eBay Australia’s Fashion Lead shares her top hacks for buying and selling pre-loved fashion on eBay

Sell, browse and buy better.

When it comes to successfully selling your wardrobe online, some things go without saying. Clear photos, appropriate pricing of your items and accurate product descriptions are all crucial to making sure your wardrobe sells. But beyond the obvious, are there ways we can ‘hack’ the system to get even more eyes on (and interest in) our listings? 

If I’m to look around my circles, the answer is yes. I have friends who take a circular approach to their wardrobe, adopting a ‘one in, one out’ mentality and always selling an item of clothing before they purchase their next one. At this point, they’re experienced sellers, and I’m always surprised at how easily they move their clothing onto a new home and reap the benefits. I could grill them all for their selling hacks, but I figured it would be better to go straight to the source for this story.

Anne-Marie Cheney is the Fashion Lead at eBay Australia, where she is dedicated to helping the community buy and sell pre-loved fashion on eBay. To ensure success in her role, she has access to data about what people are searching for on the platform, giving her insight into market demand and trends at scale. “The cool thing about a marketplace is you get to see what people are searching for and what they’re purchasing on quite a large scale,” she says. Over her years with eBay, she’s seen the approaches that bring sellers success and learned the pitfalls to avoid. 

Lean into the fashion of it all

I’d anticipated Anne-Marie to open with instructions on taking great photos or writing a good product description, so I’m a little surprised when she leads into her first tip. “We did some collaborations with designers at Australian Fashion Week and have come into contact with a number of stylists,” she begins. “eBay seems to be like a bit of a hidden secret for a fashion and style set where they can go to find really interesting things.” 

It’s one of the real drawcards of the resale market: you can find one-off pieces that are otherwise impossible to get. Anne-Marie explains there’s quite a high demand for luxury pre-loved handbags and accessories coming from Japan sellers right now, as buyers are looking for high quality items in pristine condition to build their collections on the marketplace. “The great thing about eBay is access to these global markets for amazing inventory that’s hard to find.”

“There’s a lot of demand for Australian fashion brands as well,” she adds. Apparently, a notable number of buyers are seeking out Australian fashion labels first when browsing the platform, opening up a nice window for sellers who have local labels in their wardrobes. Brands like Bec and Bridge, Scanlan Theodore and Zimmermann are all highly sought-after on the platform. “I guess that’s a testament to the quality and the level of design that’s coming out of Australia right now,” she says. 

We spend some time chatting about the beauty of eBay, sitting apart from trends and allowing buyers to find pieces that suit their personal style, whatever it might be. But Anne-Marie notes it’s also worth being mindful of current fashion trends, especially when selling. “Trends are quite cyclical, right? So, you might have loose-fitting, low-waisted jeans in your closet that might not fit you or suit your style anymore, but are trending right now. So definitely lean in there,” she says.

While we can’t always forecast what will be trending, she notes that sellers can bank on some universal, seasonal spikes. Coats typically see an increase in demand in winter, for example. Similarly, some evergreen items are always popular among buyers, like denim, which Anne-Marie notes will tend to hold strong resale value.

All of this comes with an important caveat. “You don’t have to be a trendsetter or work within or near fashion to have a good experience selling on eBay. Everybody has their own style, so there will be a market for it regardless,” she says.

Pay attention to the basics

When listing items on eBay, it’s worth thinking like a buyer. What information would you be likely to plug into the search bar? Anne-Marie notes that a really good title will include the brand, what the item is (like a jacket or boots) and the size. “Make it really easy for people to search for it,” she says. “That will mean your listing will rank higher in search.”

To improve your listing further, Anne-Marie recommends filling out as many item specifics as possible, including descriptions, brand, model details, size, colour, material and other specifications such as the style name. The more information you include, the more likely it is your listing will match another user’s search terms. 

Good photos are also essential since buyers can’t touch the product. “What would you like to see if [you were] searching for that item?” Anne-Marie asks. High-quality, detailed photos in a well-lit space are crucial and as a general rule, the more the merrier. “I would even say eight plus photos because you want to shoot that product from the front, the back and the sides.” 

Be mindful of the item when considering how to present it. If you want to get rid of an item and don’t mind a lower price, you don’t need to go to the extent of ironing or draping it. “But if it’s a premium product or a premium brand, present it as well as you possibly can,” Anne-Marie advises. “If it’s in really good condition, show that off.” 

On this point, it’s important to be honest about the condition of your item and include it in your photos and description. Any marks or imperfections should be called out and pictured, while items that have never been worn and still have tags should feature the acronym ‘BNWT’ (brand new with tags).

eBay is a trusted marketplace and this is in large part due to the honesty of those using the platform. But unlike other resale platforms, it offers protections to buyers and sellers. “If you buy something and it does not show up as it’s been described, eBay will look after you,” explains Anne-Marie. Similarly, if you sell an item to a buyer who doesn’t pay as promised, eBay has recourse to ensure you don’t lose out. 

Pricing your items can also be a critical factor in whether your items sell successfully or not. “If you want to get rid of an item quite quickly, then price it in a really competitive way,” Anne-Marie says. In addition, she suggests selecting ‘allow offers’ to negotiate a price directly with interested buyers and adding ‘buy it now’ as an option, to avoid waiting out an auction across eBay’s standard seven days. “You’ll get immediate payment from your buyer,” Anne-Marie says.

She recommends looking at what prices other similar items are selling for to get a sense of market demand, then using that information to guide you. eBay even has a pricing indicator tool that can help you understand what your item might be worth, based on similar items sold on the platform. “Different brands [can be] really hot at one point in time,” she says. “Sometimes items can go for even more than retail [price] because they were so limited in a collection or it’s a really trending brand.”

Top tricks for buying

Buying on eBay is a great way to experiment with a style or trend without spending a lot of money. “You can get high quality designer pieces at great prices so it’s a good way to shop smart and stay stylish,” says Anne-Marie, adding that one of the best ways to find and secure those special gems is to follow sellers on eBay. “I follow quite a number of sellers that I know stock good inventory, and then I get alerts when they put new things onto their selling page,” she says.

Another useful strategy is to save searches. “If you’re hunting down a Miu Miu shoe in a size 37, for example, add this to your saved searches so it will come up [whenever someone posts a] new listing” Anne-Marie advises. 

If you’ve found an item you like (for me, it’s a pair of Prada sunglasses), Anne-Marie recommends adding it to your watchlist, a tool that eBay users can use to monitor bids on an item. She says to monitor each item as the sale is closing and try bidding towards the end of an auction when other buyers might miss the window to bid. 

Making offers is another great way to try and get a good deal. However, Anne-Marie cautions, “If you do put an offer on an item, that’s you saying that you’re going to buy it for that price. So really make sure you’re okay with [your offer] before you hit send.”

Finally, Anne-Marie recommends expanding your search globally. “Often with the difference in seasons, you might be able to get a really great bargain if you’re purchasing from the US, UK or Japan, for example.”

eBay is not endorsed by or affiliated with any of the brands referenced in this article.

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