Selling on eBay – Basics
To sell on eBay, you need three things: something people would want to buy (notice I didn’t just say “something to sell”), an eBay sellers account, and a Paypal account to collect money.
If you sell what you know about, you can spot bargains and will have a much better idea of the value and any other important information. You will also enjoy selling more if you really know your merchandise.
Start by researching some of the completed listings on eBay. You can find out which items sold and which didn’t, how much they sold for, how much the listing started at and when it was listed. Study the successful listings, looking at the keywords used in their titles, the descriptions and photos, even their payment and shipping details.
When you register on eBay, create a seller ID that relates to your products if possible. For example, if I were selling mainly small items, it could be carolscollectibles or something like that. And don’t be concerned that you will limit yourself that way. eBay allows you to have more than one account, as long as you have a different email address for each.
The final step is being able to collect your money. Although accepting cheques is an option, always wait until the cheque has cleared before you send the item. Since most eBay buyers want their purchases right away, Paypal is usually the preferred payment method. When signing up with Paypal, you will need a premier account so that you can also accept credit cards.
There you have it. A business of your own without the expenses that come with setting up your own shop. And if there isn’t much demand for a product, you can easily try selling something else without losing your investment. No wonder eBay is still popular with so many people.
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Comments
Hi Bev,
I appreciate your concern, but I’d like to encourage you to try eBay. You don’t have to put any personal information unless you want to. You can sign up for a gmail or yahoo email account and use a post office box number rather than your address.
As for your financial information, only eBay and Paypal will have access to your data. Just make sure that you never give any of your account information to anyone, even if they send an email that says it’s from eBay or Paypal.
Always log in to your accounts at the websites themselves, never from a link in an email. That way, you won’t be sent to a phony site.
Sure, there are crooks online, just like there are in the offline world. But you wouldn’t think of not going to the mall because of them, would you?
I wanted to try e-bay but i’ve heard
some bad experiences from some
people.
I worry about putting to much personel
information out there.