Zapper | From Aldi To Harrods

Today I thought I’d tackle selling. Selling, where to start? First of all, please know that I will sell anything ever. A few years ago my Mom worked in a newsagent and got boxes of those free DVDs from daily newspapers. She brought them home and asked me if I thought they’d be worth putting on eBay. I laughed in her face and told her not to be so stupid. She was then withdrawing £50 from Paypal every 2-4 days, back in the days where it cost you money to withdraw anything less than £50. Years later I’m still ploughing through selling them. So I now don’t turn my nose up at selling anything.

When thinking about how to put this entry together, I wasn’t sure how to categorised all the selling. I think it basically comes down to online and offline selling.

Online selling

eBay

Any information about selling online has to start with eBay, right? We’ve all heard of it, and perhaps you’ve bought stuff, or even sold stuff on there before. eBay is quite rubbish for sellers now – buyers have all the protection and sellers are often left in the lurch. eBay is not perfect, I’ve had more than my fair share of people being rubbish on eBay. That said, I love it. On eBay there are fees for listing, final fees when your item sells and then if you receive payment through Paypal (and eBay won’t let you list something unless you have Paypal as a payment method) you are charged fees. So it isn’t exactly the best deal, but when you’re reaching an audience of potentially millions, it is so worth it.

eBay have various free listing days or weekends. You receive an e-mail a few days before the event, giving you little time to prepare. And of course it always happens at a time when you have something important planned. eBay also allow you to list 100 items with a start price of 99p for free per month. My advice is to photograph items you have to sell, because honestly, that’s the most tedious part. If you’re feeling super organised then you can even type up your descriptions and then copy and paste them when it comes to free listing times. I once spent a weekend putting 200 items on eBay, and by 3pm on Sunday I felt sick, ached all over and the next day felt very hung over. I do not recommend that. If you’re selling high priced items and don’t mind the listing fees then you may like to use the eBay tool Turbo Lister which allows you to edit items as and when you feel and then upload them at any one time. Turbo Lister usually can’t be used on the free listing days, but be sure to check the terms and conditions first.

Everything sells on eBay. I’m talking broken cameras, shopping vouchers, left over holiday money, used stamps, smelly broken shoes, clothes, make up, the list is endless. Generally I find that things like books, DVDs and CDs don’t do well on eBay.

Amazon Marketplace

I can’t remember how I discovered selling on Amazon, but I love it. It is the simplest form of listing anything ever. Mostly used for books, DVDs and CDs, you just search for your item, look to the right of the listing where it says “sell yours here” and follow the instructions. No photos needed, no listing fees, you just use a few characters to say what condition your item is in, decide on a price and list.

Now Amazon isn’t perfect. They charge a set postage price for whatever you’re selling – hence why you often see books on sale for 1p, because as long as their postage isn’t as much as Amazon charge buyers, they’ve made a profit. Not so great if you’re selling heavy hardbacks. Amazon also charge what seems like a small fortune in fees. You’re also required to despatch your item within two working days. The good thing about Amazon is that they’re upfront about the fees so you can decide whether to go ahead with your listing or not. Once live your item is listed for 60 days and if it sells Amazon will e-mail you. You receive the money once you’ve confirmed despatch and can then transfer it into your bank account. There is also a nice feature which tells you if your item is the lowest priced on the Marketplace. Being the lowest price gives you a better chance of a sale, as your item will be displayed at the top of the list for potential buyers.

Play.com

Similar to Amazon Marketplace, Play.com operate “Playtrade” for listing your items. You find your item and select “sell it here” and follow the instructions. Here you’re also told how much you will get after the fees to help you decide whether to list your item or not. Unlike Amazon, with Playtrade your prices need to include postage, so bear that in mind when listing. A great thing about Playtrade is that you can use the money to spend on Play.com or send it to your bank account (minus a 5% transaction fee). I tend to list items on both Amazon Marketplace and Playtrade if they’re going for decent amounts, then cancel the other listing when an item sells.

Thriftstoreuk (TSUK)

Chances are that you haven’t heard of TSUK. If you have a Livejournal account then you need TSUK in your life, even if it is just to grab bargains. Put simply, TSUK is a place for (mostly) girls of a certain age (15-25?) to sell their stuff. So this means cheap clothes, cheap make up, cheap everything. Look around your room, chances are that almost anything you see can be sold on TSUK. There are no fees for listing or selling, and some buyers even pay extra to cover the Paypal fees. You list your items by taking photos, uploading them somewhere like Photobucket, putting them into an entry, writing a description, naming your price and making your post. You need 5 positive feedback as a buyer to start selling, although you may be able to e-mail the mods with eBay feedback, but this is at their discretion. If you don’t have a Livejournal account, don’t get one just for selling. Or at least don’t pin all your hopes on it. It is a lengthy process and there is no guarantee that you will be accepted to sell on the community.

I adore TSUK so much. It costs nothing but time to list, and a lot of the time I can then copy and paste the picture and description onto eBay. Because of the nature of the community, if you’ve priced something too high, buyers still have the chance to make offers, because it is all done in comments. I also love trading, which is just as the name suggests, you trade any item of yours for something from someone else. My favourite trade was a scarf for a beautiful pair of pumps that I wear almost everyday (except now that I own Ugg boots and it is winter, I don’t wear them as much, but you get the point). If you aren’t sure how to price items you can leave this blank and ask for offers. People also post lists of things they’d like, so if you have something you can respond and make a few extra pennies. The place has quite a chatty feel to it, but the mods are quite strict. Receive two negative feedback and you’re out of there. Rules say you have to obtain proof of postage for every item you send.

