How To Sell On eBay

Learning how to sell on eBay comes with a learning curve, but it’s not that hard if you have the right information and resources to help you along the way.

In this article you’ll find great information to get your selling on eBay business started, along with my recommended resources to help you find products to sell on eBay, and to learn how to sell on eBay like a pro right out of the starting gate.

A great place to start acquiring the knowledge you need is Ebay Seller Central.

It is an excellent resource to help you get up to speed with every aspect of the eBay marketplace, including information on what products are selling well and products that are not.

THE BASICS OF HOW TO SELL ON eBAY - GETTING STARTED...

Becoming an eBay seller is one of the easiest small business ideas to start.

You probably have many of the things you need to make money on eBay already at home such as a computer, Internet access, a digital camera, and some space to put your stuff.

That is really all you will need to get started besides some shipping and packing supplies, and surprisingly one of the best places to buy them is on eBay!

Next, you will need to learn how to list auctions.

Return to eBay Seller Central - this will be your lifeline.

There is an abundance of information there on everything you always wanted to know about how to sell on eBay and more.

Don’t be overwhelmed; just take it one step at a time.

You’ll see there is information on listings, bidding, photos, feedback, it’s all there.

Next, you will need to figure out what to sell.

But before you zero in on a particular “niche,” and start making money on eBay, you need some experience and some feedback.

Buyers are generally leery of buying from someone who is brand new and has a feedback rating of less than 10 evaluations.

While you are researching the market and deciding what you will sell, begin selling your own stuff on eBay to build up experience and a good feedback rating.

To find stuff to sell initially just look around your own house, you’d be amazed at what people will buy.

But although you need experience, you don’t want to list something that isn’t likely to sell.

Do your research first, before you invest the time in putting together a listing.

An easy method to use is do a ‘search’ on the eBay Home Page, then look up COMPLETED ITEMS, (scroll down and check the completed items box in the column on the right,) then sort by HIGHEST price.

Then you will see if your designer purse is really worth anything. Or, you’ll see that your old baseball card had 22 listings and not one of them sold.

Pricing is another challenge.

Again, you will need to do your research. See what similar items like yours are going for.

Don’t have overly high expectations. You know how you feel when you go to a garage sale and you see a pair of jeans for $15 or books for $4 each.

Many people come to eBay to look for a bargain, so consider how much you have invested in the item.

If you have an item from around the house, you may consider that something is better than nothing, so you may be inclined to start the bidding quite low.

If you bought it with the specific intention to resell, you will, at the very minimum, want to break even, so take the price you paid for it and consider other costs, i.e. listing fees and final value fees.

You are more likely to get more people interested, and people are much more likely to bid if the bidding starts low.

Sometimes though, you will have collectibles that are worth a lot of money.

Don’t give away that vintage postcard that is worth $58! Do your homework.

The next big question is getting paid?

As of early 2009, the only payment accepted on eBay is Paypal. They claim it was to enhance security but I think it has a lot more to do with padding eBay's pockets as eBay also owns Paypal. Most people paid with Paypal anyway before this change was implemented.

You also need to decide how you want to ship your items to the winners.

Many sellers use USPS, others prefer UPS. The size of your item can help you determine this.

Smaller items are more convenient to just mail, but bigger items are better sent by UPS.

Another thing that's nice if you are selling smaller items is if you use USPS and ship via Priority Mail, you can get your envelopes and boxes free.

If you ship First Class or Parcel Post or UPS, you will have to shop around for deals on boxes or envelopes and bubble wrap or packing peanuts, and of course be sure to check eBay too.

I almost always buy all my mailing supplies on eBay. Since I live in a small town it was much cheaper than trying to drive to the next big town and shop around for supplies.

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YOU CAN LEARN TO SELL ON eBAY!

Now I know that learning how to sell on eBay may all seem a bit overwhelming, and I admit I was somewhat afraid and overwhelmed when I started selling on eBay myself.

But I read a couple of books that you can find at your library such as eBay for Dummies, and just reading and researching helps you feel a lot more comfortable when you get started.

Plus if you start small with household items, then you can get some experience and learn more about how to sell on eBay from each item you sell.

As that old saying goes, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

So just take it one step at a time and enjoy the learning process.

Selling on eBay has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding small business ideas I have tried. And I have met some wonderful people online too.

Now if you are comfortable just learning how to sell on eBay on your own, YOU CAN DO IT!

If you do better learning from or with others, those resources are available too.

Many local post offices are offering "How To Sell on eBay" clinics now, and you may also find community education classes in your area.

