My friend, Jolene, has asked me whether I can help her to sell off her handbag a few days ago. So, I told her that she should try selling it at Carousell. Why Carousell? Because I don’t find it was ‘great’ to sell at Mudah.my, or other online selling platforms despite of that aggressive marketing by the company. It’s the ‘trust’ which I’m looking for. I don’t want to be somebody who sends her connections to the edge of the cliff. That’s why I recommend my friends to sell using Carousell.
During those old days, forums such as LowYat, JBTalks, and Cari Forum (Chinese) were some of my favourite places to trade for pre-loved or second hand items. I learnt the terms such as ‘preloved’, ‘WTS’, ‘WTB’, ‘Mint’, etc. from the people who always do the transactions. With the advancement of technology, more people jumped into selling via Facebook or blog. Blogspot has been the most popular platform for selling their preloved stuff. Nowadays, we can even start selling via Instagram, and apps.
I’ve tried most of the apps found in Apps Store (both Android, and iOS), and I admit that most of them still lack of ‘trust’. My definition of ‘trust’ is the apps do not have a feedback in which both seller and buyer can leave feedback after they have done with the transactions. The only app that I find is quite reliable and ‘trusted’ is Carousell. This is not a paid review, just for your information. I also have my own account at Carousell, bearing the same name as my blog.
The best thing about Carousell is you only need to register with a valid email address, or you can register using your Facebook account. A verified account will have icons or badges on the profile page. Unlike other online shopping apps that I’ve tried before, Carousell has groups which you can join. Each group has its own ‘theme’, for instance, H&M, accessories for her/him, bags for him, high heels, Uniqlo, etc.
Why I use Carousell? I find Carousell has the features that I’m looking for. I can always sell my preloved items without having to go the old traditional method of taking photos using camera, then transfer to my hard disk, do the hassle minor editing, then uploading it online. With Carousell, I can just snap, edit, write description, and submit. Simple as 1-2-3. I can do all at once by just using my phone or iPad. Plus, I can also log into my account via computer. In other words, you can browse using phone, tab/pad, and computer/lappy.
Carousell also allow me to browse items from other countries. I admit that I even bought things from Hong Kong, and also Australia. Carousell allows two-way communication – seller and buyer, and I must say that I love making friends with whom I do the transactions with. Nevertheless, this makes every transaction done smoothly. You can also make a report on seller or buyer who tend to be dishonest when dealing the transactions. In fact, your account will be reviewed if there are tons of negative feedbacks.
The bad thing about Carousell. Sometimes there are sellers or buyers who wouldn’t bother to leave feedback and this makes it’s pretty hard for other potential buyers or sellers to trust whether or not to do such transactions. I found some of the sellers had their items marked as ‘sold’ but there’s not a single feedback left on the seller’s profile page. Carousell has a system that allow the items to be marked as ‘sold’ even though there’s no offer made or accepted. It makes me doubt with the seller. It can be unfair to other new sellers who have just wanted to start selling all their preloved items on Carousell because these newbies have yet to get their feedback, leaving potential buyers in doubt.
Dead Seller or Buyer are all over Carousell. I admit that I hate meeting with dead sellers on Carousell. I have been experience with dead buyers for many times. No replies at all. It would be great if Carousell can deactivate accounts that have been inactive for 3 months. Give space to other sellers or buyers who are serious. Oh, you can expect some perverts on Carousell. That’s why it’s better not to do COD.
You can also meet sellers who charge you with expensive postage. I met a few sellers who charged me with RM30 for things that did not even reach 1kg, and they were all the way from Kuching. It would be great if Carousell can come up with a standardized postage fee so buyers would never have to be cheated paying such a very very very pricey postage. It would be understandable if it’s from West Malaysia, but for a East to East Malaysia @ RM30?! I’d rather buy from Lazada or Zalora.
Apart from that, I find my Carousell installed on iPad can be quite irritating. Why? As I was browsing for some stuff which I yet to decide buying, the app would close abruptly. Bugs, perhaps? I’m looking forward for Carousell to get the minor bugs fixed because it can affect the purchase intentions of the Carousell users.
I may have write a few drawbacks on Carousell but I still love getting my stuff from Carousell. Be alert, and do some research. Use common sense when shopping. Have some stuff to let go? Sell it on Carousell.
