As I mentioned in a recent post, I am decluttering my life, my room, my wardrobe for a clear living space and mind. Over the last few months I have taken a lot to the charity shops and I have got back into eBay and have been pretty successful on there lately.
eBay
In the last couple of months I have sold 30+ items of clothing on eBay making myself £250+ which is sitting nicely in my Paypal account.
Pre-loved pieces
I was ruthless and put on a lot of pre-loved pieces that might not fit now or I haven't worn for ages. I have worked in fashion retail for 11+ years and have accumulated A LOT of clothes during that time: uniform, freebies and discounted purchases.
Some pieces have been worn a lot but I have looked after everything really well. Anything that hasn't sold on eBay after loads of attempts has either gone to the charity shop or I'm saving it for the winter listings I will be doing.
Tips for successful eBay sales
1. Honesty
Be honest in your descriptions and as descriptive as possible. Use all the free photos needed and photograph any flaws in the fabric etc.
2 Photographs
You get up to 12 free photographs to show your item to potential buyers. Take good quality photographs in good lighting. Use different shots: front, back, neckline, sleeves, brand & size label, flaws etc. If you are comfortable modelling the item do that too and crop your face out of the shot. I crop as much of the background out as possible too. I use plain hangers so not to distract from the item.
3 Style tips
As a personal shopper, I like to write suggestions of how the item could be styled to create an image of how the potential buyer could wear it.
Eg Wear this navy and white striped t-shirt with skinny jeans and Converse and a classic beige mac this autumn. Use next summer also with denim shorts and Grecian sandals. A versatile, classic item.
4 Returns
I use a No Returns Accepted policy when selling on eBay. I use clear photographs and fill out all item specifics and give a full description. There should be no reason to return the item. If a buyer no longer wants the item they can resell it themselves on eBay.
5 Postage
In all the years I have been selling on eBay, only one item has been reported as not arriving. I had to refund the customer and Royal Mail did not cover the cost of the branded jacket that was "missing". This put me off eBay for a while. Now I post everything Royal Mail Second Class Signed For. This gives me a bit more security and I can check online to see if the parcel has been signed for. It costs a little more so I have upped my postage charge to £4 for small parcels (most items) or £3 for large letters (thin items eg t-shirts).
6. Listings
You can create a listing and save it as a draft which I do if I have time earlier in the day. My listings go live in the evenings Mon-Fri, none on a Saturday and anytime on a Sunday. If you list middle of a weekday people will be busy in work and less will battle it out for the item so you'll either not sell it or sell the item for a low amount. More people will be free to bid in the evening. Less will eBay on a Saturday and a lot on a Sunday. Think who you are targeting too. I usual imagine a 20something girl buying my items so she would be working Mon-Fri but be free some weekday evenings. She would be out Saturday day and night so I wouldn't bother finishing an auction then. She will be online Sunday so I do a lot then when she's hungover and catching up on tv with the laptop on her knee. You can visual it can't you!
If you have any questions of things I haven't covered just ask!
Happy eBay-ing!
Kitty x
