Newbie to selling on ebay
Hello, I am a newbie to selling on eBay. If there’s any tips or tricks or dues and don’ts that anybody wants to share I am wide-open for any advice. Thanks in advance.
38 comments
Hello, I am a newbie to selling on eBay. If there’s any tips or tricks or dues and don’ts that anybody wants to share I am wide-open for any advice. Thanks in advance.
binge-worthy-retail
·10 months agoNew sellers often get targeted by scammers - NEVER conduct business outside of ebay. Only message using ebay messaging system. Never use email or anything like that. Also, a few sellers may disagree, but if a buyer asks you to change the shipping address, the correct way is to cancel the sale and relist the item and have them repurchase it, using the correct address.
Use Terapeak research tool to find the items you are thinking of listing to find other listings like yours and to see how many are selling/how many are listed. You can sort the columns by highest to lowest price to get an idea of price range. Keep in mind this tool generally will only give results for the exact words that you search, so you may have to use different combinations of words to narrow down or expand your search. This tool can help you build successful titles too. If you sort only for the last 90 days of sales, it shows you the sell through rate - this gives you an idea of how long it may take to sell.
In my free time, I like to read through posts here and on facebook groups specifically about selling on ebay. You can pick up some tips and tricks, but don't listen to all of the complaining and negativity!
If you are selling something fragile, please watch videos about how to package properly. Even if you are selling something where the original packaging of the item may add value, be sure to package properly. Please, so many new sellers think that because Amazon just puts things in a box without protection or a padded mailer, that they can too. Don't do it. Even basic clothing items can benefit from a protective bag (the clear type with a suffocation warning), in case the package gets delivered on a rainy day for example.
Keep track of your inventory. I use a numbering system and tag each item, keep a list, and use the SKU field to enter the number. This makes it easy to know exactly which item you sold without having to think about it. Also if you are posting to other sites or even if some of your inventory gets damaged, it's so much easier to go back and take them off of ebay. Ebay will ding your account if you aren't able to ship an item someone bought from you.
Be protective of your seller status. That means, always ship on time, always be sure tracking is uploaded (ebay does that for you if you buy labels through them), respond to return requests within the allowed time, do your best to describe items accurately to avoid most "INADs" (item not as described returns), try not to cancel a sale unless the buyer requests it.
Finally, have fun! There's a learning curve and we are all learning along the way.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoWow, a lot of great advise. I really appreciate it, thank you!
py_2132
·10 months agoI am also a newbie and I've learned the hard way ...
I sell Aurora slot car cars and tracks.. and maybe odds and ends or two from around the house.
I have personally tested every car and track that I sell.. but, I will not put that in my listing because I have no idea who I am dealing with (The buyer) ... Giving your items a 100% guarantee listing leaves you wide open for a "Not as described" claim ... (It just happened to me with a Everlast Speed bag) ...
I would test the products I sell.. record it on Video to display (for the buyer) that it works perfectly fine.. but eBay really couldn't care less about Video ... The products could be blessed by the Pope himself but if the buyer has an issue.. bet your bottom dollar.. you lose ...
I am a honest man but unfortunately, in this day and age.. there are folks out there that couldn't give two hoots to the wind ... You issue a Full refund and if you're lucky, you'll get your item back ...
Or
They will keep your perfectly fine item and send you one back that their dog has been chewing on for the last month or so ... They'll say, it was shipped and the return delivered back to the seller ... eBay has no idea what return condition that item was in upon return delivery ...
You want to ride the lightning and argue.. you're still going to lose ...
Bottom line.. cover your 6 and don't sell anything you're not willing to lose ...
Be cool
I'm out
ittybitnot
·10 months ago@theeasttnpicker
My advice would be to turn off your requirements for "auto-pay". It limits the options a buyer has to pay, and disallows combined shipping/invoicing for buyers what wish to make offers on more than one item. This, of course, is the short version of what happens to buyers. Yours are set to yes, and even if I wanted to make very respectable offers on three of your items, once I see you have that requirement in place, I just move on and don't bother looking at what else you have to offer.
Some sellers like it, others don't even know they exist much less what they do and the consequences for keeping them.
Check yours here:
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
Buyer Rules:
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.
*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.
Click submit or save.
Good luck~ And you might start getting offers again. You can still set your 'auto decline' parameters as you see fit.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoI've always lived by phrase "you don't know what you don't know and the best way to learn is ask".
So where do I go to make changes to the auto pay and are you saying to check the boxes on those two items you referenced in buyers rule?
Thanks for the advise, just not sure how to implement it lol.
ittybitnot
·10 months agoSo where do I go to make changes to the auto pay
@theeasttnpicker
The link was provided in message #32. Underneath that is what they look like "Buyer Rules" MAKE SURE THEY ARE TURNED TO OFF. They have had different views of this, some have boxes to check/uncheck, others have a slide bar instead. Nobody can do this for you, just point you in the right direction. If you decide to turn them off, be sure to Click and Save (this may have been moved to the end of the page).
