Don't Leave Money on the Table: Tips for Pricing Your Online Items

At easyStorage we often suggest a good declutter, and mention the possibility of selling items on. It was only fair, therefore, that we offer a little advice for doing just that!

We recently talked about taking pictures for your online listing and in this blog we look at how to decide on price. It can be hard to decide what something is worth. Your item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, which is sometimes hard to assess.  

The best place to start is to get an estimate is to search in two places as a minimum for items similar to yours and see what they are priced at:

·         on a site you’ve chosen to list on;

·         a general search through a search engine.

From what you discover, work out what makes your item attractive. Whilst age, use and condition matter, there may be other things that affect price, like size or accessories.

If your item has a brand/ or model number, this may help you find your item. However, you should set your pricing according to the resale (second hand) market, not the price when new.

Then adjust price according to:

·         new/unworn or unused items achieve higher prices, especially if the labels or packaging are still in tact;

·         the price of damaged or worn items needs to reflect the level of wear in the price.

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However, if the item is antique, genuinely retro, or incredibly rare, you may judge that the item deserves a premium price instead.

If you trace it, it can sometimes help to add the RRP (Recommended Retail Price) in your description, mainly if an item is unused or ‘as new’.

Once you have this information as an indication, you can take one of two views:

·         If you price just under the competition, your item may look like better value and be more likely to sell;

·         If your item is in top notch condition, putting a higher price on it may give the impression of better quality.

Which view you take will depend on the condition of your item, the platform you are selling on, and who your likely buyer is. For example, high end designer items hold their price on designer sites. A good quality three piece suite, with accompanying pictures, will  sell better to someone furnishing their home than someone looking for a cheap, second hand sofa to stop their dog sitting on their own furniture.

You’ll have to take a good guess at who your item appeals to.

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Open to offers?

If the platform allows, indicate that you are open to offers. This usually works well if you need or want to sell quickly – which may well be the case if you’re decluttering. Some platforms offer the facility to mark prices as open to offers, so take a close look when listing.

If you are not open to offers, try adding something like ‘No offers please’ or ‘Item is priced to sell – not open to offers’ to your description.

If you are, ‘offers considered’, ‘OBO’ (‘or best offer’) or ‘ONO’ (‘or near offer’) may also encourage offers. If using this option, bear this in mind when setting the price. Give yourself some ‘wiggle room’. 

Bear in mind that when people collect in person, they may still negotiate you down, or try to, when they see the item.  Decide in advance what you will - and won’t - accept.

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Shipping/postage costs

On each platform, different systems apply. Some provide shipping labels. On some you send your goods to the company and they send items to customers.

Make sure that you understand how shipping will work and that you make provision in the price unless the item is for collection by the buyer.

(According to Depop, items with free shipping are twice as likely to sell.)

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Auction sites

With auction sites, you don’t get to set the price, although you can set a reserve price.

One key to a successful auction is to get your first bid and encourage bidders to continue bidding. Other buyers are more likely to bid on something that already has bidders. Sometimes sellers set a ridiculously low opening bid to jumpstart bidding, and bid on their own item. There are two risks with this strategy.

1.      Experienced bidders will watch an item until a few minutes before closing and only bid at the last minute. If bids haven’t already started to rise, this will only happen at the last minute – and the auction may ‘time out’ and close down before a good price has been obtained for the seller.

2.       If you ‘win’ your own item, you will still need to pay the platform its commission.

Make sure you follow the site's rules for bidding - some forbid bidding on your own item.

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Reserve pricing

A reserve (or reservation) price is the minimum amount a seller will accept for an item. Bidders who offer a lower price cannot ‘win’ the auction.

A reserve shouldn’t be confused with an opening bid, which is the suggested starting bid price for an auction (which will happen in auction houses, but does not often happen online).

If you put a reserve on an item, buyers can’t see the reserve value on many sites. This can be off putting to some buyers as they can put in a bid, find it rejected, and still not know how much they need to bid to obtain the item. Consequently, items with no reserve usually attract more interest.

If your objective is simply to get rid of an item but would like something for it, putting no reserve on it may prove a good option, and you may well be surprised by what the item achieves.  

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Here to help

If you decide to keep items rather than sell, easyStorage is here to help.

No obligation quotes are available online 24/7 according to where you live (https://book.easystorage.com/), or call 0333 241 3137 to speak to one of our storage professionals.