Sell "It" on eBay / eBay Sell "It" our way

Ultimate Guide to Selling on eBay

The purpose of this guide is to <i>highlight</i> what I have learned about eBay over the past 8+ years of being a buyer and a seller on eBay.  I will highlight tips, todos, must dos, must not dos and everything in between for you to get started or to get better at selling on eBay. Please bear with me as some things may get repetitive but that is only b/c I believe they are important enough to repeat.  And one word you will read throughout this guide is "CONTENT".

Some of the tips in this guide may have been gotten from other readings in magazines or articles in the course of the past 8+ years so I don't claim to have all original tips.  I just leverage this information when I sell (and buy) on eBay so I thought I would share it (regardless of whether its an original or not).  Any tip that was originally put forth by someone - I apologize for not giving credit due.  I am not putting references as I wouldn't even know which or what info was read vs learned.

You can use these tips for liesure selling or if you want to make some money and make this into supplemental income (or even primary source of income).  The first thing to do is to make sure you register :-)

Before starting anything you should always know what you are getting into so familiarize yourself with eBay's Sell process and the associated fees.  Information here is right from the horse's mouth so you know it is accurate and not misleading.  Never hesistate to dig deeper to get clarification on anything that is ambiguous.

Next step should be going through eBay's Selling Best Practices - again a wealth of information here straight from eBay.  Its almost a necessity to read those first.

I highly recommend downloading Turbo Lister - eBay's free listing tool that will make managing and following your auctions easier.  The tool is free and it doesn't require an engineering degree to figure out :-).  I have heard good things about Auction Submit but I cannot attest to it personally.

A few key things to remember when listing/selling on eBay:

Title - Your auction title is just as important as the description.  Make sure your title reflects your item and has content (words) that would be commonly used by users in search.  Why? A majority of items on eBay are found through search.  More importantly most users just type a keyword and click search and do NOT click "Include descriptions in search" so that leaves your title to be one of the main assets that will attract buyers.  Do not over complicate the title with every acronymn known on eBay as the buyer may not understand them and you are taking away from content by putting those in.   I have rarely typed "Jersey NWT" as a search term but just jersey and size.  NWT might help once I click on the listing but the word NEW would suffice in the title.  Forget all the attention getting words like *WOW* or *LOOK* - they are not going to help - Buyers can read each listing and seeing those words are not going to make them click on your item - your title, price and shipping price will though.

Attributes - Remember the attributes you set for an item will help narrow down a buyer's search as well.  They drive the right column in search results and since that is one of the main filters to narrow down the results - they have become an imporant asset as well.  Make sure you specify everything you know and that the information is accurate.

Images - Images are the most important aspect of your listing next to the description when a potential buyer is viewing your item.  This is the internet not a store.. you cannot expect people to buy without seeing the item, esp if it is used.  Saying "used" and describing the state of the item is great but without the visual validation - it means very little.  Your store front (auction listing page) adds very little without an image.  Can you imagine going to a store like Lowes and buying a drill but never actually seeing it - just seeing a short description and a price tag?  As far as image hosting goes - find a free one online or just leverage eBay's.   Put yourself in the Buyer's shoes and think about what they would want to see and then include mutlipe images of the item - diffent views/angles/closeups - anything a buyer may want to look at or inspect so they don't have to ask questions or complain later.  Using stock photos is fine to give the buyer a professional looking image but you must show an image of the actual product as well so they can see it.  Stores do not display stock photos of their products when on the shelf

Description - Ah now I can use my favorite word - CONTENT.  Do not write a description like its an essay that you are forced to write in college.  Put some time and effort into it.  A few extra minutes can really make a big difference in your final price.  CONTENT is King on the internet and it is no different on eBay.  Specify everything and make sure the information is accurate.  Do not assume your picture will tell all so be as descriptive as possible.  You will be surprised how many people will list used items without giving information on its exact Model/Type or the year it was made/bought.  I am sure the buyers just love playing the guessing game.  Provide links to manufacturer's specifications, or put them in your listing.  Your description MUST (MUST) cover all commonly used search terms and even some variations (tennis ball and tennis balls) to give you the best odds at getting shown in extensive searches by savvy buyers.  You can put all your little abbreviations and acronyms in the description.  Descriptons must be accurate and detailed - again the only thing the buyer has is your image and description - they cannot touch or see the item so they have to rely on those two data points.  Again - Put yourself in the Buyer's shoes and think about what they would want to know or ask and put it down.

HTML - Its the internet - there is no reason why you shouldn't be using HTML to enhance your listing.  Download a free editor like First Page or Arachnophilia and learn the basics of HTML.  Also templates are your friends.  Similarly to product pages on any other shopping site - you want to give a look of consistancy so having an HTML template where you can plug in your item info will help and make your listing process efficient.

