How to sell your pre-loved items
From my experience of selling pre-loved items online I’ve found the saying ‘money for old rope’ to be true. Most of the time people will buy almost anything you have to sell. I have been selling pre-loved clothes for years but more recently I’ve sold other, more random items such as household and DIY ‘bits’, furniture, toys and books.
During (the first) lockdown, like the rest of the country, we decided to have a massive clear out and subsequently decided to put our house on the market, so I was selling anything I could get my hands on! My friends joked that I wouldn’t need a removals company as I would have nothing left.
The two main obstacles to selling your pre-loved items are - where to start? And finding the time to do it.
Selling online can be an ‘earner’ or ‘side hustle’ so allow a good chunk of time to go through the process of clearing out because the profits can then be put towards a much needed (or much desired) item.
The process I use when selling is…
For large items, such as furniture, bulky toys etc. I always try to sell locally first through two main outlets – FACEBOOK and GUMTREE.
Previously on Facebook you had to sell through specific ‘buy & sell’ pages but there is now Facebook Marketplace. I utilise both of these by creating a listing under Facebook Marketplace and then selecting various buy & sell pages to share it to (usually about 10 pages). I then take all of the same information and create a listing in Gumtree. This approach covers the biggest audience at once as not everyone uses both platforms. It’s also FREE to sell your items this way but there is a risk with these sites, you can’t avail of the same protection that you would get were you to sell on eBay.
Smaller items such as clothes and accessories, books and electronics usually sell better on eBay because there is a bigger ‘reach’ and audience to sell to. Large items are tricky to sell on eBay because they have to be posted or couriered and the hassle and associated costs outweigh the benefits for you and the buyer. I intend to write a more detailed ‘How to’ guide for EBAY shortly as there is a lot to cover.
TOP TIPS:
Time your listings
At the end of every season I have a wardrobe clear-out for my husband, our children and myself. After deciding what to donate to charity and what pass on to others, I am left with a ‘to sell’ pile. By this stage, it’s usually out of season so I pop it in a bag and pack it away with the other clothes going to the roofspace. I then retrieve this bag at the start of the season the next year - this ensures that you sell the clothes in the season that people want them most and therefore maximise profits e.g. flip-flops in the summer and boots in the winter.
Make sure your title and photos are clear and not misleading
A couple of years ago we had a really hot summer and I (my husband) couldn’t find our (barely used) parasol anywhere. We gave in and bought a new one but as we were clearing the attic this year, we found the old one. I displayed it in the garden, mounted on the patio table. I took a photo and put the parasol up for sale on Facebook Marketplace for £30. Within minutes I had about 20 people wanting it and I thought this was very bizarre. One man phoned me to say he was on his way. He arrived and I handed him the parasol and he said ‘Will I just get the rest around the back?’ I asked what he meant?! He thought I was selling my whole patio set for £30. When I contacted the next 10 people they all thought the listing included the whole set too. I thought my wording was clear but people saw the photos and great price and jumped at it.
Do your research
Before selling anything, I do a quick search on the various platforms to find out what others are listing the item for and if there has been interest at this price.
On Facebook - when was it listed? Are there many comments?
On eBay - there’s a facility to search to see what the same/similar item was previously sold for.
Correct postage is essential
Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree tend to operate fairly locally and rely on buyers collecting from your home. You have to be thick skinned and be prepared for a lot of time wasters, nearly every item I have listed has induced a list of enquiries and promised/failed collections.
On eBay I tend to use Royal Mail and Hermes for postage. They both have detailed information on their websites about varying parcel dimensions/weights and postage methods. After listing for a while, you tend to get an idea of what postage should be attached to an item.
Beware of scams
As mentioned above eBay offers more protection than Facebook and Gumtree. For local sales I always ensure I accept cash on collection and don’t use bank transfers, Paypal etc. as they can be problematic.
For eBay I always use Paypal as they specify this as a requirement and it also offers further protection for sellers. If I’m selling more expensive items, I despatch them with an insured and ‘signed for’ service so that I can provide Paypal and eBay with evidence that the item was sent and received.
OTHER SELLING PLATFORMS
I don’t have much experience with other selling websites but popular choices for pre-loved clothing are:
Order in the House can help categorise items that you have decluttered and advise you on what items could sell on preloved sites. Contact us today and you could realise the hidden value of many of the unused items in your home.
Maybe you have experience of selling items on sites that we haven’t listed here? If you’ve had success in selling online in other ways please do share your wisdom with our online community via the comments section below.