Best way to sell children's clothes and paraphernalia? Is Auctivia worth it?

Lizbetty

Hi everyone!

I could cry. I'm sorting out our loft as our house is for sale and it's heeeaving with children's stuff I haven't gotten round to selling. I sent a lot (!) to the local children's hospice but we need to make some money from the remainder if we can.

Ebay makes me want to weep though I spent half a day listing 8 items and only 5 have sold. I think it's how I list them, tbh.

I had heard about Auctivia, I think I read you can post more pics on ebay if you use this and they show up better in the searches? I could be wrong. Would anyone recommend this as a quick way of dealing with it all?

I am really disheartened as I never have much luck with ebay and find it stressful! We sold a lovely antique walnut wardrobe for a fiver the other week! :eek: We really needed the space but I honestly thought it would fetch more than that.

If anyone can offer any advice I'd be grateful. I have a huge loft full and if I can find a way that works to get it shifted and make a few bob without the process making my hair fall out, I will be happy again!

TIA,

(a very distressed) Lucy

jwil

What do you think you are doing wrong? Have a look at completed items for the things you want to sell and see what others are selling for.

You can always look to see how ones that have sold have been described and which categories they have been listed in, to ensure you are in the right place and including the right sort of things.

You could always try Facebook selling pages in your area if you don't want to ebay your stuff.

Good luck!

Crowqueen

Auctivia are no longer free so I don't think they are worth using unless you are a business and can be guaranteed a continual income.

For a private seller I'd say just stick to good, clear descriptions, measurements if possible, good photographs of any flaws and taken in natural light. Use Photobucket or similar image hosts to upload clearer pictures to the listing; eBay do now allow 12 free pictures for clothing but having said that I find that eBay's standard pictures do not show detail that clearly.

Always start your items at the price you want for them. It could actually attract more bids as people will think a wardrobe listed for 99p is not in good condition and a bit of a gamble given the effort involved in travelling to collect it - but if the seller values it properly, then they may be prepared to pay a bit more. Also, Gumtree might be more appropriate to sell furniture through - more flexible, items are listed until sold, you are able to insist on a realistic price and there is no problem with the Paypal-on-collection scam that doesn't seem to affect furniture that much but is something to take into account when listing collection-only items on eBay.

When you buy on eBay, also think about your thought processes in an effort to improve your listings. What does a low start price say to you? How much are you prepared to go to for a particular item? What puts you off? What attracts you?

Lastly - 5 items selling out of 8 is actually quite a good sell-through rate. Not everything sells first time round. Sometimes you also have to be choosy in what you list - eBay buyers are picky and more and more people are finding they are disappointed with clothing bought there (I know I will only buy certain kinds of items from certain kinds of sellers after several disappointing purchases) - so be very critical.

But I think that is a very promising start . Good luck.

xpf

If time is an issue, try listing bundles of similar items e.g 5 x tshirts aged 'x' . I find it far quicker and have acheived some good prices for items. I find this is better on free listing days so I can start at a price more than 99p and still not pay a listing fee.

Also if listing individually, list similar items one after the other so you can choose the 'sell similar item' option and only have to change the photo and tweak the description each time.

HTH

hermum

I use, http://jpegbay.com/ to upload extra photos.
Never list items at a start price you're not happy to sell it for.
I'd sell in bundles for the clothing, make up a few mix & match outfits for each age group, put lots of pics showing how from 6 items you can get lots of different outfits. Make sure that if you list like that the bundles won't cost more than the max postage you can charge.
Also give postage options, 1st or 2nd class & maybe a courier if that will be cheaper. Always offer combined p&p discounts where you can.
Sell clothes in season, selling winter stuff now won't make as much money as it would at the start of winter.

porto_bello

hermum wrote: »

I use, http://jpegbay.com/ to upload extra photos.

Hi hermum. I use Auctiva as it provides up to 24 clickable full screen size photos for a listing - but I'd prefer something similar that was free!

Can the photos uploaded via jpegbay open out to full screen size, or are they fixed at postcard size on the listing?

hermum

porto_bello wrote: »

Hi hermum. I use Auctiva as it provides up to 24 clickable full screen size photos for a listing - but I'd prefer something similar that was free!

Can the photos uploaded via jpegbay open out to full screen size, or are they fixed at postcard size on the listing?

Yes they are also clickable to full screen. I don't know how many photos you can upload per listing, it probably tells you somewhere on it.

porto_bello

hermum wrote: »

Yes they are also clickable to full screen. I don't know how many photos you can upload per listing, it probably tells you somewhere on it.

:money::money::money:

Excellent news, thank you! ...I'll close my Auctiva account as soon as my current listings finish and my jpegbay account is up and running!

To answer Lucyeff then, don't bother with Auctiva, since you can get the same photo facilities for free from http://jpegbay.com/

Lizbetty

Thanks so much for the replies and so sorry for taking so long to get back. I still have baskets of stuff having had another clearout (kids shooting up so quickly and they've grown out of another lot! Argh!).

I'm overwhelmed.

Luckily I seem to be on a mission at the moment in other areas and I need to get rod of things, I'll certainly be trying all the tips you've mentioned. I do think bundles are my only option as there's so much!

Thanks again and I'll try and let you know how I get on!

(I'm dreading getting started tbh!!!)

Love Lucy xx

Fhler

Hi Lucy - is there anything like a Jack and Jill Market in your area? They seem to be very popular in Scotland, a hall is taken over and you book a table (which is provided plus clothes rail I think) and then sell, sell, sell!! I only know all this cos my cousin has gone along to buy stuff for her son and was impressed with the quality of stuff there and was looking into doing it herself. She has also used the netmums notice board when she was looking for bigger items.
You could try googling perhaps?