how to sell on ebay

nwilder · #1 01/19/05, 06:00 AM

Is there a place to go to find out how to put stuff on ebay? I would really like to sell some of our stuff. I need step by step instructions. I read somewhere that you should start your item out at $0.01. Is that true? How does shipping work? Who pays for it? Thanks for the info.

katlupe · #2 01/19/05, 06:10 AM

Ebay has all sorts of help right on their site to teach you how to sell. If you have any questions go to their discussion boards and ask your question and other sellers will help you. As long as you can read you can learn to sell. The best thing I can tell you is to buy some stuff at first to get your feedback up to at least 10 before selling. And don't sell expensive things at first, most buyers are afraid to purchase expensive items until you get your feedback rating up a bit. And be sure to keep you feedback rating at 100% if you can by responding to your buyers quickly and fairly. That's very important.

I never start anything at a penny. If you do, and nobody else bids that's what it goes for. I always start things at the lowest price I would take for it. But most of my items now are in my Ebay store so they are at the price I set.

I learned about Ebay right from the disscussion boards they are full of info and better than any book.

moopups · #3 01/19/05, 06:17 AM

Click the search button to the upper right, enter 'ebay selling', there is 178 threads conserning all areas of this subject.

blazingguns · #4 01/19/05, 07:45 AM

Just remember on Ebay, you are charged for putting up your auction and also a final value fee for when it sells, and they just raised their prices, so putting up an auction for only a penny or even a dollar, you would end up paying more in fees than what your item sold for. Usually the buyer pays for the shipping, your best bet, along with all the information given, is to go look at other auctions, and see how they handle shipping, what prices they ask for items, ect... especially if you find something like what you want to sell, you will get alot of information on what to price your items at ect....

amelia · #5 01/19/05, 09:36 AM

I, also, am in the process of learning how to sell. I spent a fair amount of time working with the "help" section of eBay and found the instructions to be poorly written, incomplete, and often indecipherable.

I did get a hold of a book entitled "eBay the Smart Way," which helped a lot. It also left me with a number of questions, but I got a far better understanding of both buying and selling that I ever could have from the eBay site itself. There are a number of other "how to" books about eBay listed for sale on the eBay site. It could be a good opportunity to practice bidding!

katlupe · #6 01/19/05, 01:54 PM

The trouble with the books is that they are outdated by the time they are published. Ebay is always changing and updating. I have been selling on there for awhile now and I still say the best way to learn is the discussion boards. Just read them when you have time. I just sold using Ebay's help and when I got stuck went to the boards and the answer was always there.

Hey, on Ebay it is a pay day every day! Worth trying.

Ken Scharabok · #7 01/19/05, 02:53 PM

Yes to all of the above. Do a search on eBay and read through the threads. You will get a lot of background information.

Ken Scharabok