a guide to reselling your unwanted items
nifty tips and tricks on getting your items sold online
I hate listing items online. I hate the process of taking pictures. I hate uploading them onto the website. I hate looking up the specifics of each product so I don’t get hundreds of people asking me the same question.
But the feeling of getting a sale is unlike no other. As someone who sells Notion templates on Gumroad and has a paid subscription option to this newsletter, getting an EBay or Marketplace item to actually sell is the most satisfying out of the three, at least for me. There’s something about letting go of an item that was useful once in my life, for it to find that same level of usefulness again in another home. How gratifying is that?
This newsletter will be broken down into:
Choosing a platform
Researching the item
Boosting sales if there’s no movement.
Watching out for scammers/fraud
Tips
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that each platform is best for a certain type of seller and category of items. I highly recommend you take the time to explore different platforms and see what works for you. This all depends on what you’re trying to sell, how you’re selling it, and how much you’re willing to give away as part of the seller fee from the website. While I personally cannot give advice on every single type of item category out there, I can speak on what I’ve sold so far and things I’ve noticed.
EBay
Ebay is the resell site I use the most. My dad actually introduced this to me after I graduated from undergrad, because he uses EBay himself for selling and buying items. I personally think EBay is the most versatile, as it’s not particularly geared towards a certain category. I’ve sold the widest variety of objects on here, from travel gear and clothing to makeup and electronics. This is what makes EBay the best platform for me—I prefer a minimal routine for almost everything in my life, and using too many resell platforms would drive me nuts. A big bonus is the unlimited relistings that it offers. I’ve never paid money to promote my listing, and I’ve been relatively okay with selling without needing additional marketing.
From the Beans Community:
I used eBay to resell my unopened or unused anime merch, pros: it was easy to list and sell and I sold 7 items, cons: gotta take the time to differentiate a scammer from an actual customer. If it sounds too good to be true it definitely is. Advice: The fastest thing to sell was when I bundled my merch I feel like people feel like they’re getting a bang for their buck. If you can combine stuff to sell based on a category you can try selling that way if they don’t individually sell.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is slowly becoming my favorite platform. It’s relatively easy to post listings (though there are more restrictions with what you can post compared to EBay), and it allows you sell items of all sizes, since there is a local pickup option that is easy to manage. Most importantly, you can organize your own transactions on this platform, which means no seller platform fees!
The downside is that you’ll receive a ton of messages from people who message you “Is this available?” — you’ll respond, and they’ll just never respond ever again. It’s something that I wish Facebook could better manage (e.g., flag people who just spam message). There are also a lot of lowballers. If you have the patience to wade through the trash, you’ll find your golden buyer who will actually pay a reasonable price for the item you’re selling.
Because I live in an apartment complex, I feel much safer giving buyers my apartment complex address and meeting them on the street. However, if I lived in a house, I would reconsider this approach and potentially meet in a more public space, since safety is of utmost concern as a woman.
Poshmark
I used Poshmark when I was in high school—it was an interesting application, because it felt like social media, except with reselling clothes. I had some luck with Poshmark, and was able to sell around 10 pieces altogether? The one thing I disliked about Poshmark was how messy it got, with people “reposting” each other’s listings, gaining followers, and category-themed “parties” Poshmark would host for sellers to list items that adhered to the criteria. It was just a lot, and the user interface drove me nuts.
I haven’t had much luck with Poshmark, but I’m sure that if you put in the work and effort to consistently post items to sell, you might get consistent sales!
Mercari
I think I sold one item on Mercari, a pair of red Brandy Melville shorts, in 2018. Besides that, no luck. This app was really appealing to me at first because the clothes were super cute, vintage-y, and handmade. However, with me trying to find my place in the Mercari world, I wasn’t getting any sales compared to the other sellers on the app. My items didn’t stand out compared to theirs. Therefore, I left.
I would highly recommend Mercari for people who sell trendy items, items that teenagers/hip young adults (laughing at my 27 year old ass typing this) would purchase.
Depop
I see Depop as the trendy site where all the latest fashion trends, old and new, reside. I’ve sold two items on Depop, both relatively “trendy” items. It’s not my ideal platform, but many people have prolific success with this and have built businesses reselling on here.
From the Beans’ Community:
In terms of selling either as a business or decluttering, the app does protect you by purchasing within the app by connecting PayPal (depop takes a few) It's predominantly used for people seeking clothes but I have luck with seeling books typically by offering free shipping on bundles (more than one item). Depop takes a fee.
i’ve been liking depop bc less fees for the seller and buyer! but mercari is still good for more high end items
Other Suggestions:
Sell your wedding dress on Still White
Before you list, search for your item on the platform you’re selling it on, and click on the “Sold Items” filter to see: all the prior sales related to this item, how much other sellers are listing it for, and how “popular” the item is resell-wise. For example, in the screenshot below, I searched for “Lululemon Wunder Trains”. The first two listings were sold on January 15, 2025. When I scrolled down, there were at least 10 others that also said sold on January 15. Brands like Lululemon, Aritzia, and Brandy Melville sell very well on these sites. You can also see how much people are selling these leggings for — match the item you are selling (e.g., is it new/pre-owned, colorway, style) and take the average of what’s been sold. It doesn’t have to be down to the dot, but at least this helps you gauge the price range of what to list your item for.
