Selling on eBay 101 - A quick guide for selling used clothing, shoes and accessories on eBay

A reader recently emailed me and another commented seeking tips for selling clothing on eBay. I hope I don't come across as teaching grandmother how to suck eggs (since so many of my readers already successfully sell on eBay)... but regardless, here is my version of Selling on eBay 101.

The beginning of my eBay selling adventures

I have been selling on eBay since 2006.  I started to sell bits and pieces when I realised one day that I had no more storage space to add to my rather large collection of shoes (approximately 120 pairs at one point), so I had to get rid of some to justify buying any more.

One of the first things I sold on eBay was a pair of boots that I had been storing under my bed for two years after purchasing them. I recall buying the boots for $8 at one of Myer's generous take-a-further-90%-off-the-reduced-price sales. The boots were quite trendy for their time - a slouchy camel suede stiletto boot, but a little too big for me.  Believe it or not, but the boots sold for $210 after I starting bidding at 99 cents! As you can imagine this really fueled my eBay selling passion and all of a sudden I started eyeing off what else I could sell to make (back) some money. The rest, as they say, is history.

Is selling on eBay worth the effort?

Although eBay is not as lucrative as it once was due to the poor economy and most bidders looking to get a good bargain, you may still find that it's worth your while.  Below is a snap shot of my selling totals from earlier this week:

Based on the numbers above, this equates to roughly $36 dollars per item.  Some may say, that this is not worth the hassle... well I wish I were in their shoes! For me, if it wasn't for eBay, there is no way I could justify continuously replenishing my wardrobe. With three mortgages, car loans and bills to pay, not to mention planning home improvements, an overseas holiday and a family in the not too distant future, eBay is my saviour and I am thankful that people buy my stuff!

Getting started

Before you get too excited culling and photographing your items, I will point out that you need to register as a seller on eBay and also have a PayPal account.  If you do not, it's easy to register for both. Each site provides clear and easy instructions.

Building a reputation before you start selling

If you have never sold or purchased anything from eBay, before you start selling, I recommend that you build a little reputation for yourself. Buy an item or two (not expensive) just to get some feedback.  Having some positive feedback helps potential buyers feel confident that you are a not a troll or a robot and that you are capable of following through with a transaction. If you already do have some feedback as a buyer, then you are good to start selling!

Terms and conditions

You may also like to consider drafting some terms and conditions.  You may include information on payment, postage cost and your policy as to combined shipping and international bidders, keeping in mind that eBay policies and terms and conditions will overwrite these, if they are inconsistent. It's all well and good to make sweeping statements about when you expect payment and threatening to open an 'unpaid item case' immediately if payment is not received; but keep in mind that eBay allows buyers 4 days from auction end to submit payment before a seller can successfully start an unpaid item dispute.

Photographing your item

Always have clear and multiple photographs of your item from all angles.  I usually photograph the garment from the front and the back. I photograph the label and any details including flaws. Details may include the lapels on a jacket, the texture of the fabric, any pockets or zips and buttons. Flaws may include any stains, pulls and holes etc.  I try to take my photographs in natural light.

You want your photos to be the best possible representation of your item. The photos will help protect you against disputes and from receiving negative feedback on the basis that the item is not as described. It's unfortunate, but there are a minority out there who are fraudsters. A person such as this will receive your item in perfect condition, but complain regarding a non existent flaw to try to get a refund. Cover your bases.

I've noticed that some people only ever post stock photographs of the item that they are selling. Although it's nice to see the item how it was originally marketed, I like to see the actual item being sold when shopping on eBay- especially if the item has been used (eBay has recently implemented new policies about this). On this basis I do the same for my bidders when listing my items - clear photos of the ACTUAL item that I am selling. Also be aware that some companies actively protect their intellectual property rights and if caught using their photographs eBay will be notified by the rights owner and your listing will be taken down.

Preparing an item description

There are two schools of thought when it comes to item descriptions... "less is more" and "more is more".  I'm of the "more is more" school of thought.

First. Clean your item! Receiving a smelly and dirty used garment in the post is not pleasant. Do not sell dirty garments.

Be honest about the condition of your item in your description. Don't try to pretend that a flaw isn't there.  If you can see it, so will your buyer. I would rather deal with a buyer who is pleasantly surprised by the condition of my item than one who is disappointed. Look out for deodorant stains, seam slippage, pulls and general stains.

I almost always provide measurements for the item that I am selling. Although providing measurements does not always prevent potential bidders from asking stupid questions about fit, it does prevent 5 questions asking for item measurements.  I take measurements of my items lying flat (e.g. across shoulders, armpit to armpit, across waist, rise, across hips and length).  I always try to provide an inner sole measurement when selling shoes and if the inner sole is inaccessible, then I provide my foot measurement and a description of the fit on me.


