Selling clothes on ebay - is it worth it?

[Notcontent]

I am thinking of trying to sell some things on ebay, mainly to force myself to get rid of some things I don't wear but can't bring myself to take to a charity shop... There are a few nice things. Am I likely to sell anything? I plan to take good photos, etc.

I seem to lots of lovely things but nothing I want to wear.

Marking place - v useful thread.

I am a buyer but don't sell.

If I am buying second hand, I tend to think what would I pay for this item in a charity shop? Then I look at postage. Is it reasonable? I think 3 pounds twenty is reasonable. If you are going to charge more, it is better if it turns up pretty quick and well packaged or I am likely to complain.
Brands I like are Oasis, Topshop, Monsoon and M
And S Autograph or Limited Collection. There is an abundance of Next stuff so I tend to filter that out.
For a blouse I prefer a starting price of under a fiver and use my own judgement on how high I will go. But I don't really want to go past seven pounds before postage.
For a dress I might go up to 12 pounds before postage if it is really nice.
I tend not to buy silk as it is a faff to wash and may already be past it's best.
I want to see the label and as many specifics as possible.
Measurements, if it's a known brand I have a rough idea if it will fit or not. If it's vintage I would want more info.

Hope this helps.

I too have considered facebook selling pages but as a women i cant help but feel I may put myself in a vulnerable situation. I live in a rural area so meeting in a public place involves petrol costs getting there and I'm not comfortable people coming to the house. It's a shame because for bigger items I can see it is better.

I have just sold loads of stuff on Ebay after not using it for a few years.

My Boden, FatFace, Next and Joules stuff went for good prices.

Agree on selling stuff in season, providing good descriptions and taking photos in good daylight (if there is a print or pattern, take a close-up pic of that, too).

I've sold quite a bit on ebay.
Karen Millen, Coast, Reiss, Boden etc all do reasonably well. Shoes too.
I don't measure anything, just put the size down and any helpful comments about the fit.
Multiple photos on hanger in daylight, including one of the fabric/size label.
Time the auction to end on Sunday evening, more people online then.
Weigh your items and work out postage so you don't get caught short.
I used to do signed for/tracked delivery - but found the high postage costs put buyers off, so now just do second class and take the risk. Recently sold over twenty items with no problems. I don't post abroad though.
Don't underestimate the time it takes to label/package/post your items - make sure you have some time to do this soon after the auction has ended (took me a whole day to sort out the 20 bits and pieces).

it is part of the agreement with paypal that you send tracked - and standard royal mail postage only covers you for items up to £20 plus buyers can and will claim not received

My Hermes is cheaper than Royal Mail - £2.98 for an item up to 1kg which can cover most clothing. Plus tracked delivery and same time as second class - why pay more for Royal Mail and risk being scammed?

And I find Mon or Tues night much better than Sundays tbh.

Don't underestimate the time it takes

This.
By the time you have photo'd and described and uploaded then packaged and taken to the Post Office, you have spent an inordinate amount of time. All it takes is one plonker who raises a dispute and your profit is lost one one batch of unrecovered-postage-cost.
If you are desperate for cash then do it. Otherwise there are easier ways to earn less than minimum wage.

I do cash-for-clothes these days. I get less money but it's a lot simpler and no hassle.

This is a great thread, thanks. I sold some stuff a few months ago and can't believe how badly it did. and I messed up on the postage and I think I actually lost money on a coat that sold for 99p as it weighed 3 grams over a kg . I've got loads of maternity clothes to sell so I'm going to do bundles and Hermes and hope for the best.

I just thought I'd mention vestiaire collective.
I recently sold some shoes on it (nine west), I had the same shoes for sale on eBay and they didn't sell before this.
I've used it since to sell other items.
They take a decent chunk off for commission so there is a tendency to list items for a slightly higher price than you would on eBay etc. and something's may sell months later.
But they deal with postage-send you a prepaid FedEx voucher and the buyer can't return to you- they only deal with the company. Two big advantages to me.
Plus the website/app is very easy to use.
Obviously the stuff you're selling would have to be branded.
But just thought I'd mention it as I had a very pleasant experience with them.

