Selling Tips
- You can have your auction run for one, three, five, seven, or ten days. The time that you list your auction to start is the time it will finish.
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If you aren’t sure how your item will sell, list for 10 days for maximum exposure.
- Seven-day auctions are the most common.
- Three or five day auctions for in demand items.
- One day auctions for time-sensitive items like tickets.
- If you schedule your auctions to start at 7:00 PM Pacific Time on Sunday evenings and run for 7 days, you will have the largest number of people looking at your auction.
- If you are selling to business owners, start and end your auction on Wednesday or Thursday during work hours.
Upload Pictures to eBay
- Once the photos are on your digital camera, put them on your computer by plugging the cable from the camera to your computer (while computer is running) and then turning your camera on. The computer should then recognize your camera and ask if you want the pictures downloaded to it. They will then be put in your ‘My Pictures’ folder.
- Upload the photo to eBay by clicking Browse on the eBay Listing page and then finding the picture on your computer and clicking it to select. Repeat the process for each photo.
Take a Great Photo
- Use proper lighting.
- Use a contrasting background.
- Avoid background clutter.
- Photograph at close range and at an angle.
- Have photos big enough to show details.
- Use multiple photos to show all sides.
- Show scale by using a contrasting item.
- Show any flaws.
- Use indoor lighting.
- Don’t copy pictures from other sellers or manufacturers without permission.
- Don’t use a flash.
- Edit photo if needed (crop, rotate, resize).
- Save pictures as a JPEG (.jpg) file on your computer by clicking File, then selecting Save As and selecting .jpg from the pull-down menu. Click Save and you’re done.
- Avoid editing the picture and saving it too many times. Each time reduces the photo quality.
Seller’s Checklist
- Carefully inspect the item.
- Research the item on eBay by using the completed listing search. Note how others have sold the item, for how much, shipping charges, descriptions, photos. Use this research only to generate ideas. Don’t ever use other people’s photos or descriptions for your auction.
- Take clear pictures.
- Write a keyword-rich title (which words would you use to try to find the item?)
- Write a clear, accurate, and interesting description. Include condition, colour, brand, size and any other important information.
- Proofread and spell-check your listing.
- Consider whether you can include a free bonus, such as a report, with the item.
- Package and weigh your item so that you can calculate accurate shipping costs. If there is any way you can offer free shipping, you will attract more buyers.
Considerations Before You Buy on eBay
- If you click “Buy It Now”, or if you are the winning bidder of an auction, you will be under contract with the seller to buy the item.
- If you buy items outside of Canada, be aware of possible import duties, taxes and longer shipping times because of customs inspections.
- It is also your responsibility to make sure the item can be legally imported into Canada.
- Check the feedback rating of a seller and think twice if they have a lot of negative feedback.
- If you receive an email that says it’s from eBay or Paypal, don’t answer it, go directly to the eBay or PayPal site and check your records from there.
Open a Paypal Account
- Go to www.paypal.com and sign up for a free account.
- Choose your password and write it down.
- Choose Premier as your account type so that you can accept credit cards.
- Enter your personal information.
- Fill in rest of questions and agree to terms.
- Enter the characters shown for security measures and select Sign Up.
- PayPal will send you a confirmation email to complete your registration.
eBay Listing to Critique
I have put up a listing on eBay for you to critique. Look carefully at all the details of the auction: starting price, shipping, title, headline, description, photos, etc. Think about what could have been done better, what was done well. Click here to see the listing.
Buy Before You Sell
You need to try to buy before you sell, for a number of reasons. One is to start collecting positive feedback and increase your credibility. The other is to experience what your customers will be doing when they make a purchase from you on eBay. Take note of the things you like and dislike about an auction, and see how your listings can be better.
- Find items by browsing through lists of titles called categories or searching by keywords.
- When you use eBay.ca to search for items, you’ll only see items that Canadians can purchase.
- Your bid will be a Proxy Bid, which is the highest amount you are willing to bid on the item. Then eBay will place small bids for you up to your maximum limit and only when you are outbid. Your Proxy Bid can be increased before the auction ends.
- Sniping is when a bidder comes in at the last minute of the auction and places a high bid to win the auction. You place an auction on your Watch List and wait to bid instead of attracting more bidders to the auction by bidding early.
- When the auction ends, the seller sends an email to the winning bidder giving complete payment instructions.
- Next the buyer will send the payment and the seller will ship it when payment is received. The buyer pays the shipping.
- The seller should leave positive feedback if the item was paid for within a reasonable period of time and when the buyer receives the item, he should also leave feedback.
- Try not to leave negative feedback. If there is a problem, contact the other person and try to solve it.
Why Sell On eBay?
Why Sell on eBay?
- Largest single on-line marketplace
- Perfect entrepreneurial breeding ground
- Over 700,000 people make primary or secondary income
- Use it to expand your market
- Develop a company brand
- Liquidate inventory
- Acquire customers
- Sell lower priced products (even at a loss) to gain a life-time customer – for example 99 cent ebooks
For example, a person selling televisions should write a guide about buying TV’s and sell it for 99 cents, then drive that person to his website.