SAN ANTONIO — It isn't a major moneymaker, but selling items online through Poshmark made Alexa Serrano a bit of extra cash.
“I made $180, which I thought, 'It may not sound like much,' but it was a lot considering that it was going to be items in my household that I was just going to either throw out or donate,” she said. “I had this huge storage room full of stuff and I was never going to use it.”
Selling items in online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Poshmark or Craigslist can turn your unused items into some much-needed extra cash. Here is how to make your items stand out:
First, good pictures are key.
“Photography is crucial,” said Trae Bodge, a smart shopping expert. “You want to give your customer the clearest idea of what they are getting. You want to hang or place that item somewhere that has really good light. Make sure the photos are crisp. We have wonderful cameras on our phones. You don’t need additional equipment, but you do want to photograph items from all angles.”
Next, keep descriptions short.
“You don’t necessarily want to write multiple paragraphs about the item,” Bodge said. “You want to be very clear, very concise, brief.”
Also, provide good customer service, because many platforms have ratings for sellers.
“If you respond slowly, if you ship slowly, if you don’t pack your items well—all of that is going to work against you,” Bodge said. “These are all things that will make your customers happy and make you more successful.”
Finally, do not forget to put the right price on your items.
“I would recommend looking around for comparable items and seeing where those items are priced,” Bodge said. “Obviously, if you have something that’s in pristine condition with the tags on and you find a price for that item that doesn’t have tags, you could price it a little bit higher. Or if your items, conversely, have more wear and tear, you can price them a little bit lower. You want to play right in the same playing field as everyone else, unless you want to move your items very quickly and then you can price lower and you’ll sell your items a little bit faster that way.”
At the same time, beware of schemers who are looking to make money off you. Do not accept any type of alternative currency like peer-to-peer cash apps such as Venmo or CashApp, cryptocurrency, gift cards or wire transfers, because you may never get paid.
“What happens with those is there is no consumer recourse for those,” said Michael Skiba, known as Dr. Fraud.
Do not engage with anyone outside of the online marketplace. It is a red flag if a customer asks you to leave the platform.
“'Hey, can we just hop on email quickly and we can engage further?'” Skiba provided as an example. “That’s a clue.”
Schemers are not just looking to get your items for free. Leaving the platform means they could be looking to get more of your personal information so they can steal your identity.
“There should be no personal information that has to be exchanged at all,” Skiba said. “If they start pressing you for any information outside of that, that is a huge red flag because what they’re doing is they’re just fishing for additional personal information.”
Spend some time investigating buyers before you finalize the sale.
“What you can do is just see how they bought before,” Skiba said. “What’s their rating? I would be very hesitant on someone that has not purchased before because what studies show is 25% of new accounts were fraudulent.”
Make smart sales so you get rid of your extra items, but protect your money and identity.