Your item has sold. Now what?

1. Send your buyer an invoice - generated from your eBay sold items dashboard.
2. Wait for payment.
3. Once payment has been received, pack (always use tissue paper) and send your item! 

I am guilty of recycling tissue paper from Net-a-Porter... that's some expensive tissue paper right there!

I hope that this post was helpful for someone out there.

Please let me know if you would like me to write about any other aspects of selling on eBay. For example, have you set your buyer requirements strictly to reduce your number of non-paying bidders? Or how about tips for chasing payment and opening unpaid item cases.  If you never have opened an unpaid item case, you should start, not only will you get back your final value fees (if the buyer does not pay), but it ensures that the buyer requirements tool functions for all.

Happy selling!

June: a month of extreme culling and shopping

I toyed with the idea of commencing this post with my name followed by the declaration that I am a shopaholic... but I will not. I will save this opening sentence for another month.

In June I culled over 30 items from my wardrobe.  My eBay tally from these sales exceeded well over $1,500.

I'm not sure how much I spent on new additions to my wardrobe, but I can guarantee that it was less than the above mentioned amount because I have some eBay proceeds left over.

Pictured below are just some of my purchases.  One is being worn to death, one was culled tonight, one has proven to be less comfortable than I imagined and one has not yet been worn. Can you guess which is which? What I am trying to illustrate here is that 2 years on from commencing my ideal wardrobe journey, I still make mistakes when shopping.

Witchery knit (culled) , Mimco scarf (worn to death), Witchery leather front leggings (still with tags) and A.P.C. booties (disappointingly uncomfortable).

Apart from these purchases, I also bought a chunky Country Road cardigan.  This cardigan was culled tonight, as well as the Witchery knit, after I decided that chunky knits should only be worn by those who are not so chunky.

Also hanging in my wardrobe next to the unworn Witchery leggings, are my unworn Everlane purchases - two silk shirts, four t-shirts and a cashmere cardigan. I'm looking forward to wearing these, but lately, due to the long mentally exhausting hours I've been putting in at work, I grab to wear what's easy and familiar. All the things I wore last Winter... why do I even bother shopping for new stuff?

Images sourced from: www.witchery.com.au, www.mimco.com.au and www.shopbop.com.

DIY: Sprucing up a crusty bathroom on a budget!

For the past three months (gosh it took ages) we have been sprucing up one of our bathrooms.  We probably could have done it quicker had it not been for laziness, out of stock items and problematic plumbing - but we got there in the end. I will not go into chapter and verse about what we did and how we did it, but instead let the pictures do the talking.

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

I am not the biggest fan of classic heritage bathrooms (unless done well), but because we plan to do a complete renovation down the track, we did not want to invest too much effort and money into this project.  You can't tell from the pictures, but we were dealing with leaking and corroded taps, chipped enamel fixtures and a water damaged wood vanity.  We set our budget at not more than a few hundred dollars.

In the end we sanded back, re-stained and varnished the vanity as well as replaced all the tap ware and fittings. We came in well under budget thanks to some great bargain finds at Bunnings and Recollections and reviving what we had (basin, vanity and mirror). I also replaced the wooden door knobs on the wood vanity with some nice shiny stainless steel ones from IKEA to match with all the other chrome fixtures.

Here is what our bathroom looks like now:

I'm pretty happy with the results, but in hindsight, I wish I had gone a shade darker with the stain... there's always something!

May Purchases... Thank you eBay saved searches!

Do any of my readers utilise eBay saved searches? I do and this is the second month in a row where something I have been looking for for months has finally turned up. Maybe due to the wardrobe culling trend taking the world by storm? And maybe this is was my sinister plan all along... to write about how good it feels to cull and eBay and then snipe all your culled bargains on eBay.

Anyways, back on topic, May was another lean month in the spending department (possibly I was subconsciously preparing myself for the blowout that June would prove to be - more on that another day). I have spent just under $200 and added the following items to my wardrobe:

Weekend by Jane Lamerton striped short sleeve top, Witchery long sleeve leopard sleeve sweat and Country Road 'Sian' biker boots

The Country Road boots are the same style that I took to the US with me last year and then unceremoniously culled (maybe a little before their time) to make room in my luggage for all the shopping that I did.  I have missed them a lot, but now I have them back!  The morning of the auction ending I set two alarm clocks to remind myself that I had something to bid on and and then I patiently sat in front of my laptop and sniped them in the last seconds. I was red faced and my heart was pounding and my boyfriend thought I was a lunatic... but I got them in the end... I got them! So happy.

The Witchery Philip Lim knock-off leopard sleeve sweat, found on the sale rack, was acquired using mostly Witchery reward vouchers and it is for wearing around the home. I'm now on the hunt for some funky tracky-dacks (tracksuit/sweat pants) to go with it.

