An advantage of everyone being forced to stay at home this year is the increase of people using second-hand platforms such as Depop. The list of little improvements to increase your chances of sales is fairly long so I decided to focus on the most important points first. Enjoy your Depop Guide Volume One.
Communication
This is arguably the most important tip. You have to respond to messages as quick as you can. If you ignore the message and take a while to reach back, the person may have already ordered the same top you’re selling from someone else. Likewise, make sure you clear and polite. People won’t want to give their money to someone who was rude to them. A little really does go a long way. Wishing someone a lovely week at the end of the conversation will spread the good energy and put you in a good light. Regarding the clearness, this just makes the conversation smoother. If you’re asked a question and don’t answer it directly, someone will either go elsewhere or you’re just prolonging the conversation as they will have to repeat themselves.
Photos
You need to take good quality photos of the items you’re selling. Don’t worry, you’re not expected to use a Canon, just make sure that your item is clean and that if it is a pair of clothing, that it is not creased. Make sure that the lighting is alright, ideally shoot the pictures in natural daylight. You want the entire frame to be clean and focus on the product you’re selling.
Packaging
There are two ways to handle this. If you’re a small business or sending a gift, it will be worth your while to put in effort when packing your orders. Receiving a parcel with hearts or flowers drawn on it will get you a smile on the other side of the country. When selling jewellery, I will make sure the package looks as presentable as possible but most of the time I am just rehoming clothes in which case I reuse whatever I can find. This means that if I have any packaging from parcels that I have received, I will cut out my address and use. This gives that piece of plastic which would have ended up in the bin one more purpose. Honestly, as long as you have tape, you’re good to go.
Thank You Notes
Referring back to spreading good energy, this is so important. Whether you are a small business selling resin or just selling the one-off pair of shoes, it is a very sweet gesture. These do not have to be super fancy and printed out, it can just be a handwritten note. It costs nothing but thirty seconds to make someone’s day in this case. Over summer I bought a vintage Monsoon sweater and received a packet of chocolates with it – brilliant.
Ask for A Review
This may seem quite daunting, but many people do this. Reviews are crucial no matter what you’re using your Depop for. If someone views your profile and can see you have sold five items but still have no reviews, they may feel the need to shop elsewhere. We are all like that. If two profiles were to sell the exact same product for the exact same price but one seller had one review that was two stars and the other had only five-star reviews, it’s almost natural that we would choose the latter option. There are a few ways to ask for a review delicately. You can do so in your thank you note, you can request one when showing someone their proof of postage or by asking them to message you when the order arrives and when they do, casually mention it.
With these little adjustments, your shop should start taking off.
K x