Depop - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Positives

+ It's an easy way to make money - all you have to do is take images of the items on your phone, write a description, set a price and then wait for someone to purchase the item then package it up and send the item on it's way to it's new home. It's honestly as simple as that.

+ Friendly community - the majority of people within the Depop community are friendly and fair when it comes to purchasing items from you. They leave you reviews which will help persuade other potential buyers and are great at communicating if any errors occur.

+ Great way to clear out your wardrobe - there is definitely more of an incentive when you're using Depop as a way to get rid of clothes when compared to if they're going to charity. I think this is because you're essentially not getting rid of them that day so you still have time to decide if you still want the item and you're getting money from the item so there is an overall positive to getting rid of that jumper you haven't worn in two years.

+ Easy to use - if you're able to use Instagram then Depop will be second nature to you. It's basically Instagram in which you sell things on. You take the images in square format, you like other peoples items it's all a very similar experience.

Negatives

- A small majority of people who want everything for nothing - you may already be selling that never been worn top for £10 when it cost you £30 yet someone will still ask if they can buy it for £5 including postage. I understand that people want to purchase it for as little as possible but it seems a little unfair to sellers to be asked if they would basically want to make a loss on a product. This isn't everyone though many people are fair and if they do ask for a decrease in price it will be only small.

-Broken promises - you will experience people who seem interested in the product and promise to get back to you tomorrow when they get some money but never do seem to message you back.

-Fees - both Depop and PayPal take a percentage of what you make which is understandable but you have to be aware of this to make sure that you make a profit of which you're happy with as you may sell something for £10 including postage and only make £3 profit. However, for the rest of this month Depop are taking away their side of the fees which means only PayPal will be taking their 2.5% fee.

-Stress of postage - Postage at first is a bit of a pain to get used to as you have to go out and purchase envelopes but once you've got that all sorted the stress mainly comes from having to go to the post office every time someone buys anything which can be a bit of a pain if you're post office is a fair bit away. Luckily I've never had issues of parcels going missing or getting scammed by another user but this does happen but as long as you have proof of postage and always check the buyers reviews you should be okay.

Overall I think Depop is a really useful application and way to get rid of old clothes and make some money along side of it. As long as your careful and can stick to your price you shouldn't lose any money and should have a stress free experience.