How to be a successful eBay seller

This article explains the steps you should take to successfully sell items on eBay. If you follow these steps closely, you should be making a profit through eBay in no time!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• eBay account
• items to sell
• packing supplies

1. Open a PayPal account. By doing so, the buyer's payment will directly go into your PayPal account. This is the safest and fastest way to receive payments. PayPal also offers seller protection.

2. Find an item to sell. You can either sell used items you find lying around the house, or you can sell new items. If you sell new items, I recommend buying items in bulk, then selling them individually.

3. Be sure that you research the item you wish to sell on eBay. This way, you will learn approximately how much you can expect to earn for the specific item you wish to sell. A good way to do this is to view the completed listings on eBay.

4. Make a descriptive listing. Take the time to carefully describe the item you're selling. Always assure the buyer that he/she knows exactly what he/she is buying. Also, don't forget to include information about payment, shipment, and the condition of the item.

5. Ship the item in a timely manner using a fairly fast shipping method. The quicker the buyer receives the item, the happier he/she will be. This increases the chances of you receiving positive feedback. I recommend purchasing a tracking number and uploading it onto eBay and PayPal. This enables you and the buyer to keep track of the item. Without a tracking number, you are not always eligible for all forms of PayPal seller protection.

Tips & Warnings

• Shipping prices vary greatly. Therefore, be smart in choosing how to ship your items. Shipping items of a reasonable weight in a plastic poly bag or padded envelope is cheaper than shipping the same item in a small box, but the box does provide better protection. Because of this, ship the more valuable items in boxes to ensure they arrive to the buyer safely. Ship the other items in plastic poly bags or padded envelopes.
• Don't be surprised when you discover the fees you must pay for selling an item. This is normal. There will be an eBay Insertion Fee. You will get charged for this immediately after posting your item on eBay. This fee usually only costs about $0.10 - $0.50 as long as you use the basic format, provide a fairly low starting price, and don't get too fancy with your listing. This is the only fee you have to pay even if your item doesn't sell. The next fee is the eBay Closing Fee. This fee is anywhere between 6% and 15% of the closing value. Whatever you charge for shipping and handling is not included when calculating this fee. The final fee is the PayPal fee. This fee is applied when the buyer pays using PayPal. It is $0.30 plus 2.9% of the total PayPal payment for most account users.

[schism]

on 8/7/2009 ack. closing fees makes it a harder time getting a profit.

[chrlueb]

on 8/6/2009 taskeinc,
There are no fees to sign up to be an eBay seller, but you will be charged fees if you list an item or if your item sells. The fees are explained in the Tips & Warnings section of this article. Thanks!

[taskeinc]

on 8/6/2009 Nice article .. question? .. is there a sellers fee on eBay?

[justscott]

on 8/4/2009 Good tips!

[hyneman]

on 8/3/2009 good article. i been having a hard time selling on ebay. thanks for the info.