It’s always hard to sell your goods, but what is the proper way to get your stuff noticed by the audience? What should you do, and maybe even more important, what shouldn’t you do. Here are some tips & tricks to get you started.

I mostly sell goods in the Netherlands, but just recently also started to research the possibilities to expand to a bigger market. That is mostly because of the fact that in general, the dutch people do not often see the value of collector items, deadstock items and so on. You can, if you want, sell almost anything here. But instead of getting a good price, you get a very low price.

Top 5 must do’s:

1. Get good photographic material, made by you
2. Make proper descriptions of the item, and be honest! Any defects, let them know. People don’t care about them if it’s a rare item, as long as they know before hand, and not find out when they unpack the package.
3. Define a starting price to prevent dissapointment
4. Add proper keywords to your ads
5. Spread the word !

Top 5 don’ts:

1. Leave the price free for offer. Stick to what you know, and what it is worth!
2. Only send stuff through post, no pick up’s unless you have good emailcontact and trust the person.
3. Be clear about shipping costs. People want to know what they are in for.
4. Dont’ add words to your add that are not relevant, or your add will get suspended or deleted.
5. Keep waiting … that doesn’t help if people don’t know that you are selling stuf!

To find a site that fits your needs is always hard. I’ve never used Ebay for selling, because I don’t like the freedom you have that can easily work against you. When I buy I almost never bid, only use the “buy now” function. If you do decide to go with an auction site, make sure that you set a starting bid that  you can be ok with, even if only one person bids on it. You can think that the product is the max, but others might disagree and start bidding at $1,-. If only 2 people would bid on it, that would be a ptiy.

Site’s to sell INTERNATIONAL

Ebay
iOffer | *verification needed by phone* FREE
Etsy | *CC needed to activate, not to pay*

Site’s to sell NETHERLANDS

Marktplaats | Free, and belgium customers can purchase aswel.
Speurders | Free
Etsy | Not free, but really well known by the dutch audience

Getting to know each other

Selling stuff is like setting up a marketing campaign for a brand. You need to have the stuff ready, photographed and all, but also need to let the people know that it is there !

Steps I take to sell my goods

1. Make photographs with my Canon 1000D of full product, feature (like fabric, detail on shoe etc) and tag which often contain the useful information like shoe size.
2. Set up the ad with catchy title, proper description with additional keywords and photos
3. Define shipping, start bid and that it is an send only ad.
4. Post on different online forum, add message to twitter, link the page on facebook, all to let people know what I sell
5. Start receiving your bids !

I used to be on allot of fashion forum on the net, often full with 16 year old girls that are dying to follow the latest trend for ofcourse a lower price then in stores. That’s where I post my stuff, because that is my audience for wedge ankle boots, chanel inspired bags etc. Because I post my stuff there, I often sell my goods allot faster then usual.

Some dutch forum:

Girlscene
ElleGIRL
Fok!
Fashionscene

One important thing we often forget are keywords. When people buy a certain icon shoe at H&M, and don’t put H&M in the title or ad itself, it will most likely not be found by the crowd. Someone who is dying to find them, will find them eventually. But it’s not easy. Also be international ! The dutch crowd, and then i’m especially talking about the 16 year olds again, are crazy about Ebay and others, that they often search for “ankle boots” on dutch site’s too. So it never harms to add those international keywords to your ads as well.

Example: ankleboots, ankle boots, enkellaarsjes, enkel laarsjes, laarzen, enkel, H&M, Divided

First two are US language, 3rd and 4th are Dutch, words after that are just written separately and some brands. To come up with the ultimate keywords think about what you would type if you wanted these boots.

Don’t let the crowd search for it, bring them to you!

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Yeah I’m not part of the bloglovin’ culture as well. It had to happen to get some notice of this site !

While a major update is on it’s way (layout change, new sections etc), this is a good start !

Since I make my own jewelry I’m trying to follow some trends to provide our customers the latest fashion in jewelry. One of the latest trends are the Bubble Bracelets. They are simple metal ballchain with cords wrapped around them. I have made a Polyvore creation of them and our supplier for beads and stuff have used it on their site.

You can check it out on La Maison De La Perle.

