Carousell Shopping Hacks – Tips from a Pro-Seller

Carousell is my main online selling platform. I get to sell more items on Carousell than on other platforms I use. Aside from selling, I also buy a lot from Carousell especially when the lockdown was implemented in my country. Although I usually talk about tips on online selling, I’m here to share with you guys some Carousell shopping hacks to help you save money on your next purchases.

What is Carousell?

Before we discuss Carousell shopping hacks, for those of you who are not yet familiar with the website/app, let’s talk about what Carousell is. Carousell is one of the leading online buy and sell websites in the Philippines. It started in Singapore and it’s now available in the following countries:

• Australia
• Canada
• Hong Kong
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Taiwan

Unlike Shopee, payment, and shipping is not integrated with Carousell. So that means, you have to discuss with the seller (if you’re the buyer and vice-versa) these options.

It’s like the traditional online classified ads website that we had in the past. The strength of Carousell lies in its target market. It’s one of the best online marketplaces for second-hand goods in the Philippines although sometimes, you will still find a handful of sellers selling brand new items.

Why Use Carousell for Shopping?

Maybe you’re thinking, why you should use Carousell for shopping instead of Shopee? Well, again, as I have mentioned earlier, it’s more geared towards the second-hand market.

So, if you’re on the lookout for preloved goodies then this is the right marketplace for you.

The number of second-hand sellers on Shopee is also starting to grow. However, as a buyer, I find it easier to search on Carousell for these items. When you search on Shopee, your search result will also show all the brand new items being sold here and abroad.

Who knows, maybe in the future Shopee will also take over the online second-hand market, but as of the time of writing, I think that this particular market is with Carousell (for now).

How to Sign Up or Register with Carousell

Signing up on a Carousell account is pretty straightforward and easy and you can do this via the App which you can download on Google Playstore and Apple App Store or you can sign up via their website. Here’s the link to the detailed instructions on how to sign up on Carousell via the app.

 

If you’re signing up via the website, it’s pretty much straight forward as well. All you have to do is just follow these steps:

1. Go to https://carousell.com/signup using any web browser (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox)
2. Type in your preferred username, password, your country, and a valid email address
3. Type in your mobile number and tap on ‘Verify’
4. You should receive a 6-digit confirmation code via SMS (Digits by Twitter)
5. Type in the code to verify your mobile number
6. After typing in all the required information and after you’ve checked “I’m not a robot”, the “Sign up” button should be clickable. Tap on the “Sign up” button and your account will be created.
7. A verification email will be sent to the email address that you have provided during the sign-up process. Verify your email and you’re done.

Ain’t that easy 🙂

How to Save Money When Shopping on Carousell

I find the price on Carousell really affordable. But, you can still save money from your purchases. Here are some Carousell shopping hacks that can help you save money when shopping on Carousell.

Filter and Sort

Carousell has a sear bar on top of the page/app and you can use this to search for the items that you’re looking for. You can also use the categories if you want to. During the search, you can sort and filter and what I usually do is sort by Price (Low-High) to check the cheapest available items.

I also sort on the latest postings by tapping on “Recent” which is also available on the Filter and Sort page.

Use Keywords and/or Use Categories

At the search bar, use strategic keywords to search for the item that you’re looking for. If you’re looking for Dior bags then you can search using the following keywords:

• Dior
• Christian Dior
• Vintage Dior
• Dior Bag

Carousell is one of the best places to buy very affordable vintage designer goods especially if you know how to self-authenticate. If unsure, just don’t buy to save yourself from doubts and stress.

Sometimes, I notice new sellers do not use keywords on their listings that’s why after searching for items using the search bar, I also scroll the ‘Recent’ items per category. Given the example above, if I’m searching for a Dior bag, I will tap on Women’s Fashion (Main category) and then on ‘Bags & Wallets (Women’s Fashion Sub-category).

