How to Boost Your Listings on Depop for Maximum Visibility

How to Boost Your Listings on Depop for Maximum Visibility

Standing out on a bustling marketplace like Depop is the key to turning your side hustle into a thriving business. With thousands of sellers and millions of items, getting your listings in front of the right buyers can feel like a major challenge. While organic growth strategies are essential, sometimes you need an extra push to maximize your visibility and drive sales.

This is where Depop’s Boosted Listings feature comes in. This powerful tool is designed to promote your items to a wider audience, increasing your chances of making a sale. Whether you're new to the platform or a seasoned seller looking to scale, understanding how to effectively use boosted listings can be a game-changer.

In this in-depth guide, we'll cover everything you need to know about how to boost listings on Depop. We'll explore what they are, how they work, how to analyze their performance, and best practices for optimizing your results. We will also show you how to get more exposure on Depop through other proven methods and how automation tools can supercharge your growth.

What Are Depop Boosted Listings?

Boosted Listings is an optional tool offered by Depop that helps sellers promote their items to a much larger pool of potential buyers. When you choose to boost a listing, you are essentially paying for premium placement within Depop's search results.

Instead of relying solely on the algorithm to rank your item, boosting places it in one of the dedicated "boosted tiles." These tiles are strategically positioned on the search results page to catch a buyer's eye. Your item will be tagged with a small "boosted" icon, helping it stand out from the standard, organic listings surrounding it.

One of the key benefits is that boosting doesn't replace your organic listing. When you boost an item, your standard listing will also appear in the search results where it would normally rank. This dual placement effectively doubles your visibility for a single item, significantly increasing your chances of making a sale.

How Does Promotion on Depop Work?

The system is designed to be both effective for sellers and relevant for buyers. Boosted listings appear in search based on their relevance to what a user is looking for, ensuring your promoted item is shown to shoppers who are already interested in what you're selling.

Depop tracks interactions with your boosted listing to determine when a sale is directly attributed to the feature. A sale is considered a "sale via a boosted listing" if a buyer views, clicks, or likes your boosted listing and then purchases that item within a 28-day period.

This 28-day attribution window is a standard practice in online marketplaces, as it accurately captures the typical journey a buyer takes from discovery to purchase.

The Cost of Boosting: Only Pay for Results

One of the most attractive aspects of the Boosted Listings feature is its payment structure. There is a cost associated with boosting, but you only pay a boosting fee if your item sells directly through the boosted tile in search.

If a buyer interacts with your boosted listing but ultimately purchases it through an organic channel—for example, by finding it directly on your shop page, through an organic search result, or on their homepage—you will not be charged the boosting fee.

You can easily verify how a sale was made by navigating to the Payments tab in your Selling Hub. Tapping on a transaction will show you a receipt that clarifies whether the sale was organic or via a boosted listing.

How to Boost Listings on Depop: A Step-by-Step Guide

Getting started with boosted listings is a straightforward process. You can manage your promotions directly within the Depop app or on the web.

Boosting on the Depop App

1. Navigate to your Selling Hub.
2. Tap on the “Boost listings” option.
3. From here, you can browse your inventory. Select the items you wish to promote. You can choose up to 5 items at once on the app.
4. Once you have made your selection, simply hit the “Boost selected” button.

Your chosen items will now be part of the boosted listings rotation, gaining increased visibility in relevant search results.

Boosting on the Web

The process is similar on the Depop website. Go to your Selling Hub, click “Boost listings,” select the items you want to promote, and hit “Boost.”

Troubleshooting: Why Can't I Boost My Listings?

If you're having trouble accessing the boosted listings feature, there are a few common reasons this might be the case.

• Depop Payments Not Set Up: To use boosted listings, you must have Depop Payments enabled on your account. If you haven't done so, head to the Payments tab to get it set up.
• Account Standing: Your Depop account must be in good standing. This means you are not currently breaking any of Depop's rules or policies.
• New Seller Status: If you are a new seller on Depop and don't see the option to boost, don't worry. The feature may not be available immediately. Continue listing items and making sales, and the option should pop up soon as your account becomes more established.

