I started selling on eBay as many others do, by simply offering for sale items that were sitting around the house, not being used, but requiring the weekly dusting!  Perhaps someone else would find a use for my son's old (but really not old enough to be collectible) Boy Scout Merit Badge books. I listed them (all 20 of them in one lot) with a starting bid of .99, sure that they would sell for that or only a little more, and that the buyer would pay more in shipping charges than he paid for the books themselves.  I was surprized when they sold for over $30.00, more than the original price of the books!  That really got me excited and I started listing everything that wasn't nailed down!

Here is where the real learning curve began. I made the mistakes that I see many others make and I had to learn the hard way.  Perhaps I can save you the trouble!

Mistake Number 1:  FAILURE TO RESEARCH

I did not research my offered item to see what others of the same type were selling for.

Results:

A. My starting price was too high. It allowed other, more savvy sellers, to offer the identical item for just under my price and they got the sales!  My item got a lot of "looks" but, in the end, I paid to list something that didn't sell.

B. My Buy-It-Now price was way too low - I sold the item immediately and watched the buyer relist and sell that very item for three times what he paid me!

Lessons Learned

1. Research your product offering.

2. Determine if it is unique or one of many.

3. Test the water with a sample of a single item, if your item appears unique and there is insufficient data to help you make your pricing decisions.

4. If you are offering an item that is selling for much less than you are willing to accept, at least spell out what makes your item worth the extra money you are asking.

Mistake Number 2: SHIPPING AND HANDLING OVERCHARGING/UNDERCHARGING

When I began, I used flat rate shipping charges for everything. I guessed at the weight, and the cost of shipping the item and used that as that flat rate for all customers.

Results:

A. If my auction price was good, I was almost always selling my item to a customer who lived on the opposite coast and the shipping costs exceeded those I had charged in my flat rate.

B. For customers nearby, the shipping charges appeared to be too high, and that turned the customers away.

Lessons Learned

1. Flat Rate: Use if the item is under 13 oz. -- price the shipping at First Class rates..

2. Shipping Calculator: This allows the customer to pay reasonable shipping rates, based on his proximately to you. Offering at least three shipping methods is also nice as it allows the customer to decide what he is willing to pay, based on the services provided. DO NOT OFFER MEDIA MAIL RATE FOR ITEMS THAT DO NOT MEET THE POST OFFICE REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDIA MAIL.  While it is tempting, to get the lowest shipping rates, these rates are restricted and I cannot tell you how irritated I am when I get a lot of Beanie Babies, shipped to me via Media Mail!

3. AVOID:

    a. Listing items without shipping charges specified as this requires more work for both you and the customer, resulting in fewer sales, complaints of slow communications, bad feedback when the customer purchases the item before getting the shipping price and is unhappy with the charges, etc.

    b. Excessive handling charges: do not include the costs of listing your item or the Paypal, and Final value Fees in the price you charge for the Handling part of Shipping and Handling.  Handling charges should reflect the cost of the packaging, printing labels, ink, etc, related to the shipping of the item.  Price your item sufficiently to cover your other fees, so the buyer won't percieve you to be selling items at rock bottom prices to avoid paying eBay fees and then charging him for those fees in you S/H. On combined orders, I charge a one-time handling fee, no matter how many items are purchased, of $1.50, which is typically sufficient to cover all of the shipping related costs, except postage.

Mistake Number 3: COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION

In the beginning, I sent the invoice at auction end. When I received the payment, I packaged the item and popped it in the mail. I then left positive feedback for the customer. 

Results:

1. Customer didn't necessarily receive an automated response letting him know I had received his payment.

2. Before I began printing my shipping labels on my computer, the customer did not receive automatic notification of shipping and tracking information.

3. I received emails inquiring as to the receipt of the payment and shipping status.

Lessons Learned:

1. At notification of sale, send an invoice with personalized thanks for their purchase. Offer combined shipping for multiple items, in case they choose to browse your other items before paying.

2. Upon receipt of payment, send personalized acknowledgement of receipt of payment. Let the customer know when to expect item will be shipped and intended method of shipment.

3. Upon shipment, notify customer of tracking number and/or insured number, if item was insured.

4. Leave feedback promptly!  I resent sellers who advertise that they leave positive feedback upon receipt of my positive feedback.  I do not believe in holding the buyer hostage in the feedback forum. My feedback is left as the final step of my shipping process.  If the customer paid for the item in a timely manner, he gets a positive.  If he ends up leaving me a negative about something outside my control, I can always respond to his neutral or negative feedback.  If he leaves negative feedback about something that was within my control, I acknowledge that in my response.  Mistakes do happen.

Mistake Number 4: EBAY STORE VS. EBAY AUCTION

Listing takes time, so, in the beginning, before I had my eBay store, most of my auctions began in the evening (east coast) after all my other chores had been completed for the day.

Results:

1. While it is true that eBay is a 24 X 7 operation, it is not true that sales fall evenly throughout that time period. Buyers in different geographic areas purchase during predictable time slots. Presuming it takes an hour or two for items to make it into the eBay search, my first hits would usually be during those same evening hours, but on the west coast.  Consequently, I was shipping a lot of items out west, and, with my aforementioned flat shipping rate, was costing myself a small fortune!

2. Auctions ending in the wee hours of the morning would almost never get sold.

Lessons Learned:

1. Open an eBay store. This allows you to list items in your store, building up your inventory. Once you have a substantial inventory (each listing costing 2-3 cents in the store), you can use your market research to determine the best time to bring items out of the store to the online auction.

2. eBay stores don't enjoy a lot of traffic unless you bring that traffic to the store.  I do this through a combination of subtitles on my auction items advertising more selections in my store, the same advertising within the body of my listing, and running adds using eBay Key Words.

3. Items that are hard to find, but for which there is not a regular, strong demand, can sit in the store inventory for several months before selling, but they have not cost you an arm and a leg in listing fees.

Mistake Number 5 (and the final one I'm willing to admit to!) TRYING TO CUT COSTS

I am a bargain hunter by nature.  That's what initially drew me to eBay. So, when I did bite the bullet and decide to open an eBay store, I went with the Basic Store.  Advertising costs for key words seemed excessive, so I didn't "go there".  My few auctions I ran each week had the lowest cost features I could use.

Results:

1. For two years I enjoyed the Basic Store, but I did not enjoy a ton of sales.

2. Traffic reports indicated that people just were not getting to my store.

Lessons learned:

1. The old saying that it takes money to make money is true. I finally tested the water with buying keywords.  Still expensive, but I was making sales through more traffic to the store.

2. I starting adding subtitles to my auctions so that the customer did not have to actually open the auction item to see that I had a variety available in my store. Again, expensive, but I sell many more items based on this form of advertising.

3. I upgraded to an eBay Featured store, which, I determined after doing the math, was essentially a break even proposition with the Basic Store, because the Featured Store status provided a budget for keywords which offset the additional montly cost of the store.  In under two months with the featured store, my sales had jumped to the point that I met the criteria for Power Seller...which brings with it even more available advertising budget for key words.

4. The bottom line is, it does cost money to make money, but the net increase in income is definitely worth the cost!

SUMMARY:

Of two things I am certain.  I have not stopped making mistakes.  I have not stopped learning!  I accept that this will always be a journey of trying different things to see what works and what is not as successful. I hope the basic advise I have given in this "Guide" is helpful to others who want to be able to have a business from anywhere. eBay provides the mechanism, we just have to learn how to use it efficiently!!!