What You Need to Do Before You Start Buying & Selling on Ebay?
There are a few basic things that you need or need to do before you can start buying and selling on eBay or any auction.
1. Credit Card
You will need to have a Credit Card to open an account with Pay Pal which is the most acceptable, proven and safe means for payment.
Your Credit Card number will not be revealed during payment.
2. Pay Pal Account
Pay Pal is the safer and easier way to make payment without exposing your credit card or bank account number.
PayPal can be used to buy items on the Internet too and not limited to transactions on eBay. It is widely accepted globally for electronic transactions on the Internet.
For more information and opening an account, you can go to https://www.paypal.com/
3. eBay Account
You can opened an account in your our country as eBay has a few sites like eBay France, eBay Germany, eBay Australia, eBay Singapore, eBay India, eBay Malaysia, eBay Philippines, and so on.
Just fill up the form shown on your PC screen and provide the relevant details required.
For more information and registration, you can go to http://www.ebay.com/
4. Digital Camera (Optional but Recommended)
You should take good photos of items that you are selling as this will enable the Buyers to see what they are buying.
You will have some advantage over those Sellers that do not have photos of similar items on sale.
It is very simple to upload digital photos or images but please remember to re-size them as you do not need a big or very high resolution image for Web.
An entry-level digital camera should be able to get you reasonable digital images required.
5. Items to Sell
Finally, you just need to look around your home for used items that are no longer used but occupying storage space.
As the item has to be sent by post, it has to be of reasonable size and not items like an old chair or 14” portable TV otherwise the delivery cost would be very high.
I would like to suggest that before you post any items for sale, it would be wise to look at similar items that are being auctioned and see how the Sellers do their postings; e.g. how photos are taken from different angles, how an item is thoroughly described.
In fact, you should look for a cheap item that cost only a few dollars and you should have a go at bidding for it. This is to give you a feel of the whole transaction from bidding to settlement to receipt of the item. This experience will benefit you when you start selling your items.
So what are you waiting for?
Go and buy your first item and then make your first sale!
Ruby
I need some advice and help on starting selling items on Ebay?
I do not know how to go about selling some things on ebay, since i’ve never sold anything on it. What are some of its fees? I also heard that ebay charges you monthly to use it, is that true? I also plan to sign up on Paypal, since thats popular on ebay (i have bought things off of ebay before, just never sold items though). Just any advice or "watch-out" tips when first selling things on ebay.
I found some advice on this on line, it helped me:
Take a picture of the item, if using a digital camera, load it on your computer. Crop large pictures and zero in on the item, rotate picture so it is showing the correct way. How many times have you seen pictures "sideways"?
Click on Sell Your Item and fill out form making sure you follow these steps.
Title — descriptive titles work best. ‘Rare figurine’ will not generate clicks, ‘Lladro Ballerina’ will. Be very careful with the use of the word rare or hard to find. It’s not rare, just because your nearby store is sold out.
Category — search on eBay for similar items to find most popular category for that particular item. If you have a cross-collectibles –e.g. Disney Cookie Jar, it might be worth listing in two different categories. But since that can really add to the listing costs, only do that if item is worth it.
Description – tell all you can about the condition and history of item without exaggerating. Mention any special conditions of the sale, such as no overseas shipments, no personal checks accepted. Be accurate about any blemishes or problems.
Picture URL — load the picture to your auction. The first picture is free and many times you only need to show one picture. If you want to show multiple pictures it will cost more money, unless you use your website or web space to store the pictures. In that case you will need to use HTML in the description block that leads to the image source.
The Gallery — optional costs for an additional picture might be worth a try on higher valued items. Think about whether most folks would use the Gallery to find this type of collectible or they would just search the categories.
Boldface Title — another optional cost, but it does make title stand out, only consider it for higher priced item.
Item Location — could make a difference when shipping large items.
Payment Method — list all methods you will accept, e.g. checks, money orders, Paypal, Bidpay or charge cards.
Shipping — will you ship worldwide or just in your own country.
Minimum bid — put your starting price here, making it reasonable, but remember unless you set a reserve on it, this might be all it sells for.
Duration — An item that is hard to find does better if it stays on eBay a little longer. eBay charges more for ten day auctions — make sure the item is worth it. If it’s a very popular item, I don’t think length of time matters much, as long as part of the time is a weekend.
Reserve Price — eBay charges extras for reserve prices, make sure your item is worth it. If it’s not very expensive, just list it at the minimum you will take for it and forget about reserves.
Buy it Now is another eBay option. If you have a firm price and are willing to sell it immediately, use the Buy It Now option. Buyers can then either take a chance by bidding on an item, or pay a little more and make sure they get it.
Tips:
eBay fees can quickly add up, remember the listing fees are only that, after the item sells — more fees are incurred. Be careful and use only the optionals that you feel are necessary.
Always include insurance as part of the shipping costs, a lost shipment will cost the seller not the buyer.
Be sure to keep the buyers informed on the status of their order, when payment is received and when item is shipped.
Be honest with your buyers, one sale is not worth ruining a reputation, the Internet has made it a very small world.
References :
Hi,
eBay doesn’t charge a monthly fee for listing your items.
When you list an item, you have to pay a listing fee, which depends on the product category and the price. I’m selling in info product market and to list an eBook on CD that costs 30 $ will cost me 1$.
Then you have to pay a final fee if your item get’s sold. This fee also depends on for how much you sell your items and in my case I pay 7.5% from the eBooks price.
But there’s a great feature – if my item doesn’t sell within those 7 days (oh yes, I forgot to mention – you can list the item for up to 10 days, but most of users go for 7 days), I can re-list it, but if it sells the second time, I don’t pay the re-listing fee.
Sure, you should get PayPal as that’s the most popular means of payment and it’s fast, easy, and convenient.
You can go to the first link below and see an easy guide to eBay selling, and grab a free 5 Day Video Course ‘Fix My Auction’ from the second link – it includes a whole lot of advice!
Hope this helps,
Robby
References :
http://pages.ebay.com/education/selling.html
http://www.spicyauctiontemplates.com