So you’ve got some used Lululemon clothes and you’d like to get some cash for them. In my last post How To Enter the Lululemon Resale Market, I talked about the different places to sell your item. I’m going to go over the pros and cons of each type of place. To my mind there are three types of places to sell your item. One is eBay, another is a straight buy/ sell page and the final is an auction-style page.
Let’s begin with eBay. eBay is by far the place where you’ll find the most potential buyers. I have yet to list a Lululemon item for $1 starting bid and not have it sell for a modestly fair price. I love the wide range of buyers my product is exposed to and rarely, if ever, do I have problems on eBay. Personally, however, this is the place where I sell my most heavily used items. I list the product AND its faults, start it at a dollar and it always sells, even if it has a hole or a stain. Basically, eBay is where I get rid of things I’ve used over and over again, because I don’t want them to be associated with me and my name. More on that later. Pros: most exposure Cons: PayPal and eBay take a fairly large chunk in fees.
Next, the basic buy & sell format pages. These are great because you can write down your items in a list with your asking price like so:
MANY ITEMS FOR SALE! Sizes 4-8
Tops size 4:
No Limits Tank in Polar Cream/ Deep Indigo, EUC – $45
NLT in PP/ Black, EUC – $55
Cool Racerback – Heathered Menthol – $40
Tops Size 6:
*************************************** (Insert the remainder of your ad)
All prices do not include shipping from (insert place where you live)
PayPal as Gift or Buyer Pays Fees.
Those last two lines will save you a fortune. Sometimes I post my prices with shipping included, sometimes I don’t include shipping but say “Buyer pays exact shipping.” Not paying PayPal fees saves you 4 percent and not paying eBay fees saves 10. It can be a lot of money once you add it up.
Direct Selling Pages Pros: Get your asking price, no cost to list or final value fee, buyer must pay PayPal fees if paid as goods. Direct Selling Pages Cons: It can take longer to sell your item. A lot of the time you’ll get low-ball offers. I suggest politely telling them that your price is the price for which you’re willing to part with a piece of your collection.
Finally, we have the bidding pages. These are the most fun. Although, even if you run them properly it can take several tries to sell your item if it is not highly desired, if your asking price is too high or if it’s a bear market.
Pros: If you price it right, your item should sell in a day. If not, it will probably still sell. Condition, however, is very important. I don’t sell anything on the bidding pages unless it’s in excellent condition. More on that later. Cons: It takes way more effort to sell on a bidding page because you must post your ad, and “bump” your post (bumping is commenting on your post so that it goes back to the top of the page), as frequently as is allowed on that page and baby-sit your post just in case someone asks a question of for more pictures, etc.
Overall, this is how I do things: I sell all my very used, or much older Lululemon pieces on eBay. I am sure to mention all the flaws, but it’s basically a guarantee that whatever I no longer want stops taking up valuable real-estate in my closet. If I have many pieces to sell, I post them on one of the straight buy/ sell pages. It’s the fastest way to get the most exposure and I usually sell two or three items the first day. If I only have one or two pieces to sell and they’re in immaculate condition, I’ll run an auction for a few days and take my time selling it in order to get the highest price possible. If it doesn’t sell at one price, maybe it will sell for $5 less a few days later. You never know who’s looking, you might get lucky that day.
One exception to my rule is when I know I have a very highly sought after item. I’ll put it on eBay because even considering the fees, I know I’ll get the highest price there.