Pandemic fueled a hot hustle: By Ronald D. White - Los Angeles Times John Traches, who runs JT’s Merchandise Outlet in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., has created a thriving business reselling items during the pandemic. Photographed at JT’s Merchandise Outlet on April 27 in Santa Fe Springs, CA. It’s a hustle as old as humankind: Get something on the cheap; persuade someone to take it off your hands for more. After the pandemic shut people in and wiped out jobs, the gig got supercharged. One couple has sold $12,400 of Walmart instant soup mix since June. Another reseller is peddling boxes of 200 slightly wrinkled dresses for $800.