April

Charlotte met April at Victoria’s Social Media Camp in June and they got to talking. It turned out that April is a huge fan of the site. A mother and grandmother, April has used UsedVictoria.com for years, selling everything from China Tea Pots to Cars and promoting her business, PearlBrite Victoria, that she shares with her husband. Recently, April and her friend, Krystal (also a UsedVictoria.com aficionado), sat down with us to share some of their strategies for getting the most out of buying and selling online.

Here are some of the tips they shared with us!

Finding the Best Deals

• – Be thorough – click through all of the postings of the item you are looking for, bookmark the links to the best deals. Then call up the sellers, do some negotiating, and pick the best one.
• – Make use of the Free Tab – “Under the Free Tab I often find goodies I hadn’t thought about like toys or plants for the garden out back where the kids play outside in the summer”, Krystal told us.

Selling Your Stuff

• – Price things appropriately – April reminds us that, “there’s no return policy” on items you sell. There is “no delivery and emotional value attached to the item for the buyer, so price it accordingly”!
• – Price things comparatively – find out the cost your item retails new, and see how similar items for sale used on the site are priced. Looking at ads from people who post regularly are the most reliable.
• – Sell items in bulk – “It’s a better bargain for people that way and it gets more stuff out of my house faster”, April told us. And for items that are part of a set, selling complete sets rather that individual items raises the value. Children’s clothes are also in very high demand and something easier to sell in bulk.
• – Be detailed in item descriptions – and be honest. This cuts down on a lot of haggling time!
• – Know how your item depreciates – April says, “things like cars everyone knows depreciate 50% as soon as you drive it off the lot, and lots of Used items are like this.” As a general rule, April usually marks down items a maximum of 25% of the original price unless it is an item that depreciates faster.

These are some great strategies for buying and selling online. Thank you so much to Krystal and April for sharing these tips!