Buy & Sell - Vivastreet

Look around your home, and you’ll more than likely spot a wealth of items that you rarely use or never even touch. Instead of just collecting dust, these items could be put to better use. Better still, they could be earning you some money in the process. With constant encouragement to become more environmentally friendly, many of us are reducing, reusing and recycling rather than instantly buying new each time. Because of this, people now flock to various popular online selling sites to find their next bargain buy. The potential to sell online and make money online is therefore vast. However, with such an already saturated market, you’ll need to ensure that your products stand out from the rest when you sell stuff online. Read our top tips to successfully sell online: Know Your Items Worth Before You Consider Selling Them Target the Right Market with the Correct Selling Platform Promote Your Products in The Most Aesthetic Looking Way Be Consciously Creative with Your Descriptions Whether you’re looking to sell clothes online, to sell books online, or perhaps you’re even looking at the possibilities of whether you could sell art online, follow a few simple tips, and you could be making a decent profit in next to no time by placing your unwanted items online: 1. Know Your Items Worth Before You Consider Selling Them This is important if you are to price your stuff correctly. Some people make the mistake of believing that their items are worth much more than they really are. Don’t just think about placing a random price on your products, or what you think you should get from them. Be realistic and understand that people come to these online selling platforms to bag a good deal. Therefore, if you're pricing them higher than new shop-bought ones, you’ll get nowhere. Look around and get the RRP price for your product and then work from this, accounting for its current state. This way you can also ensure that you don’t sell a one-off rare collector’s item at a couple of pounds - which you then find out when it’s in somebody else’s possession that it’s actually worth thousands of pounds. You’ll also need to consider potential postage and packaging costs, or you could end up losing out financially here. Get an idea of postage rates beforehand for all sizes of items before placing your goods online. 2. Target the Right Market with the Correct Selling Platform There are many selling platforms out there, but some are very specific in niche and therefore only cater to selling certain goods. Thus for example, if you wish to sell DVDs online or sell CDs online, you would be wasting your time and money by targeting online selling sites which predominately cater to those who sell phones online. eBay – A long-running online selling platform allowing everyone to buy and sell their goods. Vivastreet – A free local classified ads site offering a simple selling service through an extensive advert selection. Gumtree – A UK classified website that offers a community like presence for people selling all their unwanted goods. You may look around these platforms and decide that one has a broader section of the stuff you’re currently looking to sell online than the others. However, for future reference, if you think you’ll be combining the items that you sell, you may want to look at the best site that offers a variety of sections and selling possibilities so you can actively build up your account on one site. 3. Promote Your Products in The Most Aesthetic Looking Way Your background, lighting choices and product placement all play a vital part when capturing the attention of a possible paying audience. Use the best camera possible, avoid messy backgrounds and clustered rooms that instantly turn people off purchasing from you. A busy background simply detracts from the product for sale and makes some people question the state of your home, therefore, the condition of your product. Instead present a crisp, clean image with as little to no background detail and taken using a selection of angles. Before adding a product to your online account, ask yourself what it is about this picture that makes it stand out on the site? Does it have the potential to grab the attention of thousands of people scrolling through similar items? Search similar items as yours on the same site to get an idea of how they’re displayed. What does the seller do well and is there something that they could they do better? How would you improve on it? Always look at your photos from the point of view as if you were the customer looking to make a purchase. How you present your products visually, will determine whether you will successfully sell online. 4. Be Consciously Creative with Your Descriptions Though your main aim is to sell your items, you’ll need to be creatively descriptive when promoting products on your page to rouse buyer interest. However, don’t overdo this section. Be sure you can back up all your claims and note any faults with the product, mentioning anything which needs highlighting at this stage. Not only are you bound by the online selling platform rules to adequately describe the product correctly, but your credibility relies on offering as much information as possible. Look at including here: Product Condition Colour Specifications Size / Weight Information not gathered from the photo – chips, dents, rips, discolouring, rust, etc Whether you have a pet free home or not Further information about the item (the more you can add here the better) Protect Your Online Selling Reputation Finally, reputation plays a big part in the online selling process. This means that the more you can get a good customer base and positive five-star feedback from those who buy from you, the higher-rated you will become. Because of this, you’ll appeal more to others looking to purchase items that you sell. Be honest about your items, make the selling process quick and fair and process any queries or questions as and when they occur. This way you’ll soon be on your way to building an excellent seller presence in your chosen online selling platform, making some good profit from it all in the meantime.

Category: Buy & Sell

4 tips & tricks for selling your items online

How to find the perfect flatshare

Buying a dog online – Here’s what you need to know