Music Magpie

I would literally only use Music Magpie if I’d listed DVDs, CDs and games everywhere at least 6 times. The idea behind Music Magpie is great. You get a pile of DVDs, CDs and games you no longer want. You type all the barcodes in. Music Magpie gives you a price for each of them, you agree, they send you a free postage label (or you print it out), package up your items and receive a cheque a few weeks later. Great! Except you’ll get around 20p per CD and 30p per DVD. I literally use this as a last resort – all those DVDs that won’t shift and you’re sick of seeing. But try to sell them anywhere else first!

Green Metropolis

Pretty similar to listing on Amazon or Play, but for books only. It costs £3.75 for someone to buy a book, and you get £3 of that. From that £3 you also need to pay for postage, so make sure you actually walk away with something at the end of it! If the book is a large hardback edition then they will let you make a charge for postage, so it is worth checking.

Etsy and Folksy

If you’re crafty then these are the sites for you. Etsy is American based, and Folksy is British based, but you can list on both. Items will need to be handmade, or crafting supplies and will need photos and descriptions. There’s a small charge for listing and a % taken for selling. On Etsy this is 20c (USD) per item (if you have quantity: 2 then it costs 40c) and then 3.5% of the sales figure. An item is listed for 4 months. Folksy costs 20p per listing (quantity: 5 is still 20p) and a 5% selling fee. You can choose to list one off items you’ve created, or start a shop featuring many of your creations. If you’re any good at building websites, graphic design, etc then you can also list your services on these websites, giving some examples of previous work.

General online selling tips:

If you’re listing somewhere that requires photos, then make every use of them. You don’t need to spend hours staging your items perfectly, but simple things like photographing clothes on a hanger, mannequin or even a model. If you want to add a few extra photos for free then sign up to Photobucket and link to them in your listings.
Don’t start buying things to sell until you’ve really grasped your market. I’m not talking about buying something for 50p at a car boot sale you know will sell for £10+, I mean don’t start buying wholesale lots on eBay or spending big bucks until you’ve done your research and costings.
Always get proof of postage for everything you post out. Yes, those little pieces of paper build up, but if you need to refund a buyer then you’re covered for up to £41 compensation from Royal Mail for your item. If your item sold for more then add insurance as necessary.
Invest in some digital kitchen scales (around £10) and print off the PDF of Royal Mail postage charges. This ensures that you charge correct postage so you aren’t left out of pocket.
Buy your packaging material before your listings end, so you aren’t left having to buy it from the Post Office for ridiculous prices. Better yet, recycle packaging. You know those brown bags you get at Primark and Lush? Cut them out, turn them over and there you have brown paper. As a personal rule, I like to use new packaging for eBay and my jewellery website and recycled anywhere else. Jiffy bags or mailing bags are so cheap on eBay, so buy them in lots to keep you going. Stock up on cellotape too. If you really don’t want to buy lots of 50 jiffy bags on eBay then £1 shops are the next best offer.

Offline selling

Boot sales

I suppose boot sales have to be the first place to start. If you aren’t confident enough to start listing online, or want to get rid of those things that aren’t shifting online/aren’t quite what you want to put on eBay, then boot sales are for you. The idea is simple. You load a car up with tons of stuff you want to sell, pop them on some tables and make some money. To find your local car boot sales, head to Google, your local newspaper or even ask your friends on Facebook. Pitches are generally £5-£10. If you need to buy a table these cost around £10 – the folding ones are known as wallpaper pasting tables and you can get them from hardware shops, Wilkinsons, etc.

General car boot sale tips:

People visiting car boot sales are generally after something for very little. Be prepared to walk away with a little bit of profit after you’ve paid for everything. Someone will always haggle you down so you need to know when you’ll agree to a lower price.
Arrive early. I know this sucks, especially if the boot sale opens to buyers at 7am, but you want to get a good pitch.
Take someone with you. Boot sales can be very boring, and at least with someone with you you’re able to wander off to the toilet/snack van/to look at other stalls, never mind having someone to chat to, moan about how early it is, etc.
Take sandwiches with you. I absolutely detest sandwiches, and the whole point of going to a boot sale for me is to raid the burger van. Which can then cost £10 between two people, added to the petrol and pitch fee, I could have stayed in bed longer.
Price your items. People will want to haggle any way, but having items priced means that people can make a snap decision about whether they want something without giving them time to talk themselves out of asking you for the price because you look busy/like you don’t care/popped off to the loo. Prices don’t always have to be sticky labels – some cardboard will work too.
Take lots of spare change – don’t lose a sale because you haven’t got enough, chances are that they won’t be coming back later!
Take plenty of carrier bags.
Items I’ve found sell well at car boot sales include clothing, toiletries (both new and used…yes I don’t quite understand it either), toys, baby clothes, comics, craft items, CDs, DVDs, games, small electronics and general bric-a-brac
Items I’ve found that don’t sell include general books (unless you’re offering something quite niche, don’t go there). You’re also prohibited from selling counterfeit goods such as pirated DVDs, CDs, etc.