Wondering how to sell on Wish? We've got you covered. Wish is one of the largest ecommerce marketplaces in the world. It's a great place to sell products online you no longer need, or to set up your own eCommerce store. Like the eCommerce marketplaces, Amazon and eBay, users can access Wish via the web or a mobile app to purchase everything from clothing to electronics.
With approximately 25 million monthly active users, Wish differs from Amazon because it offers more affordable products that typically arrive in around two weeks.
If you're starting a Wish business and want to increase your chances of success, invest in a Wish helpdesk. With customer messages and order tracking information all in one place, you can streamline your customer service, allowing you more time to focus on growing your business.
TL;DR
- Wish is a popular online marketplace used by millions of people around the globe, where merchants can set up their own stores and sell products directly to consumers.
- Wish has recently changed the signup process for merchants, so you now have to be invited by the Wish team or fill out a questionnaire that the team can approve or reject.
- Setting up a Wish account is relatively straightforward once the Wish team has accepted your application.
- Taking clear pictures, providing detailed product descriptions, and using our Wish helpdesk can help merchants make more money on Wish.
Should you become a Wish seller?
The short answer is yes – unless making money on an easy-to-use platform doesn't appeal to you. Wish has approximately 25 million monthly active users and sells in over 60 countries worldwide. Wish was even the most downloaded shopping app in 2018. That's one pretty impressive audience that has the potential to see your products.
If your target demographic is millennials and Gen Z, however, Wish is perfect. You’ll appeal to your audience with the site’s many unique features.
If you're familiar with selling online, you'll have come across one of eCommerce merchants' biggest bugbears: subscription fees. One of Wish's most appealing features is it's a no-fee marketplace, so you don't pay any fees until you sell your product. This feature makes it much less risky than selling on other popular marketplaces.
The best part? Wish offers a product target feature, so you can target demographics by category. That way, you can easily target your customer base with relevant categories for a maximum return on investment.
How much does it cost to become a Wish seller?
Unlike other online marketplaces, Wish doesn't have any listing fees (win!), so you can list all your products on the site, and you'll only have to pay if your product is sold. The basic fee structure means that Wish takes up to 15% of every item you sell.
There's also zero registration fee and no monthly or annual subscription fees – music to the ears of any budding entrepreneur hoping to create a merchant account on the popular marketplace, since it offers a risk-free way to sell.
How to sell on Wish: the ultimate guide
You've looked up the stats, and you're convinced that Wish is the platform to launch your eCommerce business. You've got your products at the ready, and you're ready to start growing your eCommerce business. What's next?
Budding Wish merchants can now sign up either through an invite or by filling in a questionnaire on the Wish website, which the Wish team can approve or reject.
The following guide is for sellers signing up to the platform without an invite. Follow the steps below to sign up for your Wish account and start selling.
- Check that you can sell on Wish. Merchants who want to sell on the Wish marketplace must create, manufacture, or own distribution/retail rights to the products they sell through Wish. Check whether this applies to you before signing up to be a brand owner on the platform.
- Check what you can’t sell on wish. You can't sell alcohol, firearms, tobacco, gift cards, items with nudity, counterfeit products, or illegal items on Wish. Make sure the products you sell are suitable for the Wish marketplace before you start.
- Sign up. Happy that Wish is right for you? Head to the signup page on Wish to begin.
- Fill out the questionnaire. Upon visiting the homepage, you'll be prompted to complete a questionnaire about you and your business. Click 'complete the questionnaire' and fill it in.
- Wait for your application to be processed. Once submitted, the team at the Wish marketplace will evaluate your application and get in touch if they think your business is suitable. The team may request additional information before a decision is made. Once the team has confirmed you're an authorized seller and can open a site on Wish, you can create your store.
- Create your store name and merchant profile. For your store name, choose something that distills your offering into a couple of words, and make sure the name isn't already in use by another eCommerce store.
- Enter any additional information needed for store set-up. Wish occasionally prompts users to add extra details, so do so as instructed.
- Select your preferred shipping settings. Navigate to the merchant dashboard, click Account>Shipping Settings and select where you'll be shipping your merchandise. You can choose to ship either nationally or globally, and you can select your shipping costs for each country.