I tend to just sell things on a buy-it-now listing these days, due to loads of things going for 99 sodding pence

Like someone else has mentioned, the 20 free listings per month are great now. I have listed 20 items on buy it now listings; some have sold, some haven't, but as they're on 30 day listings hopefully most will sell by the time the 30 days is up.

If you haven't got one, I'd recommend buying one of those hanging dummies; basically they are like an upper body with a coat hanger at the top so that you can dress it in clothes and hang it up for photographs. Mine was under £10 including postage from Ebay and I have noticed that I do sell more items now that I use it.

Just to add that something that is selling really well at the moment is playsuits! I think lots of people buy them to take on holiday or to wear on warmer days. I have recently sold one that I picked up at a boot fair a couple of years ago (for £1) for £10 on Ebay, as I've lost weight and it no longer fitted me. And it was a Primark one.

What a useful (and timely) thread. My loft is bursting at the seams with "stuff", and it's so long since I've sold clothes on eBay I've completely lost touch with all the current do's and don't's. Great advice.

Good news about the 20 free listings. Are they still limiting the total number of listings per month for new/inactive sellers? This held me up last time, and I got bored, and never went back to it.

I've been selling on ebay since 2003 and my friends refer to me as the ebay Queen! I also buy lots from ebay too, and have feedback for over 5000 transactions (shopaholic, moi?!)

Back when I started selling I was guaranteed to sell pretty much every item of clothing I listed regardless of the brand, because I took time to take clear photos and write good descriptions.

As time went on, the market became saturated, business sellers started listing things with free postage, etc and many small sellers couldn't compete with the competition so left.

It got to the point where the high listing fees and slow sales almost made me give up with ebay. However, the 20 free listings per month enticed me back and this week alone I’ve made £442 selling 15 items of clothing – it’s definitely been worth it.

I do find that well known brands fetch far more money than unknown ones regardless of how nice the items actually are, because people are searching for the brands they’ve heard of. That’s why I try to include as many keywords in my title as possible. For example, not “Blue dress”, but “COAST royal blue DRESS 16 tiered skirt, v-neck, wedding party prom summer”.

This definitely works – I bought said “Blue dress” on ebay last month for £40, but unfortunately it didn’t fit. I listed it with all the keywords and sold it on for £83!! I also sold an Eliza J dress for £62, a Monsoon dress for £50, a Phase Eight dress for £49 and Joules dress for £41. All had been worn once and were in excellent condition.

I have a few items - Top Shop tops (1 from this year) and a Monsoon long sleeved top worn once I think...

Thanks for the tips... I will try to list them then sell them!

I've sold quite a few things lurking in the back of the wardrobe (though mostly handbags, which are relatively easy to sell as nobody needs to know if they fit). Definitely agree that well known brands fetch more - any Toast stuff, for some reason, ALWAYS sells. Boden, Joules, Whistles, and well-known outdoor wear brands (Patagonia etc.) do well too. Though tried selling a pair of actually unworn Gap cords once and nobody was interested, I think jackets/coats and dresses seem to sell faster than trousers (probably less likely to have fit issues?).

Agree with everyone above about including lots of keywords in the description, multiple photos in good light including close-ups of detail, providing as much info as possible (fabric, measurements, etc.). I've done it so many times now that I can get a decent set of photos in a few minutes, ditto writing the description.

if its designer clothes..then yes. If not, if its Next forget it!!

Clothes that sell well...Toast, whitestuff, Seasalt, Boden and other well known designers. Mens clothes dont sell well. Fly london boots sell really well even used ones!!!

I have sold loads of Zara bits and everything's always gone fine. After a month, selling maybe 10-15 things I'd have about £40-50ish. Which isn't huge, but ebay's so simple....and addictive....
I do suffocate the parcel with sellotape though. Never goes missing. touch wood

List everything on Sunday night when everyone's bored. Wait a week, then spend an hour packing things up ready to send on Monday, easy.

I sell lots of clothes on Ebay.