Listing the item
When taking a photo of the item, make sure it’s clearly visible, in good lighting, and with multiple angles. If there are any imperfections, make sure you take clear photos of them and include in the listing everything that’s wrong with the product. For clothes, I like to take a minimum of six photos:
Front of the garment
Back of the garment
Garment tag (neckline)
Garment composition and wash instructions (usually near the waist area)
Minute details (cuffs, pockets)
Screenshot of the actual product on the website
In the description, I like to include either the link of the product on its original website OR a copy and paste of the information if the selling platform doesn’t allow links. I also like to include a sentence with why I’m selling it, but this is optional.
Shipping
Some platforms do the dirty work for you when it comes to choosing how to ship the item out. If you use EBay, you’ll have to do this yourself. I highly recommend choosing the option for the buyer to pay for shipping, and over-estimating (but not by too much) the weight of the item. When you enter the weight and box dimensions of the product, shipping options pop up. My go-to is Priority USPS shipping.
In terms of whether to choose local pick-up or shipping, it depends on whether you’re able to pack up the item and send it off. For small items, I’ll choose both options. For larger ones, I always choose to local pickup because I can’t be bothered.
There are multiple ways you can go about this.
Decrease the listing price
Renew the listing (if the platform doesn’t automatically do it for you)
Post item on multiple platforms instead of just one
If you are selling multiple items of the same category, sell as a bundle for a discounted price
Offer discounts if someone were to buy more than one item from you
Getting scammed on resell sites is the worst experience you’ll have as a seller. Here are some things to keep in mind and to watch out for:
If you’re using a platform that isn’t Facebook Marketplace, keep your business strictly on that platform. I’ve had some people ask me for my number to take the conversation elsewhere, and I’ll politely decline. Afterwards, they usually stop responding.
Cash is usually more trustworthy than Venmo/Zelle (I actually prefer the latter since I get lazy depositing into my bank — oops). A tip I saw is to meet up at a bank so you can immediately deposit it after they hand over cash to you.
Via Reddit: “With cash transfer apps like Zelle or Venmo or Paypal when you use person to person (P2P) transactions they are ONLY for known and trusted contacts - friends/family. If you use it for P2P with a person that is a virtual stranger, you are on your own if something happens. They will not help you recover any money (they state they offer no protections if you use P2P transfers and to consider it exactly the same as handing someone cash). Some folks are fine with this if they are able to confirm meet up and do the exchange (and verify IN YOUR APP the money is there and do NOT trust any emails stating you have to pay a fee/upgrade). The scary thing is the buyer could still file a claim that they were scammed and try to get a refund, but most of the time, P2P transactions are not reversible (you'd need to do your own checking on that).”
Via Reddit: “If I were doing cash sales like this I would meet at a bank/CU. Stand in line with the buyer and at the teller window accept payment and deposit it, or if meeting at their bank, I would take their cash, hand it to the teller and buy a cashier check.”
If you don’t feel comfortable meeting up at your home, potential meet-up ideas: local police station, busy parking lot, in front of a store, or your bank.
If you sense any weirdness from the buyer (e.g., taking too long to chat about the item with you, asking to meet on their terms, pay on a platform you’re not familiar with), immediately block them.
A big NO to mobile deposits! It will take days, at times weeks, for the bank to verify its legitimacy.
If someone offers you more money than what’s listed, do not accept it! I’ve had this happen to me on EBay and thought it was too good to be true — it is. I’m not entirely sure how this scam works, but it screams scam in big fat letters.
If you are selling expensive items, make sure to insure the package (the selling platform will likely have an option to purchase this) when sold and require signature upon delivery.
Keep the boxes you receive from buying items for reselling them. Never, and I repeat, never buy new boxes to sell your items. There are so many boxes you can get for free, through your Buy Nothing page or grocery/wholesale stores.
Polymailers/bags are much lighter than boxes. They also store really well, so make sure you save them as they come in!
It doesn’t hurt to send a note in the package reminding them to leave a review (kindly). Reviews are your best friend, and will take your selling journey a very long way.
The resell market is for items that are worth buying. Don’t waste your time, effort, and energy selling junk on there in hopes of getting a quick buck. If you wouldn’t buy it yourself, give it away on a No Buy page instead.
It’s okay to be firm on your price. However, consider the amount of time the item has been sitting in storage. It may be worth decreasing the price 5%-10% if you’ve had in your closet for over a year.
The highest volume of sales for me comes around holiday season, specifically November/December. Ensure that all items you want to list are on your profile by then.
I'm in Australia and after a decade of selling on eBay, I've finally switched to Depop. Sales have been slow, but I wasn't getting much traction on eBay either and I found eBay kept increasing their fees. Living Depop so far (although had a few scams).
agree on Poshmark feeling messy... tempted to try eBay!