Depop as a side hustle

Recently I've built myself somewhat of a shop on Depop. Being a nerdy motherf***er it probably comes as no surprise when I say that I sell nerdy s***. Collectables, video games, plushies, movies, anime, manga, books, figures, box sets, collectable cards, etc. Several things are new, but a lot of it is second hand. And from this new endeavour of mine I have discovered that what I do is called "flipping" as I tend to hop from charity shop to charity shop looking for quality items, bring them back home, clean them, and then re-sell them. This has been an amazing, easy, non-complicated side hustle that allows me a second source of income which is, as I have found, an important trait of successful and rich people; that is, to always have more than one source of income. And thus, having been "Flipping" for almost 3 months, allow me to share what I have learnt.

1. The majority of sales occur mostly doing payday week. Therefore, if you endeavour to make this your business or number one source of income make sure to plan ahead and be safe and tactical with how you use your profits.

2. Don't worry too much about what the packaging looks like as long as it keeps the items protected. E.g. if you're reusing packing boxes. People don't seem to really care about the aesthetic of the packaging as long as the item itself is of good quality and it arrives there safely and in good time.

3. If you're having a bad day, for whatever reason, and you either forget to ship your items, or really cannot make it to the post office, DON'T WORRY YOURSELF, here's what you do: message the buyers and briefly explain your reason for not having been able to ship the items off today (if it's personal then express that the reasons are of a personal matter, rather than sharing intimate information), and then explain that you will ship it off the next day, paying extra so that it will arrive there earlier, at no extra price to your customer. This will allow the customer to feel at ease that you haven't swindled them nor forgotten them, and they'll be grateful that you've shown care to make sure that their item(s) arrive in quality time.

4. It is always important to clean/wash your items when you've purchased them from a charity shop, this not only makes your items look better and more desirable (like new, if you will), but also it's just good "flipping" etiquette (you wouldn't want to receive an unclean item in the post nor from your local shop).

5. Always be polite when communicating with your customers, or potential customers, and remember to talk in a formal tone. If attempting to create somewhat of a business on Depop remember to refer to yourself as "we" rather than "I" as this makes you seem far more professional, and as though you're part of a team as many businesses tend to be.

6. Don't be skanky when it comes to shipping prices. DO NOT be one of those f***ers that makes the item suffer f***ing cheap and then overprice the shipping by a crazy amount, that just makes you look like an asshole. Be fair. I personally tend to make all shipping prices rather cheap as, being that I sell collectables, they can be rather pricey, thus I don't want to scare off a customer by making them pay full price shipping (yes, this means that I tend to dip into my own funds sometimes for shipping, but I still make a large profit at the end of the day).

7. When it comes to photographing your items, lighting is KEY! Make sure that the pictures you take are well lit, and then, if you need to, add even more lighting in editing. Also, if the item is second hand make sure to take pictures of all scratches, scuffs, rips, etc. Be honest.

8. On the topic of honesty, in the item's description make sure to detail all necessary information, this means sizes, brands, item quality, specify any wear and tear on the product, and express whether the item is new or previously used.

9. One thing that is super important is to make sure that you check in on the competition. When I first started selling I used to check Amazon prices, official branding prices, retail prices, etc. But now I just check eBay prices of the same items that I'm selling and always make sure that my items are just slightly cheaper than the competitors. By doing this, it's more likely that customers will purchase from me rather than the competitors, everyone loves a good bargain!

10. And finally, don't believe the bullshit that you are fed at retail stores, the customer ISN'T always right, if they try to barter with you and you highly disagree on the price or are completely settled on that products current price, you can just say no! Obviously, don't be a dick about it, and also feel free to bundle up products and barter yourself. Or, if the price they suggest isn't completely ridiculous, feel free to say yes, but, if you really don't want to sell the item for less, don't be afraid to say no. Same goes for rude customers, don't sell to a rude person just for profit, sell to nice people, if someone is being a jerk, ignore them and move on.

In case you are interested and into nerdy ass s*** then feel free to head over to my store, All Things Nerdy. I'll leave the link here for you: https://www.depop.com/allthingsnerdy/

If you have found this article useful or informative feel free to like it, comment below or share it. Either way, happy selling and remember to be nice.