Do you want to make money retailing kitchen appliances? If YES, here is a complete guide on how to sell both brand new and used kitchen appliances online.
The kitchen is one department in the home that is undergoing a lot of revolution. New appliances are getting debuted on a regular basis, while the old ones are getting upgraded. So, as far as the kitchen is concerned, you may find it hard to keep up the pace with these new inventions.
It is a fact that people who can afford it, like to buy new kitchen appliances and also like to upgrade the ones they have from time to time even if they are not top chefs. From large appliances to smaller appliances, one way to take advantage of people’s love for new kitchenware is to start selling them. Though everybody loves new kitchen appliances, but can everybody afford them?
Of course not, so this is why selling used kitchen appliances is also a very profitable business to go into. If you want to set up your kitchen appliances store, but you do not want to spend a lot of money on it, the best way to do that is to set up your store online.
If you are wondering how you can set up and start running your kitchen appliances retail store online, we are here to give you some tips and pointers.
Best Places to Sell Kitchen Appliances Offline
- Local Appliance Stores
- Resellers
- Garage Sale
- Scrap Metal Recyclers
- 1-800-GOT-JUNK
Where to Sell Kitchen Appliances Online?
- CraigsList
- eBay
- Facebook Marketplace
- Shpock
- VarageSales
- Mercari
- Wallapop
- 5Miles
- LetGo
- OfferUp
- Depop
- Tradyo
7 Steps to Sell New and Used Kitchen Appliances Online
Selling online is no easy feat. It is much more than taking a picture of your product and uploading it online. If you want to be successful with selling your kitchen appliances, both new and old online, then you have to do a lot of things to make it attractive to people. Here are tips on how you can sell you new and used kitchen appliances online.
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Set up a website
The very first thing to do when you want to start selling new and used kitchen appliances online is to set up your website. A website is indeed the address of your store online, just like you have an address for a brick and mortar store.
Your website is where you are going to list the goods you have for sale so that people can come in and look at them. If you are not able to set up an eye-catching website, then you need to employ the services of a professional. This is because your website is the first contact your users have with you.
You have to make sure that it is easy to navigate, and that your pictures can be zoomed and looked at from all angles. Since you will be selling new as well as used kitchen appliances, you must create a category for each so your visitors will know which is which.
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Gather the items you want to sell
Once you have created your website, the next step is to gather the items that you want to sell. It will do no good for your to list an item that you do not have available. It is not only about gathering your items, but you need to make sure that they are presentable, especially if the items have been partially used. Your items need to be in decent condition and ready to go to a new home.
3. Take pictures of your listed items using a digital camera
The next thing to do is to take good pictures of your listed items so you can upload them on your site. Place your items against a bare wall in the house or in the yard with a well mowed lawn. You need your staging to be perfect. If you can include more than one photo in your ad, you’ll get so much more interest.
People want to see what they’re buying. Don’t settle for a photo from the website of the company that makes it. Get a photo of your specific item that your clients will be purchasing. Ensure that your photographs are clean and sharp so as to elicit interest.
4. Write your advert content
When listing your product online, note that you are advertising the said product. Ensure that you give as much detail as humanly possible. The more information you give, the more you educate the consumer. An educated consumer can now make an informed decision about whether or not to buy your item.
If you post a one liner like “nice toaster”, you will leave your potential buyer with too many questions. These are a few details to keep in mind while writing your advert;
- Tell the color, if you didn’t put it in the title. List other features. Talk about other features the product have. Can it save time or money? Give you an advantage other appliances don’t? Is the motor especially quiet? If the special features the manufacturer listed on the appliance didn’t impress you, you are advised not to mention them (unless you’re sure they’d be of interest to someone else).
- If you are selling a used item, you must have to tell how old the item is, and how heavily it has been used. If it’s had 11 years of heavy use in a seven person household, you might as well address that in your ad and turn it into a positive because people are going to ask before they bid.
Tell them, “It’s stood up to 11 years of heavy use with us and the five kids, and the only thing to need repairs was this part, which was replaced just a year ago.” Assuming you haven’t priced your item too high for what it is, people will be impressed with your honesty and full disclosure and want to deal with you. If the item you are selling is just plain broken or damaged, be honest and say so – there are lots of DIY people who will take them off your hands at a fair price.
- Give the dimensions of your items so people know whether they’ll fit in the space they have. This is essential with kitchen appliances.
- Tell them you’re willing to demonstrate the item works by letting them see it in action when they come to pick it up or have a look at it. In most cases, you may not need to go to this extent especially if you are trusted.
