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Monday 2 July 2012

How To Have a Blog Sale


Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Since I have a blog and have been writing it for a good couple of years now, I am often asked questions about different aspects of it.

Recently I was asked how to host a blog sale and realised that this is a question I have been asked multiple times and might be worthy of a whole post. I appreciate this will be of little use to those of you who don't write a blog, so to you I am sorry, I do hope you can forgive me!

Jumble sale meets celebration. 

Blog sales can be a great way of decluttering your house, not throwing things in a landfill, helping other people find bargains and making a bit of pocket money. Hurrah!

There are of course some pitfalls, but hopefully we will cover some of those.


BEFORE BLOG SALE

First things first, decide what you want to sell. Ensure that it is clean, in good condition and is actually something somebody might like to purchase. A bottle of perfume that you have only used twice and kept out of sunlight, yes. A bottle of shampoo that has been languishing in the bathroom for six months and you have used 50% of, probably not.

Photograph all your items. Take your pictures in good lighting (preferably natural daylight), against a plain background (white or cream is usually best), and in focus. If you have the time and inclination, consider taking multiple photographs of each item (open, closed, in box, out of box etc).

Make a note of what you are selling, how much you plan to sell it for and how much of it has been used, if at all. You can then use this note to tick it off when it sells and then tick it off again when you have posted it out. Organisation is key!

Ensure you have a paypal account and that you know how to send invoices. These are free to send but once you have been paid, paypal will take a cut (I believe at the moment it is 3.4%). So if you sell a nail polish for £1, you will likely only see 96-97p of that. If you are unsure of how to send an invoice, google is your educational friend here. 

Work out your postage costs. The Royal Mail are little blighters and have recently put up their prices, meaning you may have to research yours a little. Also factor in what you will package your items in and ensure you have stock of this. You want to make sure your products have the best possible chance of arriving in good condition so use bubblewrap, padding, tissue paper where necessary. I always save up the free padding you get in other packages and recycle it, that way you are doing your bit of the planet and your purse strings. 


DURING BLOG SALE

Be very clear with your terms and conditions. Perhaps research what terms other bloggers have stipulated and use them for a bit of guidance. Be clear on how much you charge per item, whether you accept returns, where you will post to (your own country/worldwide) and how you accept payment. I have found paypal to be easiest and safest.

Under each item image, write the product name, what condition it is in and how much you are charging.

Ask people to write in the comments which item they would like and to provide their paypal email address so that you can invoice them. Keep a keen eye on your comments and refresh often so that you don't keep your customers waiting too long.

Once your payment is confirmed paid, carefully package and post your item to the customer. ENSURE that you ask for proof of postage at the post office til. This is free. Keep this proof incase your customer says they have not had their item. Without it you don't really have a leg to stand on and may have to issue a refund. I have been stung by this once and it wasn't much fun. I couldn't prove that I had sent the item to America (I had) and had a very angry girl on my case and I was left poorer for it. 

If you use any other social media platforms (like twitter, facebook, pinterest or instagram), consider using those to drum up a bit of interest in your blog sale and encourage more potential customers to drop by. 

Do this with all the items and voila- some summer spends!

I hope that has helped and if you have any other good tips, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Toodlepip!

xx

34 comments:

  1. Really helpful thank you Louise, I was thinking about having a blog sale only this afternoon :)

    Love, Elizabeth xx

    http://butterflyboo.blogspot.co.uk/

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  2. Thank you for this post! I emailed you a few days ago about how to do a blog sale and this post was so very helpful! Thank you so much :)

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  3. This helped alot! Thankyou for doing this post :)

    egtx3.blogspot.co.uk
    xx

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  4. very helpful only just started my blog yesterday

    http://charlottesbeautyweb.blogspot.co.uk/

    It would be helpful if you would do a blogpost on how u started blogging and how you got it too be where it is today and how you got this lovely layout thankyou.

