Emma Anderson

With eBay you have to know the whole cycle from start to finish.

I know I have not covered all bases, but before we go any further, let’s get familiar with the why’s and how’s etc.

There are some easy steps with selling things on eBay (or anywhere online for that matter).

Here are the top 5 things you should know….and remember :-

1.  Do your research

Take the time to carry out a few searches on eBay. Obviously you want to know if the item you are going to sell is     going to generate interest (and more importantly cash!), so get a wine and spend that half an hour on the computer and carry out a few searches – it costs nothing and will make you all the wiser.

If there is a similar (or exact item) for sale, then you can get ideas from the other seller/s as to how to go about selling your item. Having said this though……be careful not to copyright or use other people’s photographs – this is a big NO NO!

The other thing you have to be weary of, is being honest in your listings. You need to give the most accurate description you can. Don’t sell an item that is worn and is absolute rubbish, and say “near new”. This is just tricking people and taking advantage of them, and in turn, this will come back to this so called “negative” or “bad” feedback that we have all heard about. You want eBay to be a POSITIVE experience, so be true to yourself and you will be rewarded.

 

2.  Be Mindful of Costings

As previously mentioned, it will cost you anywhere from approximately 99 cents to $3.00 to sell an item. This is dependent on your asking/starting price. Be aware that if you are just trying to get rid of junk in your house or wardrobe, then starting at 99 cents may be the way to go. Obviously, if you have something of value that you want a decent price for, then you are going to need to start the bidding price a little higher. Be careful again though, that you don’t continually list an item that is not selling! This is costing you money to list……and what are you getting in return?? NOTHING!

You will also need to take into account whether you want to use a number of photos or just one, whether you want multiple category listings and whether you want to do an online auction price or just a buy it now price.

Be careful with choosing your categories – you should only need one. Remember not to overspend – you are here to make money……not get rid of it!

 

3.  Closely Monitor Your Listings

There is nothing worse than listing 20 items and then not checking whats happening until the auctions end! People can (and will) ask questions – even if they are obvious ones! Monitor your eBay listings and answer all questions with speed and accuracy. Sometimes you can have the measurements in the listing and someone will ask for the measurements. Just reply and give them the answer – don’t be a smart arse, and say “its in the listing!”. No-one likes a smart arse…..just ask my husband! Love you Michael

 

4.  Methods of Payment

When it comes to payment methods, there are only really two options, as I see it. One being Paypal, and the other being direct deposit to your bank account.

Paypal is a third party payment method, that is easier, secure and fast! You couldn’t want it any more simpler really!

Its easy to sign up for an account – be sure to visit www.paypal.com.au and have a look through the site. All you need to set up an account is an active bank account. As their website states Paypal is “Australia’s Favourite Way to Pay Online”. Big call, but true!

One thing to be weary of, is that Paypal charges a fee to use their services. Its next to nothing, when it comes to a secure and fast payment method, but again, something you should research and be aware of.

5.  Dealing with Disputes

From time to time you can have trouble with transactions – for example, a buyer may never receive your item. This could be because of a number of factors – Australia Post may have lost your item, or its gone into that big black hole where all undelivered items and packages go! Either way, remember, THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. I know, sometimes its hard to fathom and you might just think to yourself “this person is screwing me over”, but trust me, taking a smack on the nose and sending them a new item is near as better as them giving you bad feedback. You should always strive for 100% positive feedback…..and yes, mine is 100% – I ROCK!

 

All these above factors need to be considered – then, and only then, will you be ready to be an eBay Queen like me!

You need to take into account all these steps…..or you might end up like this……

   or this………   

Me again! To hopefully share some more knowledge and wisdom regarding the online world of selling and how to get the most of eBay.

So now that you should have you’re your first item ready to sell, you need to become aware of postage prices and what it costs to send an item. There is nothing worse that listing and item and it selling for a fairly low price, and then you get done with the postage. Again, it’s a matter of doing your research. You may think, “why all this research? Seems all too hard!”, but trust me, it will pay off in the long run! (it has for me!!). Just go to your local post office and grab a current brochure which lists all large letter and parcel prices. Once you have this item in your hot little hands, you can’t go wrong! Better still, if you can’t get yourself to a post office, just hop online. The worst thing you can do with selling things online is to guess the price – either a) you will get screwed over, or b) you will screw someone else over, and that’s never fun……because an unhappy customer = negative or bad feedback, but we’ll come to that later!

