Easy Guide: How to Sell on EBay - the Basics

eBay is without doubt a great website, an incredible marketplace, and a very useful tool for people not only to buy online at great prices, but also to cash in their used articles or even their products. It's a known, secure site, so be confident in selling in it.

This article is for those who want to sell, mainly oriented for starters that would initially just sell a few items they have at home. It describes basic steps from scratch to selling, collecting and shipping, uncovering some factors such as "is selling on eBay secure?", "is it free?", etc.

What should I do first? Setting up your eBay account

The first thing you need is an eBay account. It's easy to open, will take only couple of minutes, and it's completely free. You will use it both for buying and selling on eBay.

Just go the eBay (www.ebay.com) and right on the top of the screen to the right of the ebay logo, click on register. Fill out the information on the form and you are basically done. You will receive a confirmation email to verify your activation.

Second step (suggested): Open a PayPal account

While eBay accepts different paying and collecting methods, the recommended and probably more secure is through PayPal. In summary, PayPal is a simplified bank in the internet. Although this is not the topic of this article, in order for you to be able to start selling on eBay using PayPal, a really brief explanation on how to open a PayPal accounts would be:

Go to PayPal (www.paypal.com) and look for the "sign up" link. You just need a Personal account (no need to go Premier at this time). Again, fill in the data on the application form and you will receive a confirmation email.

Additional steps you might need would be transferring money to your PayPal account using your credit card or bank account (not required for selling on eBay), etc.

On your marks, get set

Generally speaking, your new eBay account is used for buying. As soon as you go to the Sell section and choose the option to Start Selling, you will be directed to creating a Seller's account. Don't worry, this just means you need to complete some additional steps (i.e. authorizing eBay to collect selling fees from your PayPal account, etc). Just follow the web page instructions and you'll do it in a few minutes.

And now, start selling!

First things first, make sure you got the article you are selling. Take a good picture of it and verify things like its measures, weight, brand , characteristics, features, condition, etc. (as applicable).

As you will be shipping it in most cases, a good idea would be to have it in a shipping box, measure the box and check its weight. This will be useful when setting shipping charges.

So, go on the eBay site, login using your account information, go to the Selling section (up on the left, click on Sell) and click "Start selling".

The site is user-friendly, but highlights are:

-select a category to list your item (i.e. Toys & Hobbies>Stuffed Animals>Other). You can do so by browsing available categories or typing a few keywords on the search box.

-create your listing using a custom or simplified form - choose a title, add a picture, and complete the information on your item, describe the item, select selling type (auction or fixed price), paying method (i.e. link the listing to your PayPal account), and shipping options.

-look for ideas - while listing your item, you can check on completed listings (i.e. items that have recently been sold in eBay) for comparable prices, ideas, information to include, etc.

-review your listing insertion fee - insertion fees may apply for your listing, you need to make sure you agree with them before finishing your listing, or modify options for insertion fees not to apply (see section on fees below)

-review your listing - always double-check how it will look like.

-finalize (publish) your listing.

In a couple of clicks, you are done! Now it's just a matter of monitoring your listing and waiting for the offers to come!

Title, information, and description tips

Make sure your title clearly describes the item you are selling. It's the first things buyer will see and they will decide on opening your listing or not based on it and the picture of the item.

Good ideas are to clarify if the article is used or new, and in the last case, if it's in the original box (usually by adding "NIB" to the title, which stands for New In Box), brand and a short description. Use key words, as the eBay search works just as an internet search engine, looking for keywords.

Include as much information as possible: brand, model, size, weight, condition of the article, etc. Thing as a buyer, it's hard to buy some things not being able to look at them other than in a picture, so the more information you include, the better for a buyer to decide.

And in regards to the description, not only state the facts but also make sure you appeal to the buyer. Why should they buy your product?

Auction or Fixed price? What about the listing price or starting price?

