How to Sell or Trade on the Net
Although many people like to go to traditional brick-and-mortar stores to purchase items or services they want or need, buying online is a convenient alternative that often lets customers view a wider range of product and service options. Anyone can buy and sell on the web, provided he has the business licenses required in his jurisdiction, an escrow account and excellent product and service photos and descriptions. If you're going to sell or trade a lot, it's best to create your own website or find someone who can do the steps for you. But you also can list your items on other sites.
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Instructions
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Check with your local Chamber of Commerce or state business licensing agency -- often the secretary of state for small businesses -- about whether you need a business license to be selling and trading online. This usually depends on how much you're going to sell or trade. Occasional sales or trades won't need a license, but if you're planning to sell regularly, you'll probably have to apply.
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Write product descriptions for each item you want to sell or trade. Take pictures or get stock photos online to heighten the value of your description.
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Purchase web hosting services from a reputable company and use your new domain name to register for your business license, if necessary in your jurisdiction.
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Create individual pages for your site. Upload your product descriptions and pictures to their appropriate pages. Insert payment buttons on each page of your website and link them to your escrow account so your clients can place an order. The exact steps to do this depend on the way you are creating and hosting your site and whether code for your buttons are created for you through your escrow organization. Include a "make an offer" button or something similar that lets customers contact you if you want to trade instead of sell the item. Link the buttons to an online submission form that directs to your email. When your client checks out or uses the offer button, he should be redirected to a confirmation page for your website.
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Review the trade offers or purchase orders you receive daily. Print invoices for the payments you receive and send them with the purchased items as soon as possible. Respond to trade offers within 24 hours, accepting or rejecting the offers. If you accept, ship the items as soon as you have the customer's contact information and all terms of the trade in writing. If you refuse or counteroffer, give a reason why.
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Use your product descriptions to add posts and accounts with online advertising sites, as well as major social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Link back to your site through these means if you can, or at least provide the web address, or URL, where the buyer can find your products.
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Keep detailed records of all sales and trade transactions for your taxes.
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Tips & Warnings
When creating your website, think critically about the tags and keywords you can use for each product and page. These help your pages rank higher on Internet search results, which is critical if you want more people to know about your online presence.
Create a way for customers to leave feedback or make inquiries. Answer promptly and put quotes from satisfied customers on your site.
If you don't want to create your own website, look into online stores like Amazon or eBay that let you sell and trade through member accounts. The general process of selling and trading remains the same whether you sell on your own site or use someone else's platform.
References
- Photo Credit Polka Dot Images/Polka Dot/Getty Images
