So You Want to Sell Stuff on Ebay?

You were thinking about surfing over to ebay to see what was selling. Maybe you had a few items laying around your house that looked like they still had a little life left in them. What would it hurt to see how much money you might make just sitting in front of your computer screen? Then you realized that even though you really need to earn some quick cash to help pay down that student loan, you better go ahead and get your class project out of the way first. So you search the web for research material and an article catches your eye while you browsing google and what do you find? An article about selling stuff on ebay...oh joy!

I started selling items on ebay about the same time I started selling items on yahoo auctions back in the mid-1990s. Auction sites were the new types of web sites that people were just discovering when I encountered them. The internet was still new and somewhat insecure at this point in time. So I had the feeling of suspicion as I contemplated handing over personal information to set up a new account at these web sites I had discovered in my web quest. But remembering the success I had posting items on AOL's message boards where there was no oversight at all; I took the plunge. I also looked at ehammer.com but found it to be a little deserted compared to the other two. Lycos and Excite auctions were the same way. Most everyone had a auction site it seemed but yahoo and ebay were starting to slug it out for the top spot.

After I sold a few items on each service that first year, things really began to change. The number of people online had grown significantly in that time span as more households were finally receiving internet service. And ebay had jumped out to a significant lead in the auction field. Now days, ebay is about the only auction service that is worth investing time in. There are still a lot of specialized sites that cater to a niche market but the traffic and interest are reduced in those environments. So my first bit of advice is, don't waste time with the other auction sites. Focus on one site only.

Remember when you become a seller on ebay, you are competing with amateurs and pros alike. There is a niche for each new seller but you have to find it own your own. For example some amateurs haven't a clue about how to maximizing their selling potential. Some pros are paying employees to do their work listing hundreds of items a day. But keep in mind some of those employees are bored and don't do a very good job with every listing they work on. These lazy employees and inexperienced amateur auctioneers create areas of opportunity where you can exploit the knowledge you gain from research at first and eventually from your own personal experience as well as you continue to gain knowledge about your new online business.

As a seller you need to use a professional attitude when dealing with other people's money. Always be courteous and prompt in your communications. Also be sure to treat the customer like you would want to be treated. It is always good to purchase a few inexpensive items to experience the customer side of things. Doing this will also help you start earning positive feedback ratings.

Feedback ratings allow a person to see information about the previous sells and purchases of other ebay members. People leave comments about how your dealings with them were handled and you want to have as close to 100 percent positive feedback as you can. You will be judged on the items you ship to your customers. You will also be accountable for the description of that item, your shipping speed, you packaging quality and many other little things people will pick out and describe in their feedback to you. As you shop at ebay yourself, you will see that you feel more confident checking out the seller's feedback score and the comments other buyers have left for them. If you see someone with several negative comments be prepared to run quickly away from that seller's auction. But before you do, evaluate the negative comments left to make sure that it is not someone just trying to ruin the sellers reputation by posting negative details in retaliation for some deal gone wrong.

Yes that does happen. Some people are vindictive if they feel they had an unhappy experience with a seller. Some of them are even trying to run cons of some sort. In the collectibles arena, 'bait and switch' is not unheard of. This is the type of thing that can scare away potential new sellers. Just like in any real world retail environment, you will have some small chance of encountering people with agendas that go beyond basic commerce. But don't let those few bad apples ruin your chances at becoming a future auctioneer! These things happen in every business involving sales of merchandise. You will find ebay does a very good job in keeping out the riff raff. They have a very well established dispute resolution center and are constantly striving to protect both buyer and seller from the activities of undesirable thieves.

I have talked around the subject long enough. Now lets get to the nitty gritty of auctioneering. I won't delve into every detail on how to list an item, you will find that in the wonderful help section at ebay. Instead I'm going to give you a little insight from my own personal experiences instead.

