With over 182 million users from all over the world, eBay is one of the largest online marketplaces.
There, you can sell anything from clothing to rare collectibles. Of course, not everything is equal when it comes to potential earnings from selling it on eBay.
In this post, we’ll go through how to resell on eBay with a focus on clothing.
We’ll also go over some tactics for increasing your profits.
Let’s get to it!
How To Sell Clothes on eBay
Get Started With A Quick Search
To get an idea of what your clothing is currently going for and how popular it is on eBay, try searching for items that are an exact match or close to variants.
In this way, you’ll be able to estimate how much money you could make from selling your clothes.
There is a surprisingly high demand for previously worn items of popular brand names and designer clothing.
Of course, they’d have to be in good condition.
Look at how other eBay sellers are describing and pricing their clothing to get some pointers on how to sell your own items online.
To get started, head to the site’s Advanced Search page and use the “Sold listings” filter there.
Make Sure Your Items Are In Good Condition
To maximize your online sales, clean your clothes well before listing them.
Used garments should be laundered before being listed.
This generally involves laundering and ironing the clothes.
It’s recommended that you take suede, silk, and other fragile materials to a professional dry cleaner.
Customers expect to receive clothing in pristine, store-ready condition, devoid of any odors or stains.
Please keep in mind that there is no need to wash brand-new items of clothing, tags attached or not.
Take Well-Lit, High-Quality Photos
Now, it’s time for a little photo shoot for the clothes you’re going to sell.
You’re going to need:
A good phone camera (use a better camera if you have one)
A clean, uncluttered background to take the photos against.
Potential buyers don’t want to see your messy room as a background.
If you can, put a nail on the wall or hang your items from the back of a door.
If this isn’t possible for you, you may lay your items flat on a nicely made bed.
If you’re selling shoes, put them up against a clean wall.
Wooden hangers
Wood hangers tend to elevate the photo. Try not to use wire or plastic hangers because they look cheap.
Painters Tape
There are some clothes that won’t look presentable on a hanger.
In these cases, you may use painter’s tape to stick the garment to the wall.
Using this method will also let you control the drape to present the garment in the best light.
Natural light, ring light, or box light
A dark photo will turn off potential buyers.
Flash isn’t that appealing, either, as they tend to distort colors.
You’ll want to use natural light or some lighting equipment you might have lying around.
Related Reading: Things To Sell on Etsy – Check Them Out Here.
Photo editing software
After you take your photos, perhaps you’ll want to sharpen the images or adjust the brightness.
You can’t adjust the colors because you want an honest representation of the products you’re selling.
When you have everything you need, make sure you take a photo of the following:
Front of the garment
Back of the garment
Closeup of the fabric
Closeup of the label
Any unique design details
Any flaws
You should also include a stock photo or an official photo of the item.
Try looking for a photo of the item being worn by a model at a retail site on Google.
However, you shouldn’t use this stock photo as your main image.
The reason for this is that everyone generally relies on stock pictures for their main image.
Using your own photo as the featured image is a great way to set yourself apart.
Most people have a hard time visualizing themselves in a two-dimensional article of clothing.
To help customers visualize how the product would look on them, it is best to display it on a model.
List Your Clothes
After you take photos, it’s time to put up listings for your items.
This can be done on your desktop or mobile device.
Use An Eye-Catching Title
No one will ever see your listing if the title isn’t captivating.
Direct searches are the primary driver of sales on eBay.
A customer searches for a product on eBay by typing in keywords related to what they want to buy and then makes a purchasing decision.
Your item will show up in the results if the search terms are similar to those in the title.
Naturally, this requires thorough keyword research and impressive headline creation.
Due to space constraints, you must carefully construct an accurate and engaging title that contains all of the keywords your target audience is seeking.
Write An Accurate Description
What if people see your listing, click on it because of the attractive photo, and are then disappointed by the lack of detail in the description?
You don’t want this to happen.
If you don’t make the most of the space provided for the description, you’ll be missing out on a golden opportunity to sell your product.
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, there are details that it can’t convey.
You want your descriptions to make the buyer feel like they are getting a firsthand look and feel for the items you’re selling.
Include Thorough Measurements
Do you have to try on a lot of different pieces of clothing before you discover the one?
In my case, I can try on twenty different pairs of pants and still not buy any of them.
When you can’t even touch the products online, let alone try them on, you can understand the added difficulties of shopping for clothes.
The issue can be fixed by giving the buyer the appropriate dimensions. They can then compare your item to what they already own.
So, what sort of measurements should you give?
Tops (armpit to armpit, sleeve length, total length)
Bottoms (waist, inseam, rise, bottom hem)
Dresses (shoulder to shoulder, armpit to armpit, total length)
Shoes (length, US/UK size)
Related Reading: How To Make Money Selling Used Socks – Get To Know Here.
Price Your Clothing
The price you set will determine whether or not potential buyers click on your listing and view your item.