1. Don't under or overprice items. I would never put a decent dress or handbag up for sale for 99p. If it's something that cost say £50 new and it's in immaculate condition I might put it on for £4.99 for a less trendy label, or £9.99 for a trendy label. Having said that, all my stuff is decent high-street and I keep things immaculate. (I spot-check it for fluff, I make sure it's clean and folded before it goes). If there are ANY faults you need to list them - often buyers will not mind if they know in advance, but they WILL mind if there's a loose seam, or the belt loops have been removed or something like that. Be honest re condition.

2. Catch the seasons - now you should be rootling out your coats, hats, gloves etc... save summer stuff for summer.

3. Royal Mail 2nd Class postage is £2.80 for most single items (dress, jumper, etc). I don't understand why people put £5+ on for postage. It annoys buyers and puts me off bidding for things because I know it costs nowhere near that to post. I would add a little on for packing and time spent queuing etc hence I would put postage at £3.20 maybe. 2nd Class Recorded costs me around £3.80 for a single item generally. So if you get a higher-value sale, protect it in case it goes missing with sending it recorded.

4. Don't put too much in the description. I don't know why but I find things sell better with less description. I think it's because too much history of the item makes it more "second hand" and more personal to you. Just something like "Lovely Warehouse dress. Excellent condition. Zip to back. Hook and eye slightly loose. "

5. DO put any quirky design features in the description or photos. There's nothing worse than buying a grey shift dress that'll be great for work... to find it's backless . One decent front and one decent back photo is usually enough, and one close-up of a fault or a design feature (for example if it's a tiny print).

6. The best pictures I find are when the item is hung up on a hanger from a plain white doorframe (with the door behind closed, of course :) ). So it's as plain as can be. This means that the item is at the same height for the camera, so the proportions are easier for the buyer to judge.

7. Any quibbles with items - don't argue, it's not worth it. I put "no returns" on my listings but if a buyer is unhappy with an item for any reason and messages me I would always refund without quibble. They have to pay postage back but I would refund original postage as well as price paid.

Hope this helps!

greengarden Next capes with fur trim are going for £££ on ebay for example... sometimes it's not the label, it's the item catching the right moment :)

Bunny great points.

Velour - I'd say I agree but then the odd Zara top I sold (bright pink chiffon-ish) didn't do as well as I'd hoped.

The ones that did well were brand new Karen Millen dress, brand new LK Bennett kitten heels (cream) etc...

and I was extremely stupid a few years back selling Monsoon (brand new with tags or barely worn) great basics, nice colour jumpers etc... for far less then they should have gone for).

Bunny you're so right re the trends - I've had listed Primark trendy dresses or playsuits (someone else mentioned those) that have literally shot off the scale when Ebaying, so much interest. Especially to foreign buyers who don't have Primark!

Bunny be careful about adding time spent into P&P, you're not supposed to, but I agree with over inflated charges generally. It should be postage cost rounded up to nearest £ or .50p to account for packaging. I either bulk buy new post bags from amazon or reuse old ones, and I collect tissue paper and bubble wrap from other purchases so there's really no need to bump up the cost.

I also agree that a brief description is better, I always used to spend time describing stuff in detail and how it fit me, but I think now its best to keep it factual and make sure your photos show everything you need.

The title however does need to have as many words as you can cram in, doesn't need to make sense as its a keyword search, someone above described it well re a blue dress. I've won quite a few things because the seller gave it a crap title e.g. "black stilettos" I bought for £40 were actually brand new Whistles suede ones from the current season and worth £150. Similarly I bought a £250 Equipment silk shirt for £50 because the seller listed it as "white blouse" and had taken really grainy photos in the evening with a side light on and not even bothered to turn them the correct way up.

I sold some stuff at the start of the year. I got a great price for an unworn Phase Eight dress with tags still on - I paid £39.00 for it some years ago and got £31 + p&p. However I got poor prices for second hand Boden, Moschino and Jigsaw items, and it was blinkin annoying still having to wrap them up, go to the post office etc. etc. when I wasn't making much profit.

My friend was delighted with the amount she made selling her second hand bras so maybe that and used shoes is the way to go for high profits !!