Tips To Successfully Sell Clothes Online

In this era when the Internet reigns above all else, selling clothes online is an extremely lucrative way to make a few extra dollars on the side, experience a return on your clothing investments, or if you really play your cards right, even make a full-fledged living. However, and as you may have already gandered, there’s a lot more to it than just posting a listing and letting the universe do the rest. The World Wide Web is an intricate system comprised of more users, programs, and sites than any of us can even begin to imagine – and in this, countless individuals and businesses selling clothes in direct competition with you. And even without this oversaturation of the market, there is no guarantee customers would default to any particular seller based on lack of options. Chances are they might close their laptops, lock their phones, and head over to the mall instead.

To successfully sell clothes online:

Have high quality, varying photos of each article of clothing for sale.

Create comprehensive product listings.
Have friendly, timely, and reliable customer service.
Utilize customer reach through social media, relevant tags, blogging and more.

Have a user-friendly, credible seller platform (or several).
Have customer reviews and testimonials.
Have personalization and incentives in packaging and customer interaction.

Table of Contents

High Quality, Varying Photos of Each Article of Clothing for Sale

Needless to say, photos are non-negotiable when it comes to selling products online in general – but especially when it comes to articles of clothing. However, just having photos isn’t enough. They also need to be reliable, accurate, convincing images of your product that make people feel confident in what they’re getting should they choose to buy the listed item. If anything looks “off,” or customers have any reason to believe you might be hiding something, they’ll move on to the next seller without a second thought.

Tips to Successfully Sell Clothes Online

High quality images are essential. Not only should they have the optimal DPI, but they should also be large and sharp enough that customers aren’t squinting, straining, or excessively zooming to see them. While you may not have a fancy camera on-hand, you don’t need one. Most smartphone cameras are more than adequate for this purpose.

Lighting is also important. If you don’t have access to professional lighting – which, if we’re being totally honest here, most of us don’t – don’t panic. Natural lighting is stunning, and everything looks better in it. Additionally, while the lighting should be focused on making every relevant aspect of the clothing visible to the customer, it’s also a great opportunity to highlight the best parts of your product. Warm, cool, and neutral lighting can all be utilized based on the hues and tones of the clothing in question. Soft light versus hard light are also always worth experimenting with.

Clothing listings without photos of the clothing on one or more bodies are not ideal. They undersell the clothes and demotivate customers. Photos of the clothing on mannequins are slightly better, but still provide room for improvement. Images of the clothes on an actual living, breathing human model are ideal; images of the clothing on two or more actual living, breathing human models (preferably of diverse physical features) will put you over the top. Extra points for well-posed candids in addition to straightforward modeling shots.

Also crucial for effective product photos are shots from a variety of postures, poses, and angles. Customers should be able to familiarize themselves with every seam, corner, cut, and crease of the clothing so that they can imagine themselves in it, become obsessed with the potential, and go from there. Remember – it’s better they discover any possible issues they may have with the product on the online listing than on their bodies after they’ve already completed the shipping wait times, paid the delivery fees, and gotten themselves excited in anticipation of their purchase. By the time they contact you upon receiving the item with any problems, they’re already likely on a warpath, and that first impression will stay with them in the future – almost ensuring they won’t return to shop from you again. Worse yet, you run the risk of them telling their friends.

Comprehensive Product Listings

Fabulous! You’ve gotten through the photography aspect of the product page. Now comes the listing.

This sounds harder than it is, but that’s only because this is where all the information and details go. For starters, the title should have as much information available as possible without going overboard. The style, cut, setting, colors, material, sizing, etc. are all details that can go in the title for optimized searchability. Also, if the clothing touches on any present trends, or can be considered “sexy,” “retro,” “vintage,” “relaxed,” or anything else, those should absolutely be included in the product listing’s title.

Elsewhere on the page, you’ll absolutely want to include a size chart. Showing how the sizing on this article clothing compares to those of major retailers in different countries (for example, what equates a US Women’s Size 8, or what equates a UK Men’s Size Large, etc.) takes a lot of stress and doubt off the customer when ordering clothes from an independent seller. List all color, material, and style options, and don’t be afraid to go into detail in the description. Material, fit, Eco friendliness, occasions, trends, and more are all relevant information people crave when making an educated decision to buy a piece of clothing from an online seller. This is also a great place to list any potential disclaimers. For example, like how undergarment sales are final, or that you are not responsible for the pre-washing of the clothes before shipping.

