Can sellers send offers on Depop?

Are you tired of seeing on social media about how everyone is making money on Depop and you have barely sold ONE thing!

Well, get off their social media page and instead let’s focus on you.

Today, I will show how you can sell on Depop without any followers whatsoever!

I don’t have a social media following and I have done quite well on Depop.

SO let’s dive in right now on how you can sell on Depop to make good MONEY!

DEPOP NEGOTIATION: CAN YOU MAKE OFFERS?

Yes you can make offers and negotiate on Depop if the seller is open to offers.

The best way to find out if a seller is open to offers is to look at the top “header” portion of their shop.

A lot of shop owners will put it there if there are open to offers.

Next, you can check their listings to see if its mentioned if they are open to offers. If a Depop seller says something like “prices are firm” then that’s their message to you that they are not negotiating on pricing.

As a seller it is important that you let potential customers know if you are open to offers or not. Don’t leave them guessing! Some people will buy outright . On the other hand, some people want to know if you are willing to negotiate!

Another place you can see if the Depop shop is open to negotiation is a “shop policies” listing.

Some Depop shop owners will make a “listing” in their closet and spell out the rules of their shop, which is the shop owner letting you know the terms and conditions of their shop. Lastly, Depop has an area in your settings under “Shop Policies.” As you can see you can mark “Show Policies” and “Make me offers” button to let potential buyers know if you are open to offers.

HOW TO HANDLE DEPOP OFFERS?

Please note, that sometimes sellers maybe firm on some items and negotiable on other items.

Sometimes I am “firm” on pricing on some of my Depop items. Usually,my price firmness is due to the following:

I keep getting offers beneath what I know is the true value and I don’t feel like getting any more messages about it.  For example, I was selling this jacket and I kept getting offers beneath its value. Additionally, I was receiving multiple try-on requests. Real talk– I would get several messages in a day sometimes!

I am a busy person and Depop is my side hustle. In actuality, I just needed the messages to STOP. As such, I made it clear my price was firm. That way a person could decide if they would buy or not.

In my opinion, if the jacket had that much interest it would eventually sell. 

In reality, I couldn’t sell it for less than the listed price. This was due the investment of money and time I had spent into procurement.

Lastly, it is a cute coat and I decided I would keep it if it did not sell. However, like I guessed the jacket eventually sold on Depop at asking price.

PRO TIP: You can often make more money on your items if you are willing to wait. Sometimes you may not have that luxury if your item is not highly desirable. An easy way to gauge the worth is based on interest. If you get a lot of messages on the same item you know eventually someone will purchase it. It’s just a matter of time, it’s up to you if you want to take an offer today. Or wait 3 months to sell at asking price!

IS DEPOP GOOD FOR SELLING?

I do believe Depop is good for selling and you will check out my Depop vs. Poshmark article wherein I discuss how Depop was an after thought for me at first but eventually became a home for me to sell my vintage clothing.

However, I will say the following about Depop.

I do feel that since they changed their “hashtag” limit to “5 hashtags” that I feel that my sales have dropped.

They did this around June 2019, and although I still try to put the relevant keywords it just doesn’t seem the same.

I still sell on Depop, but I must admit, that selling on Depop has took a back seat to other things, so I don’t bump my closet as often either.

I’ve made good money on Depop so I am definitely not abandoning ship.

One week I plan to test out if I give the app 100% attention what will my outcome be.

TO BE CONTINUED….

Do you want to sell on Depop but don’t have the time?

The following is an sponsored link. That means if you click and purchase from this link I have and/or may receive a small commission. Please read my full disclosure policy for details.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO SELL ON DEPOP?

Depop takes 10% of your total transaction (see clarification below for more details) and then there is the PayPal fee of 2.9% +.30, so that is the cost to sell on Depop.  Please note that around 11/2019 Depop also starting to roll out there own payment processing Depop payments and the transaction fee is the same as PayPal of 2.9% +.30. Note that payments from Paypal go into my account immediately and payments from Depop take a few days so for me PayPal wins because I get my Depop money quicker!

Use this calculator to see how much money money you will make on Depop!

Please note, that at this time Depop is taking 10% of my item cost and not transation fee, however I am using the language of Depop when I explain this.

Depop is taking 10% of the transaction fee.

Please note when shipping international and if you are building shipping into the cost of the item, that will be reflected in your item price.

Depoop will take 10% of total international transaction and not just the item and include shipping.

This is very important to note, because this can eat into your profit margin.

SELLING ON DEPOP AS A BEGINNER

I have not been selling on the Depop for years and years like some people. I was just a beginner mid 2018, and there were a lot of things being said online that were supposed to help me with my shop and a lot of it wasn’t key to my success.

One of the things were to promote on social media. I mean DUH how generic of advice is that?

That is what everyone’s says and you know what “aint nobody got time for that!”

Really, I don’t! I have a very intense job and family life and I’ve detoxed from social media years ago for the most part. 

I decided I would give Depop a shot and see if I can “make it do what it do” without any social media pushes and it turns out I learned how to sell on Depop without social media.

