Last month, I decided to start tackling a very large project in order to elevate my reselling business. Any guesses? As you can probably read in the title, I am in the process of updating over 2000 listings in my reselling business. Yes, I know that is a large number and yes, I am aware that I sound overly ambitious; But as a seasoned reseller, I also know that in order to grow my business and make more sales, these changes are absolutely necessary. Today, I thought that it would be helpful to share with you some insight into why I am making these changes, what changes I am planning to make, and how these updates will affect my business moving forward.
Why I Decided to Update My Listings
Something that I have learned in my 10+ years of reselling is that the reselling world is constantly changing and evolving. Items that once held a great resale value are now only worth a small fraction of that value; Contrarily, items that had little to no resale value years ago are now selling for great profits. Within this business, there is a constant ebb and flow of items that are in demand at any given time. Same is true when it comes to listings on various reselling platforms. Just because a certain type of listing may have worked years ago does not mean that it will be as efficient now.
In order to stay up-to-date with the current state of the reselling market, I know that it is time for me to update some of my older listings. My older listings are not “bad” by any means but they could be much better than they currently are. Many of these listings have my older style of photos (Check out my updated photo set-up HERE) and are lacking descriptor words and trending keywords in their descriptions. Additionally, comps have changed for many of these items in the past few months which has resulted in the re-evaluation of my pricing. In order to stay competitive in the current market, I need to update my listings so that they are as competitive as possible which should hopefully result in more sales in the future.
My Current Plan to Update Listings
My current plan to update listings consists of 5 major steps that apply to each individual listing:
1) Re-Photograph any photos (clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.) that utilize my previous flat-lay style (Note: I still utilize flat-lays for some shoes and accessories but they are more elevated and appealing to buyers).
2) Update all Titles to include any and all descriptor words/ keywords that are highly searchable and applicable to the listing
3) Update all Descriptions to include any and all descriptor words/ keywords that are highly searchable and applicable to the listing
4) Re-Run Comps on each listing to determine if current pricing aligns with current comps
5) Re-List any items over 60 days old after the listing has been updated
My Process for Updating 2000+ Listings
The good news is that over half of these listings have already been updated- Yay! (Note: This number is a combination of items from both mine and Eric’s reselling accounts). I will admit that this has been a very tedious process but I do believe that it will be beneficial for my business moving forward. Let me share with you exactly what I have been doing:
My first step is to sort through one bin or bag at a time and deduce which items have been updated and which ones have not. I am pretty good at remembering older versus newer items so this process usually doesn’t take too long. To make this as easy as possible, I will make two piles: one pile for items with updated listings and one pile for items with older listings. If I am unable to remember if a listing has been updated or not, I will quickly search for the item on Poshmark and look at the pictures; I can instantly tell the age of the item based on the style of the photos.
After making two piles of items, I will put all of the updated items back in their bin and start removing the other items from their plastic storage bags. Once an item has been removed from its’ storage bag, I will immediately hang it and re-photograph it on my photo wall. To streamline this process (especially when it comes to clothes), I will only re-photograph the front and back of the item and reuse the photos that I previously took of the inner tags. Once the item is all set, I will place it back in its’ bin and repeat this process until all items have been photographed in that bin. After all of the photos have been taken, I will go back at a later time to edit the photos on my phone and re-add them to the original listings.
The next step is to update the titles and descriptions for these items. I like to do this after I have added the updated photos to my listings to make things easier for me. When it comes to my titles, there are certain components that I like to include: (1) Brand, (2) Style Name, (3) Color/ Pattern, (4) Size, (5) Item Type and Style, (6) Condition, and (7) Descriptor Keywords (if there is room for them).
Here are a few examples of titles that I have used in my listings:
“Abercrombie & Fitch The 90’s Straight Ultra High Rise Curve Love Blue Swirl Pant 2R“
“NWT Hey Dude Wendy Toddler Funk Leo Safari Slip On Shoe Size K5“
“Pink Lily Tan Preppy Old Money Gold Button Cardigan Size M“
Lastly, I will update the descriptions of my listings which also follow a standard format. Here is an example of my description for the Pink Lily Tan Preppy Old Money Gold Button Cardigan Size M that I listed and sold within 3 days:
This is a gently used Pink Lily Tan Preppy Old Money Gold Button Cardigan Size M. In excellent condition. Minimal wear. See all pics for condition.
Bust- 21″
Length- 23.5″
Sleeve Length- 16.25″
B24
The reason why this description is so minimal is because I was unable to find the exact item online so I could not add in any official descriptions from the website (which I will include when I can find them). The title includes many of the relevant descriptor keywords that are necessary for SEO searches for the item so I didn’t need to add any additional ones. Additionally, my description includes the condition of the item, the extent of wear, and a general disclaimer to review all photos for condition. Below the general description, I always include measurements of the item and where it is located in my inventory storage.
I hope that you find this post helpful! If you have any questions or just want to chat, please reach out!
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