Understanding Your Boosted Listings Stats

Once you've boosted a listing, Depop provides you with stats to track its performance. By clicking into the listing, you can see a breakdown that helps you understand how your promotion is doing. These analytics are key to refining your strategy.

Key Metrics: Views and Clicks

The performance breakdown shows you the total number of views and clicks your listing has received since you boosted it.

• A "view" is counted every time your item has been seen by a user, either in search results or elsewhere in the app or on the web. A user does not need to click on your listing for it to count as a view.
• A "click" is counted when a user clicks into your listing from the search results. This includes clicks on both the boosted version (with the icon) and the organic version of the listing.

The total number for each metric includes both boosted and organic interactions. For example, if one user sees your item as a boosted listing and another sees it organically, your total view count will be two.

What Does "+% From Boosting" Mean?

Alongside your total clicks, you will see a percentage metric labeled “+% from boosting.” This powerful stat shows you the percentage increase in clicks on your listing as a direct result of boosting it.

This figure is calculated by comparing the number of clicks your boosted tile received against the number of clicks your organic listing received since the time of boosting. For instance:

• If your boosted listing received 100 clicks and the organic version of the same listing received 80 clicks during that period, the stat will read “+125% from boosting.” This means your item received 125% more clicks than it would have without being boosted.

In some cases, you might see “100% from boosting” (without the plus sign). This indicates that 100% of the clicks your listing received were on the boosted version, with no organic clicks since it was boosted.

If your listing has received no boosted clicks at all, you will not see a percentage increase. This means all the clicks shown were on the organic version.

Depop is also currently testing a similar metric for boosted views, which will show the percentage increase in views from boosting. This feature is not yet available to all sellers but will be released to everyone soon.

How to Stop Boosting a Listing

If you want to stop promoting an item, you can easily un-boost it. Simply go to ‘Boost listings’ in your Selling Hub, swipe left on the item you wish to remove, and tap ‘Unboost’.

On the web, you have the ability to un-boost up to 99 items at once for greater efficiency.

It's important to note that when you unboost a listing, you will lose the ability to view its boosted stats. To see performance data again, you would need to re-boost the item, but the stats would only reflect the performance since the most recent time of boosting, not the historical data from before.

How to Get More Exposure on Depop: Optimizing for Clicks

Boosting guarantees more visibility, but it doesn't guarantee clicks. If you find your boosted items are getting a lot of views but not many clicks, it's a sign that your listing itself needs improvement. Here are proven strategies to improve the quality of your listings and get more exposure on Depop, whether you're boosting or growing organically.

1. Use High-Quality, Detailed Photos

Your main photo is your first impression. Use high-quality, clear, and bright photos to grab attention. Upload at least 4 photos taken from several angles to give buyers a complete view of the item. Crucially, be sure to include clear photos of any flaws or signs of wear. Transparency builds trust and leads to better reviews.

2. Write Accurate and Compelling Descriptions

Depop's search algorithm assesses your item descriptions to match them with buyer searches. A well-written description is vital for both discoverability and conversion.

• Start with a strong headline: Summarize the item clearly and concisely. Incorporate brand, item type, and color keywords right at the beginning.
• Add key details: Include all relevant information, such as material, measurements, and item condition. Again, be upfront about any flaws.
• Get specific: Add relevant tags, brand, source (e.g., vintage), and age information. If applicable, include an aesthetic keyword like "Y2K" or "Cottage Goth" near the beginning.
• Add reasons to buy last: If you offer bundle discounts, are open to offers, or have specific shipping methods, place this information at the end of the description.

3. Use Hashtags Strategically

Think of hashtags as another way to add keywords to your listing. They work best for general, aesthetic-focused keywords like #grunge or #barbiecore, as well as unique garment attributes like #floral or #puffsleeve.

Including a range of relevant aesthetic hashtags ensures your listing is visible to buyers searching for any one of those styles. However, use them wisely. Depop has been known to penalize sellers who misuse hashtags by lowering their overall listing visibility.

4. Keep Your Shop Fresh

The Depop algorithm tends to prioritize new listings over old ones. To stay visible in people's feeds, aim to consistently add new items. Uploading one or two new listings every day or two can make a significant difference.