Starting off, the process of determining a fair price for one’s wares might be extremely daunting.
Let me tell you; it really isn’t a huge deal.
If you undercut the market price for your product, it will sell rapidly, and you can use the profits to buy more to sell.
It won’t sell if it’s priced too high.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t re-list the item at a lesser price.
Most products are priced at the upper end, to begin with.
Sometimes items don’t sell until they’ve been listed six times at progressively decreasing prices.
Therefore, conduct a more in-depth investigation of “Sold Listings,” and anticipate the day when you will be able to confidently set the price of your item.
Auction Style Selling
You could set your price or go the auction route when selling your items.
There are really successful sellers who will only use one method.
You may also use both.
If an item is in really great demand, you could put it up for auction for a full week.
If you have a minimum acceptable price, that’s where you should start the bid.
Shipping Your Items
Beginners who are just learning how to sell clothes on eBay sometimes find shipping to be one of the most intimidating aspects of the process.
Likewise, even though many folks would love to buy something, they don’t because they are too intimidated by the delivery process.
But because you seem like the kind to take initiative, I’ll outline the steps you’ll take to ship apparel goods purchased on eBay.
You may either print a label on any standard printer at home or go to the post office to drop off your parcel.
By printing at home, you can save money by taking advantage of eBay’s shipping discount.
In case you’re already doing business on eBay but want to take it to the next level, you might want to get your own thermal label printer.
You can generally ship items in a poly-mailer unless it’s really fragile or pricey.
In terms of cost and turnaround time, they can’t be beaten for shipping garments.
You can utilize three sizes of poly-mailers (10×13”, 12×15.5”, and 14×19”) to keep costs down and inventory low.
For Lighter Items (Tops, dresses, bottoms, underwear, hats, etc.)
Shipping by First Class Mail is the most cost-effective option for sending small apparel goods.
The standard maximum for First Class Mail weight is 13 ounces.
Fortunately, thanks to eBay’s partnership with the USPS, sellers can send up to 16 ounces of merchandise in a single first-class package.
For Heavier Items (Jeans, coats, snowsuits, etc.)
These, like other items of clothing, can be sent in a poly-mailer.
You might have to do a bit of stuffing, though.
These will be shipped as soon as possible.
If you can afford it, always choose priority mail over regular mail.
In exchange for the slight increase in cost, your consumer will receive the product much more quickly, which will likely result in positive reviews.
How Much To Charge For Shipping
You can easily factor in the $2 shipping cost per top because that’s the industry standard and is usually included in final value fees.
Most vendors on eBay don’t really offer free delivery; they just put it into the fixed price of the product.
For instance, rather than $15 plus $4.95 shipping, they charge $19.95 instead.
If you only offer two different types of clothes shipping, keeping track of everything is simple.
Keep in mind that there will be instances when you lose your items in shipping and other times when you come out ahead.
As a business professional, you should view this as a minor setback.
You are not permitted to request additional delivery costs in the event that you underestimate the size or weight of your order, too.
Free Shipping vs. Flat Rate vs. Calculated
In reality, it doesn’t matter how you decide to ship the items.
The one caveat is that shipping costs should be taken into consideration.
When it comes to shipping, most sellers only ever select “calculated” or “free.”
Free Shipping if the item is lightweight and compact.
Providing free shipping to your customers can increase your visibility in search engines and set you apart from the competition.
When selling an item with a weight greater than one pound, use Calculated Shipping and accept the fact that the buyer’s maximum acceptable offer price will be lower as a result.
Manage Your Product Listings
If your eBay business is only a side gig with a modest number of listings, a simple spreadsheet should suffice.
Suppose you’re trying to grow a business by selling on eBay, handling dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of products.
In that case, a spreadsheet will only add unnecessary complexity and waste your time and money.
Instead of manually keeping track of your stock on a spreadsheet, utilize inventory management software.
Keep track of your stock levels, receive notifications when you need to reorder and gain insight into which products bring in the most money with the help of analytics provided by inventory management software.
Related Reading: How To Make Money With Amazon FBA – Get The Blueprint Here.
Tips For Selling Clothes Online
Respond Quickly To Buyers
After placing an order on eBay, customers are kept informed of its status via periodic email notifications.
eBay, Amazon, and Mercari, among others, rely heavily on communication between sellers and buyers.
Fortunately, eBay handles this process for the most part.
Responding quickly and clearly to queries from customers is a great approach to establishing credibility (and gaining positive eBay seller feedback) at the beginning of a business relationship.
From time to time, potential buyers may request more information or images of the item you’re selling.
Provide honest answers to these inquiries at all times.
Doing so will reassure customers that they have found a trustworthy vendor.
Use Bundling To Sell Clothes Faster
Bundling might be the best way to go if you have a lot of low-priced garments that wouldn’t earn much money if sold separately.
It’s also helpful if you need to get rid of a lot of stock quickly and don’t mind losing a little money.
Online retailers not only buy in bulk but also use eBay as a product sourcing tool by searching for sellers of large quantities of clothing at low prices.