Honestly, I am glad I gave Depop a shot because it turns out you can make money on Depop without social media!

THE BASICS OF SELLING ON DEPOP

Honestly, I tried to open an Instagram but I didn’t keep up. Plus the thought of having somewhere else to list in addition to Poshmark, Etsy, etc literally gave me hives.  ENOUGH with all that listing and promoting for me…I was done with all of that.

One of the key aspects of me generating sales in the beginning were simply cutting deals and bumping my closet daily.  As a new seller you have no trust and no reviews. Depop has some negative online articles and forums with concerns about scams. As such, it is important that you understand you maybe starting from a negative position on the buyers scale.

PRO TIP: If you have already sold on other platforms I would suggest you find a way to point to your reviews on those other platforms without violating any terms or conditions of Depop or course.

Honestly, people will look up your profile, its just human nature to snoop online nowadays.

So I used to have something like this on my page “I am new to Depop but experienced seller online” and at the time I would point them to my Instagram which had that I was a Poshmark seller and I already had reviews there.

Once you cut the deal and get the sale the most important thing you want to pursue is THE REVIEW!

Now we will discuss some of the other important things you should be doing as a beginner seller on Depop.

HOW DO YOU SELL SUCCESSFULLY ON DEPOP?

The key aspects to selling successfully on Depop are to

• Bump your items often
• Use Relevant Hashtags
• Be open to negotiations
• Be fast with shipping
• Prompt service
• Get Solid Reviews

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: BUMP YOUR ITEMS OFTEN

This means editing your item to go to the top of the feed. For my fellow Poshmarkers bumping is the same concept as “sharing.” Remember users will only scroll through so much listings, think scroll fatigue. 

Make sure to use good keywords, I discuss this is more detail of how to increase your Depop sales with no followers.

I suggest bumping your closet at least once a day, if this is going to be a full-fledged business I may try more than once if you have the time. However, esecpially when they are going to be more people on the app you might want to be updating your items to be at the top of the feed when the most people will be on the Depop app.

In general, the best time to bump your closet is around times around the following circumstances:

• Spending Holidays (Black Friday, Christmas, etc)
• Student Aid Drops
• Evenings
• Weekends
• Friday’s

You know one day I think I am going to test what will happen if I edit my closet like 6 times on a Friday–payday to see if it will make a difference. Honestly, I get soooo many requests to hold items till Friday for payday. I think this also is a reason that weekends are good for sales too. Perhaps, weekends people may have more time due to not working weekends also!

And because I can be goofy sometimes…and I sell a lot of vintage . I thought let’s interrupt this program to bring you a vintage 80’s dance song about getting paid on Friday!

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: BE OPEN TO NEGOTIATIONS

Leave a little negotiating room when you can. Some buyers will buy outright then others will try to negotiate you down.  Thee is a lot of advice out there about increasing your pricing by 10-15% or $5 and I can tell you that no method is 100%. 

Why?

Because some items are different, they have different prices you paid for them. They have different perceived value. So here is my thing once I figured out the value of the item. I decide on a price that I think won’t totally drive away a serious customer, but also will give room to negotiate. I don’t want to high jack my prices because of low ballers and scare off customers who want to purchase outright.

Often time “free shipping” can be a good negotiation point on Depop.

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: BE FAST WITH SHIPPING

So truth moment, I am no longer as fast as a shipper when I first started.

Especially lately, I have had on and off printer issues that has caused me to be a little later with shipping.

As a result, I have updated my shipping policies to reflect my new shipping time period.

However, in the beginning I was superfast with my shipping, like often time same day or no later than next day.

This is one of the most important parts of good customer service.

PRO TIP: Shipping is probably 90% of good customer service ratings.

Don’t believe me just look at my reviews the majority of them mention fast shipping.

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: PROMPT SERVICE

Try to respond to messages as quick as you can when selling on Depop.  Note, I am not saying respond them within seconds, but as soon as possible for you.  Sometimes people are in a buying decision at the moment they sent you the message  and answering their question may result in  a impulse buy then but if you respond to them several hours later they might have moved on to a different seller or changed their mind. 

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: DEPOP REVIEWS

Reviews are so very important. You have got to build trust. To increase your chances of getting a good review, give the seller a good review. This may prompt them to give you a good review. I will be totally honest I never do this, but I noticed that shops will a high review count typically do this. Also, in the beginning as a new seller I was very diligent about sending a customer a follow up message to let them know I had shipped the item and it was on its way. I would also tell the customer thank you. As a new seller it is imperative that you get good reviews, so all the little things like old fashioned good customer service and fast shipping is really the key!

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: HOW DO YOU PRICE ON DEPOP

Pricing on Depop is a very fluid process, in the beginning you will typically need to be more flexible in your pricing, then overtime you can narrow the range of your pricing based on the value of the item.

What the what are you saying with that???

Stay tuned I got you? We will break this pricing thing down!

Honestly, knowing how to price on Depop can be one of the most challenging and frustrating process.

Why?