As I mentioned previously, its ok to have a dollar here or there, but there are people on eBay that sell a t-shirt, which can be folded flat, and will then charge the buyer $9 postage. So whether you are a buyer or a seller……don’t be a sucker……or better still, don’t suck people in!!

Parcels will always go on weight, and in some other cases, if you have to post to a remote region of the world, bottom line is, this will cost you a little extra again. And to be quite honest, we don’t know who we are going to sell our item to – they could be in Melbourne CBD in Australia, or a part of Arizona in the desert, in the US. Don’t be afraid to send the successful bidder/buyer a message, and say “I see you are in such and such”, the postage is going to be a little more for there – is that ok?”. Just asking the question can win people over.

And again, on that previous comment, you have to determine whether you are just going to sell to the country you are in, or widen your horizons. I am currently in Australia and only limit myself the selling there. I don’t make international buyers an options, but really, why wouldn’t I? Being open to more areas of the world has to equal more sales surely!!

Right that’s it,  I think I need to put an end to this lesson, and start listing some more items and ticking the “yes” to international postage

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So now that the jokes are aside, lets get to business. You want to list something on eBay! Now, I am not treating you like  idiots, but let’s pretend I am writing one of those “eBay for Dummies” books, or better still, you are like my mum, that cannot even turn on a computer. So let’s go to the eBay website (after you have turned on the computer of course and loaded up the internet!) The web address is www.ebay.com or (com.au if in Australia).

At this stage I am assuming you already have an eBay account. Most people, if they have not sold items on eBay before……..have bought the occasional item or two! If you are not a member, sign up, its easy – just follow the prompts and you are there. All you need is a current email address and lots of goodies to sell and then its onto making cash (and who doesn’t like that?!). As a seller you will also need to determine how to want to receive your funds, once your item/s sell. This can be either by direct deposit to your bank account, or via Paypal, which is a secure third party payment service.  PayPal is a faster, easier and safer way to make and accept payments online. There was be one small disadvantage, that they take out a small fee, but for such a great and secure payment service, it is worth it.

It’s always good to do some preparation or ground work first, before you get started. That might  involve doing some searches for similar items on eBay and seeing how they fare. To be honest, there may not be a high demand for a Human Nature cd, but there may be for a Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ lp/record. All you need to do, if log into eBay and conduct a search to see what the demand for your items are. If you see a similar item with 10 bids on it, you know you are on a winner! And another key factor here and I mentioned in my last blog, is to not limit yourself with the item you sell. Another thing you also have to be aware of and ask yourself is, “is this item going to make a profit?”.

The next piece of advice I would give you, is to determine what price you would be happy with for the item that you are selling, With regards to conducting the similar search, that should give you a good idea and indication of what asking price to start at. You can also choose to set up your item for a “Buy It Now” price or start the bidding at any nominated price, or both. I tend to do both, but its certainly a matter of personal choice – there is no wrong and right answer here.

If you chose to sell your item for a “Buy It Now” price, then you have to think about a bottom line price that you would be happy for. There is no sense putting up a valuable item and it selling for $5.00 and then being disappointed – you are in total control when it comes to the selling price, so think long and hard about it.

Most of my item are clothes (both second hand and new), shoes and accessories, such as handbags and jewellery. Say for instance I was selling a pair of second hand  Prada sunglasses, I would be happy with $50, so I might do a “Buy It Now” price for $50 and start my bidding at $20. You might ask “why start the bidding so low?”. If I know that it is an item that would generate a lot of interest, then start the initial bid a little lower, in the hope of getting whats called a “bidding war” at the end of auction. If I am selling an item that is not a brand name and I just want to get it out the house and get a few dollars for it, I might even start my bidding at 99 cents. This is not only a cheaper option to sell, but again, it will generate a lot of interest, as people are always happy to pay next to nothing for something. So if I start an item at 99 cents and someone wins it for that price, so be it. Firstly, I wouldn’t have started it at that  price, if I wasn’t going to be happy with it, and secondly, my item sold, and the buyer is happy, so it’s a win-win!

