How To Sell On eBay
Learning to sell on ebay is not rocket science. Most people get started by listing items they have around the house. With your own junk as inventory, all you need is a computer, an internet connection and a digital camera. Selling junk you have around the house is an excellent way to learn the ropes. From there, profits you make can be reinvested into more profitable merchandise. Research the seller tools on eBay to learn what to sell on eBay. On eBay, you can buy just about any product you can imagine. There are over 35,000 categories and the power of the internet connects millions of buyers and sellers the world over. If you are new to eBay, you can gain valuable insight about listing and selling items by buying a few items. eBay keeps people honest by a feedback system, where the buyer and seller rate each other on how the transaction went. You can get your feedback rating off to a good start by buying a few items and paying as agreed. You can also watch how the seller handles correspondence and shipping. If you are not familiar with how to sell on eBay, consult eBay itself. Excellent tutorials for the beginner can be found at the eBay Learning Center. To learn to sell on eBay, it is helpful to spend some time browsing eBay and getting to know what is actually selling. You can research “completed auctions” to get an idea of which items actually sold and at what price. Being able to accept online payments by setting up a profile at www.paypal.com is convenient for both buyer and seller. You can also accept payments by check or money order. The more methods of payment you accept, the more buyers you will potentially attract. You will also need to decide what shipping method you will use. The website for the US Postal Service, www.usps.com is very user-friendly. You can obtain a reasonably priced digital scale on eBay itself, and by using your scale at home, you can print shipping labels from the comfort of your home. Even though you may only be selling unwanted junk at first, your ultimate goal is to make a profit. At the very least, you want to break even. When you decide how much to list an item for, you need to consider not only the price you pay for an item, but other associated costs such as listing fees, final value fees and PayPal fees. For example, if you buy a dress from a second hand store for $6.35 and list it for $9.99, consider the other costs: Listing fees, including multiple photos and the gallery option: $1.05
Final value fee: $0.52
PayPal fee on your premier account to receive money: $0.60
Total cost: $8.52. By selling it for $9.99, it appears you made $1.47 profit. What about the time and gas it cost you to go to the thrift store? What about the cost of ink, packaging, or the time involved in preparing the item for shipping?
A good rule of thumb is don’t buy anything to resell unless you are reasonably confident you can make at least $10 profit. If you run out of items around the house you want to list, you may want to consider buying items at garage sales and reselling them on eBay. A great resource which explains how to do this is Garage Sale Strategies. If you have any interest in selling information products on eBay, the best book I've read on the subject is The Part-Time Plan by Jim Cockrum. Read my review here. If you're interested in step-by-step training in selling ebooks on eBay, check out my review of PlanetSMS Mentorship Monthly Beginning March 31, 2008, ebooks and other digital items are restricted to the classified ads area of eBay. Read more here. Are your eBay listings getting the response you want? Here are some ideas to Improve Your eBay Listings If you are successful at selling unwanted junk or digital items, you may want to consider starting an eBay business. Does it seem like eBay has always been around? The History of eBay may surprise you. Whatever other methods of trying to work from home you pursue, make sure you look into learning to sell on ebay. You'll be glad you did.
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