest?  Too lazy to take it out of the box?  Is there something WRONG with the item hidden behind that cardboard?  So, I committed to showing my items as best as I could and go even further to spell out things that are amiss in the listing.  It makes good business sense if I don't plan to sell and then run out of town.

Blurry photos? Not if I can help it.  I hate pictures that are turned on the side - it's so easy to fix when I'm working on my laptop.  I often add photos that highlight the flaws - just so that there's no disappointment.  I want my clients to get exactly what they see.  This also helps to undercut the negotiation strategy of reducing a buyer offer that spots things that I didn't.

So, I acquired a photobox and just stuck with the blue background.  For all of the variety in the items that I was selling, the blue background is the point of consistency.  It makes it easier for my previous buyers to spot items and notice that this just might be the same great guy as before.  I like to consider providing solid and friendly service but that's a hard trait to illustrate.

This blue background became the Sidequest Loot brand long before the name, the website or the business cards existed.  It is low maintenance, low thought and can lead to other advantages.  I can actually DATE my inventory based on this background by changing the colour.  If I switch to Orange tomorrow, I would know immediately that an "orange" item is stock that is newer as of today's date.  I have spreadsheets that do that but I think you get my point.

Some of you might have a more aesthetic mindset than I do and you might take better pictures.  Perhaps your product on a rustic barrel with a checkered table cloth in front of a vintage barn background.  Fancier than mine, certainly.  But our consistency is key.  If your pictures are in different spots around the house or if the background looks like you're doing spring cleaning to take things to the dump, it's going to be hard to get your best asking price for what you're selling.

I never realized how much I was building the Sidequest Loot brand until I was already doing it.  Did I bury some information in this about how we like to proactively describe what we sell?  I may have also let out our philosophy of finding new and better ways to show off our goods.  Unintentional but branding nonetheless.  Gotcha!

Keep Lootin'!

We would love to share your Sidequest Story! If you have started a business or side hustle, if you're thinking of doing it or if you have no idea whatsoever of what you want to do, we would love to share your story.  We find that when the buyer knows you better, they are more likely to buy.  We don't mind if you mix in some advertisement, sales pitch (ugh!) or simply supportive thoughts for other Sidequesters going through the same thing.

Email: mysidequest@sidequester.ca and let us know what you want to do!  There is no charge for posting but we will give a final editorial review and might provide some suggestions.  You will be provided with a final draft before we publish.  All submissions will become the property of Sidequest Loot but will not be used without your consent.  We like to provide an author name but can limit this to first name or name of your business, if you wish.