Selling your unwanted stuff whether it’s clothing, electricals or furniture is a great way to declutter, make someone else happy, and make some money in the process. To ensure you make maximum profit from what you are selling, you need to learn how to sell on Gumtree in a way that optimises your listing to show it to as many people searching the site as possible.
Gumtree is a great site to sell pretty much anything quickly. I find it most successful for bundles of clothing, furniture and household items. There are lots of online marketplaces available, but Gumtree shines above the rest in one area in particular- fees. Unlike eBay, for example, there is no fee to list an item on Gumtree which means more profit in your pocket!
Selling on Gumtree is super easy once you know how to use it. To start your listing, head to the gumtree website and create an account if you don’t already have one. It should then automatically load your location.
To create a listing, click on the ‘post an ad’ button on the top right hand side of the home page.
This will then take you to the ‘category’ section, here type in a general description of what you are selling. Here I’ve used the example of a foot stool. Gumtree will automatically show you the related categories- reach each one carefully to make sure you are selecting the most relevant category.
In this example I would choose the second one down, ‘chairs, stools and other seating,’ because this is the closest match to what I am selling.
Next, you can create your listing. You will need to include a title, photographs, description and price. Read on to find out some tips on the best ways to title, photograph, price and describe your item to achieve the highest profit that you can.
Then click ‘Post My Ad’ and your listing will be live with Gumtree for one month! It’s as simple as that. Buyers can contact you via email, and you can communicate here to arrange collection or delivery of the item.
How to sell on Gumtree fast
To make sure that your item sells on Gumtree quickly, it needs to be searchable, eye catching and descriptive, these are some tips to make sure that your items sells fast…
Use clear photos
Clear photos are an absolute necessity to make sure that you get the best price possible for your item. If your item is clearly presented, it will entice people to click on your listing and potentially buy from you.
If a photo is unclear or of poor quality, it is unlikely that someone is going to click through and read more about what you have for sale.
Make sure that your item is in top condition before you take photos, so for clothing, make sure the item is freshly washed and ironed. For a furniture item, make sure it’s clean, dust-free, and looking its best.
If possible, take your photos in the day-time when there is natural light, and preferably on a white or plain background. To make sure your listings shine, you could use a photo editing app like Snapseed to make your photos appear brighter and more appealing.
Remember, there are lots of people selling things on Gumtree, so you need to make sure that your listing has a competitive edge. You can list as many as 9 photos on Gumtree, so maximise this and take photos of your item from every angle. Be sure to also photograph any faults or imperfection as this avoids any disappointment from the buyer further down the line.
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Add a searchable title
To make sure that as many people as possible view your listing, your title needs to contain key search words. For example, if you are selling a vintage piece of furniture, be sure to include the style, decade (if known), maker, material and any other key identifying features within the title.
Similarly if you sell a bundle of children’s clothes, you might add the age range, the brands, the types of clothing, and the fact that it’s a ‘bundle’ or ‘job lot’ which are commonly used terminologies for selling a few items within one listing.
You have a 100 character limit, so use it wisely!
Add a helpful description
Gumtree gives you the opportunity to write a mind-blowing 10,000 character description- I don’t think anyone has the time or patience to write a 1,000 character description on their Gumtree listing, let alone 10,000!
That said, your description should include as much information about the item that you are selling as possible. To give your item the best chances of selling, you should include information about the condition of the item and any wear and tear or imperfections (to explain the photo that you will have included!).
It’s a good idea to give measurements where possible- especially for furniture. People will want to know the measurements and adding them to the listing saves time because interested buyers will just message you asking for measurements- much quicker to just add them in the first place.
Also include any additional information here, perhaps what the RRP is, the material, and any other notes of interest.
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Make sure the price is right
Pricing is everything when it comes to selling second hand items online. Your price needs to be in line with your competitors- if your price is more expensive than someone else selling the same item, you can bet that your competitor will get the sale.
Do your research on the RRP of the item (especially if it’s still being sold by the brand), and then do some research on your competitors. Check Gumtree, eBay and Facebook Marketplace to do some benchmarking to ensure that your item is well priced to ensure a fast sale, without compromising on the profit that you make.
How to sell furniture on Gumtree
Furniture is perhaps the most popular category for buying and selling on Gumtree. On the site currently, it says the top searches in my area are for sofas, armchairs and wardrobes (and free stuff, but that’s not applicable to us right now!)
