My Guide to Selling on eBay and Making Money Online ...



My Guide to Selling on eBay and Making Money Online … (published on: )

July 1st, 2011

In the beginning, I was not a big fan of eBay, because of those fees they charge. However, it seems many stores have been created through eBay and I figured I would give it a try. After all, the first step to success is trying, right? If you can get past those fees, it is a pretty good tool to use and once you start, it just gets so addicting! Sure, you could start your own store with your own site, but even then, it will take time for people to find you. When you post your stuff on eBay, people find you right away.

Instead of charging you for this guide, like many do, I am going to go ahead and give it to you for free! Mind you, if you copy this guide, you HAVE to put my name (Melanie Fitzpatrick – ContentWritersRevenue) on it with a link back to this …

Build Credibility

You need to build up your credibility. You can do this by getting good feedback. Building yourself up with good feedback is definitely something you need to do. Face it, if you do not have good feedback, potential buyers may avoid you. So, for a word of advice, avoid selling something expensive in the beginning. Save that expensive item for when you have built up your credibility.

Pick Your Niche

You need to pick your niche and stick to it. Some people choose to sell antiques, while others choose to sell clothes and video games. Pick something that you enjoy selling – that WILL sell.

Be an Expert in Your Field

I do not know about you, but I cannot stand people who do not know about the stuff you are selling. For example, the other day, I emailed a eBay user and asked them a question regarding the game play. Needless to say, the response I got was “I don’t know anything about these games, I just sell them.” Sorry, this seller didn’t receive my bid for that item. Why? Because I am not going to buy something from someone who cannot answer my question regarding the item. So, my advice to you is to make sure you are an expert in the field.

A Photograph

So what if you do not like how you look, put that photograph up there! Adding a picture to your eBay account will humanize it. The photograph you put should look professional. Some people choose to put a professional looking photograph of themselves with their pets and that is a great idea.

The Auction Headline

The auction headline means a lot. Put it this way – when you look at the title of an article, if it is not catchy, you will not read it. The same thing goes for selling on eBay, if you do not put a good headline, people will not click on it.

The Description

This goes back up there to building your credibility. If you do not put the right description, you will not build up your credibility. In fact, you will do quite the opposite. If you do not have time to write that description, contact me – writersrevenue@ and I will help you write that description!

More but Shorter

You may want to open up more, yet shorter options. eBay is known for placing their auctions ending soonest higher in the results. If you have identical merchandise, then run shorter auctions. This way, you will show up in the “time ending sonnest” and “best match” search more than others. Sure, you will pay a bit more in order to list it, but you will make up for that when you sell those items.

Automate Your Shipping

You cannot forget about shipping! You know, the thing you do AFTER you sell the item. If you don’t ship the item out quickly, you will risk that credibility and you do not want to do that. Many of us do not have a lot of time to spend at the post office. You can have all of those supplies sent to you by UPS and the USPS. Take a look at and to learn more. eBay and PayPal (they’re the same, really) have an automated shipping system that is integrated with USPS and UPS through their site. If you ship through USPS Priority Mail, you will be able to use delivery confirmation in order to track your packages. The best thing about this is the fact that the tracking is free if you do it at . If you do it at the post office, it is going to cost you. You get a better rate through USPS if you pay online.

Build Your Feedback First

I believe I already mentioned this, but I feel the need to mention this again. When you first start out, you need to build your feedback. You can do this by selling a bunch of small stuff. Sure, it may go for cheap, but the feedback you receive is worth it.

BuySafe for Those Selling Expensive Products

If you are selling expensive products on eBay, then you may want to sign up for BuySafe. This company offers fraud insurance to buyers. Yes, it does cost money to sign up, but it will help you. Just go and look up “BuySafe” in google and you will find their site.

HTML Commands

Learning those HTML commands is going to help you out. eBay has an HTML editor, which is limited, but it does work. You should think about starting all your auction item descriptions with the commands for font size 1. What is this going to do? This will allow the font to show up larger, which will make it easier for people to read. In order to increase readability, it helps if you break the item description into short, small paragraphs. You can find the basic HTML commands on the Internet by typing in “basic HTML” into Google.

Know Your Fees

You should know your fees before you sell, especially if you plan on making it a business. If you want to know both eBay and PayPal fees, try this little calculator – .

Power Words

When you type out your description, try using some power words. You know, the same power words copywriters use! FYI, power words include words like: best bargain, sexy, awesome, lowest price, amazing, gorgeous and so on. Using power words will help generate some interest in your products.

Symbols

Do not put any symbols like $ & or @ in the title. If the potential buyer does not type in those symbols, your item is not going to show up.

Time to List

You should never list your items to end during the day, unless it is the weekend. This is because people tend to work during the day. The most exposure on your item takes place during the last four hours of the auction. Mind you, you do not want it to end late at night. If you list it too late in the evening, no one is going to stay up late to catch the bid. If you want to list on the weekends, Sunday would be a great day. You also have to remember the different time zones …

Digital Camera

Putting pictures of the item will definitely help you out, so you need to invest in a digital camera.

Never Ship An Item Until it is Paid for

No matter how honest or nice you think the individual is, you should never ship the item out until it is paid for.

Tracking

You NEED to put tracking on every item you sell on eBay. Why? Because if you do not put tracking, the individual can claim they never received the item. PayPal will always side with the buyer, unless you are able to provide tracking.

Keywords

You may want to submit your auction page to search engines using keywords – the keywords should be based on the items you normally sell. This way, you will get more traffic to those auctions.

Some More Tricks

You should keep all of the bidders and winners email addresses. When you list a similar item, send out a mass email telling them about the items you have listed. NEVER SEND SPAM MAIL! Make sure the potential customers would like to be contacted when you have new items up on auction. You can do this by sending them a short email when they win the bid. The email could say “If you would like to be contacted when similar items are posted, please let me know and I will be sure to email you and tell you.” If they say “yes,” then add them to the list and send that mass message out to everyone.

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