First you need an item to sell I've sold vintage comic books, sports cards, collectible toys and a few other odd items. One thing I've noticed is that you will maximize your sales and sale multiple items to the same person more frequently if you focus on one category. If you have comics, cards and toys that you want to sell it is OK to have items from multiple categories listed for sale at the same time. But when you are posting your listings, list them in clusters from the same category. Try to list about 10 or more items at a time. For example when you do pick a category, lets say comic books, then list ten comics and if you decide you want to add some sports cards to your inventory, then post them in a block of ten new listings as well. But do it in groups. Don't just list a comic then a card then a comic then another card, etc. This technique will help keep similar items that grab the attention of category specific buyers clustered together so when the auctions end they will be ending close to each other in their respective categories Buyers who are interested in a certain item might also be interested in a similar item you are selling from that same category. So then you may have them bidding on multiple items from your auction as their eye catches something else in your listings that may be closing at the same time as an item they are already considering from your posts.

Another way you can encourage this multiple sales technique is by offering reduced shipping fees for purchasing multiple items. In my auctions I offer to send from one to ten comics for the same price as sending one. I love to combine items in shipping as it allows the customer to save money and it saves me time in packaging. Using USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate packaging I always know the cost of my postage no matter where it is going. And I can decide in advance how much I can fit into one box for a flat fee and still do it safely so the items arrive there well packaged and safe. The package will get there in a short amount of time and has some built in insurance benefits as well when using Priority.

Shipping will play a big part in closing some deals when a buyer sees multiple seller selling identical items. Sure you can offer less expensive shipping via First Class Mail and other ways in certain situations like Book Rate or Parcel Post. But those take awhile to get there and that can result in impatient buyers leaving you low feedback scores which will hurt your sales overall. Looking at the big picture its better to offer the best shipping service at a slightly higher rate with bulk discount options i.e. ten books for the price of one.

Once you have your items listed, look for questions from potential bidders and answer them promptly. There is a feature that allows any potential customer the opportunity to ask sellers for more information and you want to always monitor that while your item is posted. You can even choose to post the response to the auction itself so that you don't have to keep answering the same questions over and over.

As soon as the auction closes send out your invoice with all of the information you require to finish the transaction. Do not send the item till you receive payment. This is common practice so don't worry that you will offend someone. Once the payment arrives send their new item to them the same day you receive their money. Don't wait a couple of days to ship because they are paying a higher shipping fee to get that fast Priority Mail service, remember your not shipping First Class so you have to be fast.

You can get free shipping supplies customized for ebay items from the Post Office website. Envelopes and boxes of all sizes that are for Priority Mail use but customized with an ebay logo on the box. Of course you can pick up regular supplies at the local Post Office too but I like the look of the special boxes. It makes you look more professional when you use them. Make sure you use plastic packing peanuts, bubble wrap, tissue paper or something else to protect the items you ship. Offer insurance on expensive items. You can get that information from the Post Office as well along with other special services like delivery confirmation.

Finally, be sure to select the appropriate times for you listings. Check other seller's closing auctions in the categories you are trying to sell in. Research which days of the week tend to have the busiest sales for your item's category I find that weekend days are duds for me in the categories I sale in. In fact I have it narrowed down to two specific days that I get the best sales results. So when I list new items I always try to list my auctions on those same days and let the auction run a full week for maximum exposure. The items will end on the same day of the week you list them on if you choose the seven day auction style of listing. (There are also three and five day auction listing options as well.) Then when an auction I list closes on the key day I have chosen, I also try to find the best time of day for it to close. Keeping in mind that you are selling across multiple time zones. Be sure to think about your audience for your item and when are they most likely to be shopping, working or sleeping. You can narrow it down and have all of your items in this time frame with multiple items from the same categories and hopefully selling in multiple to the same bidders. That way you do most of your shipping at the same time as well and cut down on trips to the Post Office saving you time and gas money.

These are just a few of the tips that I've learned over the years. There are so many things you will learn as you gain experience. And ebay offers a wealth of information on their web site for sellers. There are many active forums for discussion as well. So is there a lot to learn? Yes there is and you will learn most of it as you list new items. Don't let the task seem to daunting though. It really is a simple step by step process that anyone with a little time and patience can learn. The rewards can be great. And maybe you can actually put a dent in some of those looming debts or earn some extra money to take that well deserved vacation. So do you feel like becoming an auctioneer? Going once...going twice...