How to sell on…Depop

There’s now an amazing amount of choice for selling your products online. Whether you opt for oldies-but-still-goodies such as Ebay, platforms such as Etsy, or listing yourself as an Amazon shop, it’s never been easier to sell on your terms.

One platform gaining a dedicated audience is Depop. It’s an app-only platform that merges the functionality, community feel and aesthetic of Instagram with the easy-to-buy format of Ebay. You can browse items, ‘like’ them, follow individual users, comment and request to swap. Buying is as easy as tapping on the picture. It’s rapidly gaining popularity with bloggers in particular, who have existing dedicated social followings, and even with celebrities – Dita Von Teese famously uses it to sell authentic items that can’t be found anywhere else directly to her fans. So how do you sell on Depop?

One user, fashion blogger Amy Marks - @wolfwhistle on Depop – is aiming to sell 100 items in 2016. Here are her thoughts on the platform.

“I really love Depop, but it's hard to get going at first because there's no general feed or categories like there is on eBay,” Amy explains. “The hashtags help because you can tag your items so if people are clicking on that for more, you can get people to see it that way - but it's mostly dependent on the people that follow you.

“Search appears in date order from newest to oldest, but I've noticed the more active I am on Depop, the more followers I get that day, so I wonder if there is some kind of algorithm bumping active users up. However, building a following is totally doable - in 2016 I've gone from 0 to 1600 followers. Basically I love it, but there are flaws that can make it tricky to get to grips with.”

Here are our tips for selling on Depop.

Take good photos

The layout will feel familiar to anyone who’s a fan of Instagram – and like Instagram, the visuals are key. To stand out you’ll need to make your photos as appealing as possible. A quick browse through popular Depop sellers reveals a few tricks; give your pics a photoshoot feel with a pretty wall hanger against a white wall, or laid out on floorboards (no patterned carpets!) with a plant in the corner. Ensure the light is good and try to avoid flash and excessive use of filters – you need to make sure the item is represented accurately, so filters could change the colour. Choose the best photo as the listing image, as this is the one that will come up on the feed and get people excited.

Think about your descriptions

Like on Twitter, you can use hashtags to help your products find a buyer. Keep your descriptions short and sweet, and take inspiration from the top sellers if you’re struggling to find the right tone. Bear the audience in mind – compared to Ebay users are much more likely to be young and social media savvy. While you shouldn’t stress about sounding hip, see if you can inject a little bit of personality into things. The odd emoji doesn’t hurt.

Pricing

Free postage is a draw, so bear this in mind when selling. Prices tend to be low – look at similar items to see the sort of range. Most high street items tend to be less than £15, unless they are rare or limited edition items. And to save money on postage, bulk-buy your packaging ore reuse it.

Payment

You can link your Paypal account to the app – Depop takes 10% of the final price, but you’re protected. Some people choose to use Paypal directly, the way you do with family and friends, but this way you won’t be protected and you risk falling prey to scams. Like Ebay, linking your Paypal account means you can activate instant selling, which is a draw for buyers. You can also swap items on Depop, but again this comes down to trust between the two users.

Participate

Depop is more than a selling app – it’s a community too. As Amy noted earlier, being active on the site may help your store get more visibility, so browse, follow users, and comment on pieces you like. It’ll give you a better understanding of your competition and also get more people clicking through to your profile – and hopefully buying your items. And it goes without saying that you should reply promptly to queries and comments.

Share on social

Integrate it with your other social and ecommerce activities, and cross-post when you have new items up for grabs. If you already have a solid social following, or a blog with a decent readership, you can point them in the right direction of your Depop store.