Which selling platform should you use? Should you use an app? A website? In person? Online? There are lots of different platforms out there that you can use, but today we are going to show you how to sell your items on OfferUp.
When you’ve decided that you want to make some money from selling your things, it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start.
We love OfferUp because it’s free to use and you can list pretty much anything on there!
If you want to get started selling but you don’t want to have people coming to your house, an app can be your best bet.
In this article we will look at how to sell on OfferUp for maximum success. So, how does OfferUp work?
Let’s dive in:
What Is OfferUp?
Boasting over 45 million users annually, OfferUp is an e-commerce platform where any user can easily sell any item permitted by the community guidelines, whilst also having the opportunity to purchase from others on the app.
By slashing the traditional e-commerce selling fees by up to 50%, OfferUp has steadily brought local commerce to the mainstream since its first development in April 2011.
How Does OfferUp Work?
We’ve all been there – when the spring cleaning buzz hits and you rush to clear out any cluttered space, but end up realizing amongst the multitude of mess, there’s a treasure trove of items.
Whilst these items may serve no purpose to you currently, with the increasing popularity of e-commerce services, you can now sell them to people where they do.
OfferUp is an app on which you can list the items that you want to sell and then ship them out to the buyers.
You may prefer to sell on an app like this because you don’t want to meet the buyers in person and are happy to ship things out.
Why Sell Your Items on OfferUp?
With over 55 million transactions made via OfferUp per year, it is unsurprising as to why so many other people flock to such a nationally loved platform.
The ease of selling items to those within your local community ensures that postage and shipping is rarely a necessity due to local item exchanges (particularly for those within a smaller community) providing more convenience and meaning that you can actively support those in your community.
Can I Ship with OfferUp?
However, if an item does sell to someone across the other side of the country, OfferUp caters for shipping.
Yes, it really does!
Unlike other competitor platforms, OfferUp provides the seller with a pre-paid OfferUp shipping label with the invoice of the buyer.
To start doing nationwide OfferUp shipping you need to do the following steps:
- Make sure that your email address is verified
- Start posting your item
- Switch on ‘sell and ship nationwide’. The service fee will be shown, which is 12.9% – the minimum fee is $1.99
- Select the package size on the Delivery Method page
Buying on OfferUp
Selling not your style? OfferUp has you covered!
The buying process is both simple and accessible, the modern interface means that anyone can easily use the OfferUp app and enjoy a user friendly experience.
In order to start your shopping spree, simply input your county or town, and you will be suggested with a selection of the top items selling within your local area.
Searching For What You Want
Still not finding what you’re looking for?
The search function means that any keywords relating to what you want to buy can be searched for to find your prospective buy.
Say if your search is needing further refinement, like hunting for a suitable car below 100,000km, due to the sub categories that appear alongside each search you can quickly and conveniently find the ideal vehicle for you.
Whatever your intended uses when downloading OfferUp, there will always be something suited to you.
We always say that it’s a good idea to try out different selling platforms to figure out which one you prefer.
How To Sell Your Items On OfferUp
Whether you have some old clothes that don’t fit anymore or a car in need of selling, OfferUp has your selling needs covered. Once you know how to sell on OfferUp you will have a great option of where to sell your items.
With the easy listing forms, you can simply input a description of any detail level to summarise why your potential customers should buy what you’re selling.
Using easy to search for keywords and appealing captions to your listings will help boost your traffic and drive customers your way.
Get Your Items In Front of More People
OfferUp also provides the opportunity for users to ‘bump’ their items, which essentially is where you pay a small fee so that the listing can reach more users through an increase in advertising and promotional pushes to maximize the analytics of your item.
The more you do this with your listings, the more likely it is that your items will rapidly sell.
There are lots of things that you can sell on OfferUp, such as:
- Furniture
- Clothes
- Toys
- Vehicles
- Electronics
There are some prohibited items that you can’t sell on OfferUp:
- Alcohol, drugs & tobacco
- Adult & mature content
- Animals
- Wildlife products
- Counterfeit and replica items
- Dangerous items
- Recalled items
- Food items
- Gift cards
- Illegal items or encouraging illegal activity
- Intangible items
- Medical & healthcare items
- Offensive materials
7 Easy Steps to help you Sell Your Items on OfferUp
To get started with selling, you will need to follow these steps:
- Open the OfferUp app and click on the icon that looks like a camera and says Post
- Click on the ‘Take Photo’ option or ‘Select Photos’
- Enter a title
- Add details. Entering the Condition and Category are necessary, but it’s worth filling in the other information as well
- Write a description
- Enter the price
- Turn on the OfferUp shipping
When you accept an offer from a buyer on OfferUp, it’s time to ship the item out to them.
