The bottom sticky on this board is all about Ebay and how to sell on it.
Yes you do have to pay for listing, and Ebay will keep a percentage of the winnings. You may relist for free if the item didn't sell.
There's also a fee for putting a reserve on an item, delaying the auction time, or buy it now.
To start your bidding price, go to advance search, plug in your item (using general terms), and select "completed listings". It will tell you all the items that have been listed recently and how much they sold for in green, or the starting bid that didn't sell in red.
Certain items will have a maximum shipping price. Books/media is one. You will always have to offer Media mail at the max of 4$ to ship. Other than that, there are tools to help you estimate your shipping charges with the USPS. Gouging on your S&H charges is one way to turn buyers away from you. Look at what other sellers are listing the S&H charges at.
Paypal is a little like a bank account, but more like a transfer account. It's free to sign up with them, and you must verify a bank account or credit card with them. You may also print out the USPS shipping label through paypal if you have a scale to weigh your item to the ounce. You'll save 50 cents on postage, as well as some things like delivery confirmation is discounted to 15 cents (55 cents at the post office).