Communication - You ARE selling online so do not end the process just after you list.  Follow up on the item - check your email continuously and REPLY to questions promptly.  When a question is asked you have a potential buyer so why delay your response?  Also see if that question should be made available for the public to see or perhaps revise your item and include that information in there.  I am amazed how many sellers respond to a question after 1-2 days and even after their auction ends!  I guess they don't want to sell their items that bad.  I am also amazed how many times I get the answer - "I don't know" from them.  How can you sell a product that you do not know everything about.  And if you don't know certain things about the item - state it in your description so the buyers do not have a bad experience of asking a question, waiting a couple of days to get a response that just doesn't tell them anything.  Again remember if COMMUNCATION leads to CONTENT - add that CONTENT in!

Timing - I must agree that NOT every auction will end at prime time and on the prime day but for those who know about it the best time frame is around 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM EST (captures all timezones at a reasonable time) and the best day of course is Sunday.  However, if you are marketing to primarily an office worker - you may want to consider changing that to weekdays and 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM ending.

Shipping - Do find out the exact shipping costs ahead of time.  You will be amazed how much difference knowing the shipping costs make.  Buyers will skip most listings where shipping costs are not defined or not clear. Buy a weighing machine/scale and weigh your item WITH packaging.  Anything over 5 lbs can be weighed on a standard bathroom scale using yourself as the baseline.  You step on (a couple of times) and get your base weight.  Now step on with the package - the difference is the weight of the package.  You may want to add 0.5 lbs to be safe
Leverage eBay's shipping calculator if you want to charge shipping according to location.  Its simple to use and provides the customer with the information up front.

If you ship via USPS - get their Priority Mail boxes, etc free from their site and download their USPS Shipping Assistant.  It is FREE and has 4 key advantages -
1.  Printed Labels look professional.
2.  Validates shipping address and auto fills in zip + 4 code, which helps speed up delivery time esp for ground services.
3.  Delivery Confirmation is free for priority mail and they will email the tracking number to your customer if you enter their email address.
4.  Estimates shipping costs so you can include the costs in your item description and listing.

If your shipping cost is greater than $8.00 look into USPS Flat Rate Shipping - its a flat rate of $7.50 or close to that and its a flat price for whatever you can cram into that box.  They have 2 or 3 diff box sizes so its something to take advantage of.

If you don't use USPS - I highly recommend using Fedex Ground service.  Surprisingly cheap and delivery times are much faster than you would think.

I have never found UPS to be competitive for small sellers.  If this is going to be a business then look into Endica or Stamps.com as well.
Ship promptly - that type of good experience will land you postive feedback.

Insurance should always be made available as an option for anything being bought over $50 (note fedex ground covers upto $100 automatically) but do not make it required.  Let the buyer determine whether they want to risk it or not.

Category - select the most accurate and precise category - thats all there is to this - I would recommend searching for similar items on eBay (active and ended auctions) to get a gauge on what categories successful sellers are using.

Pricing - I am not going to add much here since pricing a product is a full topic of its own but I would recommend doing your research (as you did with Categories) on ended and active auctions and see what your price point could and should be.  I would recommend including the original cost (or current MSRP) of the item and if you are selling it at bargain prices - even compare it to other listed items.

Keeping up to date - subscribe to AuctionBytes Newsletter - a free newsletter that keeps you up to date on Auction sites (the primary site being eBay of course)

Use a counter -  Its the only gauge you have on how many customers are visiting your "store".

Track Competitor Items - Continually watch competitor items to see how other items are doing and perhaps revise your item to add CONTENT that you are missing.  A cool way to do this is to click the "Watch this" link on an item.

Building feedback - Selling as a newcomer is tough and you may have to build feedback by buying and selling some small items to build feedback and do everything you can to keep and maintain a good feedback score (ideally 95%+)

Payment Options - You must have a paypal account.  In the current state of net purchasing there is no reason to burden your buyers with COD or Money Orders only.  I have seen a particular seller, that sells in the golf section, get burned constantly b/c of this.  His item is 25-40 dollars cheaper than the next competitor but it rarely gets bid on b/c he only accepts COD, Money Orders, Bank Checks and Personal Checks.  You need to get up to speed with the times.  And do not limit the buyer to ONLY payal as well.  Give them as many options you can handle - the last thing you want is to lose a buyer b/c they can't or don't want to use your limited payment options.

Policies - Outline your payment, return, shipping, exchange and any misc eBay policies.

Follow the golden rule and do not engage in banter with a customer no matter how they provoke you.  Don't say things that you wouldn't get away with while working at an office or store.

This is a constantly evolving guide - please contact me if you believe it is incorrect, inaccurate or outdated in any way.  Any and all feedback is truly appreciated.