Types of Listings
You have several types of listings. If you are brand new to eBay selling you can’t use them all until you have surpassed a certain number of feedback. The listing types eBay offers are:

• Auction = starts at one price and goes up as people bid
• BIN = buy it now listing
• Best Offer = exactly what it says
• Fixed Price = stays at one price
• Store Inventory = items in a store if you own one
• Dutch Auction = offering more than one item in an auction
• Multiple Fixed Price Listing = offering more than one fixed price item

Auctions are an excellent way to start selling on eBay. This is mostly what you will be able to do until your feedback score gets higher. In the beginning, you will not be able to run a Dutch auction. This is one of the restrictions until you have a higher feedback score. An auction usually starts at a low price and works its way up. The more bids and watchers, the higher it will go. Be sure to do your research before you list. This is important! Research is everything. It will make you or break you on eBay. If you don’t do it, it will break you. If you do it, you will do well. You always do your research to make sure you know what the item is selling for here on eBay. EBay has its own market. It really is its own market. Starting at a low price is good way to save on listing fees, but be careful not to start so low that it doesn’t sell at the price you like. Some sellers start an auction at the lowest price they are willing to accept. Sometimes this works, other times it won’t sell at all because the starting price is too high. Research will help because if you look at the completed listings you can see the average starting price, and what they sold for. If something sells really well then you probably can start it really low to save on fees. If it isn’t doing so well you might want to offer it for the lowest price you would take. Always remember: It is important to know when you should sell something. Everything has its selling season on eBay. For example; spring/summer clothing sells really well from January to May. You wouldn’t want to put up a large lot of winter clothing at this time of year. Summer is very slow for clothing sales. So, a lot of sellers switch to toys for that time of year. Clothing gets busy again when the back to school sales rush starts mid July to September. Then, everything sells up to December. You wouldn’t want to sell spring/summer clothing during back to school because it will not sell for top dollar. You will be losing a lot of money.

Everything on eBay sells like this. Some things might sell all year long, but it is important to know what that is. You can also find out other information from completed listings like: The best title, should you use a subtitle, key words, when to start and stop the listing, how long should you run the listing, should it be private, and other necessary information. eBay offers an area on the side of active listings for completed listings. You can do this for the items you would like to look up and sell. Another great site that gives you great information is Empire. Just Google it and try out some items. You will see how it pulls out the information for you. This is a great time saver and I know you will love it as much as I do! This site does most or all of the work for you. So don’t be overwhelmed when you see the eBay completed listings you have to look up one at a time. Just go to empire and you will save a ton of time. eBay is great for looking up specific items though. So don’t get me wrong, you will still need eBay too.

Listing Basics
Some of the listing basics that are in the listing tools you will use will include: Your categories, time frame, type of listing, start price, reserve, and more. We will go over these so you will be sure of what they are. All or most of these listing basics should be researched for every item you want to sell. This does mean that each listing will most likely be different due to what you are selling. So, again, do your research so you will know what the best options are for your own listing to sell well.

You will need to know what your start price is, if you need a reserve, or if you will accept offers. Now if you did your research for each item you will already know the best starting price, if the successful listings used a reserve and if it was even needed. A reserve costs extra so be sure you need it. If the item is selling every time it is listed and selling for top dollar then you do not need the reserve. Save the money. This is why you will need to do the research. This is the only way you will know these things. The time frame is also another important listing basic you will need to know. How long should the listing be up for? You should also be able to check the best day and time for the listing to go up. If you use Empire, you will have percentages and averages of what was used for each listing. This will help a lot. All the info you will need will be there.

Now, you should use the Private listing option if you are selling items that others might want to resell or items that are very expensive. This is for their privacy. If they are reselling they do not want everyone knowing their sources. If they are paying a lot of money for the items or they are very expensive they will be a target for fraud. This type of listing does not cost any extra which is great. This way you can offer your customer the comfort of privacy for free.

As for your categories, research will also help you figure out the best categories to use. Most of the time, this will be easy to figure out. However, there are other times when you will have no clue. This is where Empire will come in handy for you. So do your research and these basics will be easy.