Then you may wish to visit this page:
https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf
Scroll down and make sure this setting is enabled and set to yes Allow invoice requests
I have no clue where the "save" button might be on this page.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months ago👠Thank you!
pickapaper
·10 months ago"Hello, I am a newbie to selling on eBay. If there’s any tips or tricks or dues and don’ts that anybody wants to share I am wide-open for any advice. Thanks in advance."
I keep waiting for @inhawaii to show up and tell you that any dues have to be paid to him. 🤣🤣
inhawaii
·10 months agoI saw that and almost commented but didn't.
It did make me chuckle though. LOL
carre8866
·10 months agoBiggest thing I can think of is be wary of stagnant listings. Just simply having listings up for 30 days without sales or changes causes eBay to say goodbye to the visibility, something super annoying when you don't have a ton of items.
Stay competitive. Research people selling similar stuff, and try to be at or below their prices, but make sure you're looking at their actual cost + shipping cost, as sometimes sellers will charge $30 shipping for something that costs $5 to ship just to make the actual cost look "cheaper".
When you add more listings (I'd say when you're getting closer to 100 or more) check out repricing tools, can save a ton of time. Streetpricer and TaskLifter are two big ones. I'd say getting started the latter is better, as it'll be cheaper for smaller stores. Just having a way to avoid stagnation (because listings are being repriced) as well as beat your competitors is huge.
God luck selling!
mam98031
·10 months agoThere are so many sellers that would disagree that after 30 days a listing is stale. Something to keep in mind is that about half of the traffic we get on Ebay comes from Google [or other search engine] searches. Google doesn't pick up listings right away, it takes them a couple weeks or so.
So if you close the listing and then relist it so it is a new listing, the clock for the Google to pick up the listing restarts too.
Consideration also needs to be given to the time of year and what you are selling.
mam98031
·10 months ago@theeasttnpicker
Something I would share with you about your listings. It appears you are charging EXACTLY what you think shipping will be for the item. That will cause you to lose money on EVERY transaction in regards to the cost of shipping.
Now if you are rolling the other costs into the price you are charging for the product, that will work out for you. But if you aren't, you need to consider that you are charged the full FVF on the amount of shipping you charge the buyer, plus the cost of your packaging / shipping materials need to be consider. You may want to add about $1 to your shipping charges. I would round high. So something for 4.47 I would charge 5.50 or maybe $5.49. Just a suggestion to consider.
jbbowers12012
·10 months agoHi, Gather everything that eBay has to offer - Rules - Policies - Fees - Etc. Etc. Etc. Read & study EVERYTHING - When you think that you got it, Read it again and always stay alert for updates & policy changes. Good photos and "On-Point" descriptions are a must. Always watch your shipping charges (shipping to buyers is more expensive than you would think) If you find yourself facing any issues come directly to this board. There are some wonderful folks here that really know this business & are always willing to help. Good Luck!!!
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoWay too much background on your images.
DVDs, CDs, Books, Games should be close cropped with no parallax errors.
Set a minimum price for all of your items below which it is not worth the risks associated with a sale.
Avoid best offers on inexpensive items, this encourages buyers to devalue items which are inexpensive, will cost you not only profit but some sales.
Look at how many other offers there are on common items and how many sales have been completed in the past 90 days. Many items are not worth the time it takes to list because only a small number of those listed will sell.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoparallax errors? Not gonna lie, gonna have to Google that one. Thank you for the tips. I will be cropping some photos ðŸ‘
mam98031
·10 months ago@theeasttnpicker
Here are some important links to areas you should really take the time to learn about as a new seller.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/selling?id=4081
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/get-started/seller-fees.html
https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/service-and-payments/funds-availability.html
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/pending-payments?id=4155
https://www.ebay.com/help/listings/creating-managing-listings/creating-listing?id=4105
And make sure you know this policy extremely well.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoThat is deep, I like it. Thank you!
mam98031
·10 months agoSelling here is complicated to be sure. Lots and lots to learn. And when you think you got a handle on everything, they change something. So stay on your toes. ðŸ˜
duffy4444
·10 months agoJust a couple things to think about:
-- Familiarize yourself fully with eBay's terms of service, rules, and warnings.
-- NEVER, EVER list and ship any item you're not prepared to lose to a world full of very devious scammers, as well as the loss of your payment for it.
-- Don't try to contact eBay CS with any phone number you may have or find on the internet. eBay doesn't have a CS phone number to call anymore. If you do use one, the person on the other end will tell you any incorrect thing just to get you off the phone.
-- Get smart and take the time to read down at least a few hundred posts here, to familiarize yourself with the importance of knowing all of eBay's rules and seeing what happens to those who don't follow them. You will also find the proper ways to contact real eBay CS employees.
This is all especially important for newbies, who have a tendency to just jump in ignorantly and begin by trying to sell thousand dollar items and highly scammed things like (but not limited to) phones, cameras, laptops and similar electronic items. A lot of us seasoned sellers here refuse to use eBay for selling anything above a certain dollar limit.