If I don’t find anything that I like, I will then comb the other category – ‘Luxury’ and then tap on ‘Bags & Wallets’ (Luxury Sub-category).

By searching using keywords and categories, I increase my chances of finding what I’m looking for.

 

Create a ‘Looking For’ Post

To further increase your chances of finding what you’re looking for, then you’re in luck. Carousell has a Sub-category ‘Looking For’ under the ‘Everything Else’ Main category.

You can create a post under this category and include pictures of the item/s that you’re looking for and your target buying price.

Include as many details as possible such as size, preferred condition, color, etc,  so when sellers contact you, they have some information to start with.

Tap on the ‘Heart’ Icon

Whenever I search Carousell for items that I intend to buy, I don’t contact the sellers right away once I find what I was looking for. I just tap on the ‘Heart’ icon which can be found just below the picture of the item being sold. By doing this,  it will save that listing on my ‘Liked’ page. You can find all the listings/posts that you’ve ‘Liked’ on this page.

If you want to check out all the listings that you have ‘Liked’, just click on the ‘Heart’ icon on the upper right side of your app (beside the chat icon).

Why do I do this? I do this to sure that I know which one has the best quality and the best price available during the time of the search.

I also do this when I’m still not yet ready to buy and I’m just saving the links of all the items that I’m planning to buy in the next few days.

Haggle

Once you have found the item that you intend to buy, send a message to the seller and you can start the haggling process.

Personally, I’m not good at haggling and I don’t haggle when the price is already low. I usually just ask how much their last price or final price is and I just pay whatever amount they tell me.

However, in certain instances, when I lack some funds, I ask them if there’s a possibility of lowering the price even further, and sometimes, I get further discounts.

Please avoid low-balling especially for hard-to-find vintage designer items. it will eat up your time and the item will just be sold to another prospective buyer who made a better offer.

Speed of Transaction is the Key

If you’re a collector of vintage designer goods and if you’re monitoring the international online market scene, then you’ll know that most of the listings on Carousell are already very cheap compared to international sellers.

Most of the time, it’s a fraction of the cost of exactly the same second-hand items posted on eBay International and other online selling platforms abroad.

This information is important to know especially if you’re a local buyer because I’m starting to notice a surge in inquiries from International buyers.

If you spend so much time haggling, then before you know it, it’s already sold to another buyer who made a better offer.

I have been through this scenario multiple times and I really regret not making an offer right away.

If you see a rare vintage piece and it’s already within your price range then I suggest that you make an offer right away.

Please do note that an offer on Carousell is non-binding, meaning, both sellers and buyers are not obliged to proceed with the transaction even after an offer is sent (unlike Grailed). So, what I usually do, as long as I know that it’s a reputable seller, I pay right away.

Paying right away seals the deal!

Scrutinize the Condition

This is a bit tricky because scrutinizing the details will eat up so much time.

However, if the pictures posted and the descriptions do not suffice, I don’t hesitate in asking for additional pictures and I always confirm the flaws and conditions of the item.

I don’t want to buy a cheap vintage designer good with tons of flaws because I will end up just giving it away or worst, throwing it away.

What I do is, I will ask the seller if they could reserve the item for me while I’m in the process of checking the details (waiting for additional pictures or waiting for confirmations on the flaws).

Cost-efficient Payment and Shipping Option

If it’s just a garment, then I just ask them whatever the cheapest available shipping option in their area is and I always opt for that. If it’s a leather bag, a structured bag, a leather garment, a structured garment with so many details, then I always opt for the most secured method of shipping even if it’s more expensive to avoid damaging the bag during transit.

Sometimes, it’s not worth saving a few pesos on shipping at the risk of damaging the item.

I also ask them for payment options and I choose whichever is the easiest and more cost-efficient for me. Usually, payment is done via bank transfer or GCash.