- If your items are in perfect working condition, mention why you’re selling them so people don’t suspect the appliances are bad and you are looking for a way to sell them off.
- Provide links to specs on the item, or online reviews from third parties. Even if people don’t click the links, they’ll be impressed you were confident and thorough enough to refer them to reviews or specs.
5. List the price
You can actually increase your asking price by a full 10% if you include every detail about your item, but don’t get carried away. Remember you are not selling the crown jewels, so you have to be reasonable with the price you attach to your appliances.
You may want to do a little research first to see what similar items are selling for before you make up your mind on price.
Another way to decide on price is comparing them with what you bought the item for, that is assuming you buy used kitchen appliances off others for sale. Here, you only need to add a little mark-up for inconveniences and profit and voila, you have your sale price.
6. List your contact info
You have to choose a way your clients can contact you for the products you have on your online store. You can choose to leave your phone number or email address. If you are really particular about your privacy, then you can just leave a company created email address.
You can decide to give your number to your buyer later. It’s a good idea to include a short paragraph telling people to use the above email address to contact you.
If you don’t want to expose your email address to your potential buyers ever, create a disposable Gmail account (or some other free provider) to use strictly for your transactions, because once you reply to an email from them they’ll see your real email address.
7. Don’t sound superior
A lot of online sellers can get so quirky with their listings, and some can even use the phrase, “Serious inquiries only, please” and other similar phrases in their ads. This is wholly and totally unnecessary. Ensure that you avoid it.
8. Marketing is everything
Since you know that you will be selling new and used kitchen appliances, you need to focus on finding an audience on social media. The largest market for new kitchen supplies is generally older people with more disposable income, but this can change depending on the particular niche you’re after.
You may have to work on building your following on more than one social media channel. As far as kitchen appliances are concerned, Facebook is your best bet.
Facebook offers a wide variety of ad and post types for you to choose from – as well as the option to target specific demographic groups. You can target users based on their age, gender, location, interests and more. Facebook’s behavioural targeting even let’s you target users that are more likely to purchase from you based on their past behaviours.
When it comes to building a kitchen brand online – your social media success will be dependent on your ability to connect with audiences of a particular niche and deliver them something that they can’t get from major kitchen supplies stores.
This means creating interesting social media content and delivering it to your selected niche through Facebook ads and posts.
For organic exposure, your best bet is to explore pages, profiles and hashtags that are relevant to your audience. Take the time to understand what kind of content your audience enjoys the most. When building an audience, you want to focus on providing them with a reason to follow you.
If you’re selling kitchen supplies, having videos and images of your products in use are great, but they have to be interesting enough for people to want to watch.
Try experimenting with different content types and see what resonates most with your audience. Cooking tutorials and recipes might be a great place to start. Chances are that someone looking for kitchen supplies might be more interesting in cooking-related videos and images.
Other Ways to Sell New and Used Kitchen Equipment Online
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Use drop-shipping to sell kitchen supplies
Drop-shipping is a supply-chain management style where the shipment and storage of products are outsourced to third-party manufacturers. Drop-shipping products is both low cost and low risk – meaning it’s a great place to start if this is your first business.
If you choose to drop-ship products, you won’t need to design, manufacture or ship your stock. Companies involved in the process can do all of this work for you. When a purchase is made through your website, shipping details are sent directly to the manufacturer who ships the product to your customer.
With a third-party handling the manufacturing and shipping of your products, you can focus your time and attention on building your brand online and creating great content.
To use this method, you need to have a good understanding of your branding and select products that best represent your brand. A brand that sells dinosaur ladles, for example, generally won’t be the same brand that sells a luxurious gold utensil set.
Since there’s such a wide variety of products to choose from when drop-shipping, it’s easy to find products that fit a particular niche.
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Start an Affiliate Program
One of the best paths to making money online selling kitchen appliances is to become an affiliate of another company and sell their products for them. Affiliate marketing refers to selling another company’s product for them and they give you a commission or a percentage of what the product sold for.
Affiliate marketing is probably the best Business model for people starting out because it doesn’t cost anything up front (for the most part). All you have to do is solicit the kitchen appliance online. You don’t have to buy them personally, and in most cases the company even ships them for you.
You get a cut of every sale you make, which incentivises you to reach as many people as you can who want to buy the product you are selling. To get started with affiliate marketing, do a Google search of companies who are offering affiliate marketing for kitchen supplies and see which one you would prefer the most.
11 Tip to Use When Selling Used Kitchen Appliances Online
Here are some keys that can help you get quick sales if you are looking to sell your used kitchen appliances online via Craigslist or ebay.