Because you go and look at others closet and you see they are getting sales on similar items and they are charging more than you and you can not seem to get even one sell!

Here is the thing about pricing you have to determine your pricing strategy and kind of sort of stick to it but have a level of flexibility in my opinion.

Unless you have a built in following or established shop, then you have to decide how best you make money.

Here are pricing strategies on Depop that you can use.

HOW TO SELL ON DEPOP: PRICING STRATEGY

As a beginner I would keep low cost items things that barely cost you anything to get or free items for the sole purpose to get a sale and NOT TO MAKE PROFIT! However, I don’t want you to lose money EVER so that is why I am saying free stuff like maybe from your closet or someone else closet you know and real cheap like less than $2 at the thrift store.

The key is that you want your item to be desirable and matches the trends of Depop.

I discuss trends in more details here, but if you want to sell and actually make a profit you definitely have the goods that Depop customers want.

Your goal is to get a review, good solid reviews will increase the buyer trust for you and then you can ask for more money.

Think of it as your marketing costs.

DEPOP PRICING STRATEGY: LOW PRICE VS. HIGH VOLUME

There are two sellers that live near me that I will use to illustrate a point. All three of us sell similar items

Depop Seller A: Near my Home City

• Sells them the cheapest overall
• She is not a verified seller
• General price $10-$25

Depop Seller B: Near my Work City

• She sells some of her stuff cheap and then some of it for more, but she hardly sells for a higher price
• She is a verified seller
• General price range: $10-$40

They both get a lot of sales, even if you take out the account that has a verified seller so she will get potentially pushed into the Explore feed more often, the seller who cuts their prices will still sell more.

DARE TO COMPARE!

Ultimately,you are are always up against a low cost strategy that many shops on Depop are built on.  Let’s face it many people are trying to look for the best deal.  You have to decide will you make your money on volume, like a Walmart and Southwest strategy or will you make it on adequate profit margins on items sold.

However, this is the reason why you can’t really every compare yourself with another seller.

You have to ask yourself, what’s it worth to you?

• Do you want to sell something for $10 or $20
• If you sell it for $20, can you afford to wait an extra two weeks?
• Do you need to sell it now?
• Is Depop your primary source of income?
• Will you be able to maintain without this sale?
• Basically do you sell more at a lesser amount?
• Or do you sell less at a greater amount?

I decided to sell less items at the value or perceived value of the item and I will tell you why shortly!

DEPOP PRICING STRATEGY: SELLING LESS VOLUME AT VALUED PRICING

Value in clothing ranges largely on customers perceptions in their mind vs. supply and demand.

However, you will have to decide what is the true market rate of what you want to sell it for.

It is okay to look at other competitors to get an idea but remember as shown in the example above some people may want to sell more for less.

Plus you have to take in account how much you paid for it.

Additionally, selling by volume means that you will have an higher time investment procuring, listing, packaging, etc.

I choose to have a hybrid shop I have some lower priced items and some mid-high priced items.

Remember, Depop is my side hustle so it has to work for me in the time I give to it.  The benefit has to outweigh the cost and so that means I can’t run myself in the hole behind a sell. I just can’t, when the item sells it sells and if it doesn’t move, it’s just another item in storage, no biggie!

Remember it’s your shop, play around with the numbers and see how it goes.

HOW I PRICE MY ITEMS FOR DEPOP

This is what I take in account when pricing my items:

• Rarity of the Item
• Rarity of the Size of the Item
• Cost of Goods (How much I spent on the item)
• Next, I look at my time investment:
• How much time to take pictures (flat lay or model)
• How much time to get the item (i.e.gas and time to pick up at thrift store, etc)

I check online at a couple of places:

I review sold listings on Poshmark or eBay as I don’t know of a good way to check sold listings on Depop or Etsy.

One thing I will do for price comparisions on Depop or Etsy as if I know of a shop that sells similar items or if I do a search and see what others are selling. You can always try to look at their sales history/reviews to see what they might have sold in the past.

Finally, I will decide on a price and run with it.

You can always change it later!

DEPOP CAN YOU RETURN?

On Depop you can only return an item if the seller agrees to it.

The Deppop seller sets the terms and conditons of their shop.  The majority of Depop shops are final sale shops and/or may let an exchange occur but it is seldom that you will see returns on Depop like you do on eBay.

However, if there are any problems with your order outside of a buyer just changing their mind then the best way thing to do is to contact a seller.  For example, if you receive an item and it is not as described, etc, if you don’t get satisfaction from the seller then you can escalate the matter to Depop.

Before you buy, its is important to review a sellers shop policies if they have one so you can know ahead of time your options.

Ultimately, selling on Depop means that you will have to pay attention to trends to make sure you have the right merchandise that customers are really looking for.  Then once you take care of the basics of good selling you can see success.

Also, while you are working on your success I would stay away from negative posts, don’t even put that into your mind.  Focus on making your shop the best it can be, part of selling to make good money is believing that you can!

Can a seller send an offer?

Does Depop allow offers?

How do I make an offer to a buyer on Depop?