With the holiday season coming up, it’s great to be able to splurge on presents or even on some things for yourself this winter. Selling clothes online is an easy way to make a few extra dollars this semester! For me, selling clothes has been a way to make some money between jobs and without having to do much to make it.
So today, I’m going to teach you exactly how to sell clothes online — it’s easier than you think!
Related reading: The Best Places to Sell Your Designer Shoes
Table of Contents
Where to Sell Clothes Online
There’s a lot of clothing sites that I shop from when looking for secondhand clothes, but when selling you should use the sites that are the most popular, even if they aren’t always the same ones you buy from.
The biggest part of selling clothes online is maximizing your audience and getting your listings to reach as many people as possible. Here are some of the sites I use to sell:
Poshmark
Poshmark is my personal favorite place to sell clothes online – they have a lot of filters to narrow down searches, and they have great features for sellers like the ability to discount items for the people who have liked those items.
We have a whole guide on how to sell clothes on Poshmark, so I won’t get too detailed here, but suffice to say the app is a cinch to use.
Selling clothes on here is fairly easy, and you don’t have to be extremely active on the app to make sales. When using Poshmark, you’ll be “invited to Posh Parties,” which are basically another way of sharing your clothing to a larger audience. Each party has a theme, like “skirts” or “preppy” (where you can only post items from preppy brands) and you can share your listings that match that theme. It’s a great way to generate likes and shares on your listings.
Depop
Depop is like Poshmark, except they sell a lot more “trendy” clothes and it’s an artsier community of buyers. For Depop, you can get away with pricing clothes a bit higher, but you also have to have cute photos to sell your items.
Because there’s no “parties” feature, you can only get discovered either through a search or the explore page. This makes the platform a little bit trickier to sell on if you’re not active. The key to selling here is to like and comment a TON on other listings, and use hashtags at the bottom of each listing so you’ll show up in more searches!
Ebay
Not a lot of people think to sell clothes here, but Ebay is a great place to sell unique items, or even everyday basics to a new audience. You can have either a timed bidding option or the option to “Buy It Now,” which is very helpful if you’re looking to sell clothes quickly.
In order to sell on Ebay, you should be as specific as possible in the name and description of your listing. Because Ebay does not have as many filters to search with as some of the other apps, typing a specific item into the search bar is more common here. To make sure your item shows up, try and put the exact brand and product name in the listing!
Instagram and Facebook
One of the most overlooked resources for selling clothes is social media! The audience of people most likely to buy your clothes – those who fit them and dress like you – are your peers. By listing your items in a place where tons of other college kids are already gathered, you’ll get so many more responses and impulse buys from people who aren’t active on other clothing apps.
When selling clothes on Instagram, I recommend making a new page only for your clothes, and following some friends and people around you to branch out and find buyers and other sellers from your own community.
On Facebook, towns, cities, and universities often have groups dedicated to buying and selling items. Join as many of those groups in your area as possible, and start listing your clothes there! Take advantage of parent-overposting and ask your family and friends to share your listings as well.
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Tips and Tricks for Selling Clothes Online:
Here are some pieces of advice from my time selling clothes online:
Set the Scene
Don’t just sell clothes – sell a brand. By taking photos of the item you want to sell on a model, or creating a super intricate flat-lay, you are able to sell an idea rather than just one item of clothing.
I always thought a clear photo of the item I was listing would do the trick, but once I started shooting the clothes as part of a whole outfit, my sales went way up!
People love seeing different ways to dress a shirt, or you can even convince them to buy a pair of pants by giving a glimpse at how you would style them.
Negotiate
The best part of negotiating something online – whether it be pairing multiple items in a bundle or haggling over a price – is the communication. Once a buyer takes the time to talk to you about an item, they’re invested. They’re more likely to buy something online from someone they’ve had a short conversation with, and they might be more likely to buy from you again.
Plus, when was the last time you negotiated a price and didn’t end up making a deal? As a seller, once you open up the door and get someone interested in an item, it is a lot easier to get them to buy it.
Know Your Market
When cross-posting listings on different apps, it’s important to adjust your price for the audience you are reaching on each app:
- For Ebay, Instagram, and Facebook, cheaper listings will sell way faster and attract more attention from buyers.
- On Depop, you can get away for charging more money because the audience there is more geared towards brand-name clothing and higher end items.
- When posting on Poshmark, start with an average price – between Depop and Ebay – you that you can attract buyers but you’ll also have enough room to be able to offer discounts through the app to those who show interest in your clothes.
What do you think of our guide to how to sell clothes online?
Do you have experience selling clothes on different apps? What makes a piece jump out at you when shopping online?
Let me know in the comments!