How Do I Sell on eBay?
11 June 2008Before eBay sellers become successful, each individual has to start somewhere. Most ask this question at some point: How do I sell something on eBay? Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. This information will hopefully give you that extra push to get you started in the right direction and start making money on eBay.
The first thing to do when starting out on eBay is to register on the site and obtain a User ID. To do this, simply go to www.ebay.com and register as a new user. You should also register with PayPal because that is the accepted form of payment, and PayPal makes it easy for buyers to pay and for sellers to get their money.
The second thing to do is just start buying some items on eBay in order to get your feedback score up. It is difficult to sell items with a zero feedback score. Once you have your PayPal account set up, it will be very easy to buy stuff on eBay. Make sure the seller accepts PayPal; believe it or not, some do not accept it. Once your feedback score is above 10, you are ready to start selling.
The first thing to determine is what you will sell on eBay. Most sellers start selling stuff around the house and garage that they no longer want or need. Get a good-sized box and just start putting stuff in that you find around the house and want to sell.
Once you have some items to sell, sit down and do some research on the eBay site to determine what price you can get for each item. You do this by searching “completed listings.” Go to “Advanced Search” and click the box beside “Completed listings only.” This will show all the listings that have ended within the past 14 days, and will show you what has sold and what has not sold. Those listings that sold will show the price in green. Those that did not sell will show the price in red. You can then get an idea of what the item is selling for, and whether it is a popular item.
As you are doing research, pay attention to the item descriptions of those items that sold. It will give you a good idea of what kind of description to write for your own item. Don’t copy someone else’s description word for word, but you can get an idea of what to put in your own description.
Take pictures of your item with a quality digital camera in good lighting. Sharp, clear pictures are very important when selling stuff on eBay. Buyers cannot see the item in person, so they must rely on pictures to determine whether they want to bid on it.
When you are ready to list your items, simply click on the “Sell” tab to get started. The eBay selling form will guide you through listing your item; you will price your item, write a description, upload pictures, and specify shipping costs.
After the listing ends and your item sells, package it carefully and mail to your customer. If the item does not sell, then you can list it again. The average selling rate on eBay is 33%; this means that for every three items listed on eBay, one item sells.
After you get some sales under your belt, it will be time to take your eBay business up a notch and try to obtain products to sell. Those sellers who make a ton of money on the site sell products in hot, lucrative niches.
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