I found the Weekend by Jane Lamerton navy and white striped short sleeve top during one of my de-stressing lunchtime "walks". There was only an 8 and a 14 left on the rack (reduced to $25 from $59.95) and I opted for the 14 for a loose look. Given how happy I've been with my three quarter sleeve Jane Lamerton tops I bought last year, I think this was a good buy and it is unlike all my other striped tops.

Edited to add:

Don't know how eBay saved searches work?

You can save your searches on eBay.  You will be emailed daily (if you so elect) when items matching your search terms are listed.

After entering your search terms in the search box, simply click "Save Search" (circled in red below):

A pop-up window will come up where you can elect to be emailed daily when items meeting your search terms are listed:

Never miss an item you have been searching for!

Images sourced from: www.eBay.com.au, www.witchery.com.au, www.countryroad.com.au (archives) and www.myer.com.au

All Day Heels follow up...

I think it is only fair that I do a follow up post about my experiences with All Day Heels after recently receiving this comment on my last post from Sara Yared from All Day Heels:

"Hi,
Just for transparency, I’m Sara from All Day Heels. I hope you don’t mind my posting here but I was wondering if you’d had another chance to try out Insolia? You did mention you had bought more a while back so I was curious to see if they’d worked out for you? I'll try and elaborate a bit on them to give you some answers.

Firstly it sounds like you did try them in a pair of already very uncomfortable heels? Here's the thing. We say that you can typically wear your heels around 3 - 4 times longer in comfort when wearing them with Insolia. This is great for a pair of heels you can usually wear for 2 hours as you should then, by extrapolation, be able to wear them for 6 - even 8 - hours. Not so good, however, for a pair of shoes you can only wear for 5 minutes before they start to hurt. You'll only then get maybe 15 or 20 minutes wear. In other words there is only so much 'correction' they can do :)

Also, you are correct in saying that not all shoes are created equal. I have found varying degrees of success depending on the shoe I put them in. I’m not even sure myself if this is just tine degrees of placement or the shoes but I have definitely noticed they work better in some shoes compared to others.

As far as placement goes the trick is to have the tiny raised ‘bump’ at the front of your heel so it can rotate the bone and ‘lift’ you. You should feel some pressure, just not pain.
In regards to the backing strip, I couldn’t agree more! We’ve now improved this feature and our next batch – arriving any day now – has a vastly improved backing strip that you can peel off in a cinch.

Finally you are right about high arches. The shape of the Insolia contour is quite similar to the shape of the bottom of a foot with a higher arch. The "sameness" of the foot bottom to Insolia contour tend to negate some of the weight shift effect. Interestingly, some of the women who have higher arched feet do not need Insolia...they are already comfortable in HH shoes.

It is possible they just don't work with your feet and it's why we offer a money back guarantee. And we really do encourage people to take us up on this if they can’t get them to work.

You can see more about how they work here:
https://alldayheels.com.au/how-do-all-day-heels-work.html

Best regards and thanks again for your fair and honest review."

I should be honest in writing that when I first tried All Day Heels I was looking for a product to put in my most uncomfortable shoes to make them comfortable. I know, I don't ask for much at all - only a modern day miracle of science!

After years of running around the city to and from work and at work in the most glamorous high heels, one day (around the time I hit 30) my feet just let it be known that enough was enough.  This made me quite sad, especially after I piled on a few kilograms... as there is nothing like a pair of heels to add some lift and elongate the body to appear slimmer.

Since failing to see any results when using these All Day Heels inserts in my D&G pumps (which by the way I ended up selling on eBay), I decided to try these inserts in a pair of mid-heel Country Road points.  These points seemed like the perfect candidate, since after only wearing them once they caused some pain in my metatarsal bone below my big toe (don't be too impressed, I had to look up the name of this bone). It may have been the combination of points plus heels that did it, but I was devastated to be in pain after paying $100+ for a pair of shoes which appeared seemingly comfy in shop, but weren't.

I write this post to inform you that after trying the All Day Heels inserts in these Country Road points, the heels are still a part of my shoe collection. Although, not my most comfortable heels (my round toe Country Road pumps win that prize), I can actually wear them now without feeling like I have just broken my big toe after only taking a few steps.

Thus far I have not tried the inserts in any other shoes as I have not felt the need after culling almost all shoes which were uncomfortable and otherwise shopping for shoes more wisely.

It's good to know though that if I do buy a dud pair of heels I can try All Day Heels in them to improve their comfort somewhat.  I do believe that sometimes miracles do happen, but just not the turning heels into flats type of miracles...


**In case anyone is wondering... I have not received any payment in money or in kind for writing this post.  I only felt that I should finally write a follow up post since I said that I would many moons ago.