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Five Awesome Tips For Selling Your Clothes on eBay

Target Missoni Boots for $30k. Vintage Chanel bags for $1,000. Everywhere you look, someone is trying to making a little side hustle off of their fashion finds on eBay. Of course, these high numbers sound enticing, but more than one person raised their eyebrows at the price tag of those Target Missoni boots.

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So, how’s a girl to make a little cash from all that fabulous fashion she no longer wants? Well, here are a few tricks to success when it comes to eBay. First, you have to know your product and research past sales of similar products on eBay so you don’t get your hopes up. Then, take great pictures and be the seller you’ve always wanted to work with yourself. Below are more detailed explanations of our top five tips for selling on eBay. Good luck!

How to Sell Your Clothes on Ebay

1. Only Sell Great Products

Only Sell Great Products

Ask yourself, “Would I bid on this if I saw it on eBay?” No one wants your gym shirt from middle school, but they do want that Lilly Pulitzer dress you only wore once. Your product has to be in excellent condition (unless it’s something like a vintage handbag with some wear and tear). Check it thoroughly for stains and tears. If they are small, you could still be able to sell it since many people are adept at repairing such things, but you’ll have to write about it in the description.

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2. Give It the Red Carpet Treatment

Give It the Red Carpet Treatment

You wouldn’t walk down the red carpet in a wrinkled dress that you picked up off the floor. And you wouldn’t be inclined to buy such a dress. So make sure your item looks great before taking pictures. Iron it. Wash it. Put it on a hanger. Whatever you have to do to wear it yourself, that’s how it should look in a picture.

3. Take An Awesome Picture

I get that you’re probably not a professional photographer. I’m not either, but that doesn’t stop me from implementing a few tricks of the trade every time I sell on eBay. Take a picture of your item during the day with a lot of bright, natural light. A flash could distort the color of your product, so aim for the brightest area in your house to take it. Also, make sure to take it against a white backdrop so the focus is all on the product you are trying to sell.

4. Communicate With Buyers Immediately

Communicate With Buyers Immediately

Typically, you have about five days for an auction to run on eBay. During that time, check your eBay messages frequently. A buyer might ask you for more information about a size or condition. If they are interested enough to ask a question, they are interested enough to buy it. So make sure you give them the attention they deserve.

5. Ship Quickly

When you do finally sell an item, it’s really exciting. However, before you think about rushing off to the mall to spend your hard-earned cash, you need to ship the item. Shipping the item as quickly as possible will ensure a happy customer. The better ratings you get, the more luck you will have selling on eBay as time goes on. Don’t forget to rate your buyer, too!

A few more tips…

  • End your auction on the weekends and evenings. Make sure your auction ends on a Saturday or a Sunday to help you get the highest price for your items. Mondays during the day is also another great time to end to catch the at-work bidders.
  • Be honest. When describing your items accurately describe any defects, blemishes, etc. Being honest will help build your representation as a seller.
  • Get a Paypal account. Paypal is the online money exchange system owned by eBay. It allows for quick, easy, safe transactions between buyers and sellers. Paypal charges a small fee for processing transactions.

nikki

Friday 8th of June 2012

I am a new seller on ebay, I started selling clothes out of my closet and then got addicted to it and now I shop at a store that sells cheap but nice clothes like a marshalls and I find new nice items and charge about $6 more than I pay. I have found some amazing deals at this store $1.49 Levis, same price for a black skirt and I stocked up on a ton of Roca wear, Dereon and southpole brand shirts that I found for $4.49 each anyway I am trying to find ways to sell more, when I started I sold more because it was tax season and now I don't seem to be selling as much so I appreciate the tip about ending auctions on weekends, I'm trying to find a cheap mannequin now to help display the clothes better for anyone who is a beginner i have to recomend that you print your own shipping labels and learn about the shipping aspect of it because when I started selling I was spending almost $10 to ship everything because I didn't know about the flat rate envelopes and things like that, I was paying priority prices and using my own boxes and paying extra for tracking and now it costs me an average of $2-$3 with tracking for every shirt I ship, I learned that by using a ziplock bag to put the shirts in and a yellow envelope to ship the item made it weigh a lot less than the boxes I was using so I could ship first class, and anything over 13 ounces I stuff into the flat rate envelope for $4.90, I just wanted to share my tip and I will also share my store that I get my stuff from which is DD's discounts, anyone who has a DD's near them can make money buying stuff from there and selling it on ebay. They have amazingly low prices and offer many different brands, I've seen lane bryant, apple bottoms, xoxo, torrid, roca wear, southpole, ecko and many more. Oh another thing I noticed is that plus size clothes sell better in my opinion because cute plus size clothes are hard to find, skinny girls can go in any store and find something cute for cheap. One thing I am wondering about though is: is it better to sell something with shipping included or free shipping where the price is higher but shippings included or is it better to have a lower price and then a shipping price?

w

Monday 14th of November 2011

Very informative, this is great advice!

Donna J

Sunday 22nd of May 2011

Oooo I forgot, there are a few exceptions, I've noticed that Kathy Lee (sold at Walmart) dresses tend to sell. They are well designed for the average woman in nice patterns and figure flattering styles, but as a general rule, don't bother with clothes from Walmart.

Donna J

Sunday 22nd of May 2011

Also, only sell high quality clothes. If you sell Walmart or Target brand clothes you won't get any bids, between selling at a reasonable price to make you some money and shipping costs it's just not worth it to buy compared to buying new at those stores. So you end up just paying ebay's fees for nothing! So stick to designer or at least mall/boutique clothes where it's worth it to the buyer to get a great deal and if you're just getting rid of old clothes you still make something and sometimes a lot.

Kerry

Friday 15th of April 2011

Clothes are probably one of the most sensible things to sell on eBay when economic times are tougher. People will always need to clothe themselves, so will always need to buy clothes. I started off selling a few bits and bobs, then I found that I quite liked it.

Now for me, it's a matter of dealing with suppliers and manufacturers, instead of just digging around in the back of my wardrobe. Can't complain though. :)

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