Four Australian sellers share how they’ve found success selling pre-loved fashion on eBay

“I love the freedom of being your own boss and having your own schedule. I still get excited when I sell an item. It never gets boring.”

Where some see a closet of unworn clothes, others see opportunity. It may be the opportunity to create space in your wardrobe, or to give a second life to pieces you no longer wear. It may be the opportunity to build a capsule wardrobe of pieces you’ll rewear to death, or to implement a fully circular wardrobe that you are constantly selling and replacing. Or it may be the opportunity to grow a fully-fledged business. 

When it comes to selling the pieces in our closet, most of us aren’t aiming for the latter. But that doesn’t mean we can’t glean advice from those who do. By reselling their pre-loved wardrobes on eBay, these four Australians have all found success and introduced a new income stream to their day-to-day lives. Below, this group of resourceful secondhand sellers share their wisdom on how to make an income from the product they know best: their own wardrobes. 

List anything, even if you think no one will buy it

“It’s like the biggest garage sale you can imagine,” Charlotte Dallison, author of How to be Fabulous and an expert in the pre-loved fashion economy, says of the reselling platform. The analogy is apt, with eBay playing host to thousands of listings across hundreds of categories, within fashion and beyond. 

“All kinds of people are selling and buying on there,” Charlotte says. “You’re not in a monoculture or a mono market. It’s all generations and a spectrum of dealers, whether they’re people who are just selling a few things to get rid of them or proper vintage dealers. There’s everything.” 

When it comes to clearing out your wardrobe, all this means if you’ve got something to sell, it’s likely someone will want it. eBay reaches millions of people so there’s a good chance someone out there will share your sense of style, even if that sense of style was yours in 2012. 

Run your account like it’s a store

For these top sellers, what began as a way to make some extra cash quickly turned into a pursuit of passion. Chris, who runs the account Jeans_Day, compares it to running his own small business. “I love the freedom of being your own boss and having your own schedule. I still get excited when I sell an item. It never gets boring.” 

As with running any business, Chris points out the importance of being organised when it comes to managing your stock. “Having a solid inventory system is crucial to finding your items quickly and not losing any of them,” he says. Putting a system in place to help make your life, and your buyer’s lives, easier means that you’ll be able to pack up and send off items smoothly.

For Nina Aligns, whose account is Alignment Fashion, using eBay has been a way for her to make some extra cash while raising a young family. Nina suggests that responding to your buyers like they are customers shopping at a store is vital in establishing great customer service, resulting in great reviews that attract more buyers. “Be responsive and be honest,” she says. “Credibility is key.”

Keep things secure by staying within the rules

For Chris, he’s found that reselling works best when you keep all communication and selling within the platform. This way, eBay’s expert team is always in reach, ready to step in if a sale goes sour or a potential scammer appears. “eBay has had my back whenever I’ve had issues,” Chris says. “As long as you follow the rules and do the right thing, eBay will help you out.”

Think of your account like you’re a digital stallholder in a market space. In order to sell within the market, you should follow its rules and guidelines. It means someone will be there to help you should you need it. Millie Romanin, who’s been selling her wardrobe on eBay for close to 15 years, says that being able to rely on eBay’s security has been an important factor to her success in selling on the platform.

“There’s something about its credibility that I think still appeals to people,” Charlotte explains. “It’s reasonable and transparent, and I think that’s a result of it being such an established business.” 

Use the tools at your disposal

Moving inventory quickly is vital in keeping your business functioning and your wardrobe rotating. Chris points out that because of the millions of shoppers that eBay attracts, it makes it much easier to sell things quickly and keep the money flowing in. “It’s much more streamlined to sell on eBay compared to what I’ve experienced on other sites,” Chris says. 

There’s a range of tools these top sellers suggest using if you ever find yourself in a slump without shoppers. Nina, who sells at least two items a day, says it’s important not to underprice your items but also to be realistic about what a pre-loved garment is worth. eBay’s pricing indicator tool is a great way to work out how to reasonably price an item so that it moves quickly off your (digital) shelves.

How to know what sells

These top sellers aren’t fashion moguls, but they’re certainly entrepreneurs. While each is essentially running their own business on eBay, selling everything from G-Star Raw straight-legged jeans to Mimco sunglasses, what makes each so successful is they’ve figured out what their market wants. 

Brands like Bec and Bridge, Scanlan Theodore and Zimmermann are all big hits on the platform, with Australian designers considered hot property among eBay buyers. Millie also points out that high end activewear tends to sell fast. No matter what it is, whether it’s a Lululemon puffer jacket or a Hugo Boss button-up shirt, Millie says it’s important to be detailed in the listing and photos. “Often it’s used as a platform where people have a specific item in mind, so the more information you can include, the better.”

For Chris, the vintage items are the biggest sellers. Vintage designer pieces, like a Calvin Klein windbreaker, vintage Rag & Bone jeans or a retro French Connection bomber jacket, are among the gems found on his store. “Spend time studying brands and styles,” Chris suggests. Getting an idea of what people want will ultimately help improve your sales.   

The millions of buyers on eBay mean millions of opportunities for you to turn your trash into someone else’s treasure. The way these top eBay sellers see things, they don’t just have a wardrobe of old clothes that aren’t seeing the light of day, they have a way to make bank.

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

To start making money from your wardrobe, head to eBay.