So, here you are. You got stuff, you want money, right? Lucky for you, it's simpler then you might think! Remember, if this seems like a lot of work, you only have to learn it once and then it won't seem hard at all.

Here's what you'll need:

*eBay.com account
*Paypal.com account
*Auctiva.com account
*Typing program with spellcheck
*Digital camera
*Scale
*Regular printer
*Clear packing tape
*Newspaper / packing material
*Patience and a willingness to learn

Look at your item. Examine it for model numbers, hallmarks, any damage etc - because your buyer can't pick up the item, you have to give it the once-over for them...the more thorough you are, the higher your item might sell for - when you're taking photos later, be sure to include shots of these distinguishing marks or damage.

Search your item. Go here: Completed item search. Click the "Completed item only" box and search only the words that stand out. For instance, if you had yellow plaid disney winnie the pooh curtains, your best bet would be to search something like "Pooh yellow curtains". Words like winnie are often mispelled, words like "The" appear too often on eBay to be useful, and there's also lots of disney stuff! Pare it down to the unusual words about your item and your search will be a lot more fruitful. Find the best-selling one of your type of item, and bookmark this auction to refer back to later.

Clean up your item. Dust, dirt, grime, spiderwebs..imagine each of these taking money out of your wallet. Is it worth losing 10% or more of your money, rather then taking a minute or two with a damp cloth and a little elbow grease? Endust ("Canned Air") is also your friend - use it to blow dust out of small spaces.

Picture time! The easiest way to take a picture is to take two sheets of normal white printer paper and stand them on a right angle. A clean white background makes your item stand out and keeps the focus on what you're selling rather then what's going on behind it. If the picture is too washed out, rest your camera on something stationary (like the seat of a chair) and snap a shot without a flash. If it's too dark, open the curtains and flick on a few lights. Upload the pictures into a file on your computer desk top.

Fix your pics. Find "Microsoft Office Picture Manager"  under "Microsoft Office Tools" on your computer programs menu. This is an infinitely easier program then photoshop or any of the what-have-you programs out there, especially for a beginner. Use this program to open those pictures you just tossed into that desktop folder. Use auto-correct to brighten up the picture, resize all the pictures to the "Web Large" setting (this is the ideal size for ebay pics, not too big or small), crop any weird edges out of the picture, rename the pictures with names that you'll recognize later. Good pictures sell an item better then anything you can write.

Auctiva! This is an awesome *free* website that helps you make an auction and get it live on eBay. With eBay, you would get charged for scheduling an auction, uploading pictures, and nice-looking templates - Auctiva has all this free. Start a new auction (refer to Auctiva's FAQs if you have troubles), and upload those newly-fixed pictures of yours. Remember when you did the completed auction research a bit ago, and found the bestselling one of your item? You're going to need this now.

Study and match. Write your title similar to that title (minus things like the seller's name, any useless space takers like - * ! ~ or filler words like "the" (no one searches these!), and anything that's obviously not true about your item...i.e. if your item is used and the title says new.. and use it. Use the same category and price/shipping cost that the successful seller did, as well. DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, simply cut and paste the seller's actual item description or pictures. That's plagarism and it's a big no-no! Write your own honest description, use spellcheck and use grammar; it's much more pleasant to read that way!

Shipping costs and payment methods. Don't charge crazy amounts for shipping, it will turn away many buyers; the actual cost plus a dollar or two is fine, you can weigh the packed item before you list to see what the weight is, then calculate on usps.com to see the cost to the furthest coast from you. For your first item(s), don't ship internationally (I don't at all) - it really complicates things! Use only USPS Priority Mail, not UPS, for your shipping method, this is also much easier with less to worry about. It's very quick, you'll be able to print out the labels, get free boxes and free delivery confirmation.

Post it live and enjoy the auction.

Pack up the item for the winner. After your winner has paid, pack their item up securely!! This is very, very important. The general rule of thumb is padding on the top and bottom, as well as along all sides - the item should not touch any box walls. If the item has a top or cap that could fall or be shifted off, tape it down. The item should not move at all when the closed box is shaken firmly up and down about ten times. If you hear or feel anything shift, add more packing material. Tape on all sides and seams securely. Print out your printing label (there will be an option to do this in your "my ebay" screen), cut at the dotted line, and tape onto the box with the clear box - but *don't* tape over the bar codes, as the tape messes up the ability of the Post Office to scan them. Send the item within two or three days, no one likes to wait, after all! Need boxes to pack your things in? Go here: Order FREE boxes right here!

Leave feedback. This is an important step for a seller - feedback is the cornerstone of boosting sales. If your customer has received the item (verify this by checking the delivery confirmation tracking that automatically gets added to the shipping label) and you've left feedback, send them an in-ebay message three days after you leave some for them to make sure they're happy with the item and to remind them to leave feedback.

If you follow these steps, you should have a fairly accurate guideline for getting that item out of the basement and up on eBay. If it doesn't sell, don't be disheartened...sometimes it takes a bit of doing and a little research to see if something will sell or not. Research is your greatest tool against failed auctions...if no one else sold successfully, chances are you won't either. If you use honesty and integrity in whatever auctions you try for, not too much can really go wrong. I wish you the best of luck and many bids!

-Fox Mackenzie of KitsuneKitsch Auctions