The Idiot’s Guide to Selling on Ebay: Volume 1

Let’s talk about successful selling!  Tips, Advice, and Tricks-of-the-Trade.  Your goal is to make as much money as possible on Ebay and we’re going to discuss a few things that should help get you started off on the right foot.

Volume One: The Basics

Plan ahead ~  Some of the things I have found to be very useful tools for selling were discovered on an as-needed basis.  Order your inventory ahead of time so that you can check it all for accuracy, take additional pictures if needed, create your ads so that you can begin listing multiple items at once.

Storing your inventory ~  Where are you going to keep all this stuff?  Depends on what it is you’re selling.  If you have enough space to set aside a room, great!  If not… keep your items organized in tupperware bins, on shelves, in jars or ziplocks, whatever works.  Keep your inventory away from those who smoke and your pets (keep in mind that some of your buyers might have allergies to these things).  The key is organization, you’ll need to get to all of your items on a regular basis for shipping, restocking, and additional information buyers will ask for regarding your items.

Plan for your inevitable shipping!  Stock all the supplies you’ll need: small, medium, large manilla envelopes, packing tape, tissue paper or styrofoam popcorn, scotch tape, stapler, a postage scale, ziplock bags if your items are small, large tupperware bins if your items are larger, order free supplies from the USPS website (priority mail boxes, envelopes, flat rate boxes, etc), sharpies, pens, notebooks for taking notes/measurements/jotting down descriptions.

Make sure your PayPal account is set up and that all of your information is verified.  Take the time to learn about their auction tools.  Save time AND money by paying for and printing USPS mailing labels with their multi-order shipping.

Should I subscribe to a store, or not… that is the question.  There are many benefits to having an Ebay store but only one real drawback = it costs money.  We’re here to make money and not spend it, right?  So why should you consider subscribing to an Ebay store?

1. You’ll be able to create a personalized, themed sales base.
2. You can have your items all tucked away into specific categories which makes shopping easier for your customers.
3. Inventory Items!  You can have hundreds of items available to your customers for periods of time much longer than auctions for a fraction of the auction styled listing cost.
4. Sales reports and tracking tools.
5. Option to have “sales” and markdowns on your inventory items.

If you plan to have multiple items for sale on a regular basis or many of the same items for sale at one time, a store might be a great option for you.  Take a look at what Ebay has to offer.  If you plan to sell only a few items at a time, a store might not be an ideal choice.

So… you have your inventory, you’re organized and ready, you have all of your packing supplies, PayPal is set up and verified, you have decided whether or not to subscribe to a store… what next?  Take a look at The Idiot’s Guide to Selling on Ebay: Volume 2 for tips regarding successful listings, auctions vs. inventory, buyers, and customer service.