How To Sell On E-Bay
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David
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February 20th, 2012
Selling on eBay is a method of selling online that can result in immediate sales. They already have the traffic that you need to sell products online and in exchange for the exposure you pay them a fee to list your items on their website.
Millions of people have quit their 9 - 5 day jobs and have begun to work for themselves exclusively by selling on eBay. I'm not big on selling on eBay but I'll cover some of the pros and cons of selling on eBay as well as some tips for being competitive in the extremely competitive eBay market.
How eBay Works
Once you've registered for a free eBay account you'll need to go through a verification process. This is one of eBay's many ways to eliminate fraud on their website. This is done by verifying your email address, adding a payment option for them to collect fees and a couple of other small steps.
After you've completed this you're really ready to sell on eBay. I would strongly recommend that before you start listing items for sell that you take the time to read about their current fee structure, their feedback system and get familiar with their listing options.
Once you've done this you're set to start listing products for sell. You'll find options such as Buy It Now, reserve auctions, bold listings, etc. These are all options that you can use to enhance your listings.
eBay Management Software
You'll find that when you log into eBay that there are a lot of options to choose from. Some feel that they inhibit your listing process and it's difficult to manage current auctions as well as completed auctions.
With this in mind there is a variety of eBay management applications. In my opinion the most popular and the one that is filled with the most features is Auctiva. The best thing about it is that it's free to use with no bonus features for advanced tools. It's simply free!
Auctiva allows you to list items on eBay directly from their website and they have even cut out a few of the fees associated with listing a product. Another feature is a large selection of templates, rather than just a plain text add you can customize your auction to fit the feel of the product your selling or the season that you're selling in. Research shows that ads with a bit of flair often times sell for a higher price than those that don't.
Products To Sell On eBay
Rather than listing the products that you can sell on eBay it'd be a shorter list of items that you can't sell on eBay. I've listed a few below
- Pirated material (ie. music, videos, etc)
- Copied software
- Alcoholic beverages of any type.
- Tobacco products
- Firearms
- Animals and wildlife
- Prescription drugs
- Food
This is just a small list of items for a complete list of items prohibited by eBay click here.
Other than this list you can sell about anything and people do. People will sell crafts, electronics, collectables, memorabilia, items that they find at garage sales, overstock items, etc.
Another phrase that I commonly use is, 'You can sell almost anything on the internet'. You'll find that if you can think of a product that you'll find a market for it on the interent.
Books On Starting An eBay Business
Selling on eBay could never be described on a page or two as a matter of fact there are 100's of books on selling on eBay. Below you'll find links to a few books that you can find additional information in.
Webmaster Forum
I invite you to visit my webmaster forum, it's a great place to discuss websites and ask questions to fellow webmasters regarding topics that you may still have questions on.