How to Make Money on Carousell - Beginner’s Guide

This is not a sponsored nor a paid review. I personally use Carousell and I have been selling on Carousell for more than two years now. eBay was my main platform before, however, an ex-colleague of mine introduced me to this app when it was barely new in the Philippines and she told me that I could make money on Carousell by selling my items.

What is Carousell?

Carousell is an online marketplace and one of the most popular selling platform in the Southeast Asian region that is accessible via their regular website or via their app. It was founded in Singapore in 2012 and it has then expanded as of the time of writing to 8 other marketplaces:

Taiwan
Philippines
New Zealand
Malaysia
Indonesia
Hong Kong
Canada
Australia

Why sell on Carousell?

Marketplace Size

Carousell was not the popular marketplace in the Philippines back then until it acquired one of the biggest online classified ads in the Philippines (probably the biggest and most popular) – OLX in July 2019. Across all its marketplaces, Carousell has quadrupled in volume since inception, with more than 196 million listings and 71 million items sold among 6 million monthly unique users as of 2019 (source).

So, what’s in it for you if Carousell has millions of users? More users mean more potential customers that you can sell your items.

Convenience

Carousell can be accessed via its website or via the mobile app which is available to both iOS and Android users. You can easily keep track of your listings using your mobile phone.

It also has a chat functionality that you can use to chat with your customers in real-time (as long as they’re online), unlike the eBay messaging function which is more of an email than a chat.

Ease of Use

You can easily post or list an item to sell using the app or via the website and it will take you just a few minutes to do so. If you have a template as I do, then it’s even quicker to post items on Carousell.

How to sign up on Carousell?

Signing up is easy. Just click on click on the registration link located at the upper right side of the webpage and the sign-up box up will appear. You can either sign up using your Facebook account, mobile number, or email address.

Complete the form and submit by clicking on ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Sign Up with Email’ depending on the sign-up option that you choose.

After you finish the registration you can now start posting items.

Congratulations! You now have the chance to make money on Carousell!

After this process, be sure to edit your profile and include important details such as Modes of Payment, Shipping Schedule, etc. And also, don’t forget to put an online store logo.

How to post items for sale on Carousell?

Before you start posting, I highly recommend that you read the Terms and Conditions and the Marketplace Guidelines to make sure that you don’t accidentally break Carousell rules. If you wish to read the Carousell Listing Rules, click here.

The listing rule is created to ensure that the Carousell marketplace becomes a thriving platform for both sellers and buyers alike. So be sure to read it first before you start posting.

Here are the basic steps in creating a listing on Carousell:

Click on Sell
Upload the photos of the items that you wish to sell. You can upload a maximum of 10 pictures per item.
Choose the most relevant category for your listing. For example, if you’re selling a dress, then choose Women’s Fashion – Clothes – Dresses, and Skirts.
Type in an honest description of the item that you’re selling including the measurement.
Type in the details of shipping. Include the courier option, day of shipping, and the cost.

Example:

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What to sell on Carousell?

You can sell almost anything on Carousell as long as it adheres to their listing rules. Please check the listing rules to be aware of the acceptable items to sell.

Some of the most popular items to sell on Carousell are:

Clothes
Bags
Accessories
Jewelry
Home Accessories
Home Appliances
Beauty Products
Collectibles
Vintage Items
Antiques
Electronics
Books and other school supplies

You can also list cars and properties but the listing rule is quite different than the other items (again, be sure to check out the listing rule).

As for me, I only sell clothes, bags, accessories, collectibles, and home accessories. Clothes, bags, and accessories seem to be the most common product I often see on Carousell.

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How do you get paid on Carousell?

Carousell does not have a payment facility as of the time of writing. Payment is done based on the arrangement agreed by both the buyers and sellers. The usual common mode of payments in the Philippines include:

Remittance Centers such as 7-11, LBC, Cebuana Lhuiller, and Palawan Express
Bank Payment (Deposit or Online Transfer)
COD via LBC, Lalamove, or other service providers who offer this service
Cash via Meetup
Online/Mobile Payment such as Paypal, GCash, etc.

Tips on How to Effectively and Sustainably Sell Fast on Carousell

Selling on Carousell is free. And that’s good news for all sellers. And since it’s a free selling platform with a huge number of users, the competition among sellers is also getting tighter as days go by.

Here are some tips on how to sell your items fast on Carousell:

Take Clear and Beautiful Pictures

Ever heard of the saying,

A picture is worth a thousand words - Fred R. Barnard Click To Tweet

It’s very true! Most especially in the world of online selling. Regardless of the size of your business, if you’re selling online, your main weapon is your pictures.

If you are selling clothes, the pictures of your items should be taken in a well-lit area in your house with a neutral colored wall as your background, preferably beige or white. The picture should show the accurate color of the item.

Sometimes, due to lack of ample light, the color might look pale or over-saturated and will not best describe your item. Do not be tempted to edit the picture to improve the color quality of the product. It might look misleading to your customers. However, if you’re just going to edit the background then go ahead and do so.

The picture should also show all sides of the item – front, back, sides, bottom, etc. So the prospective buyer will have an idea of what the overall look of the item is.

Even though you are limited to posting only 10 pictures per listing on Carousell, you can show more pictures by using photo-collage apps. For example, when I list a bag for sale on Carousell, I take pictures of all corners and then, later on, combine all images (four corners – four pictures) into one image using a photo-collage app. I use PhotoGrid (Android) in case you’re wondering which app I use.