Listing Upgrades
Okay, now you have several listing upgrade options that eBay offers. The first thing to remember is that they are all great, BUT… they will take a large chunk of change from your profit and add a huge amount to your listing fees. You should use them in moderation. Be smart about how and what you do decide to use. Let’s go over what options you have to pick from.
You can choose from:

• Featured Plus
• Gallery Featured
• Home Page Featured
• Gift Option
• Gallery Picture
• Gallery Plus
• Subtitle
• Border
• Bold
• Highlight
• Listing Designer
• Scheduled Listings

You also have package deals and they are:

Value Pack:

• Gallery
• Subtitle
• Listing Designer

Pro Pack:

• Bolder
• Boarder
• Highlight
• Gallery Featured
• Featured Plus

The featured listing upgrades are much more expensive than the other upgrades. They are offered to help your item get more visibility.

• Featured: Your item will display prominently in the Featured Items section of its category list. It will also display in the regular, non-featured item list.
• Featured Plus: Your item will stand out on search results pages. Each search results page has a Featured Items section at the top of the page and your item will be in this highly visible list. That's double the visibility for your listing!
• Gallery Featured: Choose this Promotional Option and your item will appear in the special Featured section above the general Picture Gallery.
• Home Page Featured: Your listing will have a chance to rotate into a special display on eBay's Home page. Your item is very likely to show up on the Home page, although eBay does not guarantee that your item will be highlighted in this way.
• Gift Option: If you think your item would make a great gift, let buyers know - feature your item as a gift. With Gift Services, you can: Add an eye-catching gift icon next to your listing. The icon will display next to your listing on search and browse pages. Let buyers know if you offer any of the following 3 Gift Services: Gift Wrap/Gift Card, Express Shipping, and Ship to Gift Recipient.
• Gallery Picture: Use this feature to display a picture of your item in one of the first places buyers look, search results.
• Gallery Plus: When eBay users mouse over your listing in search results, a large pop-up window will instantly open with a larger picture of your item.
• Subtitle: By adding a Subtitle to your listing, you can provide more information on your item below the main title that buyers will see when browsing categories or viewing search results. Subtitle allows you to provide additional information, which may not have fit in the title field, but would be of interest to potential buyers viewing a list of items. Subtitle also allows you to differentiate your item by calling out key selling points for buyers.
• Border: The Border option surrounds your listing with a colored band to showcase it.
• Bold: The Bold option adds instant emphasis to your listings. It is an inexpensive way to make your listing stand out. Buyers can easily see your listing in search results.
• Highlight: The Highlight option emphasizes your listing with an eye-catching colored band.
• Listing Designer: You can improve the visual appeal and effectiveness of your listing by adding attractive themes and layouts to your listings. The Listing Designer feature will enable you to create a professional look and feel to your listing without knowing HTML.
• Scheduled Listings: Scheduling gives you the flexibility to list items on eBay at a starting day and time you choose up to 3 weeks in advance. You can create your listings at your convenience and control the time they start and end.
• Value Pack: The Value Pack option lets you choose a pack of essential listing upgrades and add them to your listing. Value Pack combines a Gallery picture, an item Subtitle, and Listing Designer for a discounted price.
• Pro Pack: The Pro Pack option combines upgrades that really help your listing stand apart from others. Pro Pack combines Bold, Border, Highlight, Gallery Featured and Featured Plus! For additional savings and maximum listing exposure. Pro Pack is only available to sellers with a Feedback score of 10 or greater. When you add the Gallery Featured listing option, your item appears in the special Featured section above the general Picture Gallery. For Featured Plus! your item appears at the top of the page that it naturally falls on in the search results list.

If you would like to know more about the prices for each of these upgrades, just go to the help area of eBay and go to eBay fees. There will be a link to show all pricing information for the listing upgrade fees. Please do take a look at the prices so you will have a better understanding of the following information.

You should use the listing upgrades to your benefit. If you have a listing that requires more information be sure to use the subtitle option. When you do this, always use the Value Pack. It is cheaper even if you do not need the Listing Designer. I use the Seller Sourcebook for all my listings so I do not need the Listing Designer. It always saves money to use the Value Pack, then to pay for the Gallery Picture and Subtitle alone. This is why it is important to know your fees.