You can either list your article on an auction (you get to choose the starting price) or with a fixed price. The difference of course is how much will you receive, and also the selling fees you will have to pay. Check the next section for a brief on listing and selling fees.

Choose the selling style. An auction would be a great idea if you start with the minimum price you would accept. Shipping costs are added separately. But do consider in your starting or listing price the estimate amount in selling fees you will pay.

For setting a price, not only think in how much you want, a good idea is to check open and completed listings on similar items on eBay and, why not, over the internet in general, so you make sure your price does make sense to buyers.

Is selling on eBay free? Listing and selling fees

Straightforward answer is "No", it is not free to sell, but you just need to include the fees you will need to pay on your starting auction or selling price.

Nowadays, first five auction listings on a given month have no insertion fee. You will just pay a selling fee which will depend on your final selling price. Starting April 2010, there will be some changes; basically, first one hundred auctions starting below $1 in a given month will have no insertion fees. You should check eBay site for more information on fees, just make sure you understand how much you will need to pay.

In a nutshell, selling fee for auctions is a percentage based on the selling price (i.e. 8% of selling price if it is below $50, and then it changes for higher selling prices).

Fixed price listings do have an insertion fee you will have to pay whether you sell the article or not. Sometimes if you do not sell you can relist with a waived fee. Again, check the page.

Other fees eBay charges have to do with additional features for your listings, which you may want to incur for a better chance to sell. Examples are, small fee ($0.15) for each additional picture, subtitle, listing design, extended auction (more than the custom/free 7-day auction) etc.

Shipping charges and options

As part of your listing you will include shipping costs. There are some tools on eBay that will help you with this, so you can offer alternatives and correct shipping charges. You can either opt for making the item available for pick-up (local buyers may be willing to do so, avoiding shipping cost).

The important note here would be, make sure you know the size and weight of the whole package (your article inside the envelope or box you will ship, with bubble-wrapper or anything you will put in the box), so you can estimate, using for example the embedded eBay-USPS tool, the correct price.

The shipping cost you include in the listing will be paid to you by the buyer. If you put this wrong and end up paying more, it will come out from your pocket.

What happens now?

There's a section called "My eBay" section. In it, among other things, you can monitor your listings, including the amount of "watchers" (people that are following it) and bids.

If everything goes smooth, you will start receiving bids. For auctions, Bids are commitments to buy, so with the first one, your item is basically sold. It would just be a matter to see who is the higher bidder at the end of the auction.

You will get notified when auction ends, if the item sold, and who is the buyer. With a couple of clicks you will take care of sending the buyer an invoice and (after you receive your payment) preparing the shipping label for your item (and paying for it). You will be amused on how automatic everything is!

When will I get paid? When do I ship the item?

Once auction finishes (or fix priced is offered by buyer), you send an electronic invoice to buyer. Then you wait for them to pay. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to a couple of days for buyers to pay. You will get notified when they pay, as you will receive the money on your PayPal account.

Once they pay, you are offered the option to create (and pay for) the shipping label. Don't worry, you will be directed to everything you need to do on the site. Even the address to ship will be pre-populated with the buyers' information.

You pay for the shipping (you can do it with your PayPal account) print the label and schedule an USPS pick-up or just go to USPS or a mailbox.

Give and receive Feedback

eBay is a marketplace based on (mostly) trust. People trust the site and each other, based on reputation. As an eBay user (seller and buyer) you gain reputation by completing transactions successfully and receiving feedback from the counterparty.

So, once you ended the transaction (i.e. once you collected and shipped), make sure to leave feedback for the buyer (electronically, just takes a minute) and make sure they do the same with you once they receive the article.

You can find more information on feedback on the site, of course.

The End - or the beginning

That's about it. Good luck and good selling. You can just sell an old article you do not use, or you can sell items for getting a new cash inflow source.
There are several other options, including eBay accounts for stores, promotions, advertising, etc. They would fit your unique needs. Just get in the site and try it.