How to Get Started on Ebay

I guarantee that the majority of the people that read this article will already know the ropes when it comes to EBAY and also there will be that small percent that doesn't know anything about EBAY and that is why I am writing this article, to help you guys figure it out and get started.

Most of you know EBAY as the biggest online marketplace with billions of transactions everyday. People are selling anything from old clothes, electronics, music, sports memorabilia, collectibles, antiques, and even cars and motorcycles. People all over are always selling what they believed to be their old junk turning it into some pretty good money. The big thing with selling items on EBAY involve making sure your putting your items in the appropriate categories to ensure the right people are viewing your items.

Other things to consider would be to make sure you are not overpricing your items because obviously people aren't going to buy your item if they could just go to a store and purchase it cheaper. Try doing some research through some online websites or even do a search for the item your selling to try and get a generalized idea about a good starting price or Buy it Now price for your item. Theses are just some simple tips to remember but first let's get the non EBAY members setup on EBAY.

When you first go to www.Ebay.com, you should notice immediately at the top of the page a sign in / register icon to click. From there it's pretty self-explanatory, just fill in your personal information and then choose a username you want and a password you will remember. If you have a hard time remembering your password, just type in Notepad or something and save it somewhere on your computer. You can always have EBAY send you your password if you forget and you can change it as well. If you are looking to open a business account on EBAY, you should do it on this screen as well. It asks you at the top just before the personal information fields begin.

All right so after you fill in all of your personal information, EBAY will send you an email with a verification link probably and with you're username and password. Make sure you choose a password you can remember. That is simply all you need to get registered on EBAY. Another thing you should probably do is get a PayPal account. PayPal is another way of being able to purchase items online and receive payment online. It is 10X faster than waiting for a money order or check. The payment is sent and received almost instantly.

You set up your PayPal account to have a link to your checking account at your bank. Basically whenever you want funds in your PayPal account to buy things online, just transfer money out of your account and into your PayPal account and the same thing pretty much goes for when you receive payment. Just select the option to switch over funds to your checking account. PayPal has it's own help section for more detailed instruction on how to get setup. I'm not going to detail everything when I don't even know how many people will sign up with them.

If your going to sell on EBAY then it is highly recommended due to the fact you receive your payment quicker and send it quicker. You can also setup a similar deal on EBAY where you can have your checking account linked to your EBAY account. This is handy for paying off your fees from your auction listings. The fees on EBAY are not a lot at all. For a simple basic listing with a photo and all the detailed info you want on your item, it costs like $.80 to a $1.00

Normally.

PREFFERENCES

Alright so once you've gotten logged into your EBAY account, you probably get a greetings message or something like that. There is a message part of your account that allows you to get messages or comments on your items from other EBAY users. Always treat them with respect since they are the ones that purchase your products. Always help them out the best you can with detailed answers.

That is what will aid in your sales. You should probably set some of your preferences for your account and such. Like what kind of shipping you will offer whether it being USPS or UPS (you don't need an account through UPS or anything like that...). Make sure you email and current address is correct so people will know where to send your payment and/or your purchased items. This is also where you will setup your bank account information (if you choose to).

Actually I think you will because I think you need a credit card at least so they have some way of billing you your fee's each month. From this section you will also be able to change your addresses if you have more than one. You can look into your PayPal account (if you have one). You can also view your seller's account to check to see what fee's you have to pay yet and other fees you've had that have been paid. Basically your seller's fee records.

SELLING/BUYING

If your looking to sell right away, just click at the very top of the page on the tool bar where it says, "Sell". From there you will directed to the selling page where you first start with putting in a title for your item and that will bring up a bunch of categories. Always pick the category that is most common for your item or that fits the best. Many people will just pick a category that they think will get more viewers but they end up getting people who aren't looking for that product. Alright and from this part you will select that category and click "Save and Continue". The next page will consist of information fields that will gather information about what you are selling, starting with your title and/or subtitle. Subtitles will cost $.50 more and I never use them and still have very good success but you can feel free to add what you want since it will be your auction.

