When I started 6 months ago, I started with things around our home. Turns out, that's one of the recommended ways to begin on eBay, and the other recommended way is to start with things you know. Personally, starting out with things around our home was a very good thing--no start up costs since I already had the items and a very inexpensive way to learn the ins/outs of eBay. For me, it really did start as a virtual yard sale, except easier:
- no massive yard sale set up/break down
- generally items resale for much higher on eBay than what I could get at a yard sale
- no advertising fees—eBay offers 50 FREE listings a month, so it didn't cost me anything extra to list items on eBay. The only “cost” to list was time and effort. Otherwise fees are paid when items sell—both eBay and Paypal have fees, yet quite reasonable, I think.
So since I started with things around
the home, that's what I'm blogging about today :) If you spent any
time searching eBay yesterday, you probably realized there are lots
and lots of different things for sale on the site!
Perhaps it gave you an idea of things you have around your home that
you no longer need or want that you could resell on eBay.
When I first started, I began with
easy-to-ship, non-breakable items—books, toys, games, homeschool
curriculum/manipulatives, audio CDs, clothes, etc. Whatever you start
with, just make sure to describe it accurately. I learned a very
important lesson on one of my early listings—describe and disclose
any flaws. Items do not need to be perfect to list on eBay, but they
need to be described accurately...
One of the first items I sold from
around the house was an audio CD set. I started my auction at a price
I based on the little bit of research I knew to do then—what was
the retail price for the new CD set, and what were active eBay listings at
that time going for? The item sold—at a good price for me
(more than I would've gotten at any yard sale) and a good deal for
the buyer. I'm thankful for the buyer's honest feedback when she
received the item—some of the CD sleeves were damaged where the
puched holes fit around the binder rings, which should have been
disclosed in the listing. To be honest, it never crossed my mind even to
list that—the CDs were like new...I didn't even think
about describing the few flawed individual sleeves.
I learned from that one sale to
describe everything that I know about the item, and to include
pictures of any flaw, too. See, you'll already be a step ahead by
starting out with detailed, bulleted descriptions :)
Listing an item on eBay is
user-friendly—eBay walks you through step-by-step to complete a
listing. When you're ready, go ahead and give it a try.
- Go to eBay.com
- Click on Sell at the top right side of the page
- Follow each step as prompted
If you're not quite ready to have your
listing go live on eBay, click on “Save for Later.”
For your item title, try to use the words a
buyer would search on to find your item. For example, what words
would you use to find this item on eBay? Chances are others
would search that way, too.
One tip I'll share from my early
listing days—have a second window open on your computer on eBay.com
and search for similar item that you're getting ready to list.
Remember to look at both active and sold listings to get an idea of
pricing as well as details you might want to consider including in
your listing.
And another tip—it helps eBay buyers
on mobile devices if the description format is fairly simple:
Item Title
*3-4 bulleted points with
short/accurate descriptions
Any additional information
Here's an example from one of my eBay
“yard sale” items:
Fisher
Price Sweet Streets Pool House/Swimming Pool dollhouse
- House Only, Bright Colors, Measures @10" Tall by 5" Wide when closed, opens to @ 9.5" Wide
- Built-in life guard chair, diving board and an attached swimming ring
- All decals in very good condition
- From
smoke-free home
Payment
is due within 3 days. Thanks for looking and please check out my
other listings. I am happy to combine shipping on multiple purchases!
Here are a few helpful links about listing on eBay:
Have a question or a comment? I'd love
to hear from you! Feel free to post your comment or question here on
the blog, or if you prefer, you can email me at lclarktos@gmail.com
--Laura
--Laura
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