You may not be surprised to know that customers buy products on their phones. In fact, one study found that in the first quarter of 2024, smartphones were responsible for 77% of retail site traffic and generated roughly two-thirds of online shopping orders worldwide. With so many potential buyers on mobile devices, more individuals and businesses are turning to apps to sell items online.
Maybe you’re running an ecommerce store or maybe you’re looking to make extra cash from items you own without the hassle of organizing a garage sale or selling them to a thrift store. In either case, several apps can help you sell stuff online.
Learn more about choosing the right app for your needs and best practices for selling through apps. You’ll also get a list of popular apps for selling stuff online.
How to choose the right app for selling
- Consider your audience
- Research the fee structure
- Explore features
- Review the return and shipping policies
Here are the main factors to consider when choosing an app for selling items online:
1. Consider your audience
Identify your product’s target audience and research which selling apps align with your market. For example, Poshmark is a good option if you plan to sell clothing, whereas Decluttr targets customers looking to buy electronics like smartphones or DVDs.
Decide if your items are better suited for local buyers or customers outside your location. If you plan to sell furniture, you may choose a platform like Facebook Marketplace, which is more tailored to local sales.
2. Research the fee structure
Compare selling fees, listing fees, shipping fees, and other costs for selling items on various apps. Each app features a slightly different fee structure.
For example, Poshmark charges a flat transaction fee of $2.95 for all sales under $15, and 20% of any sales over $15. Etsy charges a listing fee of 20¢ for every item you post, whether it sells or not.
3. Explore features
Different apps include different features, like multiple payment methods, guest checkout, direct deposit, and in-app messaging.
For example, eBay has auction features where you can set your lowest price and let customers bid against each other. Poshmark includes social features like Posh Stories, which lets you showcase your products in short videos that look similar to what you might see on Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat.
4. Review the return and shipping policies
Choose an app with a transparent return policy. Understand whether returns are allowed, the acceptable time frame for returns, and who is responsible for paying for return shipping. For example, Etsy lets each seller decide whether their store accepts returns.
Additionally, before you begin selling on an app, research their shipping policies. Some apps cover shipping, while others make sellers or buyers pay for it.
Tips for selling on apps
Here are some best practices for selling items on apps:
Take high-quality product images
High-quality product photography can make the difference between someone clicking on your product or scrolling past. Although smartphones have cameras, consider investing in a camera that gives you more control over depth of field and exposure.
You can take professional photos with simple colored backdrops, or feature your products in a more natural setting. South Van Der Lee, who runs the Calgary-based company GOGO Sweaters, features her products being worn outdoors.
“It’s really important that we have photos—especially when you’re trying to sell online—that the shoppers can put themselves into,” she says on an episode of Shopify Masters.
Write strong product descriptions
Successfully selling online involves writing product descriptions that are both compelling and accurate.
If you’re selling used items like furniture or secondhand clothing, give detailed information about wear and tear. Transparency about the condition of your items can help you maintain a good reputation on the platform, attracting more customers. Even one bad review from a customer who feels misled by your product descriptions can negatively impact sales.
Set appropriate prices
Choosing a competitive selling price is essential. Research similar products and evaluate how their asking price is justified.
If you’re selling new products, choose a price that takes into account variable costs like raw materials and production and fixed costs like overhead. Then, add a markup to ensure a healthy profit margin. You can use Shopify’s profit margin calculator to find an appropriate price.
Be safe
Don’t give buyers any personal information and avoid inviting buyers into your home. If you sell locally and hand products directly to customers, choose a safe, visible meeting spot in a public place. Check out any potential buyers’ profiles before meeting with them to see if they are who they claim to be. Use secure payment methods like PayPal, Stripe, or Shopify Payments.
6 best apps to sell stuff
There are several apps you can use to sell products online. Here are some of the best options based on security, audience, and ease of use:
1. Shop
For selling items online, Shopify’s Shop app is one of the best for reaching shoppers on their phones. It includes useful features like personalized recommendations, an AI shopping assistant, and Shop Cash—a reward program that lets buyers earn virtual cash by using the Shop app.