With any questions, come back here anytime -- we take time out of our listing and selling day to give our experience and advice, which usually can prevent a lot of problems, hassle, and heartache, and saves a lot of time and money.
Welcome to eBay - the water's warm, so come on in with the proper preparation for the success a lot of us have found here...
Cheers, Duffy
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoWow, great advice. And thank you for the welcome!
mustang707
·10 months agoLooking at your photos, I personally do not like the red background-it seems harsh on my eyes. I prefer white or black depending on the item. I also do not use AI descriptions since there can be errors or fluffy nonsense that doesn't address condition of the item.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoThanks for the honest feedback. I am in the process of putting together a place for my photos that will have a white back ground and better lighting. I am on the fence on the AI also, I find I have to remove a lot of stuff so I might as well do my own description. Hoping that I get better at these two things as I put more time and get more experience. Thank you!
mam98031
·10 months ago@theeasttnpicker
Just remember, if you use AI, you are still completely responsible for your listing. So if AI misrepresents something, you are misrepresenting something. So use it with caution and make sure you completely review it before posting a listing.
It is very nice of you to respond to every post. It shows that you are an open minded and a person with a strong desire to do things the right way while being grateful to those trying to guide you.
We are just not really use to all this thoughtfulness coming from you. You don't need to respond to every post, just the ones you feel you can add to the conversation. But again, your kindness is not going unnoticed.
I hope you will be a wonderful seller giving great customer service to your buyers.
One thing. Keep in mind that not all those things on Youtube are accurate. So please keep that open mindness you have when reviewing them.
sammiea1460
·10 months agoI really hate to say this but, in general, you don't want or need to contact ebay customer service for most issues. Based on what I have read on this forum, the overseas CS reps seem to be poorly trained and not particularly interested in good service.
If you have a question regarding a procedure/ policy use the help & contact prompt (main page, tiny print, top center) for basic info. If you still have questions ask here. We love helping.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoWill do, thanks for the tip!
mommaknows
·10 months agoPersonally, I found coming here and reading the posts is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with the dos and don'ts. A great place to get information.
Best to you.
dirk12955
·10 months agoFor the OP:
Describe the item as if you weren't taking a photograph (Or scan)
Photograph (Or scan) the item as if there will be no description.
Keep your word. Be polite.
Tell the buyer what you're going to do for him.
Don't spend a bunch of time typing out all the things you
won't do, don't like, won't ship to, or your political opinion.
Answer every question no matter how silly or aggravating.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoGreat advice, thank you!
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoThank you! I actually discover this from one of the many videos I have been watching. They explained what a great resource and community this was.
jewelbiz
·10 months agoJust Do It
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoI'm gonna do it! Lol, thank you!
meme6253
·10 months agoTake Very good pictures with proper lighting & no distracting back ground, Be very precise in your description, Point out any flaws or damage, Check competition pricing,Make sure you have read & understand ebay policy & fees, Good Luck to you!
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoThank you , I appreciate the advice!
soh.maryl
·10 months agoPlease just be certain you've read and understand all of the rules for eBay sellers, especially the Money Back Guarantee.
For instance, some sellers appear to believe that saying "No Returns" releases them from any responsibility. It does not. If/when any buyer opens an item not as described case, that policy is completely irrelevant. Make sure you understand how that works. We have too many sellers who come here and state something like "But I had "no returns" on all my listings.
Best of luck with your new venture.
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoI actually saw that in a few of the many videos I have watched
Thank you so much for the tip!
dhbookds
·10 months agoReview your listings after you post them..........This item
Lake Okoboji, Arnold's Park, Iowa
is listed in postcards.....it's a Souvenir plate
Titles are important and you should utilize them with as many keywords as possible.....
the above should reflect "Souvenir plate" as people do collect them......
On this one
D'Aulaires' book of Greek Myths
it's a children's book and if the title reflected that, it might attract parents looking to expand their child's knowledge....as opposed to adults curious about myths....who won't buy since it's a book for kids..... should also note that it's a hard back (I think) rather than a trade paper back.
Be aware of what the "condition" means (click on the little i next to it)
For books
Good condition is defined as
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections.
You show corner/edge wear in pictures, but need to mention it (and anything else) in the condition field and in your description to prevent returns. I (no proof) also think it helps to mention positives at the same time...... I would put (in the condition field and in description) ......
No marks or defacement of pages, binding tight, does have corner/edge wear to cover. (if true)........
not picking on you......just suggestions........
theeasttnpicker
OP10 months agoWow, great advise and lesson. I really appreciate the feedback, thank you!
I have been finding exact items and selecting sell similar, maybe I need to either take time to proofread like you said or make my own listing.
jonathanbrightlight
·10 months agoI generally find it safer to assume that others did not enter the details correctly than to assume that they did. There are wonderful sellers on eBay, but even the best can make mistakes, and the majority are… not the best, by definition.
Even if you list an item with a barcode or identifier, and it says it can pull the information from the eBay Catalog, instead of from another seller’s listing, double check it. I regularly see errors in the catalog data.