Hot to Sell Accessories Online

17 min read

If you’re selling or planning to sell accessories online, global statistics say you’re on the right track. Data shows that ~33% of all accessories sold globally are online sales—and sales are expected to grow to 38% by 2025.

Ecwid Ecommerce Insights

If you want to be a part of this $500+ billion market, you already have all the tools available to you. The real question is, do you know how to use them?

Let’s take it step by step.

In this article, you’ll learn how to find your niche, connect with suppliers, figure out your distribution channels, and build an online presence.

Is Selling Accessories Online Profitable?

Shore answer: yes! The market has always been a honey pot for merchants ready to dedicate their time and effort. That’s why it’s so competitive.

But if the market potential isn’t persuasive enough for you, here are other benefits of selling accessories online:

Low startup cost. Initially, you likely won’t need to purchase raw materials and can opt-out of rental costs. The only expenses would be your own salary.
Work from home. You don’t need an office or a warehouse when you’re just starting—you just need the right supplier. And even if you decide to have a storage space, it doesn’t have to be big or expensive since accessories tend to be small.
Accessories are practically made to be sold online, so that’s where you have to be.

So yes, from any perspective, selling accessories online is profitable. Even if you already have a brick and mortar store (or a chain of them), you need to go online.

What Accessories are Trending?

When talking about accessories, you’re probably picturing cell phones or fashion. But that’s not the whole picture!

Accessories cover hundreds of business niches. If you take a moment to look around you, you’ll see accessories everywhere.

Accessories can go with:

Clothes
Cars
Interior
Sports
Boats
Bikes
Computers
Games
Weapons
Fashion (of course) and etc.

Try to pick the niche that you personally like. You can’t go wrong because there are thousands and thousands of people who have the same preferences as you. But if you would like some help deciding, here are accessories ideas that are worth selling.

How Can You Sell Accessories Online?

There are several ways you can get started with online selling.

It can be:

An online retailer or marketplace, like Walmart or Amazon;
A social media platform, like Facebook Shop or Instagram Shoppable posts;
Product directories, like Google Shopping;
Or your branded online store which can also be used as a central control panel for all other sales channels.

We strongly recommend having your own online store because it’s easy and always returns investments—plus all of the other reasons that we’ll discuss later in this article (see Build an Online Store for Selling Accessories).

Places/Websites to Sell Accessories

To get started selling accessories, you want to get your first customer as soon as possible. The best way to earn your first dollar on day one is to go to the places where your potential customers shop.

Amazon

There’s no need to explain how profitable Amazon can be as a sales channel. With net sales over $500 million, Amazon is the leading platform for selling anything online.

Etsy

If you produce accessories yourself, Etsy will be your favorite sales channel. The marketplace focuses on hand-made products regardless of product category. If being homemade or exclusive is the main value of your accessories, go with Etsy!

Learn more: A Beginner’s Guide to Selling on Etsy

Niche marketplaces

Google “accessories marketplace” and you’ll be surprised by the number of websites available for you to sell your accessories online.

Some of the niche marketplaces for accessories merchants are:

Orderchamp
Asos
Tradesy
The RealReal
Depop
Wish
Mercado Libre

Social media

And, of course, you can sell on social media. Not all of them let you accept payments, but you can request payments through PayPal or other small business friendly payment systems.

You can also use local social networks to sell your accessories, which depend on where you are in the world. In addition, make sure to set up accounts with the most popular ones, too, such as:

Instagram
Facebook
TikTok

Where to Buy Accessories for Selling/Reselling

Okay, so maybe producing accessories is not for you. You can still be really into the idea of selling accessories online. Don’t worry, you’re not alone—there are a ton of people just like you.

That’s why the accessories wholesale market is booming with an expected growth rate of 12.3% by 2027.

Depending on your niche, you’ll find a wholesale company that will provide you with any accessories that you may think of. Some examples are:

PAT Europe. Camping, trailer, car accessories.
Made-in-China. A wholesale resource for anything made in China (which is everything).
Wholesale Fashion Square. Clothing and jewelry.
Fair. For home decor, fashion, food and drinks, and anything for kids.
Bicycle Parts Wholesale. Guess! For bicycles.
HART Sport. For sport accessories.

That’s just a short list of the many, many available wholesalers. Google your niche product and add the word “wholesale.” For example, when you Google “pet accessories wholesale,” you’ll see a huge list of options. Contact the ones you like and sign up with the one who provides the best deal and quality.

Where to Sell Used Accessories

Your products don’t have to be new to earn a profit! If they still look and feel fresh, you can sell your (or someone else’s) used accessories. Let’s go through some of the websites that can help you sell used accessories.

eBay

Historically, eBay is focused on reselling things. It is a customer-to-customer business model whose auction functionality has won love by millions of consumers from around the world. But you probably already know that—there’s hardly anyone who hasn’t searched for something used on eBay.

Poshmark

Poshmark has over 80 million community members worldwide who love to buy and sell secondhand items. Their top-selling closets are maintained by Gen-Z shoppers, who have shown a great affinity for shopping second hand—including used accessories!

OfferUp

OfferUp is a fantastic way to bring in additional cash by selling used accessories. OfferUp is an online-based marketplace that mainly emphasizes face-to-face interactions between the customer and merchant. It was established as competition for Craigslist, aligning itself with mobile apps that are easy to use along with user profiles containing ratings. People like OfferUp because its buying experience is quick and effortless.

Build an Online Store for Selling Accessories

Doesn’t matter if you’re a well-known business or just entering the accessories market. To succeed in today’s competition, you have to be online.

