Tips for Selling Clothes Online for Extra Cash
Selling clothes online is a great way to make extra money! I’ve been selling clothing online for years and have made good money doing it. I was able to put thousands of dollars into savings for my family and even made it our full time income. But even if you’re just planning on selling some extra stuff or you want to save up for a down payment on a new car, these tips will help you sell clothes online.
If you want a little more guidance make sure you check out the Reseller Roadmap course where I walk you step by step through how to start a resale business. Use coupon code: SELLINGTIPS to get 20% off
Clean out your closet
The best way to start selling clothes online is to clean out your own closet! This is how I started my business back in 2016 and I’ve been able to grow it into a full time job. Just pull out anything you might be willing to get rid of and start looking things up on ebay, Poshmark, etc.
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Do your research
It’s so important to do your research when you’re planning to sell anything online. You want to know if it’s even selling, how much it’s selling for, etc. So when you’re looking to sell something try doing a search for that item yourself to get some more info on where to start. You might find that it’s not selling very well and save yourself a lot of time that you would have spent taking photos and listing that item for sale.
Figure out how to price
In your research you should be able to figure out how to price each item. Simply do a search and see what similar items are currently for sale for. But more importantly, most selling platforms like ebay or Poshmark will allow you to see sold items. There you can see what items actually sold for and price correctly.
It’s enticing to ask what you want for stuff, but you can’t force someone to buy your item so you need to be competitive with your pricing and make sure that it’s priced at what people are actually willing to pay for it.
Rehab flawed items
There are two ways to look at this. You can rehab items as in mending holes, removing stains, etc. but you can also revamp an item into something new! Sustainability and shopping secondhand is very popular right now so some items are totally worth putting the extra effort.
Figure out where you want to sell
There are so many selling platforms out there now! The easiest, in my opinion, to get started on are Mercari and Poshmark. They take fees only once an item sells so there’s no upfront cost to listing your items for sale. They also make shipping pretty easy by providing you with the labels.
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Stay organized
Keeping things organized when you first start selling online is really important. Even if you’ve only listed a few things for sale it’s important to keep track of those items and have some sort of system in place to ensure you can find them quickly once they sell. You can check out how we store our inventory in this post.
Take amazing photos
Taking good photos is so easy these days. I remember when I used to sell on ebay before smart phones (do I sound old yet?) and I actually had to use a digital camera and then upload them to ebay. Now you can just do it on your phone which you have with you anyway.
Here are some simple photo tips:
- Bright, but indirect, lighting. Preferably natural lighting.
- Clean, clear background. A wall or a clean floor is fine.
- Include several photos: front, back, any tags, any flaws, close ups, etc. I try to include at least 4-5 photos of any item I sell.
Be honest
Don’t lie or exaggerate the condition of an item. You’ll just have a disappointed customer once they get the item and realize that you weren’t honest about it. Make sure you point out flaws like stains, tears, etc. or even signs of excessive wear like piling.
Use search friendly words
When you list an item make sure the title includes words that you would use if you were actually shopping for that item. Words like “cute” probably aren’t going to help anyone find the stuff you have for sale. Stick to descriptive words, brand names, styles, etc.
Only buy what’s selling
If you’re buying items to resell DO YOUR RESEARCH. Don’t waste your time and money buying something that might not sell. No matter how much you like something it doesn’t guarantee someone else will. If your goal is to make money, even if you’re not trying to start an official business, you don’t want to waste your money buying stuff that no one wants.
Selling clothes online is such an easy way to make extra money and something that basically anyone can do immediately. Go clean out that closet and see if you can turn clothes into cash!
