Hey dolls! I’m back with another post on Student Fashion. Today I’m going to be doing a review of the increasingly popular Depop app and sharing my personal experience of using it. So lets get straight into it.
Depop is an online market place much like the asos market place, etsy or eBay. The set up is unlike eBay in the sense that you don’t bid for items; the seller simply posts a picture of the item they wish to sell and puts an asking price for that item. Some sellers are rigid with their prices but as the seller is in control they can choose to negotiate and haggle with buyers and in some cases they can even opt to swap items for items rather than for money.
Various items can be sold on depop from clothing, footwear and accessories to electricals and make up! There is however certain items that are strictly prohibited from being sold on the platform and this includes items such as liquor, animals, counterfeit goods and personal information or credit cards. Depop provides an extensive list of these prohibited products and to check out the full list click here.
Depop is a free service and it is available as a free app for both apple and android devices which can be downloaded here. It is also always free to list an item for sale on Depop and the seller is only charged a fee if they successfully sell an item with instant payment through the app. With instant payment an item can be bought and paid for immediately without having to communicate with the seller. This payment uses PayPal which is very secure but if a seller prefers they can disable instant payment to enable communication with a buyer before any payments are made. A 10% fee is applied on the final sale price of an item and the fee is deducted automatically from the seller’s PayPal account. As well as this fee, PayPal also charges a small fee for every transaction. It is therefore relatively cheap to sell on the app but depop fees will vary depending on the final sale price of an item.
Biggest pro if you’re a buyer is that you can bag yourself a bargain on a variety of items from electricals and cosmetics to clothing and footwear. Another pro is that you can find products that may be sold out in stores on depop which is always a plus if you’ve been hunting down a particular item or product. It is also very interactive as users put up giveaways and other competitions so through it you’re part of an online community and you can also make some new friends! You can also communicate with sellers through private messaging and this helps to keep a constant stream of communication if you’re interested in a product and once a product you’ve purchased has been paid for you can check on postage details.
From the sellers perspective a great pro is that you’re in control 100% of the time. You decide the price of your item and can also decide to negotiate the prices of items with buyers. Another pro is that if an item is in high demand and is sold out in stores and online and you happen to have it, you are in control and can probably get more for the item than what you paid for it. Another pro is that there are Zero insertion fees and you can list as many items as you please for however long you please. Payments can also be taken via PayPal or through debit and credit card payments and this makes it easier for sellers and buyers to use the method most convenient for them whilst staying protected.
This is a very hard area to shed light on as it’s very subjective and based on each person’s personal experience. I can say that one thing I have noticed is over pricing and marking up of items so if you’re not careful you can be duped into paying more for a second hand item when you could have got the item for cheaper brand new. Like all online shopping experiences you can never be sure of the fit of the item until it actually arrives and you’re completely at the mercy of the sellers description. So in some cases you can buy an item that can turn out to be the wrong size or fit. On the plus side you can always sell the item on if this turns out to be the case. Another con is sellers may try to mark up items through their shipping prices. It’s always a good idea to know a rough estimate of what an item would cost to ship so that you are not taken advantage of.
like on all shopping trips, it’s good to have a budget. This just makes sure you only spent what you can afford. It’s so easy to over spend especially when items are cheap. Remember every adds up!
negotiate with sellers to try and get prices that bit cheaper. Especially if an item has been listed for a long period of time with little or no interest. The seller probably wants to get rid of the item as much as you want to buy it so use this to your advantage to try and knock some money off.
if you don’t have the cash but have some nice items in your listings you can always offer a swap with the seller for one of your items. This way you both get a bargain and your only cost is postage. Win! Win!
it’s always a good idea to research postage costs so that you are not duped into paying more than you should be. Granted some items’ postage depends on weight but you can check for estimates on the Royal Mail website here.
if you’re unsure of how an item will fit is always a good idea to ask the seller to take a picture wearing an item. This allows you to judge how the item will fit you. If you and the seller are roughly the same size the likelihood that the item will fit you perfectly is higher. If the seller is a bigger size, the item will probably fit looser on you… You get the picture.
this is a follow up of the tip above; always ask questions! About the fit, the fabric, how long they’ve had it, the care and maintenance. Literally anything you want to know about the item, ask! This helps you get a better picture of what you’ll be getting for your money.
whether you’re a seller or buyer it’s always good to be polite and practice good etiquette. This boosts your reviews and more people will want to deal with you. Depop has a nifty page on their website giving good Depop etiquette tips here!
There you have it guys! That’s my review of Depop. Hope you find it helpful and informative and if you have any further questions or there’s something I haven’t covered please feel free to ask me questions in the comment section below. Also if you’re a Depop app user who has some further tips and tricks share them with us in the comment section, we’d love to hear from you!
Get the iOS version on the Apple App Store or the Android version from the Google Play Store.
8 thoughts on “The Ultimate Guide to Depop: App Review”