You can sell on the Shop app as long as you have a Shopify online store and meet the eligibility requirements, including compliance with the Shopify Acceptable Use Policy and Shop Pay, Shopify’s secure payment option. When customers buy your products on the Shop app, orders are seamlessly processed through your connected Shopify store.
Using the Shop app also gives you access to Shop Campaigns, a pay-per-conversion program that lets you target new customers with exclusive offers. As Andrius Baranauskas, director of product at Shopify, explains on an episode of Shopify Masters, “We have brands like Unilever brand Liquid I.V. that were using the product and they saw a 40% reduction in customer acquisition cost using Shop Campaigns.”
Buyers on the Shop app can track orders, access exclusive offers, chat with an AI-powered shopping assistant, and use multiple payment options like Shop Pay Installments—a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option that lets qualified customers make interest-free installments when paying for expensive purchases.
2. eBay
The eBay app helps you create, edit, and monitor listings for new and used items. EBay, the second-most-visited online marketplace in 2023 after Amazon, is particularly useful for selling vintage and antique items in niche markets like collectibles, toys, or sporting goods.
EBay charges two fees to sellers:
- An insertion fee for creating a listing. You get 250 free listings a month before the insertion fee kicks in, and any unsold listings that remain active count toward your next month’s renewed 250 limit.
- A final value fee for items that sell. This is the sum of the per-order fee (30¢ for orders less than $10 and $0.40 for orders more than $10) and a percentage of the total amount of the sale.
3. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is an online marketplace available to anyone with a Facebook account. Any user can buy or sell on the platform, which includes features like free listings, easy messaging with potential buyers through Messenger, and a variety of payment options (credit or debit cards, cash, or via a PayPal account).
Marketplace is a good option if you’re looking to sell items locally; you can set the parameters for where you’re willing to sell, making it useful for selling furniture, fitness equipment, televisions, or other heavy, hard-to-ship items.
4. Poshmark
Poshmark is one of the best apps for selling new and secondhand clothing and fashion accessories online. Poshmark includes Closet Insights—a dashboard with real-time sales and inventory data—and Posh Bundle, which allows buyers who make multiple purchases from the same seller to save money with discounts and lower shipping costs.
There are no listing fees for sellers on Poshmark, and the buyer pays for all shipping costs—a flat rate of $7.97 on all orders. After you sell an item, Poshmark sends you printable shipping labels with the relevant shipping information. You only pay a fee if your item sells—a flat commission of $2.95 for items under $15, and a 20% commission of the final sale price for any items over $15.
5. Etsy
Founded in 2005, Etsy is one of the most popular platforms for selling handmade and vintage items. You can create your Etsy store within the app and track your shop’s performance with analytics like conversion rates, average order value, and search queries that lead customers to your store. Etsy charges a 20¢ listing fee per item, a 6.5% transaction fee, and an additional payment processing fee of 3% plus 25¢ per transaction for sellers using Etsy Payments.
6. Decluttr
Decluttr is a platform that does the selling for you. The app focuses on new and used electronics like video games, gaming consoles, smartphones, CDs, DVDs, laptops, and tablets.
If you have tech products you want to sell, you go onto the Decluttr app and upload your items along with information about how old they are and what condition they’re in. Decluttr then provides an estimate of how much your items are worth. If you’re happy with the price, you sell your products to Decluttr directly, which then resells them.
Best apps to sell stuff FAQ
What is the best app to sell stuff on?
Some of the best apps for selling stuff include the Shop app for Shopify merchants, Poshmark for new or used fashion products, and Facebook Marketplace for selling items locally.
What is the best platform to sell online?
You can sell your products and services on social media, on platforms like Etsy and Facebook Marketplace, or create an ecommerce store on a platform like Shopify. Shopify in particular makes it easy to set up a professional store with safe transactions, built-in SEO and marketing tools, and access to the Shop app.