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    Replies
    1. I like that idea! Like a blog story :)

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    2. This is a great idea! Please? :)

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  5. Ooooo Thankyou for writing such a brilliant post, I will Definitly follow these guidelines when I hold my next blog sale :) x

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  6. Lovely post! Thank you!

    Emma x
    http://beautyandrags.blogspot.co.uk/

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  7. Ah another great post Louise. You can also get the HTML tags from paypal if you are tech savvy and add them to the post so buyers can automatically hit buy now and you will get an email which does save some time sending invoices etc. I also agree with Charlotte above that I would love to read your blog story :-)

    Becky
    beckys makeup

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  8. This is a great post! Really helped me a lot, thanks! :)

    xox

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  9. Thank you for adding those points up I think you have really explained it well!

    www.thoughtsfashionbeauty.blogspot.com

    xx

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  10. thanks, really useful. am pretty new to blogging so this should come in use one day!

    http://studsanddreams.blogspot.co.uk/

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  11. Great post, very helpful!<3

    http://emzoo.blogspot.co.uk/

    http://littlesugarcube.blogspot.co.uk/

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  12. Great post, i already have my own blog sale but this is so handy for those that are just starting out! glad you mentioned getting proof of postage too as im sure not everyone thinks about that(i know ive been stung by that too!) x

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  13. Such a useful post! I'm going to do a blog sale when I get some more followers as right now there aren't really enough.
    Thank you for doing this though, reminds you of everything that there is & that it isn't just pop it on and it sells!

    http://petticoatsandpansies.blogspot.co.uk/

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  14. Thanks for the useful post! I have a blog sale currently active right now!!

    Link to blog sale:
    http://lipglossandpudding.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/blog-sale.html

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  15. You and Zoe inspired me to make a blog <3
    You guys are my inspiration <3
    http://littlesugarcube98.blogspot.co.uk/

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  16. Such a helpful post, thanks! :) x

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  17. This is a really helpful post, thank you!! I know you get loads of requests but I would to see a similar post on how to do a giveaway; for instance how to monitor who's entered, how to pick a winner at random etc. :) xx

    jensbrightandbeautiful.blogspot.com

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  18. thanks so much for this post xx

    http://ravingbeautyx.blogspot.co.uk/

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  19. i like the idea of blog sales, bit dont have many followers yet!!
    beautyaddict1997.blogspot.co.uk

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  20. Love the idea of a blog sale! http://yourbrunetteguru.blogspot.co.uk/

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  21. I love this post! It's really helped me because I am starting up my own blog and I am hoping to start a youtube channel. I know you have a lot to do but it would be great if you and others could take a look at my blog, http://demandbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/

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  22. My Bestfriend loves your blog and your youtube x

    http://emzoo.blogspot.co.uk/

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  23. This was incredibly helpful and I can't wait until I have enough items to sell to have my own blog sale :) xox

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  24. this was super super helpful Louise, thankyou! I would much rather have a blog sale than put my items on ebay; i've had too much bad things happen on ebay!
    bit of a random comment, but i just watched your florida vlogs as i'm off there in August, you had me crying, literally crying with laughter when you were on that hammock and with your dino puppets! ahhh, thankyou for making my monday that bit more enjoyable! :)xo

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  25. Nice :) never heard of this before xxx

    http://jeminixlife.blogspot.com

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  26. Very helpful I only just come across thus idea recently

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  27. really helpful blog spot! will come in handy!!

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  28. Thanks for such a helpful post!

    http://theconfectionmonsoon.wordpress.com/

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  29. tis was helpful! but i only just started my blog so would that still be ok?

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  30. Just what I was looking for :) so helpful, thank you for sharing! x

    http://www.amandasays.org.uk

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  32. This information and knowledge you have shared is really inspiring and makes me consider hiring social media services to help me grow my business. But I’m still thinking about it. Nowadays digital marketing is indeed very important to grow a business though. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I would love to see more updates from you.

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Thank you for comment!
Sprinkleofglitter xxx

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