H&M has a special place within my heart. That is not a secret. Since I have been away for two weeks and i’ve only used the internet for updating my holiday diary (I swear!) I haven’t seen the new collection by H&M. So when I saw all this gorgeous stuff, I had to put an order in. Gosh … it’s a bit over the top this time. I even checked my bankaccount if I could afford it. It’s not above 250 euro’s, but still, it’s a load of money. Too bad the delivery time is sick as always … I have stuff that doesn’t get here untill late september. I really don’t understand why they even sell it now, if it isn’t even in stock.

I have one bag, with studs (real leather/suede) that I really really want. But this morning it was in stock, as soon as I put it in my shopping bag it’s still in stock. When I go to the check-out, it’s suddenly sold out. Yet it remains on the site … Argh!

From top to bottom:

Black lace dress €29,95 | Boyfriend jeans €39,95 | Set of bracelets grey/brown €6,95 | Black Poncho €19,95 | Dark Taupe Skirt €14,95 | Black Combat boots €29,95 | Tan Lace Ankle Boots €34,95 | Striped Bow Top €14,95 | Tan Suede Overknee Boots €39,95 | Black Imitation Leather wedges & Grey Suede Wedges €39,95 each.

Light Pink Doc Martens are through Ebay €33,00 (shipping excluded).

All shoes are imitation leather and/or suede.

More shopping purchazes will follow!

Finally back from holiday. It was a great holiday, full of Tequilse Sunrise, cute bartenders, gorgeous beaches and loads of shopping. I have laughed so much, that I think I have had enough work-out for this whole season to begin with.

So what did I do on holiday? Enough! Visited markets all over the island, went to an Oasis Park to see gorgeous birds and other animals, went shopping on the boulevard of Puerto Del Carmen, got my hands on gorgeous 10 euro cork wedges (you gotta love rabajas) and flirted with some bartenders. Well ok, I don’t think he even noticed, he was just doing his job. But it was fun to feel all girly girl and smiley for 15 days.

I’m sure you don’t want to hear all the boring stuff, long stories etc. So i’ve managed to get some photo’s online, that pretty much sum up my whole holiday.

You ask why the delay board? We had more then 24 hours delay the day of departure from Lanzarote back to Dusseldorf. Yep, first we were gonna fly to La Palma and stay overnight there. But then they cancelled the whole flight and we stayed in this gorgeous resort for one more day. The trip back to Dusseldorf the next day was a pain in the ass, but i’ve ranted more then enough about it already so i’m not going to bother you with it again. To sum it up: It took us 12 hours from the hotel in Lanzarote to the airport in Dusseldorf. While the direct flight only takes up 4 hours, so go figure!

I even got to ride a camel, wich was fun! No photos of that, it’s embarassing.

More updates will follow soon. Ofcourse I will post my shoppings, add some more polyvore stuff on here and review some stuff.

I got some emails of people asking me how I get the stuff I review. I don’t, it’s all mine, bought it myself. I just review what I own, because that’s basically what I like and recommend to others to use. And besides that, the stuff I review are mostly based on color and smell. If it were skin products, that would be a whole other story. But personally, I don’t see the use of reviewing a eyeshadow that has a bad colour. I love others who do, but it’s just not for me, not for this website.

DeviantBlonde is going on a holiday! I will be gone from the 6th of july ’till the 22th of july. My destination is going to be Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Just when I started to get my blog mood back, i’m going away. But i’m sure the blog mood will last this time. It all has to do with some personal issues I had, but I hope that with leaving my current job, that all will be solved.

You don’t have to be bored though. I’ve added some new stuff to my polyvore profile. Check it out, leave your comments or if you really like it, add my collections/sets to your favourites.

Love ya, will be back before you know it!

I’ve made a new collection of sets on polyvore.com. It’s called “in the style of…”. I will post sets there that are in style of a designer, webshop, website, or just one simple dress. I often find look-a-likes that can make a great look for much less.

One of my favourites so far is the one included in this post as a thumbnail. It’s from a website called FrouFrous where i’ve also bought the wedges from. I really like the look of it, and with a dress from WeLikeFashion.com and simple ankle boots from H&M you can wear the look aswell!

Happy shopping!

Photoblog is being updated with two photos. More will follow though. I’m still getting to know my camera, a canon EOS 1000D.

Curious about what I have added to the photoblog? Click here to enter the photoblog and view the photos. You can click on the photos to get a zoomed photo in lightbox view.

Meet Djessy, my dog. She’s 13 already, but still feels like a model. Photo made with Canon EOS 1000D.

Selfportrait made with a Canon EOS 1000D. It’s not spectacular sharp, but it’s something!