Here are some friendly hints and tips to ensure you get the most out of your Bigwardrobe.com experience.
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Spring cleaning your wardrobe
There’s an old fashion saying, if you haven’t worn it for three seasons you’ll never wear it again. Of course, this is negated by the fact that fashion is circular and if you hang on to it, you’ll be wearing it again sooner or later (or your kids will!). But, storage nightmares aside, be tough here:
- Pile up the clothes you don’t see yourself wearing, including: your dream if-i-lose-3-stone-pile; impulse buy pile; and out of date clothes.
- Put aside anything that you can Sell, Swap or Combo on Bigwardrobe.com
- Put the rest in a pile for charity shops.
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Writing an effective title
Make a clear, compelling first impression by writing a great title for your item. Start with these tips:
- Use descriptive keywords that clearly convey what you are selling.
- Include your item's brand name or designer.
- State exactly what your item is, even if your title repeats the category name.
- Try not to include "wow" or "look". Buyers don't search for words like these.
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Writing a great description
Writing a thorough description can really pay off in the price you receive for your item.
Here are some questions you may want to consider when writing your item description:
- What is the item?
- What material is it made of?
- When was it made?
- What company/artist/designer/ made it?
- What condition is it in?
- Is the item new or used. Be sure to mention any flaws or repairs.
- What are its dimensions /size?
- What country/location is it from?
- Does it have any notable features or markings?
- Does it have a special background or history?
Additionally, many members have found that adding a creative, human approach to their descriptions boosts offers and sales.
Consider including:
- What you especially like about the item
- Who you think it would appeal to and why
- An interesting story about the item (for example, how you acquired it)
- How the item might be worn
- Payment and shipping: Be clear about payment methods you accept. Also, be as specific as you can about your shipping costs.
- When you are finished, spell check your description for accuracy.
Do not include:
- Anything that is not true.
- Keywords that are unrelated to your item to try to lure buyers searching for these words. (For example, do not say, "If you like Ralph Lauren, you'll like these shorts.") This is known as "keyword spamming" and it is against the Bigwardrobe.com terms and conditions.
NOTE: The hints & tips will increase the quality and quantity of offers you receive.
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Be: ‘Open to ALL Offers?’
When you list an item, if you select the option ‘I’m open to all offers’ you will receive more offers – including Cash, Swaps and Combo’s (i.e. combination of cash + clothing and/or accessories!).
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Selecting a guide price
Selecting a guide price requires balancing between how much money you want for the item, and what buyers will pay for it.
- The guide price is just that i.e. it’s only a guide. Be prepared to receive offers above and below the guide price. Setting the guide price too high may discourage offers.
- A low price is an option you can use to stimulate offers on your item but you reserve the right not to sell below the price you want.
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Create a great photo
A great picture tells ‘a thousand’ words. But just one photograph sometimes isn’t enough, particularly when adding a high value item. So, you can add up to 3 pictures per listing for free. Soon you will be able to add more pictures (additional fees may apply).
Picture size is limited to 4.0 megabyte (MB) file size. Bigwardrobe.com will automatically re-size you photo(s) if required.
Photos are required in JPEG (.jpg) format.
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Photo Do's
- Use proper lighting to light the entire item thoroughly.
- Try to use a background that contrasts with the item.
- Use a plain, coloured fabric backdrop to make your item stand out. Pure white backgrounds are great for very dark items and sometimes jewellery.
- Consider using hardwood floors as a background for large and small items.
- Avoid background clutter that can distract buyers or confuse them regarding what you are selling.
- Set the camera to a medium resolution (for example 1024x768 pixels). This provides excellent photo quality and results in a faster upload time for pictures. It is also good for photo editing, if needed.
- Photograph items at close range and at an angle.
- Photos should be big enough to show details and fill the whole frame when appropriate.
- Multiple photos enable members to see as much detail as possible. For example, tabs, labels, original packaging, and accessories.
- Include scale where appropriate.
- If the item has any flaws, wear, or damage be sure to document it with a photo.
- Consider using a tripod to take sharp pictures using indoor lighting without flash.
