Selling on eBay is pretty simple once you know how. There are a few things you need to know while you’re setting up your eBay sale.
Ways To Sell
- Items can be sold in a basic auction. This is where you get paid whatever the biggest bid for the item is.
- You can also sell on eBay using the “Buy Now” feature. This is more like selling the item for a fixed price of your choice.
- Combine “Buy Now” and basic auction if you want to sell your item in an auction but you also want to set a higher price for people to buy the item if they don’t want to wait for the auction to be over.
- Set a “reserve price” if you don’t want to except a bid under a certain amount of money.
eBay Selling Options
- Reserve – As mentioned above, you can set a “reserve price” for your items. This means that you won’t accept a bid under a certain amount that you set. (Reserve pricing costs more.)
- Starting Bid – This is the lowest price you want your bidding to start at.
- Buy Now – This is an acceptable price that you would accept from the buyer who doesn’t want to wait for the auction to be over to buy your item or who doesn’t want the hassle of bidding.
Things To Consider
- When you set a “starting bid” price for your eBay auction, make sure it’s a price you can deal with if you only get one bid and that’s the price you have to sell the item for.
- When you set a “bid now” price for your eBay auction, make sure it really is the price you want for that item, or more.
- Some items aren’t worth what you think they’re worth. If your starting bid is too high, no one will bid.
- Instead of using reserve pricing, just set a higher starting bid. This way you won’t have to deal with angry buyers later when they didn’t bid high enough.
- If accepting personal checks, don’t ship your item until the check clears.
- PayPal is trustworthy, really. They had some problems when they were new, it’s true, but they’re very safe and secure now.
- eBay has a return policy. Get to know it thoroughly.
Making A Sale On eBay
- Go to the eBay Web site.
- Click on the “Sell” link at the top of the page.
- Type in the name of the item you are selling. Make it simple and to the point.
- Choose a category or categories to sell your item in. Make sure the item belongs in that category.
- Create a title for the item you’re selling. Start with what the item is. Include anything important about the item like size, color and type. If you want, add a subtitle. Note: Subtitles cost extra.
- Choose a condition for your item: new or used. Then add a photo of the item. Photos help items sell. A lot of buyers won’t even consider an item without a photo. The first photo is free, so why not?
- Add a description of your item. Make it clear and simple, but make it detailed. Include all relevant information.
- If you want, you can add on things like a page counter so you can see how many people have looked at your item, or a designer layout for your item profile.
- Choose how you want to sell. Fixed price, auction, or both? Add in a starting bid price. If you want to add a “Buy it Now” price, you can do that now too. If you want to set a reserve, click on the little “Change” link under where it says, “No Reserve price set for this item”.
- Choose the payment method(s) you will accept. PayPal is the most popular because it allows people to pay you with their credit and debit cards, and it’s safe and secure. You can also choose personal check and money order if you prefer. (Read eBay’s Fraud Center)
- Choose how you will ship the item. Add in how much shipping will be. This is important because this becomes part of the total price to the person who is buying from you. They want to know what shipping will be before they bid.
- Type in your return policy, if you have one, and any other instructions you may have for the buyer.
- If you want, you can now choose to promote your item’s listing, or not.
- Before listing the item, make sure you agree to the eBay fee.
- Click on “List Item” and your item will be listed to sell on eBay.