Every reseller is trying to learn how to work more efficiently and make more sales online. But as an e-commerce seller, it's easy to waste time and money on strategies that don’t work. If you’ve been listing items on marketplaces like Poshmark, eBay, Mercari and Depop, but aren’t seeing the sales you expected, you’re not alone.
So, why aren’t you making sales? Let’s dive into the common reseller pitfalls and how you can turn things around to boost profits 💰
Sell on multiple marketplaces – Expanding beyond a few platforms increases sales opportunities.
Optimize your listings for SEO – Use strong titles, detailed descriptions, and high-quality photos to improve search visibility.
Price competitively – Research market value and adjust pricing to stay competitive and attract buyers faster.
Use marketplace tools & free shipping – Promotions, discounts, and free shipping can significantly boost conversions.
Automate to save time – Automating listing, relisting, and sending offers helps scale your business efficiently.
Track key metrics – Monitoring sales trends and marketplace performance allows smarter sourcing and pricing decisions.
Vendoo simplifies reselling – Manage listings, crosspost, and track analytics across multiple marketplaces with Vendoo’s powerful tools.
Want to make more sales on Poshmark, eBay, Mercari, and others? These tips will help you to optimize your workflow and increase online sales.
Not every marketplace is right for every item. Your success depends on matching your inventory to the right audience. Remember that all marketplaces have a unique audience.
Some resellers mistakenly think that if they are on just the “big marketplaces” like eBay and Poshmark, they needn’t “waste time” on the smaller marketplaces. This is a myth. While some marketplaces have smaller audiences, they might be the perfect audience for your items.
🧠 Think about it: There are eBay shoppers who don’t have the Depop app and vice-versa. To maximize exposure, list to both, and a handful more!
With crosslisting services like Vendoo, you can list to 10+ marketplaces in under 5 minutes, so there’s no time wasted but the unlimited potential for sales!
eBay is the largest and most lucrative marketplace in the world with expansive selling categories!
Mercari offers a large audience, a wide range of selling categories, and a simple selling experience.
Poshmark is a fashion powerhouse and the largest fashion-focused marketplace.
Etsy is a global marketplace for handmade and vintage.
Depop is a trendy platform focused on Gen Z buyers looking for unique, vintage, and streetwear fashion and decor.
Grailed is a high-end marketplace dedicated to designer, streetwear, and menswear.
Vestiaire Collective specializes in luxury fashion and authenticated second-hand designer goods.
Whatnot is a live-selling platform where sellers can auction off products in real or list classic “still” listings to the marketplace.
Facebook Marketplace provides a large, local audience for selling everyday items quickly.
Vinted is a popular platform in the resale fashion space, allowing sellers to list clothing with no seller fees.
Shopify allows sellers to create their own e-commerce websites.
Want to learn more about the marketplaces, selling categories, fees, and more? Check out the article 11 Marketplaces Every Seller Should Consider.
The best part is that with Vendoo you can list to 10+ marketplaces with just a few clicks!
If you are not crosslisting, you’re missing out on sales. The more marketplaces you sell on, the broader your audience, and the more chances you have to make sales!
👀Did you know that Vendoo sellers who list on X+ marketplaces make x% more sales.
Overpricing is one of the biggest mistakes a seller can make. Unfortunately, when a buyer performs a search, if your item is the most expensive, it is likely to take the longest to sell.
When selling online, your pricing should be based on market value, not your cost of goods, your time, or your desired ROI (return on investment). An item is worth what a buyer will pay for it.
Market value is constantly changing: the market value of your items that you researched and listed six months ago may not be comparable to the market value today.
For best results, price competitively. While this might mean lower profit margins, the increased sales will make up for that.
💡Tip: To learn about market value, look at “comps” (comparable items) by performing a search for the item on the marketplace you are selling on. This will provide you an idea of how other sellers are pricing similar items- the same items that will show up in relevant searches next to your item. eBay Product Research is an excellent tool for price research.
If you’re not making many sales, it might be because buyers cannot find your items.
Most sales happen as a direct result of a search performed by a buyer. The key is to make sure your items show up in as many relevant searches as possible to maximize your visibility.
Optimizing your listings for searches is called SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is perhaps the most important part of reselling.
Use strong titles that include what the item is, the brand, the size, and descriptive words and features.
Utilize all available characters in your listing description. Include details such as brand, color, style, material, size, measurements, texture, pattern, usage, and any additional relevant attributes.
Complete all listing fields (even the optional ones) to enhance search visibility and provide buyers with as much information as possible.
Upload high-resolution, clear listing photos with a solid, lightly-colored background (white is best) to enhance searchability in AI-powered search engines.
Use trending keywords and hashtags that potential buyers are searching for.
Regularly refresh and update your listings to stay active in search rankings. This means totally deleting and posting your listings as brand new. Vendoo does this in bulk with the Delist & Relist feature.