And of course, don’t forget to list the product’s condition. “New,” “Like New,” “Never Worn,” “Worn Twice,”

“Very Good,” “Good,” “Good with Some Wear,” “Acceptable,” and “Poor” are all common labels sellers use for describing items. If there are any specific issues with the piece of clothing, let them know so they don’t try to shut you down once they receive the product. Is there a small hole in the sleeve? Let them know. Include photos of it, too. Tell them how hideable or fixable it is while you’re at it.

Transparency is an invaluable trait for any seller to have and apply to their online store. It might feel like a drag in the moment, but the long-term payoff will be worth the momentary inconvenience.

Friendly, Timely, and Reliable Customer Service

If you’re going to sell clothes, you’ll also want to make sure you’re reachable to potential and current customers alike. In the event your platform doesn’t have a chat or messaging option, make sure there’s a way for customers to contact you – and make sure they feel inquiries are welcome. And no matter how grating or silly their questions or concerns may seem to you, make sure they don’t know that. Always sound like you’re smiling and like you’re more than happy to help them, because you are – right?

Even if something has occurred because of an error or oversight on their end, see if there’s anything you can do to amend the situation or make it easier on them. This can be anything from including a sample, a freebie, a discount, or even covering shipping for them. Those things go far and build customer loyalty.

Your responses should always be timely and thorough. There should also always be a 100% chance you’ll respond to the customer. The same applies for shipping, too. Send out the products in a reasonable amount of time (or else contact the customer if this suddenly becomes impossible to work something out), and make sure everything is well-packaged, safe, and neat for when the customer receives it. Otherwise, you’ll quickly get a bad reputation, and no one will want to buy from you.

We’ll get more into this later in the article.

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Adequate Customer Reach Through Social Media, Relevant Tags, Blogging, etc.

If you’re lucky, or else existing purely in the 1990’s or 2000’s, then you won’t need to worry about cross-platform marketing for minimal customer reach. But chances are you’re not, and that’s why knowing how to find and engage with potential customers, or keep yourself on the mind of present ones, is instrumental for selling clothes online.

Social media is the most common and effective way to go. For clothing, sellers generally opt for Instagram – and since that is a purely image-based platform, buyers tend to utilize it similarly and move in the same circles. TikTok has its merits, too – but make sure you’re creative enough to keep up with that rapidly-evolving, very challenging game. If not, cut your losses and stick with Instagram.

Having a blog for your shop can also help bring in customers. Investigate trends, questions, concerns, and issues your target audience (online clothing shoppers) might have in these posts. This can bring interested shoppers doing their research one step away from your shop – and even if this only results in them subscribing to the blog, chances are they will feel tempted to purchase some clothes eventually.

Regardless of whether you go with social media, a blog, both, or neither, remember to utilize and optimize hashtags. Trends, styles, materials, seasons, occasions, and more are great ways to categorize your postings. Plenty of apps and websites exist to help you stay on top of what’s worth tagging, and what isn’t. And remember – this is an ever-evolving landscape, so you have to keep an open mind to experimentation and trial by error.

A User-Friendly, Credible Seller Platform (or Several)

Where you sell is almost as, if not more, important than what you sell. While Etsy and eBay are, on average, the most popular sites for independent sellers, there are others worth exploring as well. A lot of their appeal is that they are established, well-known, have a strong community of sellers and buyers alike, and have user-friendly, responsive web design. They can be used from your laptop in bed, or on your phone on-the-go. They also make it possible for customers to hold sellers accountable, and ensure sellers are paid upfront. Sellers also enjoy independence and freedom without the additional hassle of running their own websites or attempting to get them off the ground.

Conversely, setting up your own website might also be a great way to go depending on your skills, resources, and availability. Can you make and run it by yourself? Will you need someone else to make and run it for you? Do you know how to handle all the tax, shipping, etc. stuff, or will you need external help? Can you market your website on your own and/or do you already have your own strong, reliable customer base? Or will you be starting from the ground up?

If you need outside help, ask yourself if you have the resources to afford it. If you do, great! And if you decide to handle everything by yourself, just make sure you have the time needed to run an online business page all by yourself. It may not seem like much, but it’s very consuming.

