Selling On eBay

eBay sells over $60 billion worth of products every year and it's the largest online marketplace in the world.  It serves over a million people buying and selling each day. For myself, if I have items to sell and want to attract the most people, selling them on eBay is generally my first choice.

Tips for Selling On Ebay

1. Use Relevant search terms in your Listing Title
The best way to reach your target market is to include the search terms that people will use to find your items, so make them descriptive.

For example, if you are selling wooden walking sticks a listing titled 'walking sticks' will draw fewer targeted buyers than would a tile that says 'historic wooden walking sticks' or perhaps 'carved wooden walking sticks'. Be as specific as you can so as to appeal to the ideal shopper that is most likely to make a sale.

You don't have to register with ebay to take a look at what's available, but you do need to register if you want to buy or sell anything.

eBay charges fees to list your item on the site. The cost depends on total of fees calculated based on the starting price, selling price, selling format, optional listing upgrades, category, and site. The eBay fee pages have tables to help you figure out how much it will cost you to sell your item.

2. Sell products that are profitable
Selling on ebay is not free, granted the fees are not huge but combine those fees with shipping fees and you could be cutting into your profits way more than you had hoped.

Choose your items carefully and understand your profit margin. If you're at a loss on what to sell, have a look at the Ebay free 'What's Hot" guide for helping you find out not only what's selling on ebay but how well it's selling.

You can sell stuff you have laying around your house, or you can try your hand at buying products from  a reliable  dropshipping company and selling them on eBay.  If you're considering using a dropshipping supplier first take a few minutes and learn how to find a dropshipper that delivers quality and is reliable.

3. Add video to your ebay auctions
You know the phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words. Video is popular online so why not incorporate it into your ebay auctions as well? There's no extra cost and it's easy to do. You don't have to get fancy, a simple video will do. Show your product and describe what makes it unique. Let your viewer get a good look at how it is made and what condition it is in.

4. Shipping Considerations
Good shipping practices drive customer satisfaction, it improves your ratings and helps ensure buyers come back.

Always over deliver on shipping promises. For example let's say you promise a buyer they will receive their items in 5-7 days, instead get the item to them in 3 days. That always makes an impression on a buyer. They get their items sooner than they anticipated and you just became a hero.

Additionally always know how you will be shipping your items before you even list them. You will avoid the end-of-auction scramble and you'll be much better prepared to get the items out the door faster.

5. Avoid Payment Woes
Use the PayPal payment method, it speeds up the payment process tremendously when selling on eBay. Set up your payment methods before starting you auctions.

Beware of various money orders that are often used. There are U.S. money orders that can only be cashed at a U.S. Post office, not a big deal but if you're not expecting that, it could be a pain. I'd suggest avoid accepting money orders and just stick with Paypal, it's safer and it's easy.

Sell on eBay by Becoming an eBay Affiliate

Here's an excellent way to be a part of the eBay billion dollar industry - become an eBay affiliate. The beauty of becoming an ebay affiliate is you don't even need anything to sell, you just take advantage of what everyone else sells.

Here's how it works...

Go to eBay, see what the hot selling products are by going to the 'What's Hot" guide. Find a product category that interests you and promote those products on your own site for a nice commission.  Now that might sound like a lot of work and typically it use to be but now there's a product called 'Build A Niche Store'. This is a product that automatically builds an ebay store and stocks it with the eBay products of your choice.

You decide on what categories of products you want to sell, select the categories and BANS automatically inserts them into your store. Each product has your affiliate code attached to it, so anytime a sale is made you get paid.

Check out my BANS review that I wrote for a BANS store that I created selling eBay guitars.