Buying and selling guide on eBay

STEP-BY-STEP eBay selling for beginners

I have about of buying & selling on eBay. I was asked many times to explain how to buy & sell, and have simplified the process into a step-by-step easy to follow guide. This is a guide you will really need & it covers everything you need to get up your very first listing. It is easiest to print it out and take one step at a time. I took each step as it will appear while you enter your information.
BEFORE you get started here are a few IMPORTANT steps you need to take:

• One of the first things you will be asked in setting up your eBay account is for your personal identifying information. This will include a credit or debit card - there is NO way to get around it. I recommend this single MOST IMPORTANT tip. Set up a checking account with a debit card COMPLETELY SEPARATE from any other accounts you currently have. Make this the ONLY account you link to your eBay buying/selling & PayPal. This way, in the event of an account hold or breach of security it minimizes the overall risk for you.
• Decide right now on the $ LIMIT you will hold in your account. In order to keep your overall risk to a minimum, I strongly recommend that when your account goes OVER $ 250. - $ 300. make a PayPal transfer of funds directly to the linked account. Take it out & move it somewhere else (or spending it is fun, too !) Constantly limiting your risk to no more than this decided amount. I like to make a transfer on the 1st of each month and leave only the original $ 250.00 - $ 300.00 to be used.
• Go to the eBay web site & scroll to the bottom. Click on SITE MAP. On the bottom right you see HELP TOPICS, then SELLING & SELLER FEES. Click it to see how fees are calculated & PRINT OUT the fee chart. Keep it handy. You will need to refer to it when deciding how to sell your item. (auction, buy it now, setting a reserve, etc.)
• On the same page, middle column you see MY ACCOUNT - here is where you can easily make any changes to your personal information if you need to.
• A couple of necessary expenses before you begin. You MUST have a digital camera, small postal scale and good ruler or tape measure. If you try to go without the scale, you will spend MORE making errors in postal fees than if you just go purchase one (about $ 20.) so all of your shipping weights will be accurate when you list.

Now we are ready to review one of the most helpful steps in buying & selling. You must know how to search for recently SOLD items. This will give you a wealth of information to use EVERY TIME you buy or sell. Pick an item you have an interest in, let's use an old coca-cola tray for an example. Go to eBay and in the large search box at the top of the page enter VINTAGE COCA-COLA TRAY. Notice it takes you to a page of all trays currently for sale. THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT to help you make decisions. Just AFTER the search box you see the word ADVANCED in small Blue letters. Click on it.
This takes you to a more helpful way to find items. Scroll down just a couple of lines to where it says SEARCH INCLUDING: title and description OR COMPLETED LISTINGS. Check the box that says COMPLETED LISTINGS. Scroll to the bottom of the page - you see a drop down box marked SORT BY: click on PRICE + SHIPPING HIGHEST FIRST...NOW click search.
All the dollar amounts shown in GREEN are items that SOLD & for how much. Dollar amounts shown in RED DID NOT SELL. This also gives you:

• The starting bid amount
• Final price paid
• The number of bids received
• How much was charged for shipping
• Method of sale..auction or fixed price with BEST OFFER
• If you scroll down the pages you see the same items by other sellers, some sold & some didn't. Here's where you can find one similar to what you are about to sell, find the one purchased for the most money & decide what price to use for an opening bid on selling your own. It also tells how much they charged for shipping.
• Also use this page to find out the specifics - the one that sold for the most $ was listed under WHAT CATEGORY, what KEY words the seller used in the title to get the most attention, what words were used in the description & what details are given. Note the differences in the quality of the photos...all tips on the item you are about to list !!

In preparation for listing your first item take enough photos to clearly show the condition & details. Be sure to edit & crop them before getting started.
NOW WE ARE READY TO BEGIN !