So if you’re selling furniture you’ve got the added bonus that lots of people are going onto Gumtree in search of a new addition to their home. However, the flip side to that is lots of people are also selling their unwanted furniture too. You have high search volume but also high competition.
When selling furniture on Gumtree, follow the steps above to optimise your listing to make it stand out above the rest.
Then, consider how the item of furniture is going to get to its new owner- will you ask them to collect it? Will you deliver it yourself for a fee? Will you arrange a courier collection?
If you opt for the buyer to collect the item, only give out your address once all of the details are confirmed. You can either arrange payment over PayPal, or request that cash is paid in person upon collection of the item.
How to sell a car on Gumtree
Cars, bikes and other vehicles are also popular searches on Gumtree. When selling (or buying) expensive items on Gumtree, be sure to take the relevant precautions to avoid being scammed. Gumtree have this handy guide to help keep you safe when using the site.
Before listing your car or vehicle on Gumtree, make sure it’s been cleaned prior to taking photos. Follow the steps above to optimise your photos. It’s also a good idea to sort out all of the paperwork before you post your ad. Gather everything from MOT certificates, service history and V5 so that you have everything you need in preparation for the sale.
When placing the ad select the ‘motors/cars’ category, and it will prompt you to enter the vehicles registration number, and your post code. This will pull up all relevant information on your car, including the year it was made, and the estimated mileage. Check that all of this information is correct and then proceed to describe your vehicle within the listing.
Be honest about the condition of the car, and detail and photograph any faults so that the buyer is not mislead. It’s also a good idea to add your own personal experience using the car, how many previous owners it has, and the service history.
Also describe any interesting features such as GPS, parking assistant or Bluetooth- this helps to build a picture in a buyers mind, and helps if they are specifically looking for a car with parking assistant, for example.
Once you have sold your car, be sure to pass on the relevant paperwork to the buyer and notify the DVLA and your insurance company of the sale.
How to sell clothing on Gumtree
Selling clothing on Gumtree is less popular than other online marketplaces such as eBay or Depop, but it is popular for selling bundles of unwanted clothing. This is a pretty hassle-free way of selling a large amount of clothing without having to take the time to photograph every individual piece.
You are likely to get less money by selling clothing in ‘bundles’ or ‘job lots’ (as they are often referred to by sellers), but it saves you a lot of time, especially if you are keen to declutter your home and just get rid of unwanted clothing.
When you list a bundle of clothing on Gumtree, it’s a good idea to take photos of all of the items of clothing in one photo if possible. You could lay out all of the clothing on the floor, and take one photo of all of the items together- you could then take closer up photos of each section.
This gives the buyer a hint of an idea about what they might be buying, and it means that they can see whether or not they will be happy with the contents of the bundle.
Within the title and description, be sure to add information about the size(s) of the items and brands. These are the most popular fields people will use when searching for clothing on an online marketplace. A great example for a kids clothing bundle could be ‘Job Lot Bundle Age 3-4 Girls Clothing Skirts Leggings Dresses Tops Next Gap H&M Zara’
You can add extra detail in the description box about the condition of the items, and what type of clothing each item is. To give the buyer more confidence about making a purchase, you can itemise each piece of clothing in the description. For example ‘x2 pairs age 3-4 Next Leggings,’ and so on.
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How to advertise a service on Gumtree
Gumtree is different to any other online marketplace or classifieds site as you can also advertise a job or service.
You can either post to say that you are looking for a service- for example, you might want to place an advert to say that you are looking for a cleaner. Or, you can post to say that you are offering a service, for example, that you are offering evening tutoring.
If you want to advertise that you are offering a service, you can follow the same steps that you would to post an ad about selling an item, but instead, you can detail the service that you offer. Be sure to include any qualifications you may have, your experience, and your rate.
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As you can see, it’s very simple to sell just about anything on Gumtree- and for me, the biggest advantage of selling on Gumtree is the lack of fees compared to other online marketplaces. Fees can really eat into your profits, especially when selling a large high ticket item, and so Gumtree can often be the best choice of marketplace for these items.
Hopefully you have learnt some tips and tricks on how to sell on Gumtree yourself, and how to optimise your listings to make a quick sale. If you follow these tips and successfully make some sales, I’d love to hear how you found the experience!