Tips For Buying and Selling Clothes On Ebay

For a little while when I first started selling on Ebay I tried selling clothes on Ebay. Selling clothes on Ebay can be a lucrative little side business, IF you have an idea what you are doing. I thought there wouldn't be  whole lot to it, and I thought it would be easy. It's not, and I wish I would have done a little research before I started because it would've helped me not make a few mistakes. So, to help out my readers I'm doing this post with the tips and tricks I learned when I did it.

Buying Clothes To Sell

• Always, always check the condition of the clothing carefully- You're looking for tears, rips, thin spots, stains, a funny smell, etc. Anything that can lower the value of the item, or make it unsellable. Once, I bought a bag of jeans from a girl off a Facebook selling group. They were all (supposedly) BKE brand in good condition. She said they had "slight" wear at the bottom, but believe it or not that's not a huge deterrent when selling jeans if it's not to bad. For $5 a pair I told her I would take the lot of them. When she delivered the jeans to me I was extremely busy and didn't look at the jeans, as you can guess they were terrible condition, the knees were tore out, the bottoms were awful and one was NOT BKE brand. So always be sure to look the clothing over.
• Name brand, Name brand, Name brand - If you are buying used clothes to resell for a decent profit then name brand is really only way to make money. Which leads into the next tip.
• Stay current on hot styles and brands - When I started I knew of one hot brand thanks to a friend of mine, but I didn't know many others. When I got some jeans from Goodwill I bought a couple pairs that had been a hot brand when I was highschool, but in the 15 years since I had graduated things had changed (duh!) and they weren't that big anymore.
• Look for Character clothes for children - Brand name is big with kids and baby clothes, but know that clothing with popular characters, think Spiderman and Legos right now, are good sellers as well.
• Maternity clothes sell - Brand seems to matter much less when it comes to Maternity clothes. Mothers to be are looking for a good deal on clothes that they will likely only use for a few months at most. So value over brand seems to be the name of the game for Maternity.
• Larger sizes sell well - Think 2XL and up, even XL. I think there are a couple reasons for this: 1. Larger sizes cost more money and 2. Larger sizes don't seem to have the selection in stores as other sizes. So these items sell well on Ebay, even without a brand name attached to them.

Selling Clothes On Ebay

• Be honest - If your clothing item has any tears or stains and you can't/won't fix it, then be sure to take pictures of it and include them in your listing photos as well as your description. You'll still get the occasional buyer that doesn't read the listing, or look at all the photos that will want to return the item because of it, but cover yourself with Ebay and make sure it's in the listing.
• Include measurements as well as size - We all know that different brands have different sizes, especially with women's clothing. Taking a few basic measurements can help your listing sell better, faster and for more money. If you're unsure what measurements to take do a quick google search and you'll find what you should get (and how) for the pieces you are selling
• Have the size in the Listing Title - People often search for what they are looking for by Brand AND Size, so be sure it's in there. People are lazy, if it's not obvious what size an item is from the listing they'll likely scroll past rather than open the listing to see. I know I have before when shopping on Ebay.
• Verify that it's not a fake - If you're buying high end stuff, think Gucci, Dolce and Cabbana, etc. be sure you verify it's real and not a fake. If you are caught selling fakes, even if you didn't know, they will pull the listing and possibly suspend your sellers account. There are websites that can help you verify your pieces as well the Clothing section in the Ebay forums for sellers are often helpful for that as well.
• Research selling price and Shipping price - Know how much your item is selling for new, and research on Ebay what it's selling for. While you're looking at those listings be sure to check how much people are charging for shipping to get an idea what to charge until you get the hang of it.
• Take great photos - People can't try your clothes on, or touch them, so be sure your photos really highlight everything about your item. Catch any details and extra stitching, buttons etc. with your photos. Make sure the clothes are not wrinkled and are clean. Also use a neutral background, and NOT your floor. A white door, or lay down a white sheet on the floor and take the photos.
• Make a lot listing of your leftovers - Say you just bought a huge bag of clothes because it was cheap and there were enough good pieces that it was worth it. Now you're left with extras, just make a lot listing of all those extras, group by size and season, and list. It's more to get those items out the door than make a lot of money.
• Have a detailed listing - Make sure you list what kind of material it is, does it have a sheen, does it have gathering, a-line skirt, etc, etc. Again, they can't try your clothes on, so be sure to try and include everything that you would look at if you were at a store deciding to buy the piece. I know one brand of scrubs I sold always tended to run smaller with their sizes, so I always made sure to include that in my listings, adding that I always had to buy a size larger in their brand than I did with other brands.

Selling clothes on Ebay really can net you a good profit, especially if you live in an area where you can easily find cheap name brand clothing. However, I quit selling because it didn't work for me. The extra time for measurements and such didn't fit into my schedule well at all. I also noticed that there seemed to be more buyers that complained about my items and returned them then with anything else I sold. Not really surprising, we've all bought something at the store without trying it one, got home, tried it on and hated it, returning it to the store later. Selling clothes online is really no different. It is something to keep in mind though. 

So that's all for this post, until next time!