If you want to make money by simply clearing out your wardrobe or setting up a little side business, why not give Depop a go. Its free, all on your phone and easy to use. What more can you want?
I’ve been selling on Depop for a while now and it’s been going quite well. In fact, I received a message on Depop the other day from a user who was very interested in starting their own small buying and selling business. He noticed what I’ve been doing and asked if I had any tips that I could offer to someone thinking about starting out. I was initially surprised that someone had come to me for advice, but I was very happy to see someone else interested in creating something for themselves.
In my reply, I included a couple of tips I’ve learnt so far and I thought I’d share them as I know there are many people thinking about starting to sell, or are already selling, on Depop and would benefit from these tips.
So here goes, my 7 tips for selling on Depop.
1. Reviews are key
The first thing people see when viewing your profile is, of course, what products you are selling and what kind of reviews you’re getting. These reviews are split into buyer reviews and purchase reviews so it is very important that you receive excellent reviews on both, otherwise, people will instantly be turned off from doing any type of business with you.
Ways to receive good reviews:
- Be honest - if you don't point out details about what your selling (even if you think it’s not going to help you sell the item), be it a stain or tear, buyers won't be happy. They’ll be disappointed with your service and will leave a bad review, warning other potential buyers. A small detail can mean the difference between having a 2-star rating and a 5-star rating.
- Don't over promise and under deliver - If you tell a buyer their package will arrive in 3 days and it takes 5 days, the buyer won't be happy and will make sure others know about it.
- Details - similar to being honest about what your selling, include all the details about what you’re selling so buyers know what to expect. People won’t buy from you unless they know what they’re buying and get what they expect. If someone buys a t-shirt from you with a label that says large, but it fits smaller when worn and you haven’t pointed that out, you can guarantee it won’t make for a happy customer.
2. Offer competitive prices
Looking at the prices charged by competitors and other sellers is important on Depop as many people are looking for a bargain.
But who are your competitors? Simply put, a competitor is anyone selling the same item as you or offering similar products.
Finding your competitors on Depop is easy, just type words into Depop’s search bar that you think buyers would use to find your product and see what other sellers are pricing their items at. Take all the prices into account to come up with what you will sell at, but be competitive!
3. Update items regularly (how to)
Depop has over 10 million registered users so getting and staying noticed can be difficult! But I’ve found a way you can keep your items at the top of search results so buyers looking for the things you’re selling will find yours first. Just follow these steps:
- Go to your item and click on it.
- Press the ‘edit’ button.
- Click the arrow in the top right corner straight away.
It literally is that easy! You don’t need to add any text to your item's description, although doing so can be useful as it could mean you appear in more searches.
4. Reply to messages
Although I’ve only been selling on Depop for a little while, I have received a lot of messages from people. Honestly, they’ve mostly been from people asking for me to lower the price of an item, but I really don't mind. I view the Depop messages area as a key way of building your brand and how you respond to people is an important part of your reputation.
If you only reply to people who want more info about an item and ignore everyone asking for a lower price, potential buyers will pick up on this and see you as someone who isn’t very customer focussed. If you want to create a long lasting business and brand you need to spend time building a good reputation.
As well as replying to everyone, you should also think about how you reply, what tone of voice and what words you use.
5. Start an Instagram account
Depop is basically eBay mixed with Instagram so the users on Depop are more than likely going to be interested in your Instagram account. So why not give buyers a reason to follow you on Instagram too. It will all help to build your brand and your business.
Here are a few ways you can pair Instagram with your Depop:
- Share customer photos
- Preview new items
- Showcase items
- Run polls
- Show behind the scenes
6. Offer bundles
Shoppers love a good discount and offering a group of items together at a discounted price can motivate many people to buy and help you sell more products.
Making a bundle is as simple as looking at what products customers seem to buy together or what you think suits and selling them together at a discounted price.
7. Do what you can to get on the explore page
The explore page on Depop showcases the best items chosen by the Depop team.
Most people will check the explore page because they know this is where the best items are located. Appearing on the explore page can boost your likes, followers and sales.
I can’t stress enough how much being on the explore page has helped me to sell large quantities of just one item.
If you subscribe to Depop emails you will get regular updates from Depop explaining how to get your items to feature on the explore page but the main tips Depop give you are:
- Have great photos, taken in natural light.
- Have Instant Pay turned on.
- Photos must be in a square format with no borders, watermarks or filters.
- No spam tagging.
- No PayPal friends and family or any other ‘out of app’ payment methods.
There you have it, my top tips to selling on Depop, follow these and you’ll be well on your way to building your Depop page. Good luck!
And remember, if you want to stay up to date with everything Culture XII just follow me on Instagram @CultureXII.