How long should I keep inventory before getting rid of it?
I have a lot of old dress shirts and polos (Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger) and I have them listed for sale on my eBay account. At what point (in days, months, or years) do I decide they won’t sell and I just donate them? I want make a smart educated decision however I am limited on space since I live with my parents and all of the items, packing and shipping supplies, and boxes take up a lot of space in the basement.
I also want to stop selling on eBay so I can do things that matter to me more. These items I have up are just for beer money. I really want to get rid of them but want to give them some time for the open market to decide for me. Maybe get through 4 seasons of listing and then donate if they don’t sell? I am already pricing them competitively.
I really just want to get items out of the house that I’ve had for awhile, but need to give myself a time table for getting rid of them so it actually gets done. I can’t accurately judge if someone will buy my items but I value my space. What should I do?
inhawaii
·2 years agoMy system:
Keep it listed until it sells.
If it doesn't sell after X amount of time, lower the price until it does sell.
showmecurrency4u
·2 years agomost of my items sell usually because i sell by auction. been doing it roe 20+ years. have sold 100,000 banknotes. my sell percent is 99.999 percent or greater. having new materall the time is a plus. if you are stuck with old inventry it t might be time to have a close out sale.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoI mark down everything by 3 percent per month with a minimum price of $1.99 plus shipping. Every once in a while I will look at the 1.99s and toss out the large items and lot of the smalls into a junk drawer lot.
annabelles-attic
·2 years agoSo are you saying if it doesn’t sell within a month you mark down 3% every month and the next month and on and on? If so does that work to clear out all your inventory?
flukeman43
·2 years agoPoshmark is a great site to sell clothing. I put my clothing there and keep ebay for other things.
adamcartwright
·2 years agoYou have 27 items listed.
If you know you want out, just have a yard sale and be done with it.
Cash in hand, no eBay fees or buyer refund requests.
You'll be done in one day.
redlinear
·2 years agoDouble the price.
Promote 20%
Then run a 20% markdown sale
bashort
·2 years agoI basically list things for the long haul, especially unique or oddball items, when covid hit I sold a whole bunch of stuff that had been listed for many years because the supply chain was shut down.
mordecai8614
·2 years agoBundling clothes that have sat around a while is a great way to sell them
isafi-3795
·2 years agoIt's understandable that you want to clear out space while also making some extra cash. Since you're limited on space and looking to prioritize other activities, setting a time limit for selling your items seems like a smart approach. Consider giving it a timeframe, maybe 4 seasons as you mentioned, and if the items haven't sold by then, you can donate them. This way, you're giving them a fair chance on the market while also ensuring you're not holding onto them indefinitely. Best of luck with your sales and decluttering process!
mr_lincoln
·2 years agoHi @owli-37
-Get rid of HALF your inventory, do a yard sale in early MAY and what doesn't sell put in your car and take it to donate.
-Next, thin out your packing supplies since you won't need as many with the reduced inventory
-Try to keep what you think has a better chance of Selling on eBay
-Don't drink beer, then you don't have to sell as much OR you will have more money to spend on other things
-Consider trying to sell smaller items that don't take up as much space compared to clothing.
-Pick a specific date to stop Selling and work towards that
bigoljim47
·2 years agoWhat I do, if an item did not sell after in 3 month, I end the listing. Then I do (Sell similar), rearrange some pictures and some wording in header . I lower the price a bit. On items below $20 I will add some shipping. If after 1-2 years (depended on the brand), I will added to a yard sale. for $2-3, NWT will go from$5-10. Then what's left over will be donated. Men's clothing is very welcome to Salvation Army or any Non-Profit that deals with men.
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years agoYou sound like you are ready for a change.
I agree with @dbfolks166mt ‘s suggestion. Having a yard sale is a good option, if your community allows them.. It’s one way to dispose of your goods quickly, while still making a little money.
deltilogical
·2 years agoIf you really want to move them along and are just looking for beer money, why not just run them as auctions at a ridiculously low starting price.
***Just make sure you capture all the fees and shipping in your start price or broken out shipping cost.****
After a couple of run throughs you'll realize if no one wants them.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoAt what point (in days, months, or years) do I decide they won’t sell and I just donate them?
