Meanwhile, the whole of the Netherlands is engaged in selling stuff online, both hobby and professional, so it is becoming increasingly difficult to be successful in this. Do you have second-hand stuff and do you want to get rid of it, while still getting the best price for it? With the online sales tips in this article, we will help you on your way.
We probably don’t need to tell you which platforms are available for selling stuff online. From Facebook Marketplace to Marktplaats.nl and Ebay.nl, the places where you can go are all known. But how do you make sure you stand out among all the other sellers? Keep the following tips in mind!
1. Plan the right price and the right time
It sounds like an open door, but when you take a look at Facebook Marketplace, Marketplace or eBay, you will see a lot of products for sale at a price that is only slightly lower (or sometimes even higher) than the new price. That seems very stupid, but it is simply because people do not always take into account the natural price reduction of a product. Something that you bought a year ago for 100 euros, you may want to sell for 50 euros, thinking that this is a nice price, but the chance that the new price has decreased a lot in that time is high. So always check what the product currently costs in the store.
Also take into account the type of product. For example, you can sell LEGO all year round, and for a price that is not even much lower than the new price – LEGO is extremely price-stable. Second-hand LEGO is sometimes even more expensive than new; that is also important to check, because perhaps your price can go up enormously.
Timing is also important. We understand that you want to get rid of your Christmas stuff in January, but the chance that you can sell it for a good price is much greater in the fourth quarter of the year. Things like this can affect how much people respond to what you sell online, but also how much they are willing to pay for it.
2. Be found
If your price is correct, you must also ensure that you are found. On a site like Marktplaats you can do that by paying and having your ad placed at the top, but then you are immediately 1-0 behind in terms of income. Moreover, this is not even possible on Facebook Marketplace. That is why it is important to think carefully about what people are looking for when they are looking for your product.
What would you look for yourself if you were looking for, for example, a specific camera? Would you search on Canon Camera as good as new? Or on Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR with Portrait lens, to name just one example? The more information you can put in your title the better. Humans are also lazy by nature: the less we have to search ourselves, the earlier we click.
3. Take good photos
You see that laziness when you look at a site like Marktplaats. Many people still use photos they find on the internet to sell a product. That is not convenient, because if you are looking for, for example, a smartphone, you are not interested in how the device looked when it rolled off the assembly line at the factory, but in the current state of the device. You literally want to be able to see what you are buying.
This also applies to other buyers. So if you offer something online, make sure you don’t take photos from the manufacturer, but take clear photos yourself. If there is damage to the product you are selling, please also show it in the photo and mention it in the description. That sounds like a bad idea, but it makes you much more reliable as a seller because you have nothing to hide.
Moreover, it is of no use if you hide traces of use and the potential buyer at the door will haggle because there is damage that you have not reported. Be complete, transparent, write your own texts and take your own photos.
4. Come up with a good story
This tip is not for everyone, but it is something that works very well. If you’re a little creative, use that creativity to write some nice text with your ad (no matter what platform it is, it works everywhere). Basically you should of course state the information that really matters, but a nice animated text about something that you have experienced with the product, or a delicious over the top description of what the possible buyer can do with the product, can significantly promote sales.
Not so much because people are more likely to buy it, but because a nice creative text is read and shared earlier, which will make your ad stand out faster and reach more people. And reaching more people is more like finding a buyer.
5. Bundle your products
Our final selling tip, before we continue with how to avoid getting scammed, is bundling products. We see wonderful examples of this when we look at people trying to sell game consoles. Say you’re selling a PlayStation 4, you’re dealing with dozens of people trying to do the same thing, and have little choice but to lower the price. Unless you also try to sell the fifty games you own.
Bundling these products ensures that you have an offer that differs from that of other sellers, so that you can suddenly ask a lot more. Then be vigilant for people who come to ask if they should not buy a game separately, because then you will soon lose all the good titles in your collection. You can also buy a batch of games for a bottom price, to create your own irresistible bundle with your game console.
You can of course do this with all kinds of products (smartphones with accessories, cars with special gadgets and so on). In short: anything with which you distinguish yourself from another, help with the sale.
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