And if you check at your local library, you'll probably find plenty of books about how to sell on eBay.

The resources below are also quick ways to help you get started, and all of them are written by experienced eBay sellers.

They also provide more specific and "inside" information than you can find just reading online and at the library.

And they are all good quality resources about how to sell on eBay, with practically zero refund requests, which means people liked the information and kept the book.

You will also find the link for Salehoo, the top wholesaler that eBay power sellers use to find goods to sell on eBay.

And beware of signing up for a lot of the free guides offered online, they may provide some good information, but you will probably be solicited constantly to buy other add on information or upgrade.

This can lead to what I call analysis paralysis.

You keep reading more and more thinking that you haven’t found all the information you need, and you never really get started.

I successfully started selling on eBay just by reading some books and researching online and so can you.

And along the way I acquired some more books and resources to take me to the next level, including some I recommend next.

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How To Sell On eBay Resources

Lisa is a power seller on eBay, and a recognized eBay expert, author and speaker at eBay live conferences.

This website is the most comprehensive resource you could find to help you with every aspect of your eBay business.

You get access to 1000's of articles, resources, workshops, tele-seminars and more that help you find ideas and sources for products to sell on eBay, and how to list, automate, and market your auctions to run the most efficient and profitable eBay business possible.

And not to mention the friendly forum in which Lisa is a regular contributor.

You get your questions answered by Lisa or other helpful members of the site and the camaraderie and helpfulness is terrific.

I was literally blown away by this website and all the resources available.

It would take me weeks or even months to work through all the information there, but even the little I have digested so far has really expanded and upgraded my thinking about making money on eBay.

I really urge you to click through to the site either on the link above or the image on the right and look around.

You will get a feel for how "real" the people are, and what's possible for you to build a selling on eBay business, especially through the different showcases and testimonials.

And be sure to sign up for Lisa's free 15 day email course: 15 Ways To Make Money On eBay.

You'll learn a lot of new things about how to sell on eBay and you'll receive other valuable information too. (To find the course click through to the What Do I Sell.com website and scroll down the right side column.)

Once you sign up for the free course, you will also continue to receive Lisa's free email newsletter which I highly recommend because it keeps you up to date with changes happening on eBay, and provides a lot of great tips, info and resources to help you grow your selling on eBay business.

If you are serious about selling on eBay, put yourself miles ahead ahead and shorten your learning curve immensely by checking out What Do I Sell.com.

It's the most valuable resource I've found for building an eBay small business.

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If you like the thrill of the treasure hunt and prefer garage/yard sales, auctions and estate sales for finding stuff to sell on eBay, check out Garage Sale Strategies.

At only $17.00 it's an incredible bargain.

You would be surprised at the stuff that you can find at garage sales that will sell well on eBay.

And it's not the types of things you would expect either.

But if you prefer to find a wholesale, liquidation or dropshipping suppliers check out the number one supplier preferred by eBay Powersellers - Salehoo.

You can take the three minute tour right now if you want to discover all the amazing resources Salehoo has to offer:

When you start selling on eBay there are so many little mistakes that can add up to big dollars and I think everyone who sells on eBay should read Terry Gibb's ebook, the Auction Revolution System.

For only $9.97 you will know more than probably 95% of the rest of the people who sell on eBay about running profitable auctions.

At least make sure you click through to the Auction Revolution page and sign up for the free newsletter.

Just reading this newsletter is eye-opening because eBay makes a lot of money from simple seller mistakes, and they don't tell you how they do it.

I learned so many things about how to sell on eBay and mistakes to avoid in my auctions just from all the free info in the newsletters, and you will too.

And Terry has a wonderful site, I Want Collectibles.com that has lots of great articles and tips about selling on eBay.

And last but not least, remember to check out the eBay Pulse Page. You will find a lot of good information right from the source about what the hot sellers on eBay are right now.

And just one last piece of advice: all the great information in the world isn't going to be a substitute for putting effort and motivation into your business.

So many people are looking for the quick and easy fix, and if you are one of them I don't think any of the resources here will help you.

But if you are not, then the good news is that you probably have very little competition, and can succeed beyond what you even think is possible just by putting in some time and effort.

So are you ready to sell on eBay?

If you are then click here to check out the selling on eBay business ideas category. You’ll find a growing list of ideas for products to sell on eBay.

Be sure to read the popular article series 144 Products To Sell On eBay for even more inspiration, and to educate yourself about some of the popular and surprising collectibles and products that sell well on eBay.

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