This is a bit like saying you need a vehicle and then asking whether you should get a bicycle or a dump truck. It all depends upon what your personal needs and goals are (and perhaps whether you have enough room to store it.)
I have items that sold after an hour of being listed, and items that have been listed for a decade before they sold. So personally, I tend to leave them up forever because it costs me nothing to do so.
mam98031
·2 years agoIf you want to stop selling on Ebay, then just close your listing and move onto those things you mentioned that you would prefer to be doing. It isn't complicated. You can close all your listings at one time in the Seller Hub and it would take literally only a few seconds to do that.
Yes, donating is an excellent option and can be a tax write off.
I hope you have fun doing your other activities and that it brings you satisfaction.
dhbookds
·2 years agoIf you want to quit............just do it........don't try to drag it out to make a few bucks and having to put up with the aggravation. Just my opinion...... haul the stuff to the nearest charity........
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoAs others noted it's a personal decision. I never list clothing items since it is an oversaturated market and the return rate tends to be very high. I do have dead stock on occasion and since I use the auction format almost exclusively I may lower the starting price on an item to a few dollars to where it is way under any similar items listed. If I sell the item and take a loss I simply write it off on the taxes. If it still doesn't sell after 3-4 times then I either pull it for awhile or I donate it to charity and take the tax write-off.
You could also try a yard sale or a couple of local forums like CL, even list or sell as one big lot.
oaklandmaryland
·2 years agoif you have any free listings available it doesn't hurt to keep listing them. Sell items sometimes 15 years listed - just wait for the right buyer
legalbeagle52
·2 years agoI think the answer to this will vary from person to person. Depending on the items being sold, the storage space & tolerance at keeping 'stuff' around. I sell books & I have a lot of them! Having downsized I have a much smaller place now & am really out of space to store things. And I would like to clear some of it out ASAP.
So what I do is this... I list my book at least 3 times, then I donate it. Unless it's a more specialized book that I think will sell at a later date (some celebrity books are like that) ... then I'll put it back on the bookshelf. If it's a book lot, then I'll mix it up once or twice, put different books together & then same thing, if it doesn't sell after a few listings, it goes as well.
If I were you and you're only doing this for 'beer' money and Ebay really isn't your thing & as you said you value your space ... then I would list it the same way I do it ... 2, 3 times and then out the door, donate so someone else can get some good use out of it. And you can get some of your space back.
~Good luck!~
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoSome items will sell if you wait long enough.
Some items will sell faster if you lower the price.
Some items will never sell.
Depends on what they are.
There is no universal time to wait. You decide based on your space available and mental state.
I give my used clothes to Goodwill and do not list them on the internet. When I decide they should be gone, I will not wait to see if some Ebay buyer wants them.
susanb1872
·2 years agoSelling clothing is a tough market. For example-your Tommy Hilfiger shirt is up against about 3000 other listings. So unless it is something unique, these items will take a long time to sell. Also, the pictures of your shirts on the floor need work. The shirts are too far away (small) in the photo and it is difficult to see any detail.
frecklesfinery88
·2 years agoSend them to a homeless shelter, donate to the VA, or another organization. Maybe a business college or something. If you want to be done with it. Then you know it went to a good place.
Of course you could send them to Thread up or something and recoup a small amount. That way you can be done and not look back.
Just my opinion.
Have a beautiful day!
glorybells
·2 years agoAnother option I realized about just recently. Donate to a hospital. I recently ended up in the hospital, over an hour from home, with no clothes to wear home. Case management found a couple of things, but the selection was very limited since I’m plus sized. I’m planning to donate some of my clothes that way.
mtgraves7984
·2 years ago@owli-37
I just checked my last 3 sales. One was listed on 5/29/22, one on 5/28/19 and one on 5/24/22. To me, it's a matter of waiting until the right buyer sits down to my item.
If I had storage problems and no desire to sell here anymore, I'd already have donated a lot of it, though. Good luck to you.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoFor most items I have a two year span. Special items I have a longer span. I also have storage problems. You might try lots.