And if these both sound out of your reach, then major seller platforms (like Etsy and eBay, aforementioned) might be the better option for you. You can always have your own website and a page on a seller platform, or pages on multiple seller platforms, are combinations of these options, too. Just make sure your products aren’t listed side-by-side with a hitman service on some website that makes your computer freeze and you should be fine.

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Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Customer reviews and testimonials are gold for independent sellers. Without them, it becomes that much harder to sell a product. Meanwhile, the more there are, the more the customer can feel confident in what they’re buying.

And of course, while good ones (paired, preferably, with high ratings) are optimal, the most important thing is that they exist at all. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your customers thanking them for buying your product and reminding them to review it if they liked it. Some sellers even include a handwritten note asking for a review in the package itself, explaining how vital it is for their and their shop’s livelihood. Just be sure you’re not too pushy, annoying, or spammy. Customers should want to leave a review. They, however, should never feel obliged to do so.

Testimonials are a little bit more specific, but if you have customers who seem especially pleased, buy tons, or keep coming back for more, consider gently reaching out to them for a more geared, directed statement about you as a seller, your corresponding shop, and/or your product(s). Knowing other customers went out of their way to give glowing testimonials might be the final motive a buyer needs to finally click that “purchase” button on your product.

Personalization and Incentive

Personalization

Have you ever received a package from an individual seller or small business that was so beautifully wrapped, packaged, and put together that you were blown away by the time, trouble, and detail they put into it? Or have you ever received a personalized, handwritten note thanking you for your purchase, and maybe even telling you something special about it?

If you have, then you know just how much these little details and personalization techniques matter. If they didn’t, you could’ve just ordered your stuff from Amazon or some other big business – but you didn’t. You chose the independent seller, and now you’re being rewarded for it. That’s why “unboxing videos” are so huge on TikTok and Instagram. People love this stuff. Every detail or extra, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to you, makes a difference.

Personalization, however, works both ways. In the same way you’re taking the trouble to reach the customer, they should also have a chance to reach you, in a sense. Including information about you and/or your business goes far with potential buyers. In other words, people absolutely want to hear about your inspiration, your goals, and of course, your puppies. Moreover, tell them what the money from their purchases goes towards, if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe you’re paying off your student loans, or your mortgage, or trying to get your kids medical attention, and need the money you make from selling clothes. Not only do people want to know these things and learn about you, but it impacts whether they ultimately choose to shop from you or another seller with similar items who needs the cash more, or comes off as generally more amicable and approachable as you. Customers want to know you’re like them and/or people they know so they can trust you and buy clothes they feel have actual meaning to them.

Incentive

Money is a finite resource, and people are really feeling that right now. That’s why they need to know that you feel that, too. Pricing should never be self-gratifying unless you’re specifically selling in a market and to an audience that celebrates that (ex: high fashion for very, very wealthy people who want to flaunt how much they paid for an item). The price needs to be worth it for the customers with enough going into your pocket to pay off any labor or resources involved in the selling and/or manufacturing process and leave you with adequate profit.

And don’t forget to factor shipping costs in. If a price tag is already pushing it even before shipping (and tax) are factored in, you’ll lose potential customers who were only one more click away from purchasing those articles of clothing from you.

While underpricing may seem like the way to remedy these situations, doing so not only makes your sales unprofitable (or worse) for you, but also makes customers question the quality and worth of a product. They’ll wonder what the catch is in this world where nothing is ever as good as it seems, and nothing worth having comes for free.

Upcoming holidays and celebrations are great reasons to have a sale, or else provide discount codes to your customer base. Having a clearance sale? Knock those prices down so that people don’t have a chance to question what might be wrong with those items – only that they’re a total steal.

Further, customer loyalty shouldn’t be taken for granted. Not only does it make or break a business, but customers like to feel appreciated. They could shop from anywhere, but they choose to buy from you and put their hard-earned money into your pocket. They could also opt for the lower prices and free, speedy shipping benefits of shopping from a corporation, but again – they’re choosing to support you and consciously opt for the “tall” instead of “grande” size at Starbucks as a result.

Let them know you’re grateful. Offering returning customers as a whole special opportunities to see new postings, buy clothes at special lowered prices, or even buy items at a discount will make them feel rewarded for their loyalty. Similarly, including discount codes or bargains with their purchases so that they can shop for less next time around will make them feel valued, and have them coming back for more.

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