From $10K in Debt to Full-Time Reseller: Colton Rockwell's Pivot

Colton Rockwell walked into a sales job in 2022 expecting commissions to solve his money problems. Instead, he took a pay cut, carried more than $10,000 in credit card debt, and had roughly $5,000 in the bank. By April 1 of this year, he quit that job to resell clothes and video games on eBay, Depop, Poshmark, and Facebook Marketplace full time. His first year reselling, 2023, grossed about $50,000 on eBay alone. He is now free of credit card debt and targets $100,000 to $120,000 in gross sales across all platforms this year.

The pivot started with a test. Rockwell, who lives north of Seattle, listed some video games stored under his guest bedroom bed. They sold within days. He moved from household items to sourcing clothes from Goodwill bins, garage sales, thrift stores, and Facebook Marketplace. Then he started documenting the process on a social media account called Rockwell Resell, hoping to help others escape the same debt trap.

Rockwell prices items by searching sold listings on eBay. He undercuts competitors by about 5% so his items appear as slightly better deals. The work splits into three tasks: photographing items, writing listings, and trips to the post office. Sourcing three to four days a week produces roughly a dozen new listings daily, he said. Some days return little, and the unpredictability is the toughest part of the job.

The decision to go full time came with a safety net. Rockwell and his wife saved almost $50,000, roughly six months of expenses, before he handed in his notice. His last employer, where he worked for about three years, kept the door open if he wants to return. Health coverage comes through a healthcare sharing ministry program that functions like a high-deductible plan, with an initial amount the family must cover before eligible expenses are shared.

Rockwell came from a family of entrepreneurs. The goal, he said, was always to have something of his own and support his family through it. His wife worked up until July 2024, when their daughter was born. Rockwell was still in a full-time job at that point, doing eBay and social media on the side. He was able to support the family on his income alone.

The trade-off is time with his daughter. In his previous role, Rockwell worked from home four days a week but was confined to his office. The commute on the in-office day ran five hours round trip – an hour and a half there, about three and a half hours back. About once or twice a month, he would travel across the country for multiple days. Now he works similar hours, perhaps slightly more, but controls when. The shift gave him evenings with his daughter before her 6:30 p.m. bedtime and more time with his wife.

Rockwell credits the pressure of his debt with making the side hustle work. "What pushes someone to make it with a side hustle on top of a 9-to-5 is having their back up against the wall," he said. "Being in a hard position with my debt made it a little bit easier to put my foot down and figure it out."

His advice for others: schedule time wisely. "With eBay and selling online, it's a lot of taking pictures. It's a lot of sitting at your computer, typing in listings, going to the post office," he said. "You have to be very dedicated to the craft or the hours you're going to put in, because your time is so limited."

Rockwell's story illustrates the economics of turning a side hustle into a primary income. The initial $50,000 gross on eBay in 2023 covered his mortgage and bills. Social media earnings now go into savings, investments, and family vacations. He is still paying off student loans, but the credit card debt is gone. The safety net of $50,000 in savings gave him the confidence to leave a job he described as family. "Saving this amount gave us peace of mind so that if things don't work out, we have something to fall back on," he said.