Looking to sell your unwanted belongings? It’s a great idea to sell them online, and these 7 tips will help you do that quickly and effectively.

Are you hoping to sell unwanted items from your garage, cheap self storage unit or home? If you are, we have seven great tips to help you get it done quickly and effectively, clearing your home of clutter and putting some handy cash in your bank.

Here are 7 top tips for selling your unwanted belongings online:

1. Choose Only Quality Items For Top Dollar Price

Whether you’re pulling furniture from your cheap self storage unit, or thinning out your wardrobe, if you want to charge top prices, one thing you should ensure is that the items you are selling are of a high quality. They should work (if they have a function), be clean, and if they are branded, they should be the genuine article.

The way to think about it is – would you be happy giving this as a gift, or receiving it as a gift in the condition it is in? If the answer is no, you may want to reconsider your selling options. It isn’t that you won’t be able to sell the item, just that you need to lower your prices and perhaps consider sites that cater for various standards of item.

Sites like Vinted can be particularly good for items that are lower in quality because you have various ways to describe the items, such as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ rather than just using the term ‘used’ as with EBay. It is a lot easier to be clear about the item condition, which means you are less likely to get complaints and you can also sell items you may have previously only given to charity shops or even thrown away.

As a general rule, all sites protect the buyer more than the seller. Ensuring what you are sending is top quality, OR clearly listed faults and all, helps to protect you from complaints.

2. Take Great Pictures

Blurry, dark, unclear pictures won’t sell your item well. If you want to get top dollar for it you should try taking pictures following these guidelines:

• Always present the item looking its best – free from any dust, straightened out etc
• Take pictures of the item in natural light, with the light facing the item (not behind it where it will cause a silhouette)
• Ensure all sides of the item, including any damage is clearly featured in the images
• Check there isn’t anything extra in the picture that you don’t want to appear on the internet such as a messy room

You can find some more tips on taking photographs of items you want to sell in this handy video.

3.Take The Time To Write A Detailed Description

The more information (good and bad) that you can give about your item the better. This will help to sell it and also protects you against buyers suggesting you haven’t included vital information about the product. Some buyers may even appreciate additional information, such as whether or not the item is ‘true to size’, and how tall you are and where the item sits on your body. With other types of items like toiletries or toys, you may wish to describe how much use the item has had and whether it is boxed. Another great description tip is to mention whether or not the item is still available on the original website. This helps add value to the item as it shows it is the latest ‘line’ from the brand.

4. Reply To Enquiries Quickly

If somebody sends you a question, try to reply as quickly as you can. They could be put off by a late reply, or simply buy another product elsewhere. Speedy replies help to seal the deal and encourage purchases. You should also consider sending updates even when the system updates automatically? Some sites now allow you to message freely, and even with courier updates, buyers appreciate information telling them when you intend to send the item off, or if you have been delayed. It’s a little extra from you that takes no time at all, but that enhances your chance of a great review.

5. Research What You Are Selling

Check the ‘sold’ listings to check similar items to the one you have sold, so you offer it at a competitive price. Ideally you will sell it a little higher than the price you want to accept IF the site accepts offers. Otherwise, don’t list the price any lower than the amount you want to accept if it is a bidding site. Within a few days you should get an indication of how interested people are in your item by the amount of views or enquiries you have had.

6. Check The Spelling Of Your Listing Title

If you misspell your listing title, people searching for the item with the correct spelling won’t find your listing. It’s a common and easy error that can cause you to wonder why there’s no interest in your product. The reason is, nobody searching for it can see it because it’s listed under a misspelling. That being said… sometimes it can be worth purposely including a misspelling of an item if people commonly misspell the search term or brand name? A really good example of this is with the surf brand ‘O’Neill’. The terms ‘O’Neill’, O’Neills’ and O’Neil’ are all used interchangeably to search for items from that brand. Including those search terms may actually be important to ensure you reach all buyer types.

7. Make Sure The Item Ends At A Great Time For Buying

Try to ensure your listing doesn’t end at a time that people won’t be looking to buy. Weekdays during regular working hours, the early hours of the morning – any time less people will be browsing. Instead, list any auctions at the weekend late afternoon to early evening to take advantage of buyers who are bored, browsing and looking to grab a bargain.

Are You Ready To Make A Ton Of Cash Selling Online?

sing the tips above you can enjoy plenty of success selling your belongings online. With a little bit of detail and effort setting up your listing you can sell quickly and for the best price, decluttering your home, clearing out your affordable self storage and boosting your bank balance in the process.