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EBay Basics
Learn the ropes of selling on the Internet's biggest auction site.
By Bill Towner
Mar 15, 2010

EBay is the Internet's biggest auction website, and by "biggest," we mean huge! It generates countless billions of dollars a year in revenue. Hundreds of thousands of people make a full-time living just by selling on eBay, and millions more make part-time income. EBay actually depends on its individual members, people just like you and me, to sustain its business.

It's easy to get started on eBay. You just need a game plan and some basic equipment. We'll assume you already have a computer and Internet access. You should really have a digital camera as well. But if you don't own one, just borrow one from a friend every time you want to list an item for sale.

Now go create a new account at eBay.com. Once you've done that, visit the eBay sellers overview page in order to learn how to list your auctions. Don't try to read it all at once, because that can get overwhelming. Instead, focus only on what you need to know at the moment and go step-by-step. You'll find a wealth of knowledge about listing items, bidding on items, uploading photos, and submitting feedback.

Next, you need to have something to sell. Before you try targeting a specific market, just try to get your feet wet, make a few sales, and get some good feedback. In general, buyers don't trust sellers who are brand-new and don't have any feedback yet.

Locate all the old items laying around your house just gathering dust. You might also want to pick up some cheap items at garage sales, thrift stores, or pawn shops. Don't spend more than a few dollars, and try to buy items that are somewhat useful or mildly entertaining and that you think you can sell fairly quickly. Remember, this is only for practice.

Some suggested items you can put up for sale are old clothing, books, used computer parts, skis, tennis rackets, musical instruments, and even unwanted gifts. The possibilities are endless--it's amazing what some people are willing to buy.

Still, even though you're primarily trying to gain experience, don't put something up for sale that has zero demand. A good quick way to find out if your product is likely to sell is to do a search for your item on eBay. Then look at the completed items for that search result. Sort this list in order of highest to lowest price. Now you can see if people have successfully sold similar items, and for how much.

Once you've chosen your item to sell, take digital photographs of it from different angles. You also need to think up a descriptive summary for the item. Make it sound desirable, but don't try to conceal any imperfections. If you are upfront and straightforward about the items you sell, you will end up getting better feedback in the long run. If you aren't completely honest about the items you're selling, your feedback rating will take a beating. Trust us on this.

Do some more research to find out a good price at which to sell your product. Since this is an auction site after all, generally it's a good idea to start your bidding very low. Some people always start their bidding price at 25 cents, no matter what the actual value of their product is. This tends to generate a lot more attention and a lot more bidders, which ultimately drives up the price faster. For example, if you start the bidding for your old outdated CD player at $10 dollars, it's unlikely to sell at all. However, if you start the bidding at 25 cents, someone may end up buying it for six or seven dollars or so by the end of the auction. But you may not want to use to strategy if you're selling a truly valuable product.

If you're not signed up with PayPal.com, you really need to do that as your next step. It's the standard way of sending and receiving payments on eBay. You may also choose to accept credit cards or personal checks, if you're going to be doing a lot of selling. Being able to accept all kinds of payments means more potential sales.

When your auction has ended, keep in mind that there is an insertion fee and a selling fee that you have to pay to eBay upon completion of your sale. That's how eBay earns its revenue. the good news is that these fees are generally only a tiny percentage of the final selling price.

The insertion fee is based on the original listing price, which is another good reason to start your bidding low. And when a buyer wins the bid for your auction, you pay around 5% of the final selling price to eBay. This is the selling fee. Don't worry--even with these fees, it's still possible to make a lot of money on eBay as a seller.

If your auction ends but you have no winning bidder, you can relist the auction again without having to pay a fee.

When you've completed your auction and you have a winning bidder, you have to determine how you're going to ship the item to the winner. You can use your local post office or a delivery company like UPS or FedEx. The cost of packing supplies such as boxes, bubble wrap or packing peanuts can quickly add up, so try to watch to keep a close watch on what you spend.

Since your auction has successfully ended, you are now eligible to receive feedback for that transaction. The winning bidder can rate you and leave a comment about the general quality of your product and your level of service. You will want your overall feedback rating to be as high as possible in order to become a popular seller.

Generally, a buyer will leave feedback only after receiving your product, so make sure it gets shipped to them safely and in good condition. If there is any dispute, try to work it out with your customer before he or she gets disgruntled and leaves negative feedback.

As a seller, y ou can also leave feedback for your customer. It's a good idea to leave positive feedback for the buyer immediately after you receive payment. This way, the buyer will be much more likely to return the favor upon receiving your product, and to buy from you again. Remember, repeat buyers are extremely valuable, as they will potentially buy from you repeatedly over time.

Using eBay can seem complex at first, but it just takes a little time to get used to. Once you've completed your first auction sale, the whole thing will "click" and it will all start to make sense. A ton of people are looking for items to buy on eBay right this moment, so get out there and start selling!

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