if you sell clothes & decluttering on Ebay/Vinted etc pls could you talk to me?

[DameCluelessofEbay]

Do you have tips or a system?

I am in general life state and have decided to try to declutter. I have only done two shelves but now have a massive pile of clothes to dispose of. Some of them have labels/never worn and are quiet nice stuff - sort of high st diffusion ranges of designers like Butterfly by Matthew Williamson and similar

I'm slightly torn between just stuffing it in a bag and giving it to charity, stuffing it in a bag and selling it to one of these 50p per kilo places or actually trying to sell some of it.

What puts me off selling is that it looks like hassle, I don't have any seller history or profile rating at all never done it and the process of dispatch looks like much work. For example,
how do you weigh the goods to know what the shipping cost should be in advance? Do you send everything tracked? If so is that extra cost worth it or does it put off buyers? if you don't send it tracked, do you find people just lie about not having received it?

I don't know how to start but am loath (can't really afford) to dispose of stuff that might have a value.

Do you just need to get in a rhythm of it? Is it worth the effort?

I’ve briefly looked into this too, but most of the stuff on Vinted & EBay’s not up to much, & it seemed more trouble than it was worth to try & sell. I usually take mine to the chazza. If you have a lot of good stuff they may even collect it.

I've been using Vinted for about 8 months, I've made over £500 selling my old clothes

The selling process is really easy, just upload the pics, write a description and it gives you the suggested selling price based on similar items (though you can list for whatever price you want) then it suggests the parcel size (small, medium and large) and the buyer pays the postage so you don't have to worry about being out of pocket

I haven't had anyone claim they haven't received something and the only downside I've found is when the buyer picks Evri as it's a faff to get to the one shop near me that does Evri drop/collection - InPost is much easier as there are lockers dotted about everywhere

Be mindful that things can sell really quickly, so be prepared with your packing materials (envelopes etc) and you might need access to a printer, depending on the postage method chosen by the buyer (but not always, as you can use digital labels, but be careful about who you are posting what to)

Give it a go and see how you get on, just list 1 or 2 items to start with

Good luck!

Ive sold a few things on Vinted - and bought some too.
I just got all the things I wanted to sell, took loads of photos including the labels and any flaws then sat down and uploaded everything in a couple of hours. I sold several items within a couple of days, and the money was in my Vinted account by the end of the week.
I do have a few items that haven’t sold so am planning to reduce the prices when I can get round to it. Just remember to select a no printed label for postage.

If you have a load of decluttering to do (which it sounds like) I wouldn't stall your progress by faffing around too much with individual items.

You could make up some bundles e.g. 5 items if women's size X with tags for £10 which people could either buy for themselves or to sell on. You could put it on Ebay for collection or Facebook marketplace.

If you have anywhere out of the way to store your declutter items you could do a car boot sale in the spring.

I think it is more rewarding for you to keep your declutter impetus and what you lose in money you gain in time.

@TotallyAddictedToCoffee is vinted better than ebay?
what is a parcel size - say you had a midi dress that would fold up to the size of about three t-shirts in a pile - what size would you say that is? small or medium?

I thought most o fthese parcels were about weight?

Honestly op sell stuff on vinted. I was really hesitant but it's SO easy. Just be honest about anything that's not in perfect condition and price accordingly- people might make offers on things too so I usually price stuff a little more than I want (eg I'll put something on at £12 and expect to get £10)
If Evri (for example) is a pain to get to you can choose not to ship with them. I only choose inpost and Royal Mail as they're the easy ones for me. Don't make it complicated!

If

Just start small with one or two things - make the first couple really quite cheap, as you say you won't have a seller history, so the buyer will be wary of taking a punt on anything expensive. Put a couple of items a week, otherwise the postage might get a bit overwhelming?

I started selling on Vinted about 8 months ago and have made around £400.

It’s quite straightforward- you take pics, upload and then fill in the questions they ask about the product eg its condition, is the fit true to size, are there any flaws with it. The app calculates the postage and the buyer pays that. I’ve sold maybe 30 things and only once did I disagree with the parcel size - Vinted allocated it as small but I changed it to medium.

I always add on a bit more to the price than I want. So if I want £10, I’ll list it as £12 - nearly every buyer will offer a lower price.

You can chose how you want to send by excluding any services you don’t - I only use Evri and Yodel as there are 2 shops very close to me that offer those. There are other options eg parcel locker (or something like that) but the nearest is miles away from me so I just clicked the “don’t offer” button. Both the Evri and Yodel email a digital label you can print in the shop - it’s very straightforward.

Make sure you have good photos including up close of labels etc, especially if designer-type clothes. And be honest -don’t say “very good” condition if an item is marked/torn/got make up marks etc.

Keep all the packaging you get sent from stuff you buy yourself and use that to send. Most of my stuff gets sent in recycled Amazon and Shein packaging (thanks to spendaholic DD).

I really only started doing it as I had a few fairly expensive dresses that I knew I’d never wear again and I’d just retired so wanted to get a wee bit of money back for them. But it was so easy, and I had plenty of time, I ended up selling lots of my old workwear/office clothes and shoes. Also sold a few of the DCs old kid’s books before Christmas.

I still give to charity but the last time I went to my local store, they didn’t want any more as they couldn’t cope with the donations they already had!! (They also put a message on FB community page saying “please don’t bring any more donations”!).

I hate waste so I’m happy to donate or sell on for a little bit of cash. A nice story was that a woman who had left her husband (fled really -DV) sent me a message saying that she’d worn a pair of trousers and top that she’d bought from me (my old work gear) to an interview and she’d got the job - she’d left the marital home with very little so she was so grateful - she actually said that my stuff was cheaper than the charity shops near her!