Everyone buys online and won’t be stopping anytime soon. By 2025, online shoppers are projected to spend over $7 trillion online—think about how big that number is!

Having an online store is all around beneficial. It’s not only your sales channel where consumers purchase your goods. It’s also:

Your brand’s fortress. Your online store should showcase your mission and products in the most caring and presentable way. It is a place where people look at your products and adore them without being distracted by other sellers.
Your all-in-one management system. Instead of having several accounts in different marketplaces or distribution channels, your online store can stitch them together in one dashboard. You can sync your stock, launch promotion campaigns, control prices, fulfill orders, track deliveries, count taxes, and do the bookkeeping—all in one place!

But you don’t want just any online store. You’re going to sell accessories online. And those accessories may belong to different niches. Meaning, you will want to target different audiences with different shopping preferences.

Let’s run through the core points that we suggest you should pay extra attention to while building your accessories online store.

Design

Your website design is what will first attract potential customers to visit and shop at your store. If you don’t make it appealing and customer-friendly, you’ll regret it. A well-designed website makes visitors feel good while they explore it.

Think about:

Colors. They should match and compliment your products.
Styles. Corners, roundings, frames, shades, etc. They should match the product mood.
Fonts. Aggressive fonts won’t sell your elegant accessories, but might be good for other types of accessories.

Keep in mind that shoppers are impatient—if your site takes too long to load, they will just go to a competitor’s site instead. To avoid this issue altogether, don’t use large images or videos on your pages. Optimize their size and resolution with free tools that are available online.

Images

Product photography is critical for any merchant wanting to sell products online. By taking the time to create well-crafted photographs, you will be more successful in convincing visitors to buy your products.

Your product photos are what will first catch a potential customer’s eye when they visit your website, so it is critical that they look polished and professional. This not only makes your products appear more valuable to customers, but also establishes trust in your website.

You’ll need to:

Pay attention to lighting. Make it natural.
Keep images consistent. Keep the background, size, and pattern the same.
Use a variety of angles. Make sure to take a photo of the individual elements or angles as close to the product as possible.
Demonstrate the product in action. Upload a few photos that show where or how your product is used.
Get creative. Take photos with unusual camera angles, use the environment around you, or look for a unique moment to showcase your products.

Descriptions

When people shop online, they can’t touch or test products before buying them. Oftentimes, they only have content descriptions on the product page to help them decide on a purchase. Product descriptions are key here—a well written one will set your merchandise apart from others being sold in similar stores.

Just including a product image along with its name and price isn’t enough. You need to give potential customers more information so that they know why your product is worth their money:

Provide basic or essential characteristics.
Describe benefits for the customer.
Address your customers’ pain points.
Use persuasive affirmative words like “it will” and “you will feel” instead of “it can” or “you may feel.”
Add personality with local jargon or funny references.
Tell the story of your product (if it has one).

Shipping

Now it’s time to get your accessories to your customers. You need to find reliable delivery services who will get the job done on time and in the right way. Remember, you’re selling accessories, so they need to be treated with care.

Remember one core thing: if you deliver on time, your customers will trust your brand. Good customer service will encourage them to shop with you again in the future.

Here are a few delivery tactics that can win you a purchase:

Offer free shipping if possible. Include the cost in the item price.
Use flat rate shipping. Customers love the predictability of delivery even if it’s a bit higher.
Thick about the package. It should protect the product while looking attractive.
Give them an appreciation gift. Anything that won’t cost you much—even a discount coupon will do.

Sell, Sell, Sell!

It’s all set now and you’re ready to start selling!

Successful eсommerce retailers don’t just launch and hope everything goes well—they have multiple marketing initiatives up and running that get their stores in front of new audiences and drive sales at all times.

If you’re a little short on ideas for how to make your first sale online, here are some ways to get started:

Instagram. Start posting beautiful pics of your accessories with interesting descriptions. Plus, you can run ads through Instagram.
Facebook. Post, advertise and create a Facebook Shop.
Pinterest. Post photos of your products, create collections, drive traffic to your store.
Reviews. People trust reviews, so ask everyone you know to give your products reviews.
Contest. Boost brand awareness and activity around your social media with giveaways.
Google. Connect Google Shopping and run ads on Google.
Influencers. Contact influencers in your niche, big and small. Ask them for help.
Charity. Do something good and make some buzz around your brand at the same time.
Local markets and shows. Go local when you have a chance. Build a community who will support you in the long run.
YouTube. Start your channel and show products from all angles in action.
Distributors. Got sales? Find a real business partner to extend your distribution network.
Blog. Hire a writer to write a product blog and drive organic traffic. You’ll be amazed how big your brand will become with a branded blog.
And run sales and promotions every now and then at your store—BOGO, season sales, Black Friday—everything must go!

Better Together with Ecwid

That may seem like a lot!

Fortunately, there’s a tool that makes online selling way easier.

Ecwid is an ecommerce platform that doesn’t add labor. Instead, it takes on the routine heavy lifting from a merchant through several tools. Here are some features that will help you successfully sell accessories online, regardless of the niche:

Social selling. Sell directly on Instagram and Facebook. Run ads on TikTok, Snapchat and Pinterest.
Marketplaces. With one plugin, you’ll get your products listed on Amazon and eBay.
Google. Advertising? Shopping tab? It’s all available within Ecwid.
Design templates. No need to spend time on designing a store if you can click and pick from 70+ themes.
Shipping. Local delivery, pickup, delivery zones, shipping providers of your choice, discounted shipping label in the admin panel.

Try Ecwid for free. No credit card required.

Want to learn more about selling accessories online?

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Jul 3, 2022

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.