Let's face it, pre-owned clothes or thrifting have been trendy this year. Why not be apart of this and gets some extra cash out of it. You don't have to have a full out website or store to begin, only by just posting a picture on your social media or an app. The possibilities are endless, but before you get ahead of yourself, let me give you some tips on selling vintage clothing if you plan on doing so. The steps we took to get the business started.
First, plan out what your business will be about, its goal, and its niche. One of the firsts tips/steps would be to find your niche. What type of people you are trying to reach, basically the targeted audience. In our case, we had three targeted audiences; resellers, concerned shoppers/supporters, and vintage people. We have something for each audience, like for resellers, we have the 50 lbs box, the bundles are for people who want to support the business and the story of our why, and Hot Picks are for people who are into vintage. Also, try to connect your business with an existing problem. For example, my business is related to textile waste, and wanting to put an end to it. Once you have those things figured out, you can start setting up Shopify or any selling app that you are using and all the other social media that I will be talking about a little bit in this blog and a later blog. Now it all comes from reaching the audience, promoting, and having a successful
Now you might think, where do I get the clothes to sell, the packaging, promoting and getting people to buy. Well, you can start with your closet. Picking and choosing pieces that you might not wear anymore. Then to grow your inventory by buying from thrift stores, donation centers, or even wholesale companies. Just pick out the ones that catch your eye and are in good condition, like no tears, no missing buttons, r any permanent stains. This does take trial and error, so be patient; you will get the hang of it. It all depends on what you are trying to get out there and sell. The packaging should become part of the marketing plan. It is the first thing the customer will see when they receive the package, which will make them want to buy from you again. We use clear poly bags to ship our orders. Not many people do that, but it is all about the marketing and creative idea around it. We get the poly bags from globalpolysolutions.com. Like I said earlier, you can quickly post about what you are selling on Instagram, Facebook, Depop, etc. Some apps are just specific for selling and posting any item that you are selling. Just play around with them and pick whichever one works best for you. There Depop, Poshmark, and Shopify
Using Shopify gives you most of the tools you need and all the ones that can help you reach your niche and goal. That is the software we use to fulfill orders, get the customers we want, keep up with our inventory, and other things like that. Depop is something like that; it is for someone who is starting and wants to sell little by little. It has a more comfortable set up than Shopify but can work well into starting your
I would say marketing/promoting your business is one of the essential things. That is how you which the targeted audience and get people to view and shop from you. I recommend you set up social media accounts for your business. The three main important ones I would suggest make are Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok. Make a schedule for posting in each one. for Tik Tok, I would say once a day, since it is one of the trendiest/most popular ones as of right now, so everyone is on it. You can post packaging orders, some dancing ones, and maybe some day in a life video. Instagram and Facebook can be more spaced out, like four a week, but the whole goal is to post once a day later on.
We use loomly to set up and schedule our posts, which can be very helpful. It is all ready to post on the social media of choice, so you don't have to stress about it throughout the day. With Instagram, you want to engage with the customers/followers. Commenting on supporters and similar accounts. Following the hashtags, you use and comment on those top main posts. Follow accounts with similar ideas/viewpoints and interact so that they can follow back. Being an active account and business will help you gain followers and seem more legit to people. Facebook is more where you will do all the ad work, and marketing will take place. You can learn all about Facebook marketing and how it works. There are so many courses out there to learn from. They can vary from $150 - $400. The one that I recommend is The Verum Project Course. The goal is not just to hit facebook marketing but also to hit the most critical aspects of social media marketing like Google and Pinterest marketing.
When it comes to marketing, some websites and apps can help promote and put your business out there. Such as privy.com, Vendo, etc., where they all connect to Facebook marketing, Shopify, and other selling apps. We will further get into the marketing bits and pieces in a blog that will come later and be dedicated to just
Next is the presentation, which is what catches the buyer's attention. When taking a picture of the item, make sure it is nicely laid out with an excellent background. You don't even need to have the best camera to get the best shot; your phone can work just as well. When taking product pictures for Ciao Clothing, I steam the clothes if necessary, then lint rolls the front and back of the item to make sure no dust or anything shows up in the picture. Later we use canva.com to remove the background and make sure the image has an excellent background. After having the photos ready, you want to post them and sell them! When listing and pricing a product, I recommend researching what other sellers or stores are pricing that item and deciding what price you want to sell the item. In the listing, I like to put the clothes' condition just so the buyer knows what they are paying for. As long as with measurements, since most clothes are different brands and ideas,
It's effortless to start and get the basics down. It's a learning experience, so don't feel so overwhelmed about everything!