PS: Read the update to My Reebonz Closets experience right here, and it was a disappointing one…

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Renowned flash sale site Reebonz now has a new addition, and it’s called Closets. I decided to test it out since I have stuff that I’d like to put up for sale anyway (would you believe that I’d previously been giving my unwanted bags and designer items away to friends instead of putting them up for sale until late last year?). Closets allows you to sell your very own brand new or preloved items. At this point, I should clarify that I wasn’t paid handsomely to write this post, and therefore isn’t a heavily sponsored post. Instead, I’m sharing my personal experience with you because their service wasn’t just efficient, it was also impressive to say the least, especially the security measures taken, which I’ll be telling you about below.

Built into the Reebonz app, all you have to do is to snap photo(s) of your items you’d like to sell (whether shoes, bags, accessories, or small leather goods), provide a short description of your item, with the price you’d like to let your item go for, and submit it. The Reebonz Team would then approve your item within 24 hours. From personal experience, the longest they ever took was 2 hours :). Once approved, you’d get an email along with an app notification that your item has been approved, and within minutes, you are able to view your item in Closets.

Once your item has been listed, the buyer would then be able to contact you via the in-app chat feature, which also allows you to send any additional photos to each other in case your buyer would like more detail shots of the item that you have put up. The buyer can also make an offer (but usually buyers would tend to offer you a lower price than the one you have listed), so do whatever negotiations you need to (or not), and when you tap on “accept offer”, the deal is sealed, and Reebonz would send a link to the buyer to make a purchase, so don’t be too hasty to click “accept”or worse, if you’ve clicked it accidentally and that really wasn’t the price you were willing to let your item go for!
The “link to purchase” is only active for 24 hours, so if the buyer doesn’t make payment within this time, your item would unfortunately be up for grabs in the Closets marketplace once again.

Once payment has been made to Reebonz, the Reebonz Team would actually come to your doorstep at the time of your convenience to collect the item from you. From the app itself, you can state what day and time you’d like them to pick the item up, and you can fill in your bank account details. If you prefer to be paid by cheque, that option is also available. Additionally, the Reebonz Team would also email you to confirm your pick-up date, time, and location, along with your bank account details. During this time, the item in question listed on Closets would be automatically marked as “Reserved”.

I had arranged for an afternoon slot pickup, between 1-5pm, but to my surprise, the Reebonz pick-up guy actually called me again on that very day, with a more exact time (and asked whether I would be available during that time) so that I wouldn’t have to wait the entire 4 hours for him. What a pleasant surprise! He arrived exactly when he said he would, and if I was already surprised with his punctuality, I was even more impressed by the security measures taken by Reebonz to ensure the bag arrives at their office safely so that they can conduct the authentication process, and then deliver it to the buyer.

All items purchased on Closets would come with this packaging upon delivery

The guy arrived in a Reebonz van (a Toyota Innova to be precise). All I expected was a sheet that both the pick-up guy had to sign on as evidence that my item has been collected. But nope! We weren’t done yet! Once I had signed, he showed me this small white plastic thing that looks like a micro mobile phone SIM card with a number on it, and asked me to write down the number on both our copies of the receipt (see image below). He then tagged my item (and I had to sign on the tag again, but this time with a Sharpie), and showed me this huge red zip-up bag, which my item would be going into. I’d thought that in it, there’d also be other items that he had collected from others along the way before stopping to pick mine up, but no, I was told that each person and item gets their own bag. I also spotted the brand on the bags – Envopak – and had learnt that these were tamper-proof bags (companies also use Envopak bags to transport money and valuables), and that the code on that SIM-card thing I mentioned that I had to write on the receipt, was actually the lock for the bags. The pick-up guy put my item into the zip-up Envopak bag, and then demonstrated that without the lock, the bag could still be opened. He then zipped the bag up, and put the lock into the slot, and once again demonstrated that the zipper now couldn’t be unzipped, and that the only way to open the bag containing the item, was to break the seal. I was majorly impressed by these security measures to ensure peace of mind; that nothing would have happened to my item in transition before they reach the Reebonz office for authentication. Once the item has been authenticated by the Reebonz Atelier, it would then be shipped out to your buyer, and you’d get paid in 7 days. You can track the process every step of the way in the in-built tracking function on the app. Once your item has been delivered, your item would be marked as “Sold” on the Closets marketplace.

Image via Envopak

What I really love about Closets, is how convenient Reebonz makes it with the pick-up service in their very own Reebonz van and not any regular courier company. What’s more, they only take a 10% commission of the sale that you have made, and rightfully so, for the service that you’re getting. Even if you leave your item at any preloved or vintage store, they’d offer you a lower price and they’d take at least a 30% commission from your item, not to mention the fact that you’d have to send the item to the stores on your own and then go back again to collect your cheque once your item has been sold. With my positive experience, I have since put up more items for sale on Closets. Go ahead and give Closets a try and share your experience with me! I’d love to hear about it! Start selling your items, so that you can buy new stuff! 😉

PS: Read the update to My Reebonz Closets experience right here, and it was a disappointing one…

Images courtesy of Reebonz Malaysia, unless otherwise stated