How to Sell on eBay

 

Starting a Seller's Account

Not only is eBay® a great place to shop for deals & save money, but it is also a great place to sell your items! Whether you sell your own personal items or upgrade to a business, eBay® is a great place to make extra money. So how can you start selling on eBay®?

To start selling on eBay® you will need to upgrade your buyer's account to a seller's account. To do this, all you need to do is put a valid credit card on file with eBay®. You may also need to provide a checking account number as well for verification purposes. Once you have done this simple step, you are able to start selling goods online.

After you have upgraded to a seller's account, you will need to think about what kind of payment methods you will accept, what items you are going to sell, how you will ship items, etc.

You can accept various payment methods online. You can accept Paypal®, money orders, wire transfers, cash (if picked up locally), personal check, or cashier's check. To avoid fraud & speed up payments, I would recommend you use Paypal®. Paypal® is free to sign up for, and only charges you a fee when you accept a payment (usually only 2.9% of the transaction + $0.30). Paypal® will allow you to receive payments immediately so you can ship the items out. Also, you can transfer the funds from your Paypal® account to your checking account free. For more information or to set up your free Paypal® account, go to Paypal.com.

 

Selling Your First Item

Once you have upgraded your account and decided on how you will accept payments, you are ready to sell your first item. Before selling, however, you should browse eBay's® selling policies to make sure that the item you are selling is allowed, and also review the selling fees you will incur once you list your item.

When you have familiarized yourself with eBay's® fees & policies, you can list your item. This is a simple process & eBay® will allow you to choose your selling format (auction, fixed price, etc.), select a category, choose your price, insert pictures, describe your item, enter shipping information, & enter payment information.

You can choose to have either a fixed price auction format (buy it now), or you can start the item at a low price & allow bids. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. For instance, with fixed price, you can sell items quicker & accept payment immediately.

The downside of fixed price listings is that you might have made more money if the bidding had gone higher than your fixed price. With bidding you could get more money than you expected with your item. However, you will have to wait until the auction ends to receive payment, and there is always a chance that the buyer will not pay or the bids may not get as high as you would like.

Both methods are great, and it really depends on the type of item you are selling. For instance, for a normal item, I would sell at a fixed price. For a rare or antique item, an auction may be the best.

After selecting your auction format, you are ready to choose your category. Some categories are obvious, and some may be difficult to decide on. If you are ever unsure on which category to choose, use eBay's® category selector. Just enter the keywords & it will show you the categories that similar items are listed under.

Now you are ready to make your title & describe your item. Choose words in your title that are relevant to your listing. Also, always try to fill the entire title section with good keywords.

When describing your item, always clearly state exactly what it is you are selling, the condition of the item (new, used, etc.) the color, shape, size, brand, and anything else that is relevant. Be sure to include things like when payment needs to be received & how, shipping terms, if you accept returns or not, etc. Take the time to think about all of these factors & put it in your listing.

After you enter the item's description & title, you are ready to enter price details & add pictures. Think carefully about your price. For an idea of how similar items have been selling, you can check completed listings. Also, in this section you will be able to insert a picture. If you are planning on selling items frequently, you will want to invest in a digital camera if you do not already have one. You can usually buy an inexpensive one that will do the job for around $30.00.

Take a great picture in a well-lit room. Be sure to show the item from any necessary angles. Then simply upload the image from your digital camera to your computer.

To add the picture, just click on the picture button and it will bring up the photos stored on your computer. Then select the correct image & it will add it to your listing. You can also add additional pictures to your auction. You can either pay $0.15 per picture for eBay® to host it, or you can host it yourself for free. For information on how to do this, check out our HTML Codes section.

After this, you can add any features you want (bold, highlight, etc,), select your shipping rates, enter payment information, and submit your listing. This part is very easy & eBay® walks you through the steps. You just have to fill out the necessary information. For information on how to estimate shipping, click here.

After you have submitted your listing, you can monitor your item in your "My eBay®" section. Simply log in & you can see the current price, how much time it has left, etc. At this point, it is just a matter of waiting until someone buys or bids on the item.
 

Completing the Sale

After someone buys your item you are ready to accept payment, make a package, & ship it out. If you had a "buy it now" auction, then the buyer will pay immediately. If it was a bidding auction, you will have to send the buyer an invoice at the close of the auction. To do this, log into you eBay® account & click on the "send invoice" link beside item under the sold section.
 

Once payment has been safely received, you can package the item & ship it. For detailed information on shipping items & printing labels, click here.
 

After the buyer received the goods, he or she should leave you a feedback first. This is not required, however, and up to 60% of buyers may never leave a feedback comment. However, if a buyer does leave a feedback you should always leave a comment back. You should never leave a feedback first as a seller. It is the buyer's responsibility to leave feedback first to indicate receipt of the goods.
 

Now that you know the basics of how to sell on eBay, you can learn some great tips on making better auction listings. To find out click below.
 

How to Make Great Auctions