I am not going to explain what ebay is or how to use it as I'm sure that everybody with access to the internet has been on there at one point - even my four year old knows what it's for!
This is simply a guide to selling.
I have been using ebay for the last 6 years and have had a lot of experience with selling. My friend and I used to sell womens underwear, it was quite profitable until everyone and their granny discovered ebay and tried to make a quick buck.
Now I primarily sell my own items (clothes, etc) and dip into trading if I come across a great bargain.
If you are considering going in to business do your homework. View many listings to get an average price for things, calculate the listing, final value and Paypal fees. Factor in postage costs and cost of buying packing materials. And double, no, triple check that you are getting things fopr the best price. It can take a few months of searching to find a great wholesaler.
Now the most important thing when selling an item is the picture. Seriously, the pictures are what people look at first, if your pic is blurry or the item is shot at a bad angle, then people will simply move on and scan through the other 10,000 or
so listings. There is so much choice now that if the pic isn't good then the buyer won't even bother to look at the listing to find out what you have said about it.
This is especially true of womens clothing. If an item doesn't look flattering then they cannot picture it on themselves and will not be interested. Arrange the item, maybe emphasise the waist on tops, take pics from different angles or in different lights. It will be worth it.
If you are planning on selling a lot of clothes, a mannequin may help. I still have one left over from the business and it really does make clothes look better. If the clothes are over a size 10 though they will need pinning back or they will look terrible and just hang.
For the actual listing. Type the title in capitals - no, it is not rude and you are not shouting at people! Those rules don't apply on ebay. Don't type the listing in caps though. It stands out in a title but makes a listing hard to read.
You don't get many letters in a title so be careful what you say. Think about what people would type in a search.
If you are selling a skirt, for example, do not write 'ladies skirt'.
I see this a lot, and yes it is a ladies skirt but this is obvious so it is a waste of your space.
ALWAYS LIST THE SIZE!!!!! If you don't list the size of your item it will halve or even quarter the amount of people that will see it. Most people will type 'black top, 12' or something similar. You may have exactly what they are looking for but if you don't have every word of the search in your title then your item will not come up.
Be as specific as you can in your listing. Two sentences are not enough. Be as thorough with your listings as you are with your reviews. The reviews pay a set amount but a good listing could double/triple your profits. Aim for at least 3 paragraphs. More if it is a detailed or unique item.
Always have a pic but unless it is an expensive item or has a special detail or something don't bother with extra pics, they are not worth it. They cost 12p each, which doesn't sound much but it all adds up. Especially if you are not selling very expensive items.
How long to list? 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 days. I have never used a 1 day listing, the only time I would recommend it is if you are selling concert tickets or something with extremely high demand. 3 days are good for vouchers, tickets and things that are always in demand. 5 is good for popular items or if you have lots of similar items and want a quick turn around. 7 is the optimal time as it is long enough to gather interest without people getting bored and stopping watching. 10 days are too long for most items as people don't want to wait two weeks (inc posting time) for something. Although 10 day listings are great for rare or collectible items as you need time to wait for specific customers to search.
Price Don't be too ambitious with your start prices. It costs a lot more to list when you put a high price on it. A lot of things are guarenteed to sell for at least a certain price. If you check completed listings and find that every other item of that type has sold for a good price then start the auction at 99p as it will be free to list and you can be pretty confident that it will not stay at that price. Just remember that you can always cancel the listing if it doesn't go to plan.
Low price listings always get more interest as people watch them hoping to get a bargain but by the time it comes to the last day they have decided that they really want the item and will sometimes be prepared to pay more for it!
Postage Don't take the ****. If you sell a radio for 1p but £14.99 postage people will feel cheated and will not bid. Yes, if it is the cheapest price by far people will still buy but you will not get respect for it. You will also be breaking ebay rules so your items may be pulled or you could be suspended. People don't like to feel that they are being conned so check prices for other similar items and charge something similar.
Postage prices really don't matter though. When most people bid they have a limit, say £10. If the postage is 3.50 they will bid up to 6.50 yet if the postage is 5.95 they will only go up to £4 ish. You will get the same amount either way so don't worry about it too much.
Paypal Accept paypal!!! A lot of people will not buy if they cannot pay by paypal. Now, only around 5% of my sales are by a method other than paypal. It is easy to set up an account and is well worth it.
Posting Always post by recorded delivery!!! People will try to scam you if you do not. Not many, but every now and again someone will say that they haven't received the item. Sometime it is genuine but there will be people that try it on anyway. I have had a couple of people try this on even when they signed for the parcel and there signature is on full view on the Royal Mail website - morons! Basically if someone says their item hasn't turned up and you have no proof of postage then Paypal will take the payment out of your account and return it to the buyer. Which is infuriating! The slip that they give you at the post office is not good enough, paypal need a tracking number, so make sure you are covered.
I can't think of anything else right now but will add more if and when I think of it. I hope this has been helpful, good luck!
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Good interesting review with lots of your own experience, rather than just an 'owners manual' of eBay as many of the reviews of it consist of! I had an eBay shop for two years but had to give up after the last exorbitant round of seller fee increases in September. BTW, accepting payment by PayPal has been mandatory there for some time now.
wigglylittleworm 25.04.2009 00:53
very handy for a new seller. I cant be bothered with ebay anymore as the last lot of items I sold didnt sell for the prices I expected based on previous sales and ebay took a huge chunk in fees.
Advantages: Proxy bidding, do not have to list credit card. Disadvantages: Can take up to 7 days for your account to be credited if you send your payment
carolinesite 27.02.2001 ·
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Review of ebay.co.uk
Apr 24th, 2009
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