- Upload your products to the Wish marketplace. You can upload the products manually or use a CSV file to upload products in bulk. Alternatively, upload your products via an integrated API using multi-channel management or listing software.
- Assign relevant categories to each product you list. Adding categories will make it easier for you to market products to your target demographic and for them to find your Wish profile.
- Confirm your fulfillment option. There are three different methods for fulfilling the orders you receive through Wish. You can fulfill orders yourself in-house with automatic notifications from Wish letting you know which new orders to fulfill. Every order must be fulfilled within five calendar days of receipt. Alternatively, you can use Wish's fulfillment program. If that's your option, you need to create a shipping plan by clicking FBW & FBS, then Create a Shipping Plan from your merchant dashboard. You also have the option of working with an outsourced Wish fulfillment partner using the API.
- Set up your payment options. Enter your payment information, then select the payment gateways you'll accept from customers. Accepted forms of payment on Wish include Google Pay, Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, American Express, Cirrus, Discover, PayPal, iDEAL, Klarna, Cash App, and EBANX.
- Accept Wish's terms and conditions.
- Wait for product approval. Once your product has been approved by Wish, it will go live on the site.
That's everything there is to store setup on Wish. Once you have everything in place, it's on to the fun part: selling.
If you're unsure about any part of setting up your Wish store or selling products, Wish has a handy help center filled with FAQs and articles that cover everything from handling support tickets to fulfilling orders.
So, you've set up your profile and listed your products, and you're ready to start making some serious money.
There are a few tips you can implement to get even more bang for your buck when selling on Wish and overcome potential challenges that come with running an eCommerce store.
Even the most experienced eCommerce sellers can benefit from a helping hand. Here are our top tips for launching a successful store on the Wish marketplace.
Take clear pictures
When was the last time you bought something online from a blurry picture taken alongside dirty laundry? Never. When it comes to selling online, looks matter.
To take the perfect picture of your product for your product listing, grab a good-quality camera and take a picture of your item(s) in front of a white or plain background.
Consider customer service
If you've ever had a bad customer service experience only to go home and tell your friends/family/partner about it, you'll know just how damaging poor customer service can be to your business. In fact, companies that focus on customers are 60% more profitable than those that don't.
With that in mind, it's crucial to focus on the service you're offering your customers when they buy one of your products. Do you respond promptly? Do you give your customers order tracking numbers so they can accurately anticipate a delivery time? If not, it's probably time to start.
If you're unsure how to improve your customer service offering, see how popular customer service tools can help.
Gather feedback
Do you ever wish you could go into job interviews with all of the compliments you've ever received hovering like cartoons over your head? That's almost how customer feedback works. The more online reviews from loyal customers you have on your profile, the better your chances of attracting new buyers to purchase your products.
Encourage your customers to leave positive feedback on your profile to boost your profile's legitimacy and show other potential customers that your products do the job. If you're really savvy, you can even transform potential issues into positive reviews.
If you ever receive negative feedback from a previous customer, leave a response. If you're able to respond with reasons why your customer service experience wasn't up to snuff and how you'll improve in the future, you'll show potential future customers that you take their opinions seriously.
Advertise your store on social media
While millions of people around the globe use Wish, plenty of potential customers in your target demographic don't. With that in mind, it's vital to find other ways to promote your Wish store that will appeal to the broadest group of people. More advertising means more customers, more sales, and an ever-increasing profit margin.
One of the best free tools any marketer has at their disposal is social media. Create social media accounts on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and post pictures of your products so potential buyers can see what you have on offer.
For extra profit maximization, encourage happy customers to post reviews and testimonials of your product on your social media pages. Consumers read an average of 10 product reviews before buying something, so social proof is key to proving your credibility to your target audience.
Encouraging users to tag your products in posts or stories creates authentic user-led content (completely for free!) and increases traffic to your social media page, so even more users will see it. It's free marketing for you and shows potential customers that you offer excellent customer service. Users on mobile devices can then switch seamlessly from their social media apps to the Wish app and fill their baskets with your products.
Keep your descriptions accurate
You might think that being liberal with the truth will guarantee more sales, but lying to your customers will only end badly. If your product descriptions contain incorrect information or don't accurately reflect the quality of the goods you're selling, it will result in bad feedback for your profile.