These are the steps that you need to take:
- The shipping label will be created from both your address and the buyer’s address. You need to use the label from OfferUp or you will not get paid
- OfferUp will collect payment from the buyer when you accept their offer
- Print out the prepaid shipping label
- Package the item, attach the label and give to the shipping carrier within 3 days
Top Tips on How to Sell On OfferUp
Once you do it a few times, you will know how to sell on OfferUp. When it comes to selling your items on OfferUp, there are some things that you can do to boost your chances of a sale.
Don’t forget that there are lots of other people on the app selling, and you want to be the one that the buyer chooses to buy from!
For example, one thing that really helps is to respond quickly to any buyers that contact you. This is not only good for this potential sale, but your average response time and average response rate will be displayed on your profile.
Let’s take a look at our personal favorite tips to use on the OfferUp app:
Attractive Listings
When using the OfferUp app, writing short, snappy captions before leading into an informative description.
This triumphs over diving straight into a monologue or using a single word to describe the nature of your listing.
Make sure that your description covers everything that a potential buyer would want to know.
You want to avoid any returns (which could happen if you offer shipping), so the more information you are able to provide for the potential buyers, the better.
Take Photos Like a Pro
Nothing is more frustrating as a buyer as when you click on an item and the images have no relation to the listing or that they lack in clarity – ensure that your images are applicable and clear so that you can avoid driving away sellers.
If need be, editing will transform a dull image into one full of bright and bold colours to help appeal to more people.
We always recommend taking photos in natural light if possible, but you can always lighten the photo if needed (as long as you don’t change the color of the item).
If you are taking photos of clothes then it’s ideal to use a mannequin. If you don’t have a mannequin then put the clothes on a hanger and take a photo against a neutral background.
A neutral background is ideal because it’s not distracting from your item and helps it to stand out also.
OfferUp Scams
As a seller, you will likely encounter the occasional buyer who will try to scam you.
This can present itself in: them requesting meetups in secluded places, wanting to pay you with a money order or other type of payment and extends offers in which they drastically intend to overpay on the terms that you meet a specific person who is evidently not them, etc.
These are often the people looking to run OfferUp scams and this could position you in potentially unwarranted and uncomfortable situations.
Where possible, make sure you are paid through the app or cash in hand when you meetup to save yourself the hassle of shady escapades.
This is something really important to remember as if you are determined to sell your stuff then you may be more open to dismissing some red flags.
The most important thing is your safety, so please don’t risk your safety just for a bit of extra cash.
When meeting someone always meet in a public location. We usually meet up at a strip mall, retail store or the police station.
There are some areas that have a designated safety spot, but I have never seen one in person.
And if you are shipping, you won’t be meeting anyone so everything is through the app.
OfferUp says that when you are shipping, you are protected by policies and partnerships, fraud detection, automation, money laundering and data models. We haven’t personally done a lot of shipping through OfferUp to test these policies, but the statements are there.
Price it Right
Often as a seller there is a tendency to incorrectly price your items by either overestimating or underestimating the true value of your items.
In order to combat this, make you cross reference your items to similar ones available online to help gauge an appropriate pricing range for your item.
It can also help you to look at how much your item was when it was first sold. There are some items which hold their value well, some which you can sell for more than the original price, and some which you will need to sell for very cheap.
Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate
Some buyers will use the tactic of trying to make an extremely low offer, be wary and make sure to negotiate and stand your ground by sticking to a similar pricing range.
When you are setting your initial price, you can add on a bit extra to give yourself some room to be negotiated down.
The buyer will be happy because they are getting a reduction in the price, and you will be happy as you aren’t getting less than you wanted.
You don’t need to put in your description that you will accept offers, because you will be flooded with them and have little chance of selling for the listed price.
If people want to offer you less then they will do that anyway, and you can have your negotiation.
Is OfferUp Safe?
The OfferUp app is full of verified sellers with genuine profile pictures, reviews and there is an excess of profiles with genuine verification, profile pictures, reviews, and about sections to provide an insight as to who you’re buying from or selling to.
These additional levels of trust and humanity, make it easier to strike up a conversation on the chat function and barter over offers, as the assurance that the individual is genuine breaks down any worries.
Honestly?
OfferUp is one of the most trustworthy buying and selling platforms and provides millions each year with the opportunity to exchange an array of items for cash.
If you haven’t used it yet, why not start now?
Do you use OfferUp? What are your best tips for selling on OfferUp? Please share for anyone reading in the comments below!
Ready to start making some money THIS week from reselling? Join our $1 Flip Club Challenge to help you turn $1 into $100 in just 7 days!
Further Resources
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
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