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Photo Don'ts
- Don’t copy pictures (without permission) from another Bigwardrobe.com member or manufacturer/retailer.
- Don’t photograph using flash if your item is reflective.
- If an automatic flash comes on, it means that you need another light source or that there isn't enough natural light.
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Edit your photo
Once your photo is on your computer hard drive, you can often improve it with photo editing software, which may have come with your PC, digital camera or scanner. The three basic types of edits are crop, rotate, and resize.
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Selecting payment methods you’ll accept
Offering payment choices makes your listing more appealing, and most sellers offer more than one option. However, not all payment methods provide the same value to inspire buyer confidence. It’s important to consider the buyer’s perspective when selecting typical payment options.
Buyers’ questions about payment methods include:
- Is it traceable and is there proof of payment?
- Is it fast and convenient?
- How secure is it?
- What is the liability coverage in case something goes wrong?
Payment methods include:
- PayPal - PayPal is the fast, easy, and secure way to pay on Bigwardrobe.com. When you list your item with PayPal as a payment method, your buyers can securely pay you online with a credit card or bank account. Buyers pay from the item listing page and payment is deposited directly into your seller account. When you use PayPal, you don’t need to wait for cheques to arrive in the post to be processed, or to deal with processing buyers' credit card payments. PayPal also helps protect you against fraud.
- Other methods of payment are possible including personal cheques, which are traceable to a particular mailing address, but most sellers wait for the funds to clear before they dispatch the item to the buyer. The advantage of this method is that there is no additional fee to the seller.
- Cash – Bigwardrobe.com does not recommend cash or cash wire transfers as a payment method. The lack of transaction protections, and tractability represent major risks with little to no remedy for transaction problems.
Important: You should never accept overpayments from buyers for items where the buyer is asking to be reimbursed for overpayment. These requests could be part of a counterfeit cashier's check scheme.
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Use spell check
Ensure your item title and description are correctly spelled
Before you submit a listing, make sure that it looks professional and the text is spelt correctly.
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New listings can take 24 hours to appear online
To stop inappropriate material being uploaded, new listings will not appear online until approved by Bigwardobe.com.
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Build up a list of offers
Providing your items are well photographed and accurately described, you will receive lots of offers. Therefore, it’s sometimes worth waiting a while to build a list of offers before you decide which one to accept!
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Barter, Barter, Barter!
One thing that makes Bigwardrobe so much fun is the ability to use a combination of unwanted clothes & cash to completely update your wardrobe (again and again)! Consequently, you can tailor and ‘bundle’ offer(s) to ensure you don’t lose out to other members who may be chasing the same item(s). Barter hard, make your offers as appealing as possible and remember to keep an eye on the number of offers made so far – as this will influence the winning offer!
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Remember to have fun
It’s got to be fun. Wherever possible, barter and negotiate with other members and have fun. This site is as much about genuine online interaction as guilt free shopping!
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Make lots of offers
Make multiple offers. Offer cash, straight swaps and a combination of both. The more offers you make, the more chance you have of securing that ‘most wanted’ item. And, if your offer is rejected – make another!
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Protect your feedback
Just like on eBay, this function plays the same role as reputation plays in a small town. It fosters trust between people by acting as both an incentive to do the right thing and as a mark of distinction for those who conduct transactions with respect, honesty and fairness. The lower your feedback score, the less likely people are to want to interact with you. So, please treat fellow members correctly at all times. Feedback is limited to transactions only.
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Utilise your Myspace, Facebook and eBay profiles
You can include links to your eBay feedback scores, Facebook and Myspace profiles on your My Wardrobe page.
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Don’t run out of wardrobe space
Every member automatically qualifies for enough wardrobe space to accommodate 50 items, which is more than enough for 99.9% of members. In the future, you will be able to purchase extra wardrobe space.
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Tell all your friends, associates and family
Tell everyone you know about Bigwardrobe.com, particularly the people whose clothes you would like to own! The more like-minded people who join, the more enjoyable your experience will be.
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Be adventurous!
People are more adventurous when they’re not paying hard cash for something. When something’s effectively free, you’re going to experiment more. Go on, try something new!