Describe your Item Accurately

Describe your items accurately on the available description box provided by Carousell. Both you and your customer will benefit a lot if you diligently do this on all your postings. Do not forget to include the size and actual measurement of the items that you are selling, especially for clothes. Some of the things that I always include are:

Actual measurement and measurement on the tag
Flaws and imperfections if there are any
Fabric type
I indicate if the fabric is stretchable or not (because I keep on getting questions about it)
Color description in case the colors on the pictures are not close to what the actual item looks like. Sometimes, regardless of how hard I try and how many times I take pictures of an item, it just comes out too vibrant for some clothes.

If your post is complete, then you and your prospective customers will be able to save a lot of time. You can avoid the back and forth questions that they usually ask about the items that are listed since all the information that they need are already on your post.

Set the Expectation

Aside from putting in the description of the item, I also include a generic set of statements to all my listings below the description in order to set the right expectation for the customers. Here is an example statement about the condition of the item:

“I thoroughly check all my items before I post them. Please be aware that there might be some imperfections that I may have missed such as loose threads, broken threads, some small stains, and minor discoloration. Please manage your expectation as these are second-hand items.”

I also set the expectation on payment and shipping to minimize misunderstanding in the future. Here is an example:

“Please be advised that payments are expected within three days your offer is accepted. I only accept bank transfers via BDO and BPI. I ship paid items every Wednesday and Saturday via JRS or LBC.”

And lastly, I also encourage prospective buyers to message me before the ‘Make an Offer’ to minimize requests for returns and from getting negative feedback.

Ensure Competitive Pricing

In my years of online selling, I realized that the best marketing strategy is competitive pricing. I always try my best to ensure that my items are priced similarly and often, a bit lower than my competitors. To be able to do this, I am constantly searching for thrift stores where I could source my items cheaper.

I also travel to other towns and provinces just to be able to find cheaper products to buy. My goal is to be one of the sellers on Carousell that sells very affordable high-quality clothes and accessories.

Take Care of Your Customers

In order to be in the online selling business for a long time, we need to take care of our customers. Taking care of your customers start the very first time they send you a message. I make sure that I answer them politely and timely. I also apologize in case I don’t get to answer them right away.

In order to understand this easily, just put yourself in your customers’ shoes. If you are intending to buy from an online store, regardless if the item is cheap or expensive, you want to get excellent customer service right? Taking customers for granted is the biggest mistake any business could commit.

I’m also a buyer on Carousell and I buy tons of things online. I always take note of how I was treated by the seller. I try to observe their best practices. And for those sellers who are not making any effort, I realized that I don’t want to buy again from them. I always keep this in mind to avoid repeating other sellers’ mistakes.

Be Flexible

Be Flexible with Pricing

A lot of my customers on Carousell often ask for discounts. I try to accommodate as many requests as I could as long as I won’t lose money in the process. Oftentimes, I meet halfway with customers or offer free shipping instead if I could not grant the discount.

Luckily, most customers who ask for discounts often buy multiple items, and sometimes they buy in bulk. There are certain times wherein I really could not give any discount because I already priced the item in the lowest amount acceptable to me. In cases like this, I tell the customer politely that I could not accept their offer.

Be Flexible with Shipping

I only ship my items via JRS or LBC (the biggest couriers in the Philippines). However, from time to time, I do accept shipping via Lalamove or Grab if the customers prefer these shipping options.

I don’t ship using other couriers since I had experienced too many delays with them in the past. If a customer insists that they want the cheaper couriers, I politely explain why I don’t ship using other couriers anymore. Most customers will accept my explanation and some will not and will cancel the order.

I don’t want to compromise the quality of my service for the price difference of couriers which isn’t really that much.

Don’t Be Afraid to Say NO

A lot of people including myself are having a hard time saying no. In the years of doing online selling, I learned that it’s ok to say no and there are tons of ways on how you could say no without compromising your relationship with your customers.

Usually, I say no to lowball offers since the offer could not basically cover the cost of acquiring the item and my operational cost. I just politely tell them that I have to decline the offer. Sometimes, they change the offer and offer a fairer price, and sometimes they don’t. Such is life!

If you frequently accept lowball offers then you might end up closing your shop in just a month or two. Do not be afraid to say no to offers that are below the cost of acquiring an item and your operational cost. You will not be able to grow your business if you will not profit from it.

You can stay competitive without losing money!

Cross-post to Other Online Selling Platform

It is not prohibited to cross-post to other online selling websites and I highly recommend that you do this in order to sell quickly. Having your products displayed on multiple websites is like having multiple stores in different shopping malls. You can cross-post on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. Just be sure to remove the lists that are sold in Carousell or other platforms to avoid having unavailable items listed on your online stores.

I also suggest promoting your Carousell store on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. This is to increase exposure to possible untapped markets thus giving you a chance to seep up your sales.

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My Personal Experience Selling on Carousell

I love it! Please be aware that this is not a sponsored post nor a paid review. As I mentioned above, I personally use Carousell as a seller and also as a buyer. I find the app and the website intuitive and it keeps on improving as days go by.

I’m excited in the next few months/years for all the improvements that will come to Carousell. I hope that those improvements will benefit both buyers and sellers alike.

Will I recommend Carousell to other people? I already did! A lot of my friends who don’t sell online are starting to see the value of buying the things that they need on Carousell.

The best part that I love the most as a seller and as a buyer is the chat functionality. You could easily talk to the person you are having a transaction with within real-time (as long as they’re also online).

How to Make Money on Carousell - Beginner’s Guide Click To Tweet

Do you also sell on Carousell? Let me know if you have additional tips and suggestions for those who are also interested to make money on Carousell. Thanks!

How to Make Money on Carousell – Beginner’s Guide

What is Carousell?