If you sell online you probably know how important measurements can be. Unfortunately, it seems not everyone knows how to measure correctly, even buyers! This can become a big problem when something doesn’t fit, because although most marketplaces don’t allow returns due to an item not fitting, we’ve heard countless stories of buyers taking advantage of sellers who don’t measure properly, ultimately filing return cases when they don’t like something or it doesn’t fit them and winning. So, we’ve created a visual guide to help you, including some downloadable free templates that you can use for capturing your measurements and including them in your listings.
Did you know? Accurate measurements using a visual size chart can increase sales by 26%, boost buyer confidence, and reduce returns!
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How to Measure Pants
Let’s start with a helpful infographic on how to measure pants, the correct way. The most common mistake I see is people confusing inseam with length, or not measuring from the actual crotch seam when measuring inseam. The infographic below includes all of the typical measurements and the most requested measurements that you should always include in your listings.
If you’d like to share this graphic on your social media, you can download the original infographic by clicking the grey download button above. It’s square-sized so that you can just save it to your photos and share it easily on Instagram, (or any other platform). Be sure to tag us on IG: @resell.genius.
The measurements marked with a red “star” are the most common, and most requested measurements from buyers, so we suggest you include these at a minimum on your listings.
Resell Genius Tip
So what are the best ways to include measurements in your resale listings so buyers can tell if they will fit, and will be more likely to buy?
Well, there are actually a few different ways to include apparel and clothing measurements in your listings (and even measurements for sizing accessories like belts, hats, and purses). We’ll discuss each one below along with some helpful tips.
Write the Measurements in Your Listing
You can write the measurements for your Poshmark, Grailed, Mercari, Depop, or Vinted items in your listing’s description.
- Measure your items carefully (the free measurement templates we have on this page can act as a resource) you can write the measurements in your phone’s notes app for easy reference and retrieval or on a scratch piece of paper.
- Then, when you’re writing your listing description, just write the measurements in there too or copy and paste from your notes app. You’ll want to try to use abbreviations to save space, because trust us on this one, to maximize your reach and increase your sales you will want to write a description that sells, and to do that you’ll likely use every last word and space in your listing description area.
- For example, you might say L for length, P2P for Pit to Pit, and so on.
- For some measurements you shouldn’t use an abbreviation since it may be confused with another measurement. For example, W could mean Waist or it could mean Width. If you’re describing an object or a purse, it’s fine to use L X W X H for the abbreviations, but for an item of clothing, there are too many chances for a buyer to misunderstand you, so it’s better not to abbreviate certain terms.
- You can use → “ ← instead of inches, → ‘ ← instead of feet, and CM instead of centimeters, and so on. Without a doubt, inches or it’s abbreviation, is the most common measurement term for selling and reselling apparel, clothing, and accessories in the USA, however, if international buyers can view and purchase your item, as is the case on sites like Grailed or eBay, then you may want to add both inches and centimeters. This is because the USA is one of the few countries that still uses the old “Imperial” system of measurement, called the “USA Customary Unit System,” which calculates distance in inches, feet and yards. This sytem is based on very old Roman expressions of distance. In the sciences, and most commonly throughout the rest of the world, the “Metric System” is used, which is easier to scale up or down, since it uses “a base of 10,” for it’s metrics of millimeters, centimeters, and meters.
- You can easily convert back and forth from inches and centimeters by typing your measurements into the Google search bar on your phone or computer. For example if you type “48″ in cm,” or “48 inches in centimeters,” or any other combination, Google will populate their handy measurement unit conversion calculator, which will display that “48 inches = 121.92 centimeters.” Alternatively you can manually convert inches to centimaters by multiplying your number of inches by 2.54, in order to get the centimeters (48 x 2.54 = 121.92). If you want to check out the Google Unit tool but dont have measurements in mind to convert, just type “Unit Converter” into Google’s search bar and the box will show up (it looks like the below image).
Save Space: Take Photos of Your Measurements
There are actually three ways to take photos of your measurements, so you can add them to your Poshmark, Grailed, Mercari, De-Pop, eBay, or Vinted listing photographs.
- Take a photo of the item with the measuring tape: While measuring your items, take a photo of the item with the measuring tape laid out on top of the garment. Make sure the measuring tape is carefully lined up properly (you can tell where the appropriate spot is by using the templates below as your guide). Take clear photos so that the potential buyers can see where the beginning and ending measurement points are, and can easily read the numbers, as well as what part of the garment you are measuring. Then include the 2-3 photos it in your listing photography (see the article All the Angles in the Genius Portal) for even more details and tips on this process and taking great listing photos for Poshmark that sell.
- Draw a picture (neatly): If you’re good at quickly hand-sketching something at a much smaller scale, you can use this approach instead. Add your measurements to the drawing, then take a photo when you’re finished. If you do this on a cute background like the image in the left circle below, it can really work in your favor and provide some differentiation to your closet or listings. The pink Hello Kitty handbag is drawn on a miniature clipboard that only about 3″ tall. The Louis Vuitton Supreme leather bomber jacket is just drawn on plain paper with a fine sharpie. This can take a lot of time however, so you may want to use option 3 instead.
- Use a Measurement Template: Use a template like the ones shown below that you can easily download by clicking the grey “download buttons.” You can fill out your measurements on these templates easily, by using the “mark-up” function inside your iPhones standard photo app, or you can use any image editing tool that allows for text overlay. Record your measurements onto the templates digitally, and then upload the template as one of your listing photos. Alternatively, you can print these and keep copies handy, handwrite your measurements onto them, snap a photo when it’s finished, and then upload them to your listing. This is a great way to include measurements because it does not take up any space in your listing description (remember: this space is super-valuable premium space that can be used to sell your listings better and quicker, and for more money). It’s also fast, easy, and only takes up one photo listing spot (as opposed to #1 which can take two to four-plus photo slots). There are even apps and websites dedicated to templates but most of them will cost you an annual or monthly subscription fee, and these reseller tools & templates below are FREE!
There are pros and cons to each of these, and you should pick what’s most comfortable for you. I tend to use a combination of the photo-based approaches, and most regularly the three options above rather than writing my measurements directly inside the listing description or comments. Why? The answer is two-fold. First, I would rather use the limited space in my description text to highlight the other features of my items, and so I can ensure my listing description text is written optimally for internal and external SEO. Secondly, the photo-based approach, in particular option #1 above, can help you with return cases where the buyer may (falsely/ erroneously) try to return the item or file a case while mentioning their reason is “not as described” due to inaccurate measurements.
This is not incredibly common but it has been known to happen. It has never happened to me, but I credit that to the accurate way that I approach measurements and some of the tools listed right here. Check out the Resell Genius “Genius Portal,” our Knowledge Database created especially for sellers and resellers, for more detail about how to deal with and prevent buyer fraud, along with information and resources on the topics of return attempts, buyers filing cases, feedback and ratings (and way more!).
Free Downloads: Measurement & Sizing Templates
Click the download button below each image to download the free measurements and sizing templates. These are blank templates that you can fill out to capture all of the most common, most requested measurements.
If you’d like to see a specific template, leave us a comment below!
Free Reseller Tools – Dress Template
Free Reseller Tools – Shirt
Free Reseller Tools – Pants & Jeans
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