Remember, people can just as easily find cheaper items in a thrift store.
Try Cross-listing
Cross-listing is the practice of listing a product on more than one marketplace.
Sometimes, a better match might be found on other online marketplaces, such as Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Mercari, or Poshmark, rather than on eBay.
By presenting your listing to a larger audience across several platforms, cross-listing increases the likelihood that you’ll find the “right buyer” more quickly.
Once an item has been sold, it should be removed from all sales channels.
Using a cross-listing service is a simple way to increase your sales by a factor of three or more.
Time Your Listings
When selling items on eBay, time might be a surprising variable.
Users are most active between 7 and 9 PM., according to their analytics.
So, posting during that time may help your listings get seen by more people.
Invest in a Mannequin
Displaying garments on a mannequin increases their chances of being purchased.
This is helpful because it allows the customer to imagine how the item will fit, how the neckline will drape, how long the item will be, and how the pattern will look up close and far away.
You can get a torso mannequin made of hollow plastic for around $20 on Amazon.
A mannequin is an investment that will yield profits many times over.
You can always spring for a dress form or life-size mannequin when your budget allows.
Put a Focus on Fabrics and Washing Instructions
Customers have a right to know the exact composition of the item they’re purchasing.
Some consumers are picky about the clothes they wear and the items they surround themselves with because of fabric allergies or sensitivities.
You want to spare your customers some nasty allergic reactions like sneezing, wheezing, watery eyes, and a runny nose.
Due to sensitivity, cotton is the only fabric some purchasers can wear.
A picture of the fabric content label on the garment is a good idea in case there is ever any doubt regarding the fabric used in the item.
Some eBay buyers would also be interested in the clothes’ maintenance instructions.
Some people will not wear clothes that require dry cleaning.
Please specify whether the garment requires dry cleaning or can merely be washed by hand or machine.
Be Generous With Your Return Policy
Online clothes shopping can be risky.
If customers can’t return an item because it doesn’t fit, they may not want to buy from you.
Having the option to return or exchange an item is important to customers whose purchases do not fit properly.
Provide a return window of at least 30 days so that the customer can determine whether or not to keep the item.
A customer-friendly return policy has a positive effect on revenue. eBay’s search algorithm gives preference to sellers that provide a 30-day refund policy or more.
Likewise, if a product is returned, it can be resold without any further hassle.
Always specify in your return policy that the merchandise must be unused and with all tags still attached.
The buyer can’t send back an item if it has been soiled.
Gauge High Return Items
Don’t sell things that could be considered rentals if you’re concerned about a high rate of returns.
Examples of such products are wedding gowns, baby christening outfits, and men’s tuxedos.
Consider if the item will be worn only once for an important occasion. Plenty of other stock is available that can be sold without worrying about returns.
Consider The Season and Lowball
It’s true that swimwear may be purchased year-round, but the spring and summer are peak selling seasons.
Rather than letting your swimsuit collect dust until next season, you may want to consider accepting offers now.
Any online vendor worth their salt will have had to deal with lowball bids.
An extremely low offer is one that is far lower than your asking price—by at least 50% or more.
How to deal with lowball offers and offers, in general, is a contentious topic.
You could respond with a lower price that you still think is fair or politely decline their offer altogether.
Alternatively, you can disable the offer option on eBay if you find it intrusive, or you can specify that your asking price is firm on sites that support it.
However, it’s important to view offers as an opportunity to begin negotiating with a possible buyer.
Remember, lowball offers can lead to a decent sale if you know what you’re doing.
Personalize Your eBay Store Profile and Packaging
Wrap the item in attractive packaging once you’ve made a sale.
Add a note of gratitude, even if it’s just a sticker or a Post-It note.
This makes the sale more personalized and shows the customer that there’s a real person on the other end of the transaction.
They’d be more likely to give a higher eBay seller rating.
Pay Attention To Trends
Sales on eBay can be seen as a reflection of current cultural trends, such as those in the realms of fashion and designer collaborations.
Activewear, for instance, became very popular during the lockdown period.
If you pay attention to what others are talking about in a group chat or on Twitter, you can increase the amount of money you make from selling your used stuff online without becoming a pop culture expert.
Increases in the popularity of ’90s fashion staples like bucket hats and cycling shorts can be attributed to celebrities who wear them.
You should act quickly if you come into possession of an item that you no longer require but that many consumers would want.
Related Reading: How To Sell Feet Pics – Learn More Here.
Final Thoughts
I hope the steps and tips above help you sell your clothes on eBay.
Selling online can be really rewarding if done right.
You can start by selling your own items that you don’t use anymore.
Eventually, you can start a buy-and-sell business once you get the hang of eBay.
This is a fun source of income, especially if you’re into fashion and commerce.
Maybe you could even sell other items as your business grows!
The post eBay Selling 101 – How to Sell your Clothes like a Pro appeared first on BrooksConkle.com.