Instead, keep your product descriptions as accurate as possible. If you're selling a second-hand product and it's not in tip-top condition, be honest with potential customers to avoid complaints further down the line.
It's also worth remembering that your product description is your chance to sell. The better your product description, the better your conversion rates. Use accurate information, but make sure to stress the benefits of your product as well as the features.
For example, let's imagine you're selling a sat nav. The features might include a voice-over with directions and an HD display, but the benefit is that users can reach their destinations more quickly without having to pore over a physical map. Make sure to emphasize the benefits as well as the features when promoting your products – that goes for social media posts, too.
Choose the right prices for your audience
The Wish marketplace was designed to offer items at a lower cost than similar sites such as eBay and Amazon. With that in mind, you need to price your items competitively.
Volume also comes into play as a key driving factor of sales. If you have a low profit margin on individual products, you'll need to sell a fair amount to make a significant profit.
Before deciding the price point for your products, do some research on your competitors and offer your items at a slightly cheaper price (where possible) with the hope of selling them in bulk.
Reward loyal customers
Do you shop somewhere new each time you need clothes, food, or electronics? Or do you tend to go back to trusted shops where you feel like a valued customer and know what to expect from the pricing? For most of us, it's the latter – and the same goes for your Wish customers.
Even in a low-priced marketplace, creating and maintaining positive relationships with customers is key. Increase customer loyalty by rewarding regular customers with coupons, free shipping, gifts, or discounts. That way, you'll have a guaranteed loyal customer base, and possibly a few new customers as a result of recommendations.
Diversify your offering
One of the key benefits of Wish is that it allows you to sell a mix of used goods and new goods. You can use this option to your benefit by diversifying your offering to appeal to a broad audience with a range of budgets.
Users with a higher budget might prefer to buy completely new products, while those willing to pay less will be drawn to your used offerings. It's worth noting, however, that sellers of used items can only list refurbished branded products.
Only sell authorized brands
In general, branded products tend to sell well because consumers recognize the brand name and trust companies with a strong reputation. On Wish, each merchant is responsible for ensuring they're legally authorized to sell every product they list.
Our Authentic Brand Seller application lets you prove that you're authorized to list and sell your products without infringing on another company's intellectual property. If you're interested in selling brands on Wish, make sure to add this vital info to your profile.
Make the most of a Wish helpdesk
The two things that hold any online business owner back from making huge profits? Lack of time and staffing.
The more time you spend responding to client queries or switching between platforms to get accurate information, the less time you spend growing your business, promoting your Wish store, and getting products to their buyers.
If you're struggling to keep on top of the admin involved in running your Wish store, you'll probably benefit from a Helpdesk for Wish.
If you've never heard of a Helpdesk for Wish, the premise is pretty simple and guaranteed to boost your business. eDesk's popular Wish helpdesk allows you to display all your Wish messages and other eCommerce and social channel information in one place.
That way, your support agents can prioritize tickets and find information such as order details at the click of a button, allowing them to respond faster to queries.
Reducing response times is a huge win for your business because you'll have more time to get on with growing the business, and your customers will feel valued. It's a win for your buyers and a win for your bottom line.
You’ll also enjoy better internal communication, with auto-assign, internal note, and @mention functionality allowing teams to work together to resolve tickets quickly and successfully.
Plus, if you've not got the budget for a customer service team, a Helpdesk can fill in the gaps in your staffing. With less time needed to respond to queries, you can save on staffing costs without selling your customers short on their customer service experience.
Sell your products globally? No problem. With eDesk's Wish integration, you can use the auto-translate feature to connect to customers globally for incoming and outgoing support messages. You really will be speaking your customers' language.
The bottom line
If your products are suited to Wish, setting up a Wish store is a great way to earn money and build a successful online business. With the new invite-only signup, once you've been accepted by the team, the selling process is simple.
There are tons of ways to maximize the profits of your Wish store, including accurate product descriptions, using social media to promote your products, and taking clear, high-quality product photos. To streamline your customer service offering, try a helpdesk for Wish, so you can exceed customer expectations and build a loyal customer base with minimal effort.