One thing to keep in mind, is if you choose to start your items at 99 cents because its cheaper, you can always cover your costs a little bit more, by upping your postage slightly. Say, an item might cost a total $5.00 to send to someone, you could charge $6.50 and make that extra $1.50.

At this point, I might say…go and have a little look at my eBay pages. I have two accounts, so search for a seller called ‘kermit4emmy” or “chici-fashion” – oh, and you don’t just have to browse….feel free to make a purchase or tell your friends! I have some great rings for sale, like the photo below

Well that’s today’s little lesson…..next blog we will look at maintaining your eBay site and how to get the most of out it.

Good luck little eBay sellers

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As mentioned in my previous post, eBay wasn’t the only choice I made initially. The bottom line was, I wanted to get rid of unwanted items and basically hoped to get some good money for my stuff, as most of it was either new with tags or only worn once. I am sure we are all guilty of that (especially us women!).

I now live by the motto, that if it hasn’t been worn in a year, then it gets sold! This seems to be a valid statement. As I mentioned before though, not all items will sell on eBay, but according to my experience 90% will. Like most people again, I would often go through my wardrobe and think  to myself “why the hell did I but that?”, but just because it doesn’t appeal to you and you don’t like it anymore……don’t be fooled, and think “well no-one else would like it!”. I have sold many a thing online, that I have often thought to myself “why? how? when?”, but then I need to take a reality check and realise that I actually initially bought it….embarassing, but also good for the wallet!!

I have worked out that a good starting point for me was the local markets. I live in Adelaide, and Adelaide although its small, has its share of markets both locally and in the city on weekends, that attract a huge amount of people. All it takes is a little bit of research, lots of items to sell……..and also a little bit of courage! Let’s face it, not all of us, like getting out there are trying to be the salesperson, but all you really have to be is friendly, enthusiastic, and most importantly willing to put in the hard work and be up at the crack of dawn! Sure, the latter is not appealing to most people, but I’m sure a $15 market to make $250 is a little more enticing. Let’s not forget the fact too, that this is cash in hand…….no tax man chasing us here! Ching Ching!! I can see the dollar signs now!

I think another important factor is to not limit yourself. I know people who sell things online, and they choose to only sell baby clothes or antiques. The key is to broaden your spectrum and not focus on just one thing. There is every category on eBay, so don’t be afraid. List anything from shoes to saucepans, to beds to cosmetics.

My next fascinating blog will introduce you into eBay and the world of online selling.

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It’s Saturday for me, and unlike most people I chose to work. You may think I’m crazy, but this is work that I actually like! If I could spend every day like this, then I would (and trust me, one day I hope it will happen!)

As I sit out the back of my house, watching the sunset go down, listening to the birds chirp in the beautiful Spring weather…..oh, and the token glass of white in hand to give me my next thought of inspiration, I sit here with my laptop doing the things I love. That can be anything from writing blogs like this, to listing items on eBay.

So that brings me to eBay. Most people I speak to are amazed and admire how much time and effort I put into such a thing. Sure, it is time consuming and you need to know the “do’s and dont’s”, but once you have that under control, you are set and the world is your oyster. When I bring up the subject of eBay and selling things online, some people just graze over the subject and think that it’s a little task with no real benefit….wrong!!

Let me start by saying, who would love to get rid of all those unwanted items in their house and get money for it? Sure the first bit sounds good enough, but to actually get money for it, without the hassle of having to list things in newspapers or have garage sales, this is where we really win! That’s why I see eBay as a win-win! You get rid of items that you don’t need, and you get money for it! Seems pretty simple, but there are some things you need to know and what to watch out for, Hopefully, I can give you a lesson in that and  make your eBay experience an memorable and successful one.

Many people I speak to think that selling things on eBay, is listing one item a year and getting $5 for it! Again, this is case of…wrong!! I have sold over 3,000 items in eBay and becoming an eBay power seller doesn’t happen overnight – you need to put in the time, energy and enthusiasm.