How to Make Your First Depop Sale

I first set up Depop in 2016, but I didn't make my first sale until two years later after ignoring the app. On my second try, I scoured the internet for selling tips, but found nothing that helped for a complete newbie with no sales, no star ratings, and no hope. Now that I've figured it out the hard way, I wanted to write the post that I wish I could have read back in 2016: how to make your first Depop sale.

In this post I'm going to brush past the two most obvious points: you need to take clear photos of the items and you must write truthful descriptions. I've found that good photos and descriptions alone won't guarantee sales, at least not at first. So, here are three additional tactics to kick off your Depop side hustle.

Use a Loss Leader

I made a slight loss on my first sale. I won't lie, this was partly due to ignorance as I had seriously underestimated postage costs! However, this can also be a tactical choice. You see, to make sales you need a star rating, ideally five stars. But as a newbie, you're stuck with a zero star rating. To get a rating, you'll need to either make a sale or purchase. Since I didn't have the funds to make any purchases at first, my only option was to throw a few big bargains in my feed. It may seem counterproductive—you are trying to make money after all—but think of it this way: by under-selling at first, you are buying yourself that all-important star rating.

You don't need to take it to the extreme and make an actual loss, but bear in mind your first sale is unlikely to be an expensive vintage ballgown. For people to trust you as a seller and purchase your more expensive items, you'll have to build up your reputation as a seller and get those 5-star ratings.

When you make that sale on one of your cheaper items, make sure to provide an excellent service. Ship the same or next day and update the buyer once you've done so. When you've secured a 5-star rating, you can review your prices and up them if you think they're too low.

Follow Like There's No Tomorrow

Depop might look a lot like Instagram, but it differs in one key way: no one cares if you're following hundreds (or thousands) more accounts than follow you. Use this to your advantage and go on huge following sprees so that more Depop-ers see you and your items. This may seem tedious, but think about how much dead time you have on a daily basis: sitting through TV adverts or mindlessly scrolling through Twitter or Instagram. Spend 5 minutes following on Depop instead, do this for a couple of days, and you'll soon have hundreds more profile views, and you'll be inching closer to that first sale.

Of course, who you follow is important. To find and follow users that actually make purchases on Depop, and who may be interested in your items, follow these steps:

1. Search for a keyword that describes at least some of your items. For example, I search for "vintage".

2. Click on the posts that pop up until you find one from a seller with a lot of reviews from buyers. You can find these by clicking the seller's star rating and tapping the sold tab.

3. Follow each of these buyers.

4. Repeat steps 1-4.

Try and do this whenever you have a spare moment and you'll soon find your items are getting more attention. Then it's just a matter of time until your first sale.

Slide Into DMs

As you follow people and update your feed with new items, you'll eventually get a few likes on your posts. I've noticed that when I like a post, I'll often get a private message from the seller asking if I'm interested in buying it and even including a special offer. Try this tactic on an any item that gets a like. Not everyone who likes your post actually wants to buy it, but some will, and by DMing them you're reminding them and making them more likely to tap the buy button.

You're looking for one of your first sales, so use this to your advantage. You could say something like this: "Thanks so much for liking my item. I would love if you could be my first buyer on Depop! I'm offering a 10% discount as a thank you, so let me know if you are interested!"

Give these pointers a try, and you'll breeze past your first sale and be on your way to a lighter wardrobe and a heavier wallet.

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Wishing all the Depop newbies out there good luck!

If you liked this article and the photos, you'll probably like my Instagram, @byclairep.