For items that have been listed for a while without gaining traction, many top sellers will delist and then relist them. This makes the item appear "new" to the algorithm, pushing it back to the top of search results.

Consistently listing and relisting can be time-consuming, but this is where automation can become a reseller's most valuable asset. If you find these tasks are taking up too much time, our platform can help. Reeva is designed to handle this for you, automatically relisting stale products to keep them fresh. Try it free for 7 days and see how much time you can save.

5. Be an Active Community Member

Depop is a social marketplace. Maintaining an active profile can help your shop's visibility. Following other users and regularly liking other sellers' items signals to the algorithm that you are an engaged member of the community, which can make your own listings more likely to appear in people's feeds.

Automate and Scale Your Depop Business with Reeva

Implementing all these strategies—boosting, optimizing, listing, and relisting—takes a significant amount of time. For resellers looking to grow their business on Depop and other platforms like Poshmark, eBay, and Mercari, managing these tasks manually can become a bottleneck.

Our platform is designed to solve this problem. We simplify and automate the most time-consuming parts of running a resale business, giving you back valuable hours to focus on sourcing, strategy, and growth.

Sell Smarter and Faster, Not Harder

We help you optimize your entire selling process. With our AI-powered tools, you can turn photos into complete listings in an instant. Just upload your photos, and we'll generate optimized titles, detailed descriptions, and suggested prices for you.

As FabFam, one of our users from Washington, put it: "Reeva has cut my listing time by more than half. I can take photos, voice-to-text my details, and let Reeva handle the rest... By the time I put the item away, my listing is ready to go live."

Once your listing is ready, you can publish it everywhere with one click. Our platform supports seamless cross-listing to all major marketplaces, including Depop, so you can reach more buyers without ever switching tabs.

Save Time with Powerful Automation

Our automation features are built to boost your visibility and maximize sales without you lifting a finger.

• Relist Stale Products: As mentioned, keeping listings fresh is crucial. We automatically relist your older products to keep them at the top of search results.
• Auto-Delist Sold Items: Sell an item on Depop? We will instantly delist it from Poshmark, eBay, and Mercari to prevent overselling and protect your seller ratings. AlistairBP from Georgia says, "The feature I use 100% the most—and couldn't live without—is the AUTO-DELIST feature."

This level of automation has a real impact. TUFFNY, a seller from New York, told us, "I've cut down my admin time by at least 30%, which has allowed me to source more products and expand my offerings."

Grow Your Business with Confidence

Our platform is more than just a listing tool; it's a complete business management solution. With powerful analytics, you can track sales and profits to make smarter decisions. And with full-service accounting, you can connect your bank accounts, track expenses, and generate profit and loss reports automatically.

The results speak for themselves. Vintage Vault WV increased their items sold by 372% in just three weeks after starting with us. Nuzzydeals from Denver saw a 7x increase in sales. AlistairBP went from selling 3-5 items a week to 10-15 items a day.

Are you ready to achieve that kind of growth? You can try our platform completely free for 7 days. No payment is due now.

Start your free trial today and discover a smarter way to resell.

Conclusion: Your Path to Maximum Visibility on Depop

Maximizing your visibility on Depop requires a multi-faceted approach. The Boosted Listings feature is an incredibly effective tool for getting your items in front of more buyers quickly, and its pay-for-performance model makes it a low-risk investment in your shop's growth.

However, boosting works best when paired with strong organic strategies. By creating high-quality listings with excellent photos and keyword-rich descriptions, using hashtags strategically, and keeping your shop active and fresh, you build a powerful foundation for success.

As your business grows, these tasks can become overwhelming. Manually listing, cross-listing, and relisting across multiple platforms simply isn't scalable. That's where automation becomes essential.

We built our platform to handle the repetitive work so you can focus on what you love. From AI-powered listing creation to automated delisting and relisting, we provide the tools you need to grow your sales, not your workload.

Ready to stop juggling platforms and start scaling your resale business? Try Reeva free for 7 days and see how our all-in-one platform can transform the way you sell online.