From there you can begin to upload photos and your first photo will be free. Any photo after that you will be charged for which is like $.15 for additional photos. I always choose to add a gallery photo for my auction, which will add one of your photos to the search results that people are looking. I think this is a great way of bringing people into your auction and will give people a better insight into what you are selling.

You can also choose decorative borders for your auction that will add some style to your auction, which will cost you an additional $.10, and this option really isn't necessary to have a nice looking auction but will still add some style to it if that's what you are aiming for. Now onto the pricing and shipping price procedure. Like I stated earlier, just do a little research about what you are selling to get a good idea on what price to start your auction out at. If you get too greedy, people will just pass it up. Buy It Now is the option that will allow buyers to purchase your item right on the spot for the designated price you set.

Same principal goes for this as well. Make sure not to over price your buy it now price. You can also set reserves on your auction to ensure that it will be sold at a guaranteed price no lower than what you have set it at. As for shipping prices, I always just look up similar listings to my item to see what others are pricing theirs at to get a general idea of what to set it at. You can choose to setup a return policy if you would like to offer a refund to anybody that is not impressed with the item they bought from you. You can also state in your auction to NOT accept any refunds and that all sales are final.

The only reason I do that is because some people will find they just don't like your item for stupid reasons and want to return them. I've had people buy PC games off of me and then want a refund stating it never works. What people do with this is they just burn copies of the games and then want a refund and state it doesn't work. There's a lot of ways to get scammed on EBAY so always pay attention to what your buying or who is making purchases of your items.

Buying should be pretty simple to figure out. Basically just search in what you are looking and the browse for the item you are most interested in. If you can't find specifically what you are looking for, you can always broden your search up which will show more results and hopefully will show something you are interested in. The big things to look for when buying is seller feedback. If there feedback is under 5, always be weary. Look at their feedback comments by click the number next to their EBAY username. If you see negative comments torwards the guy then obviously you should stay away from his auctions. Always look for sellers with higher feedback. Anything over 15 - 20 should be ok.

I always like finding people over 100 or even 1000 with a positive feedback rating of 95% or higher. Another thing to look for would be the price of the item. If your not sure how much the item should be then research a little on it. Also if you notice an incredible deal on something...look to see what the shipping price is. People will make amazing offers but jack the shipping WAY up to compensate for it. This always lures people in and they hardly ever notice this until its time to pay up. These are some of the more important tips you need to look out for when buying. Also look the item over carefully in photos and descriptions. The seller may be putting up something that's broke so always make sure you read ALL of the text to ensure that you don't buy something broken that your unaware of.

FEEDBACK

Another important aspect of EBAY is their Feedback system. This is basically your report card on how you've handled your transactions and your feedback towards other EBAY members. Once a transaction is completed, you can choose to leave either positive, neutral, or negative feedback on a member. Always remember to NEVER leave feedback on somebody until they have left you feedback. You wouldn't want to leave some good feedback if they give you a neutral or negative feedback would you? Feedback plays a crucial role in how people will consider buying from you. If you have low feedback (with negative comments) then a buyer will be very weary of you and may not even allow your bid.

The important thing is to start selling right away to start boosting that Feedback of yours. People always take that into consideration. Even if your selling an ultra rare item that could go for $1000,'s and you have a Feedback rating of 1 or even 5? People might be very weary of that listing. Now with people that have 1,000's of positive Feedback? People love doing business with them. I know it's hard at first getting that Feedback up but could prove to be rewarding at some point because it will offer some security to people buying from you.

You will at some point get negative feedback. It will happen and there's nothing you can do to retract it. Some people are just too impatient or never satisfied and if they believe you are slow with your responses or payment, they will nail you even if it's not your fault. Just hit them back with negative feedback IF it's necessary like if you were just lazy about sending out an item or payment. Odds are you wont encounter too many people of that sort though. Never abuse the Feedback system because other members you leave bad Feedback for can come back and reply to what comments you left about them and basically say that your lying and they will always mention to stay away from you and your listings.

So it's a great system to help people see what kind of person you are but just don't abuse it. If people deserve bad Feedback for not paying or slow payment/shipping then give it to them. I haven't had an issue like that so far thankfully but I believe it is inevitable for everyone at least once.