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Be Honest About the Condition of Your Appliance
People dislike having their time wasted. When selling your used kitchen appliances on Craigslist or ebay, be honest about the condition of it. If there are scratches or dents on the appliance, let people know. Be clear about how old the appliance is and how much use it has had.
For instance, if you’re selling a clothes washer, you may have really given it a run for its money if you have lots of kids. However, if you are a single person or retired couple, you are probably only doing one to two loads a week. People like knowing what the history of an appliance is before they go to look at it.
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Take Great Pictures
Taking great pictures is key to a fast sale on Craigslist or ebay. Make sure to use a decent camera that gives a clear reflection of the condition of the appliance. Include pictures of any damaged areas as well. The more a person knows about an appliance, the better judgment they can make if it might be the right one to fit their needs.
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Check Similar Ads for Pricing Ideas
It’s a good idea that before you price your appliance to make sure you have an idea of how much similar items are selling for. If you price too high, you could be holding on to the appliance for longer than you want to and end up lowering the price eventually anyway. If you price too low, you may get rid of the item quickly but you could be losing out on some cash.
As you try and gauge a competitive price, know that while the comparison items don’t have to match your appliance exactly, look for similar models and what they are selling for. Just try and price your item in a range that will be sure to let buyers know they’re getting a good price.
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Specify Your Location
Location is important when selling used kitchen appliances on Craigslist or ebay. Many people don’t want to drive far to get bigger items. Others will drive far just to get a deal. Be clear about where you are so that people can know right away whether or not they want to make the drive to buy your item, so they would not have regrets in the end.
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List the Appliance Specifications
Appliance specs are also important for a quick sale. Most of the time you can find the specs for the appliance you’re selling on the Internet and just copy and paste them into your ad. If you can’t find online specs for your appliance, be sure to include the dimensions as you write up the ad.
Height, weight and depth of an appliance is important so that buyers know whether the appliance will fit in the space they’ve designated for it.
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Title Your Ad in an Attractive Manner
As you write your ad, make sure to be a bit creative as you title it. A more creative title is guaranteed to get you more response in a short time. You want to pull out potentially attractive features for your appliance as your title. Key phrases in your title such as “in great condition”, “rarely used” and “like new” work well for getting stuff sold quickly.
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Be Clear About Your Price and Your Willingness to Negotiate
As you set your price, think about how willing you are to deviate from that price. Even if you are set on getting your highest price, think about how you would feel if the item didn’t sell after a couple of weeks. Would you be willing to go lower at that point?
If so, you may want to start out being more flexible. For instance, you could say “$200 or best offer”. Think too about what the minimum price is you think you would take, and just how set you are on that minimum price. Try not to let emotion influence you as you determine your price.
Are you willing to hold on to the appliance longer to get your price or is it more important to you to get the item off of your hands? If your main concern is simply getting the appliance out of your list, consider adding “or best offer” to your sale price.
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Mention Whether You Will Deliver or Not
Many buyers looking for appliances have no way to come and pick them up. As a seller, it’s important to be clear about whether or not you will deliver, and if so what your charge for delivery will be. Knowing that information could be key for some buyers and again, it will save time as you sift through potential buyers.
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Share What’s New on the Appliance
If you have recently replaced a part on the appliance you are selling, it’s wise to mention that in your listing. Knowing recent upgrades or maintenance improvements can help you sell used appliances faster. For instance, a person might be more likely to buy an older clothes dryer from you if they know you’ve recently replaced the heating element.
Or if there is a specific part that is known to go bad on an appliance, a potential buyer will be more likely to purchase t if they know you’ve replaced that part recently. Any type of upgrade or recent repair is a vital buyer information that needs to be shared on your listing.
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State Why You are Selling
People often fear buying used items, especially costlier items such as appliances – because they fear you’re selling due to poor performance. This is why it is important to mention the real reasons why you are selling the item. You can tell them that you are making a business out of it. Be honest and be clear about the reasons you are selling so a potential buyer knows what to expect.
11. Provide Proper Contact Information
Potential buyers on Craigslist or ebay are more likely to purchase from a seller who gets back to them quickly. As a seller, it’s important that you list the contact information that will allow you to get buyer notifications quickly and get back to them soon.
As an example, don’t use your email address if you can’t access it from your phone and rarely check it. Use an access avenue that is common for you to use, such as your cell phone number, and get back to potential buyers quickly. If a potential buyer doesn’t hear back from you soon, they may just move on to another seller.