Millions of people around the world have bought the occasional item on ebay but how many people have also taken the time to sell stuff back on there? As a money making tool ebay can be exceptionally useful, even if it is just to sell the occasional knick knack or something you do on the side as a hobby. So is it worth it for you to start using ebay to sell stuff? Ask yourself this – have you ever sold stuff at the local market or car boot sale just to raise some extra funds? Or have you ever held a yard sale outside your house? If you have you’ll know how much effort goes into getting stuff ready to sell, from cleaning it to labeling and pricing it to setting up tables and displays and then promoting the event to get people to come by. You’ll end up wasting a day of your life for very little reward and hardly any people viewing your stuff.
On the other hand if you sell stuff on eBay you’ll have an audience of millions of potential customers and you’ll have to spend only minutes putting your stuff up for sale, Best of all if more than one person wants to buy your items then you could end up with them bidding against each other and raising the final sale price you could achieve. Try it once and you’ll be hooked. Here are a few pointers for getting started on eBay:
Firstly, always be honest. Ebay is built on honesty and there is a feedback system in place which means you are only as reputable as your last review. Be a good seller who always gives the fullest and most accurate description of the items they are selling. This mean if your book has some writing on it and some torn pages, mention that. If your plate is scratched or your picture a little faded you should reflect this in the starting price and in the description. People will appreciate that and conversely, will be angry if you don’t mention it.
Secondly, give a long and very detailed description of the item. As well as being honest it is useful for people to read as much about the item as possible. That means describing it well and providing full details about its uses, its features, its age and origin and a general description of its condition. Read through your description a couple of times and make sure it flows well and that there are no spelling mistakes.
Next, make sure you take great pictures of the item and lots of them. Set the item against a clean background and take a few pictures from different angles. If it is a book include both shots of the front and back cover and some of the inside pages. If it is a computer game show the disc, the instruction book and the case. If it is an item of clothing show if front and back as well as a shot of the label. Ad mentioned above, if there is any damage to the item it is good to describe that damage and you could also add a photo of the damage just so people could judge it for themselves.
If you have a certain value in mind then set a price below which you wont sell the item. Also price the starting bid quite low as this will encourage a large number of people to bid on the item. And once they start bidding they might keep on battling to win the item for a much more pleasing amount!
Lastly, work out the cost of packing and shipping precisely. Weigh the item and head over to your post office to find out how much it will cost. Then factor in the cost of the packaging and insurance and add that to the details. Don’t try and add any extras to that – people know how much postage costs and if you try to make money on it they wont like it.
