One mom’s business encourages buying secondhand

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF RASHEL POST

Peddling Post utilizes a storage facility to run the business. They mail packages from their shipping unit weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Consign Your Collectibles

Overwhelmed with where to sell your good stuff? Peddling Post can help!

BY STEPHANIE GIBSON LEPORE

Vestavia mom Rashel Post is passionate in her belief that buying secondhand is superior. “It’s better for many reasons— better for the environment, for our pocketbooks, and in helping to rid our homes of valuable items that are no longer needed,” she says. But Rashel found services to help individuals sell their valuable items to be lacking.

Around the same time she made this realization, Rashel was also ready to dip her toes back into the workforce after

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spending some time at home with her twin sons, now seven years old. “I have been a mom for 22 years. I put my career on hold when I was at the end of my pregnancy with the twins, because I knew I would have my hands full once they arrived,” says Rashel. “And I also knew I wanted to give the littles my full attention for at least a year. But as their first birthday approached, I sensed that they were not developing neurotypically, so my world began to be about their needs and diagnoses, and I found myself diving into the special needs world. I am and always have been an entrepreneur at heart, so my dreams permeated for several years.” Then, as her youngest boys set off to start kindergarten, she began to put together a business plan.

“I laid the groundwork in 2018 with the LLC and branding,” she explains. “We went live in 2019.” The support of Mr. Post gave her motivation and the moniker that cleverly became her business name, and Peddling Post was born. Word of mouth by way of friends, referrals, and social media helped Rashel to spread the news.

Processes have evolved through trial and error and as necessary due to business growth, and today Peddling Post operates on a twopart system. “The events portion hosts sells for situations like estates, business liquidations, moving, downsizing, and the like,” says Rashel. “The other side of our business helps clients sell collections, luxury items, home decor, and furniture.” Rashel and her team use selling spaces such as eBay, Etsy, Poshmark, and the company’s Facebook and Instagram pages. For an additional fee, they can also sort your inventory, donating anything that can’t be sold.

Because Rashel sees Peddling Post’s job as a service provider as knowing how best to sell what items and where, “there are very few things we can’t sell.” Her success rate may have a bit to do with her love of the job. “The number one thing I have learned as a small business owner is that I truly enjoy serving people,” she says. “It motivates and inspires me when I have the honor of assisting a family through an estate sale or in selling a collection that no longer serves them. I take it seriously because it’s a privilege to be invited into my clients’ lives.”

That does not mean, however, that Rashel and her team don’t have fun, too. “During events like estate and moving sales or business liquidations, our team members each pick the most unlikely to sell item, and whoever’s item sells first gets a prize! We are never short on interesting items, and we have a lot of fun as a team.”

Rashel’s team includes other moms like her. “Because most of my staff is moms, in the summer we really rely on college students to help us keep the wheels turning while we’re tending to our children,” she says. “We stay busy throughout the year. Because of the magnitude of time some of our events take, we limit our schedules to one major event per month, which makes us more of a boutique experience. We ensure we’re a good match for clients as much as they make sure we’re a good match for them.”

“Ultimately, I hope my kids see and understand that our family comes first and I am a business woman. Those two things can coexist,” says Rashel. “Balance is not easy, but I do my best— and it also helps that my husband is a supportive partner, too.”

Rashel Post says her business stays busy throughout the year.

Keep up with Peddling Post on social media (Facebook and Instagram: @PeddlingPost). To utilize their services, visit peddlingpost.com and complete the online form to get started.