If you have a high value listing that will be bringing in a lot of profit, and you want it to make top dollar this is a great time to use the featured options. If you want to get the most for your money and want as much visibility as possible, the best way to do this is with the Pro Pack. You always want to be careful about the other listing features they offer like home page featured. I personally feel it is a complete waste of money since there is no guarantee on placement and how many times it will show up on the page. The worst part of all is I am sure many people don’t even look at that page. When I am on eBay, I never look at those listings. If I look at anything, it is the pictures and that’s about it. It is really a gamble using this option, and a gamble is just not worth the money they want for it.

I have already told you several times but I will say it again: ALWAYS use the Gallery Picture. I don’t use the Gallery Plus, but you might like it and if you do then go for it. I am sure lots of buyers like this new option. They can get a much better look at the item without having to go into the listing. If it is a good picture, as we discussed earlier, then they will be happy with the item for sale.

The other listing upgrades are okay, like Border, Bold and Highlight. I must say that a lot of people use all of them at the same time so if you want to stand out, instead of looking like everyone else try using one or two of the options instead of all three. Then change it up every once and a while. This way you will stand out from the others who have nothing and the other sellers who use them all.

As for the scheduling option, I do like this when I have a ton of things to do, and I don’t want to forget to put my listings up at a specific time. It is only 10 cents a listing, so it is reasonable. However, if you use it all the time for no reason at all, you will be wasting a lot of money on fees. It will add up. Believe me, I tell you this because I have learned from experience. It is a wonderful option; just don’t get carried away with it.

Listing Policies and Restrictions
This brings us to the listing policies and restrictions. No, I am not talking about restrictions from eBay, but your own buyer restrictions for your business. eBay allows you to carefully consider buyers you do not want bidding or purchasing your products. This is important, because you honestly do not want someone bidding on your item that has earned several unpaid item strikes for not paying other sellers for items they purchased or won. If you do not know already, unpaid item strikes are given to an ebayers when they fail to pay and comply with the legal transaction. Once they do not pay, the seller has the option to open an unpaid item dispute to communicate with the buyer. If the buyer does agree to pay and follows through, there will be no strike and the transaction will be complete. Both parties will be able to leave feedback. If the buyer notifies the seller that they cannot pay for personal reasons or otherwise, the seller can then opt to use the mutual agreement to not complete the transaction. Once the other party agrees to the email the seller will get their fees refunded and the other party will not have to complete the transaction. Both parties can still leave feedback for each other and the buyer will not receive a strike. The last case is if the buyer never responds to the dispute. Once seven days have passed the seller is automatically granted the fee refund and the buyer gets a strike for each listing. Since the buyer did not respond to the dispute at all they are no longer allowed to leave feedback, but the seller may. Once a person gets three unpaid item strikes they are no longer allowed to buy or sell on eBay. They will either be suspended or shut down completely. eBay is very strict about this policy, which is good for honest sellers and buyers.

eBay allows you to select these restrictions and they can be pre-selected for all future listings. You can also block new buyers with a low feedback score from buying from you. This can help because sometimes new buyers do not pay for their items. I personally think all buyers need a chance. I can always use the unpaid item dispute if I have to. If you stop new buyers from purchasing then you will probably be loosing a lot of business. A lot of my business comes from brand new ebayers. As always though, it is up to you. You need to do whatever makes you comfortable. There are other choices you can pick from as well. Make sure you check out that part of your listing and choose your buyer restrictions.

Next you should decide your return policy. Everyone should have something to say in the return policy, even if you are letting them know you do not offer one. Be clear with what you will and will not accept. Add information about if you will accept returns or exchanges. Add in when they will need to be returned and how. Also be sure to include the time frame they must be returned by and what you will refund. Will you refund the shipping cost? Will you refund the total amount or subtract money for fees? Make sure it is all there, plain and clear so you will not have any misunderstandings.

Due to the eBay character limit this guide will continue in the Listing Guide Part III. If you foind this guide helpful in any way please vote YES, this guide was helpful! Stop by ziggybella's closet and have a great day!!!