• Go to eBay - click on SET UP AN ACCOUNT which takes you to the register section. It asks all your basic information & email. Here you must select an eBay ID & password.
• To confirm your identity you must enter a credit or debit card (see above - only give the debit card linked to the ebay only checking account you set up JUST for this).
• In the top right corner it says SELL, when clicked a larger screen comes up saying LIST YOUR ITEM.
• It asks to enter a keyword OR browse categories. Select browse categories and find the category that best describes your item. It will take you to sub-categories until it gets to a very specific category for your item. (EX. collectibles → advertising → soda → coca-cola → trays)
• Click Continue
• TITLE - Use as many of the 80 characters they allow in the title to be as specific as you can while using descriptive KEYWORDS to get the attention of people searching
• SUBTITLE option - SKIP this for an additional $ .50 cents - you don't really need it
• CONDITION - it is mandatory that you use the drop down box to show NEW OR USED
• ITEM SPECIFICS - it is FREE so add your own short keyword description of item
• ADD PICTURES - some categories like collectibles let you add up to 12 FREE photos. It is specified to use pictures LARGER than 1600 pixels high & wide. This is a standard photo. - A box opens giving options of STANDARD / COPY WEB FILES / SELF HOSTING / BASIC. Just click the BASIC and it will give you the screen to browse your files to find the photos you want to use in your listing (up to 12)
• GALLERY PLUS & PICTURE PACK FREE in some categories. If not, it will show cost.
• Once clicked the photos to use click on UPLOAD. Once you see the photos in the box to the left, proceed to next step.
• DESCRIBE ITEM - (leave this on the standard tab) but you can make changes to the font, size (12 is best), color, bold, italic and underline, spell check, bullets & justify page. It also gives you the opportunity to enter a link into your listing if you wish. Not recommended for a beginner.
• FILLING IN DESCRIPTION - Looks best if you center justify the page using the top tool bar. Repeat the title and give a basic sentence or 2 description. Then I find it easiest to write a single sentence such as " This beautiful _____ features:" and bullet each descriptive point about the item.
• DESCRIBE AS: Age of item / Distinguishing features / Size H x W x L / Give weight of item AFTER you have put it in a mailing box with the packing material ! / where it was made if you know / any & ALL logos or markings on the item by the artist or manufacturer / be specific about the condition and be sure to list any nicks, scrapes, cracks, imperfections
• VISITOR COUNTER - use the basic counter so you'll know how many views it has
• CHOOSE HOW YOU'D LIKE TO SELL YOUR ITEM (refer to your fee chart print out):

1. AUCTION - Lowest start $ .99..a 7 day auction is standard. if you select longer there is an additional charge. You can add a BUY IT NOW which you will enter the price you want if someone wants to skip bidding and just "buy it now". For beginners I do not recommend this. Also you have the option of setting a reserve price to your auction (will show up under add or remove options). This just means that you set a minimum you are willing to sell for but it does NOT show up to anyone but you. Once bidding reaches your set reserve amount bids are still accepted so you may get even more money for it, but if no none bids UP TO the reserve then you don't sell it.
2. Tip: DO NOT start auction at .99 unless you will be happy getting only .99. It is best to enter the minimum you are willing to sell for, but remember you already did the homework reviewing SOLD ITEMS to get an idea for price.
3. FIXED PRICE - this just means a set price, no bidding. You can include option of taking the BEST OFFER and can leave item up for sale until you decide to take it down if you choose the length of time option of "Good till canceled"

• LOTS OR INDIVIDUAL ITEMS - if you have a group of 3 trays, you have one lot of 3. It means you are selling them all for that price.
• DURATION - standard 7 days (offer 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 10 days) there are extra fees if you don't select the standard 7 days.
• DECIDE HOW YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PAID at this time PAYPAL must be one of the options. It is the most widely used for the individual seller who cannot take a credit card. They no longer allow you to accept payment by personal check. You can choose to accept a money order, if so DON'T SHIP THE ITEM until you have cashed it.
• GIVE BUYERS SHIPPING DETAILS - I suggest beginners SKIP International shipping at first. In the USA you can select the option of FREE SHIPPING, FLAT RATE or CALCULATED shipping. If you pick calculated you must give the ACCURATE weight and measurements of the box. If it is anything but a paper item I suggest CALCULATED. Just be sure you actually weigh it in the box with packing material !! This means it will automatically calculate shipping from your zip code to the buyers zip code.
• HANDLING TIME option of 1 - 30 days, 2 to 3 business days is standard.
• OTHER THINGS YOU'D LIKE YOUR BUYER TO KNOW..use the buyer requirements (click on add or remove options). The settings I suggest are: YES block certain eBay buyers from buying my items if they have rec'd 2 unpaid strikes within one month AND have a feedback score equal to or lower than -2.
• SALES TAX - need this if you are a business
• GIVE BUYERS ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS DURING CHECKOUT - I like to post here that payment is due within 7 days of purchase.
• RETURN POLICY - Check box to set up your own personal return policy. I make mine ALL SALES FINAL NO RETURNS because I normally sell mostly antique paper items. It will instruct you if you decide you want to accept returns.
• Here we are at the end !! Notice before you leave the page it tells your listing fees and asks if you want any listing enhancements like a subtitle (extra .50 cents) OR to have your title in BOLD PRINT (extra $ 2.00). Also it tells your account balance to date.
• NOTICE IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER THERE IS A TAB FOR HELP OR A TAB FOR SAVE FOR LATER in case you want to come back to it at another time.
• At the bottom you can LIST - PREVIEW YOUR LISTING - EDIT - Be sure to PREVIEW YOUR LISTING before you actually post it !
• ONE LAST tip: you WILL get "phishing" emails, people fishing for your information, the easiest way to be CERTAIN they are actually from eBay or PayPal is to just DELETE without opening anything coming directly to your email. ONLY open it if it is in your eBay MESSAGES section !
• NOW HAVE FUN....GOOD LUCK !!