Give it a try and see home you get on!

I've sold a fair bit on Vinted.

I'd say it's worh the 'faff' for items that are pricer/branded/know will sell.

It can feel a bit of a faff when it's only being sold for a £1.

I'd put everything on if I was you - you may be surprised what sells and how easy it is and then give it a few weeks and you can always then take it to a charity shop - at least you know you tried to sell it.

For OP and @TotallyAddictedToCoffee you can change which postal services you are willing to use in your settings including whether you have access to a printer. I had the same problem when I first started.
@TotallyAddictedToCoffee has summed it up really well here. I too have made about £500. I put off doing it for ages as I had nightmares about selling on eBay in the past but vinted is so much easier to use!
I drip fed mine and listed a few things a day rather than putting it all on at once. You have to keep posting to get people looking at your page but also try and keep enough on there so people can do bundles. You can set discount levels as well eg buyers get 10% off if they buy two or more and you can increase discount if they buy more. Be aware though that people will still try and put offers in less than your discount amount. Stick to your guns anyway. There are a lot of CFs about. 🤣

@TotallyAddictedToCoffee - I’m the opposite - Evri really close to me but just in case you don’t know - you can exclude the ones you don’t want to offer so the buyer can’t opt for it. I did that after a few times I had to drive miles to post something and I’ve not had any negative feedback about the postal I offer.

I’m going to add to everyone else saying definitely Vinted. It’s so easy. It does it all for you. I’ve made loads selling old kids clothes. My clothes, books etc.

When you start the algorithm will show all of yours to buyers so you will sell.

Small = Top, Leggings, summer lightweight dress

Medium = Dress, Jeans, Jumper

Large = Big bundle of clothes or a dressing gown.

Use cheap postage bags or supermarket carriers.

Only you can decide if it's worth the hassle. It depends mainly on what you've got to sell, if you have several items that you can sell for £100+ then you only need to sell a few things to make it seem worth the effort. If you are thinking of selling lots of low value items, sure you can make money but it can be a lot of bother. Every item you list is a potential for people offering you low bids, which you can ignore but still takes up time reading. Everything you actually sell comes with the risk of the seller demanding a refund because they claim the item wasn't as described (it doesn't matter that it is exactly as described - people just try their luck to get a refund on something they've changed their mind on, or get a discount).

A couple of interactions with people is worth it if it makes you a decent amount of money, but selling 200 items at £2.50 each is a lot more hassle than selling 2 at £250 each.

thanks.

how do you get your money out? i've just been looking at vinted after your posts and see that they use Mangopay. I'm not hugely keen to be giving my bank details to sites I don't know anything about? how does that bit work please on Vinted?

Whenever I have a massive declutter I look at the piles and decide what it represents to me:

Space
Time
Money

If it’s most important to reclaim the space and protect my time, it gets taken to the charity shop to save time.

If I want the space and money, I’ll invest time in selling it.

But I can never have all three!

I did once lay it all out on the bed, took a picture, and listed it as a ‘Size 10 Bundle’ on Facebook marketplace. About six things of similar quality/brands. Sold it for £20 within the hour. Could I have got more for the individual items via Vinted? Maybe but see above - time!

Have you got luggage scales?
Pop the item or bundle in a carrier bag to weigh.
You can google postage sizes for weights and sizes of packages

You go into you account and select transfer to account and the money comes to your account, takes 5 mins ( not even) I have had a massive clear out and currently have 300 items in Vinted, they are also on eBay so I have to be careful not to sell them twice, eBay you get a few perverts if selling shoes and underwear never get that on VINTED.

Vinted is so easy. I hang things on a white door, take about ten photos then upload them throughout the day. Get the kitchen scales with a ice cream tub to weigh. Easy. After a week I reduce stuff abd after a few weeks I donate. If people buy its normally within 25 hours

Also on VINTED it tells you small is a t shirt, book or dvd
Medium is shoebox sized so jumper, shoes etc
Large would be a coat hoodie etc,

I've sold hundreds of items and only had one issue if you like money given it a gO. I only use EVRI as it's walking distance from my house and she will collect when I have a ton.

You guys should do PR for Vinted. You are really selling this to me. I think I might have a try. A bit scared though...

Vinted is easy, each item takes about 25 seconds to upload and postage is easy.

Upload as a bulk and you might get someone of a certain size and taste wanting to take a good chunk of itnoff your hands.

Set a time limit and then charity shop. Try not to overwhelm them with too much at once and if it isn't in great condition, put it on Facebook groups as free to collector or do the 50p recycling thing.

Do shops like h and m still give you a voucher for recycling through them?

If they are good quality how about using a reseller or second hand agency where they take a cut. Anything better than nothing?

I'm going to give you an Ebay seller point of view. I went through a phase last year doing a big clearout and put lots of stuff on Ebay and I basically chose it because I could use Royal Mail tracked 48 (they will collect your parcels and this was so handy for me) and I also had more control over my postal methods whereas with Vinted I would have to go to my local spar (Evri) and drop it off. I used kitchen scales and I already had a thermal label printer I use for my Etsy shop. I bought mailer bags in a multisize pack from Amazon, reused old boxes I had and also bought some tissue paper as I don't just like throwing things into a bag. I also never used the auctions it was always a price with offers and then I could decide. I took photos and used photoroom to remove backgrounds.. Hope this helps give you another point of view. Good luck 😊

Try it, see if you like it.
I like it.
I underprice everything so it sells quick- I can't stand it hanging around- so just think even if I'm selling it cheap, its still a bit of money I wouldn't of had if I'd given it to a charity shop. Plus charity shops lately get on my nerves!
You're not going to make a fortune but you can declutter and make a little!