Eight Years on Xianyu: What I Want to Talk About Isn't Making Money

Here's what happened.

Last night Liang Mouyin messaged me. He'd listed a 40-yuan mouse on Xianyu, and in no time a lot of people messaged him asking if he'd priced it too low.

I looked at the photo he sent. It was a Logitech G304 wireless mouse. I used to have the same one, but after I got a new one on Singles' Day last year, it sat unused.

I opened Xianyu and searched for that model. Most people had listed theirs for around 100 yuan. So I told Liang Mouyin: everyone's listing it for about a hundred, but yours has a fault, so it should be a bit lower.

So Liang Mouyin raised his price a little and relisted it.

Then I went looking for my old mouse.

Same Logitech G304, just a little dirty, with everything still working.

In my Notion inventory, this mouse is the item I've owned the longest. I bought it on March 4, 2023 for 179 yuan, and as of today that's 1,116 days.

I listed it on Xianyu for 89 yuan, and in under ten minutes it sold for 80.

The reason Liang Mouyin came to me with this question is that I'd told him before that I've played around on Xianyu for years. Lots of my friends ask me too when they shop there.

I started using Xianyu in high school, which was eight years ago. Without noticing, I've sold 183 items and bought 257, and my trading volume has quietly reached 190,000 yuan.

I used to mostly buy and sell electronics on Xianyu, like phones, computers, and cameras. Those usually have a high price per item, and that 190,000 yuan built up as they moved in and out.

But as I spent more time on Xianyu, I stopped focusing on electronics. On Xianyu I can buy all kinds of things. For example, I now buy my K-drama sources there. And I can sell all kinds of things too.

Take this mouse. I sold it for 80 yuan, then paid 18 yuan for shipping, so what actually reached me was about 60 yuan.

I used to avoid selling things in the range of a few dozen to a hundred yuan. I felt they weren't worth enough, and with shipping to pay, I wouldn't recoup much and it would be extra hassle.

I don't think that way anymore. Lots of little odds and ends can go on Xianyu.

A while back, for example, I upgraded my 65 W charger to a 100 W one. I gathered up all the chargers I wasn't using and listed them in one go.

They all sold in about two days.

An 80 W set sold for 90 yuan, and a three-in-one wireless charger bundled with the old 65 W adapter sold for 150. Over 200 yuan came from things that had been sitting idle.

The mouse is the same. I only got 60 yuan back, but when you sell something that's really been idle for ages, the amount you recoup doesn't matter much.

Xianyu is an outlet that keeps things flowing. How much money you make is secondary.

For me, whether it's the chargers or this mouse, getting back a little and letting them be useful in someone else's hands is enough.

Looked at another way, how much you recoup is just like how things pile up. Small amounts are like those small items you've left idle and ignored. Each one in your hand seems unremarkable, but add them together, and you find how many unused things you have at home.

Money is the same. You aren't sensitive to a few dozen yuan, but when several dozens gather, it turns out to be quite a lot.

A while ago, a cycling friend I often ride with told me he'd bought a new cycling kit and sold his old one on Xianyu for 70 yuan.

I was shocked. I sell my unused things all the time, but I'd never sold clothes. Thinking about it, though, something like cycling kit isn't a big deal. It's a trend-chasing item. He bought a new one to keep up, so naturally someone will buy the old one.

So even after eight years on Xianyu, I'd still underestimated its power. It feels like if I wanted to, I could sell anything there.

I have to admit that ever since I started living as a minimalist, Xianyu has shot up in my estimation. I'd call it a must-have treasure app for minimalists.

In the next few days, I'll write up my eight years of Xianyu experience in several parts.

And the reason I'm starting with this one is to tell you that using Xianyu the right way means looking at your relationship with your things the right way.

Minimalism champions danshari: reducing the things around you as much as you can, so you can put your energy into what truly matters.

If minimalism is the goal, Xianyu is a sharp tool.

You can use Xianyu to do what you want, but how you face your relationship with your things, and how you deal with them, is something all of us have to face.

On this, Xianyu gives you and me an angle, a direction.

For the next few days, my writing will probably cover: how to sell your unused things for a good price, how to buy things worth buying on Xianyu, how to haggle gracefully, buying and selling secondhand electronics on Xianyu, and the traps to avoid when trading there.

If you're interested in what's coming, feel free to follow Xiluluke. I've now posted every day for 100 days in a row, and I've written a lot about minimalist living.