Related Post: GCash Philippines Review 2021 – How to Open an Account with GCash

Ask Seller if They Have a Shopee Account

Some sellers on Carousell also sell their items on Shopee. I only started asking Carousell sellers if they have Shopee accounts late last year.

Why do I need to know if they have a Shopee account?

I ask because, depending on the item, I might opt to check out via Shopee so I can utilize the discount vouchers and free shipping vouchers on Shopee.

I have done this for a couple of items and I did save some money by checking out the items using Shopee.

Related Post: How to Save Money when Shopping on Shopee

Follow Sellers on Carousell

You have the option to ‘Follow’ sellers on Carousell. What happens is, after you’ve followed them, you will see all their recent posts under the ‘Following’ category. This will help you save time searching Carousell for items that you like.

For example, some sellers only specialize in designer bags, avant-garde clothing, uber-cheap clothing, etc. If you follow their stores, then it will save you time searching for these particular items.

Authenticate

If you’re buying authentic designer goods then the good news is, there’s a lot of sellers on Carousell selling authentic designer goods. The bad news is, there are also a handful of sellers that are selling counterfeit goods. The other bad news is, there are also sellers who are unsure of their items’ authenticity.

Carousell is making an effort in removing counterfeit items on their platform but we all know that this is a very difficult thing to do. Even more established e-commerce websites and brick and mortar stores have this problem, and even luxury preloved stores in the Western world have this problem especially with the increasing number of ‘Super Fakes’!

The best way to save money in buying designer goods is not to get duped into buying a fake one for the price of the real one.

Knowledge is the key! If unsure, as I have mentioned earlier, do not buy!

If you are really intending to buy then ask the seller for a money-back guarantee or ask the seller if you could have it authenticated first.

This is very important especially for highly-coveted, highly-counterfeited, and very expensive bags such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Celine, Dior, YSL, Gucci, Loewe, Balenciaga, and more.

Don’t Get Scammed

One of the things that I love about Carousell is that it’s not just an online buy and sell platform, it’s also a community of buyers and sellers and Carousell wants to maintain it that way.

If you think you’re dealing with a suspicious seller, especially if you already have made the payment, you have the option to report the seller to Carousell especially once they have stopped responding to you.

Carousell’s customer support team will help you contact them and take necessary actions in case they do not respond.

Another thing that I like about Carousell is the feedback system. This is the first thing that you have to check if you are a buyer to ensure that you’re dealing with a Legit seller.

Now, it doesn’t mean that someone with no feedback is not a Legit seller. Of course, if you’re new to Carousell, you won’t have any feedback yet. What I do is that I ask them for a Cash on Delivery (COD) option.

This is to ensure that I don’t send the payment without receiving the item first. I also make sure that I leave them feedback so it would help other buyers find the legit sellers on Carousell.

Check Carousell Frequently

Carousell has tons of users not only in the Philippines but also in other countries where they are available. Personally, I check Carousell multiple times a day even if I’m not intending to buy it. This is to ensure that I get to see if the items that I am looking for are available on the website/app.

Sometimes, I get to buy items that were just posted a few seconds ago. Again, as I have mentioned a while ago, speed of transaction is the key, most especially if you are o the hunt for rare vintage designer pieces.

Rare designer vintage pieces get sold very quickly on Carousell and on other websites as well especially if the price is very affordable.

 

Final Thoughts

Carousell is a hotbed for a lot of super nice items. This is one of the best websites/apps to use if you’re hunting for affordable rare vintage designer goods. Even if you’re in the market for non-branded goods, I think Carousell is still one of the best apps to use.

It’s like an organized and very convenient online thrift store. Sometimes, the prices for non-designer goods that I see on Carousell are even way cheaper than what I see on actual thrift stores.

I’m an online seller of second-hand goods and I’m familiar with the prices of various thrift stores since I shop with them regularly.

If you don’t have an account yet then I suggest that you create one and explore Carousell!

Do you have any additional inputs to share? Feel free to add your tips and suggestions in the comment section below.