SEO is an important but complex topic. To learn more about optimizing your listings to appear in more searches, check out A Reseller’s Guide to Keywords and SEO.
For buyers, shipping costs can make or break a sale.
Offering free shipping is a proven strategy for increasing sales. Many marketplaces provide data showing that sellers who offer free shipping are up to 90% more likely to make a sale.
In a study by Seller’s Commerce, 70% of sellers indicated that free shipping is an important factor.
Image Source: Seller’s Commerce
In Amazon Prime days, no one likes to pay for shipping. When you add on sales tax and buyer fees (if applicable), these additional charges can add quite a bit to the buyer’s price.
When buyers are shopping and searching for items, pricing filters are amongst the most popular filters used to narrow search results. It’s no surprise that many buyers search by “low to high” and “free shipping.”
If you can offer free shipping and maintain a decent ROI, do it! It works!
💡Tip: While you might not offer free shipping, you could choose to offer a nominal flat rate of $5 for shipping. While you will still spend a few dollars to cover the full shipping cost, this allows you to offer a competitive rate without making too much profit!
Customer service matters. Buyers want fast and friendly responses. Staying on top of inquiries and offers, and responding politely is crucial for any business owner.
Don’t forget salesmanship! Every time a buyer interacts with you, it is a chance to entice a sale. For example, if a buyer asks a question about an item, in addition to answering it quickly and politely, you might consider enticing the sale with something like “Just sent you an offer!” or “I will ship tomorrow if you purchase!” Comments like these can entice buyers and drive sales!
The marketplaces have built-in tools to help you make sales such as running a sale, promoting, discounting, sending offers, and more. Use these tools regularly and strategically!
👀 Did you know that with Vendoo you can automate offers on all marketplaces? Check out the article Vendoo Send Offer Feature: Send Offers to Likers Automatically or Manually in Bulk
Stale listings are harder to sell. New listings are promoted more heavily in both newsfeeds and search results (the two places that buyers find items to purchase).
The older your listings are, the harder it will be to sell them, which is why you want to delist and relist regularly. Delisting is the same as deleting your listing. Relisting means creating a brand new listing as if you sere listing your item for the very first time. This can be done manually, although it is quite tedious. With Vendoo, you can bulk delist and relist hundreds of items at once from all marketplaces.
👀Did you know that Vendoo sellers who delist and relist regularly make 40% more sales on average?
Many resellers underestimate the value of marketing, establishing a brand, and nurturing buyers to become return customers.
🧠 Think about it: If you have ever shopped on any retail website, they pretty much email you for the rest of your life with incentives and advertisements to come back and shop!
While I do not suggest spamming your buyers, there are things you can do to curate return customers including:
Include a business card or coupon in your orders to encourage buyers to shop with you.
Messaging former buyers when you have sales.
Thanking former buyers for their positive reviews by offering a future discount.
Establishing a presence on social media where you highlight your items.
Using promotional tools, advertisements, and ads to drive sales to your shop.
💡Tip: Make your store name something memorable, rather than YourName2329. Little things make a big difference for brand recognition!
No business thrives without powerful performance metrics, but some resellers just wing it by finding the best items they can at the thrift store and hoping they sell quickly and for a lot.
While this strategy can work, it’s not truly a strategy at all. A better approach is to keep up with market demand, to know what buyers are looking for, and to source accordingly.
Every marketplace publishes top-selling brands, styles, and categories, and having a sense of what is selling will help you to enhance your inventory.
The most powerful way to be a metric-driven business is to analyze your own metrics. Keep track of key metrics such as:
Top-selling brands
Top-selling categories
Top-selling styles
Top-performing marketplaces
Slow-moving inventory
Knowing what works for you is the most valuable. With Vendoo, you can track powerful business analytics across all marketplaces.
Prioritizing your highest-performing inventory is a simple and effective way to make more sales.
There are only 24 hours in the day, so automating tasks is crucial for resellers who want to scale sales. Activities such as listing, relisting, sending offers, responding to offers, refreshing, and sharing, can and should be automated. Automating daily activities saves time and makes money.
With automation tools, sellers can maintain a consistent presence on multiple marketplaces without spending hours on manual tasks. Automated listing and relisting ensure that products stay fresh in search results, increasing visibility. Bulk offer-sending tools help sellers close more deals faster. Sharing and refreshing listings automatically can enhance engagement and drive traffic to your store.
Vendoo’s automation features allow sellers to streamline their workflows, reduce repetitive work, and focus on sourcing great inventory and providing excellent customer service. By leveraging automation, you can spend less time managing listings and more time making sales.
What are you waiting for? Try Vendoo today!
Selling online is competitive, but with the right strategies, you can elevate your brand, increase visibility, and maximize revenue like never before. With Vendoo, you can streamline your reselling process, seamlessly crosspost to multiple marketplaces, and manage your inventory with ease—all while saving valuable time.
🚀 Don’t miss out—start your free trial with Vendoo today and take your reselling business to the next level!