Ebay sellers - your top must-do's for sucessful selling now?

[HayGan]

I haven't sold on Ebay for quite awhile (other than a few random items.) I'm looking to both declutter our household as well as create a fund for a few special items we want for our house. I know that for some of the stuff I have (Disney collectables, etc.) that Ebay would likely be the best way to go.

I would love to get some pointers from people who have been selling on Ebay recently as to their tips to successful selling. Are there any specific items that someone selling should be aware of? Are there any hosting or other auction tool sites that are user friendly and make listing easier? Any general pointers that are helpful to know?

TIA!

 

[joeyrose]

i'm a long-time ebay store seller. i think you'll get more info responses in the discussion boards on ebay. discussion boards are under the community button. there's the seller central board. i spend more time on the power seller board, but you must be a power seller to have access. good luck.

 

[tzeitel]

Right now is when back to school stuff starts selling well and fall clothes are going to be big next month. Mostly I sell DD's outgrown clothes but lately I have been listing things around the house - I've done very well with toys this summer and also some Vinylmation I picked up at WDW on our last trip.

Best money I make is on items that we have used and I don't worry at what I list them at - I figured we got our money's worth so anything we get is profit

Ebay is not as easy to predict as when I first started (in '99) but you can make some money. Just look at closed auctions for items similar to those you want to list so you can get an idea at what to price yours, get as good a photo as you can and be super clear in your description.

As for other sites - I just use Photobucket and Turbo Lister. I've tried a couple of other sites but I found myself going back to TL, maybe I was just so used to it anything else was too complex

 

[Darcy03231]

Overall, I've found the items I list with free shipping tend to sell better/faster than the ones that I list with calculated shipping.

 

[richmond282]

Overall, I've found the items I list with free shipping tend to sell better/faster than the ones that I list with calculated shipping.

I agree. Add free shipping unless it's something really big and bulky or really heavy. Most people just want the botom line.

Also, I try to price my items somewhere in the middle of the pack. A lot of people think there must be something wrong with a really cheaply priced item, but of course they don't want to pay the highest price either. Write really good descriptions, take really good pictures, and use as many key words in the title as you can.

I have had better luck with listig items as auction style with a "Buy It Now" option. It will show up under both the auction and By it now lists that way. Sometimes you have to just experiment to see what works for you.

 

[nunzia]

i'm a long-time ebay store seller. i think you'll get more info responses in the discussion boards on ebay. discussion boards are under the community button. there's the seller central board. i spend more time on the power seller board, but you must be a power seller to have access. good luck.

I didn't even KNOW there was a Power Seller board...and I've been one for years
I don't hang out on the Ebay boards at all...

 

[bpesch]

I can honestly say that I wouldn't recommend Ebay any more. I've been selling for many years and it's changed so much over time. And most of it is not in a sellers best interest. Ebay is constantly changing the rules and it's sometimes hard to keep up with them. Sellers and buyers are no longer on equal footing. Buyers hold all the cards and they know it. Selling is like walking a tightrope, one little slip and you can go down in flames.

First and foremost--go in and read the rules. Then read them again, then read them again. I see way too many first timers that have absolutely no idea what they are doing. Pay attention to the fees. They widely differ with what type of selling your doing. You may be surprised how much it's actually going to cost you to sell on Ebay. And then go in and research PayPal, the same thing applies. More fees, more restrictions.

Second--Never sell anything on Ebay you can't afford to lose. The scammers have gotten very good at getting items for free and Ebay is a lot of the problem. They will take the word of a buyer over a seller 99% of the time. So don't start with expensive items. Try a few small things first and work your way into more expensive items. Honestly, I don't sell expensive items anymore. It's just too easy to lose them. Ebay's Buyer Protection Policy has just made it very easy for unscrupulous buyers to thrive on the site.

Third--the suggestion about going to the Ebay Community Discussion Forums is a very good one. Go to Seller Central and spend some time reading the posts. If that doesn't scare you off nothing will.

Good luck! The only way you'll survive on Ebay is to do your homework VERY well first.