Hey folks!!
Frugalicious Diva here!! So, I just wanted to tell you my adventures with selling items online. It is a great way to make some extra cash while decluttering your life. It’s nice to donate items, especially when you know someone who can use them. However, I also understand wanting some return on the many trinkets you’ve purchased over the year. I hate that I've bought something and never used it, even though I had the best intentions at the time. It’s now too late to return it and it’s just sitting there, wherever “there” is, collecting dust.
What can you no longer use? Or no longer want? Or no longer love? Sell it. You can use ebay if you are seasoned and don’t mind the fees. I’ve never been able to master ebay and it upset me to not sell my item and I was still responsible for the fee. Now, I only utilize the free avenues and stay away from fee-based selling as much as possible. Here’s what I’ve found worked for me:
Facebook is not just for socializing, it can bring in some spare cash!! If you have enough items, I suppose you can set up a like page and sell to the people you invited to “like” your page. Otherwise, just simply post your sellable items on your personal page. When I was selling bulk items, I set up a photo album, posted pictures of what was for sale and the prices. Then I would announce on my wall I was selling it and people would inbox me to make a purchase. It worked out great and it’s easy for people to spread the word.
Now, I have posted some sales items on Twitter too, but it really didn’t yield many results. Twitter moves so quickly, your post can get lost in the endless tweets of a minute. It’s not my avenue of choice, but if you are selling the right products, this can give you favorable results. It’s definitely good promotion and that can leads to future sales of both products and services.
These last two free ways of selling have given me the greatest results and I continue to use them today. They are easy and because I use the same advertisement format, much of the work is just copying and pasting.
Yahoo Groups – Yes they still exist and are going strong. I belong to several buy/sell/trade Yahoo Groups. I decided to streamline mine to my own geographical area, but you can choose whatever groups work best for you. Go to the home page and search for garage sale and buyer/seller groups. You’ll want to join the buy AND sell groups, so you’ll have people there willing to purchase what you’re offering. Learn the following abbreviations:
FS: For Sale
WTB: Want to Buy
ISO: In Search Of (Please specify if you want to buy it or get it for free)
SOLD: This is a courtesy, letting everyone know the item you posted has been sold.
OFFER: This means the item you are offering is FREE
INFO: This means you are just sharing info, perhaps about a sale, etc.
These are helpful, courteous tips that keep the environment nice and simple. Most people will abide by the rules and will keep in touch with you. Also, these groups tend to have high traffic email, so one tip is set your mail preference to Digest. This means you get one email per day with the listing of all the mail that was sent to the group that day. If you are interested in something, you simply email the person requesting the item you wish to purchase. People will do the same for you. If they want your item, you will receive an email from them. Always be professional and prompt with your replies, so they don’t lose interest.
Similarly, I use one last way of selling online. This is my favorite sales tool and it has helped me make the most money online. It’s none other than…Oh, sorry, we’re out of time for today!!
Please tune into The Frugal Files next week, where we will explore the last Sales Tactic to Sell More. Until then…stay frugalicous!!
Frugalicious Diva
No comments:
Post a Comment