Resell Marketing 101

6 tactics to resell for maximum profits

We know you’re a pro at finding the best lots and scoping out great deals, and when it comes to reselling, we know you are top-notch at sorting through your items, assigning appropriate pricing and deciding on your sales channel. But there is always room to grow, right? Our marketing team has gathered up some food for thought and is sharing unique marketing and creative tips on how you can get the highest returns possible.

PUT A BOW ON IT: Envelopes, boxes and padding can get expensive (side note – did you know we have lots of shipping supplies on Liquidation.com?), but shipping an item with flimsy packaging – and it being delivered damaged – is a fast train to negative seller feedback. Always make sure your items are super secure before leaving your hands; that’s rule number one. If you want to take that extra step, we suggest investing in some packaging bling. We don’t necessarily mean rhinestones and glitter (although we support that too), but including something special, and relative to the item at hand, will set you apart and create a feel-good experience for your buyer.

This then translates to positive feedback and repeat customers. This could be anything from a hand-written thank you note on attractive stationary to the use of colored or printed tissue paper and filler in your packaging, or printing out your shipping label with a unique font and eye-catching colors. Adopting a strategy that implements attractive and unique packaging will offer your buyers a positive experience from the moment they receive their shipment, even before they get to the product! Be creative.

INCLUDE YOUR COMPANY NAME AND/OR SELLER NAME IN YOUR PRODUCT LISTINGS: This one mostly goes for reselling on EBay. Of course, the goal is to build up a buyer base who seeks you out personally, who doesn’t just search for a product, but will look for items sold by you specifically because they know they will get a good deal, reliable packaging, fast shipping, etc., but it can be cumbersome to search for a particular seller on EBay, and it involves completing a not-so-user-friendly advanced search. Wouldn’t it be great if shoppers could get to you by simply typing your name in the big prominent search bar on the top of the home page? Well, include your seller name in your product listings and they will.

“Perfect iPad 3. Retina display, 9.7 in., Slate Grey | TechBunny”
“NWB Microsoft Surface tablet, 11 in display, black | TechBunny"

Ideally your seller name should not only be concise and relevant for this purpose, but also as a general tip. So, if a shopper wanted to easily find you specifically, including your seller name at the end of every listing will assuredly achieve this.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS: When you can’t physically touch a product or see it with our own eyes, it is important to paint a detailed picture within your listing. This is especially true when listing used or salvage items. People don’t just want to know that something is “preowned in excellent condition,” they want to know that an item “shows some visible signs of wear such as slight pilling and thinning of fabric along the hem and under the arms. Zippers and buttons are all intact and stitching is still very tight. Color remains vibrant and there are no stains, pulls or tears.”

It is easy enough to get in the habit of quickly knocking out a batch of items and following the trusty template you’ve undoubtedly created but spending an extra few minutes writing a detailed and unique description for every listing will offer shoppers more assurance while reducing the rate of return requests and unhappy customers. This will be reflected in feedback scores, resale rates and profits.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK AND REVIEWS: Feedback can be a make-or-break, but it is not super easy to build up a feedback base. What we suggest is that you simply ask for it. It can’t hurt, right? There are even third-party services, such as Feedback Genius, Feedback Five and Feedbackz, that automatically send out emails with clickable links to take shoppers right where they can leave a review or feedback. You can also use this opportunity to ask shoppers to contact you first if there is anything unsatisfactory about their order, so you have to chance to correct any discrepancies before shoppers resolve to leave negative comments.

DIVERSIFY YOUR PRODUCTS FROM YOUR COMPETITION: Unless you have a rare baseball card, antique stereo or one-of-a-kind runway piece, chances are you are going to have fair competition when selling your inventory. To set yourself apart and diversify your product, consider creating unique bundles. Seen more often on Amazon, sellers can offer a bundle of 3 of the same product, or a pairing of complimentary products. For instance, if you are selling an iPhone 6 case, you can bundle your product with an iPhone charger. Selling a Keurig? Bundle with k-cups.

While bundling appeals to buyers to get more for their money, it also means additional profits for you. How? By bundling merchandise you’ll be shipping fewer packages and potentially saving on shipping if taking advantage of USPS offers like the “if it fits – it ships” where you can ship a bundle for one low cost rather than shipping them separately.

GET CREATIVE WITH KEYWORDS: There are tricks to mastering the keywords fields, and it extends further than simply putting in the evident. First tip: try misspellings of your product. Going back to selling our trusty Keurig, you could enter Keurig as a keyword, transposing the “e” and the “u.” So when a shopper mistakenly searches for the misspelling of your item, your listing will still appear in the results, but with much less competition. Also try putting similar items as keywords. Since a Nespresso machine is similar to a Keurig, that would be one example of using a competitive item as a keyword. This can be particularly useful if your item is priced less than the competing item, as shoppers will usually go for the lesser priced product if it is similar enough to their original search. Also use iterations of the same word, i.e. coffeemaker and coffee maker. Lastly, if an item is not selling, switch up the keywords and the product title. Don’t just passively wait for the right buyer to come along, proactively edit your listing as needed.