eBay Instructions

Choosing What to Sell – The best advice I can give is: sell things that you are going to make more than $25.00. By the time you package it and drive to the post office, you have spent more time, energy, and gas on an inexpensive item. Think about it, what is more valuable your time or a $10.00 object sold on eBay? In other words, go for high bidding items. How do you know what is high bidding items? Research – read on for details. The exception is if you have a bunch of small things you can sell a lot of, such as a Hummel collection. In that case, tell bidders that you ship on Friday, and make one post office run to ship off everything you've sold at one time. Be sure to spell what you are selling correctly. If you spell the item for sale incorrectly the potential buyer won’t find it!

Excellent Description – Be specific when describing your item. What is the size? Is it hand painted? Can you tell a story of how you came to have it? Make it interesting and fun and you will have more viewers at you listing! Be sure to study similar listings that have the most bids on them to see how their items are described, it might give you ideas.

Clear Photos – Make sure your photos are clear and/or legible. Don’t post pictures that are too dark, or show your home in the background. Tip: use a drop cloth or the carpet as a background. If there are special marks indicating a collector’s item, be sure to take pictures of them.

Research – Research is the key to figuring out pricing, and if you have a treasure or not. Without researching, you may sell something for an inadequate amount, when it may have gone for more. A great way to figure out pricing is to do a “Title Only” search for items that are similar to what you are selling. To perform a “Title Only” search type in the title of what you are looking for, but do not specify a category. For example, you would type in “ceramic Dalmatian mug” leave the scroll bar at “all categories, and hit “search”. To finish researching the pricing, you would click on the “completed items” list and sort the results by price. Be sure to focus only on items that have bids. Here is an example: http://tinyurl.com/5gq69a

Pricing – Be sure to research the price of your object.
Use the search tool on eBay to see if someone is selling something similar and at what price. Has it been bid on? If not, the reasons can vary. It could be the price is too high, the description or photos are poor, or it’s just bad luck. eBay is tricky and often random – sometimes things sell and sometimes they don’t. If you go to the advanced search options, you can search items that have actually sold, not just ones that are currently for sale.

Gallery Pictures – Consider paying a little extra for the gallery photos, which displays your item for sale even before a buyer clicks on your listing. I would also have extra digital photos. You'll get your money back with more, and higher, bids.

Monitor Your Listing – If you listing has no bids you can adjust the listing. I suggest checking on your listing every day. One clue that you’re not getting any prospective buyers is if you have not received any emails asking questions about the item.

Setting Up Rules On The Listing – Be sure to specify where you will mail the item (this is an option you can click on when entering a listing. Unfortunately sometimes buyers don’t look at it anyway.) If you are selling a large and heavy object, such as furniture you probably only want to sell in the state of Washington as shipping would be astronomical, point this out in your listing. Reiterating the guidelines is ok, even recommended. Also be sure to have general prices for shipping for buyers available.

Set up guidelines:

• State that all sales are final. You will get newbie’s bidding on an item who will get buyers’ remorse. Unless they have a really good reason for backing out of the sale, tell them that you stated that all sales were final and stick to your guns.

• Put insurance on the items that you sell. Accidents do happen in shipping. This way you will be covered by insurance instead of having to pay the damages out of pocket. Before you do refund them, make sure they have proof that the item was
damaged.

• Be aware that every buyer you sell to will rate you. Keep this in mind when you ship things. I always take special care to ship things with extra bubble wrap to ensure it gets there in one piece. Don’t send the item until you receive payment – you can also specify this on your listing.
Buy It Now Feature – Instead of doing a regular auction, where you may not sell the item for what it is worth, I suggest using the “buy it now” feature. This is a great feature for selling an item faster, especially if you know exactly what it is worth. Start the price at more than half what it is worth to encourage bids.

Reserve feature – This feature allows you to put the
actual amount you want to sell the item for secretly. Until the reserve is met, it will not be sold. For example, if you reserve a tea cup for $50.00 and no one bids that high you have the right to withdraw the item that is for sale. Use this sparingly as it can scare potential buyers away.

Pay Pal – I suggest setting up an account with Pay Pal as it is the quickest, safest, and most accepted method of payment used on Ebay. Go to: www.paypal.com to do this. Be aware that they ask for your bank account information. There is a 3% fee when you use Pay Pal. Pay Pal will allow buyers to pay with credit card. You can also use Pay Pal to send money for things you purchased on eBay. It is also a great way to get the money right away from an item you have sold and keep track of your earnings.

Beware of false emails from supposed Pay Pal members or Pay Pal administration – if they ask you for ANY personal or financial information delete the email and report it to Pay Pal. This can also occur with false eBay emails asking for personal and financial information.

Methods of Payment- I would recommend accepting money orders, credit card payments through pay pal and cashier’s checks. You could also accept checks, but always wait for them to clear before sending out the sold item.

To learn more about the specifications of a sale and the rules of eBay go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/index.html