hey everyone! i’m val, and this is my first tips post i am posting. i’m going to tell you today on how to boost on instagram.
i have a few friends that sell their old clothes / barely used makeup / accessories on instagram, and they definitely make some money doing that. since those who boost things boost on a few different sites, i just want to open up instagram as an option, and here are some tips to get you started.
- make a separate account for boosting / selling things on instagram. make sure your username includes something such as ‘clothes’, ‘fashion’, ‘makeup’, and the city you live in / the nearest city to you. for example, let’s say you live in malibu, california, so the nearest big city to you is los angeles. your username can be something like ‘clothing_lax’, ‘sellingstufflax’, and more.
- make your profile public, and for your name part of your instagram profile, put something like ‘i sell stuff in [x city]’, and in the bio part, put places you are willing to meet up at, and some basic rules you might have (ie. all sales are final, meetups at [x] is free / extra cost, and more).
- search up profiles with terms like ‘clothing [x city]’, ‘makeup [x city]’, and follow those accounts. any one with a public profile - look at who they follow, and follow the selling accounts, this will save you time.
- post photos of the stuff you want to boost - this part’s important - do not post a lot within a short period. this will raise suspicion if someone looks at your time stamps. spread your posts out. do not post immediately when you get home from a haul, because it has the potential to get you caught. wait a few weeks to be safe. do not post a lot of specific items at once. if you went lifting at sephora, please don’t post three items available at sephora within a short time period. it can get you caught for boosting. it also tipped me off that someone in my city is probably lifting at sephora, due to three sephora posts within a 24 hour span.
- do not post with your location in the post. post photos that are taken on a nice background, such as a door, a wall, a white rug, and more. remember, you want people to want to buy your stuff
- make your stuff look a bit ‘used’. people will get suspicious if you are selling a lot of ‘brand new’ or ‘barely used’ items. for clothes, cut off tags (if you still have them), wrinkle them a little bit (or sit on them, whatever works for you), put it on a hanger, put it against the door, and take a photo. caption it, ‘$x, doesn’t fit me anymore / bought on another closet, doesn’t fit me’. for things like palettes, use a brush to brush over some colors, wearing them down a little bit / a lot, and when you post it, caption it like ‘$x, NAKED palette with Naked and Toasted worn down a bit, the other colors have been used once or twice’. boosting underwear might be a bit weird, but lift something that strangers can tell is not your size, and claim it was a gift. boosting bras usually work out well, especially if it’s from PINK or VS. for lipsticks, swatch a few of them once, and leave some brand new. specify in the post that some have been swatched, but you will sanitize before you deliver it to them. for stuff like NYX lip creams, Sephora collection items, selling them in bundles of 3 or 5 is pretty smart, especially if you are giving a good deal. for stuff like potted eyeliner, use the brush to brush over it once or twice, then clean off the brush. post that you have used the eyeliner once or twice, but you didn’t like the formula. for makeup brushes, keep them new, and say you received it as a gift. for mascara, keep it new. for purses / bags / wallets, physically use them once or twice. put some of your cards into your wallet, bring the purses with you when you go out, etc.
- don’t boost everything at once, continue boosting on other sites too, or even make another instagram account boosting things, but remember to take photos in completely different locations of your area of residence!
- don’t make your prices too cheap, sell it for 60-80% of the retail price, depending on what item. for example, for a NAKED palette that retails for $54, with Naked and Toasted worn down, sell it for 75% of the price you ‘got it’ for. say, if you were to caption it on instagram, caption it like this, ‘$40, NAKED palette with the colors Naked and Toasted worn down, the others used once or twice.’
- be nice to people who are interested in buying from you. this one is self explanatory. you want them to come back to buy from you again.
- if you’re boosting multiples of the same item on different sites, wear down different things. like for this palette you’re selling on instagram, wear down this color. for another palette, wear down some other colors.
- if you’re boosting on multiple accounts on instagram / different sites, vary the prices. if you’re selling this barely used palette on craigslist, make the price higher than it would be on instagram with some colors worn down.
that ends today’s post from val, and this is on boosting. feel free to add some of your own tips on boosting on instagram, or boosting in general. stay safe boosting, my loves!
also, this post applies if you just have some old stuff you just want to sell.
