The first step to becoming an eBay seller is, of course, to sign up for an eBay account. I won’t go into the details of how to do this as all the help you need is available on the eBay site.

You will also need to sign up for a Paypal account. Many buyers prefer to pay instantly with Paypal rather than have the hassle of writing and mailing cheques or postal orders. Not having the option to pay by Paypal would deter many potential customers from your bidding on your auctions. Having a Paypal account would also make your life easier as it is the most hassle-free way to accept payment from overseas customers.

Once you have your account set up, have a good look around the site. Have a look at the categories that interest you, and study some completed auctions.

To see completed auctions, you need to be signed in to your account. Click on Advanced Search at the top of the page. When the search page loads, check the box for “completed listings only “. You can quickly see which items ended with a sale as the price is in green. The items with the price in red ended unsold.

Compare auctions for similar products and think about why some have been more successful than others. There are many reasons why some auctions don’t achieve their full potential. Poor keywords in the title, important information being omitted from the description, and unclear photographs (or none at all) would all have a negative effect on the finishing price, as would the seller having a poor feedback rating. Or maybe the item was listed in an unsuitable category.

Before you start selling, place bids on a few items to familiarise yourself with the process and gain some feedback.

You should now be ready to list your first items. The best way to begin is to sell a few unwanted items from around the house.

To learn more about how to sell on eBay I recommend that you download and read Terry Gibbs’ excellent free guide to selling on eBay. From choosing the best category and writing a compelling title to taking and uploading your photographs, it explains everything you need to know to get the best possible results from your auctions.

Posted in Freebies, Getting Started