Selling on eBay! The Basics PLEASE REMEMBER ANY OF THE ...

<strong>Selling</strong> on eBay! The Basics 

PLEASE REMEMBER ANY OF THE INFORMATION MENTIONED HERE MAY BE CHANGED 

BY EBAY. EBAY CAN UPDATE ITS RULES AND PROCEDURES AT ANYTIME. PLEASE 

CHECK THE LATEST UPDATES ON THE EBAY WEBSITE AT www.ebay.com. 

_______________________________________________________________________________ 

Step 1: What to sell and how to find hot items on eBay 

Most eBay sellers began their fundamental steps on eBay by selling what’s in their 

possessions already. Basically, they began their eBay career by getting rid of a few items that they 

absolutely do not want, getting started on eBay as a hobby before it becomes their business. Many 

people find most common sources for collectibles and used merchandise in flea markets, yard 

sales, rummage sales, thrift stores, and auctions. 

Point to Sell on eBay’s Home page; click on Seller Information Center. Go through stepby-step 

explanations on how to sell, how to accept payment, and how to ship your items on next 

screen. See screen shots below. 

As eBay cites on their page”<strong>Selling</strong> success often translates into being at the right place, at 

the right time, with the right product.”You can also find out on eBay website what products are in 

demand under eBay Buy page. Go to Buy Hub page at the bottom of the eBay’s Home page at 

http://hub.shop.ebay.com/. Scroll to the bottom of the page where you will see the Other Ways to 

Browse box. 

Copyright © 2005 ASCPL All Rights Reserved <strong>Selling</strong> on eBay! 9/15/2011 1:07:01 PM/MMS 

1 of 26

eBay Keywords is a list of highly popular terms that people search for on eBay. 

Popular Searches takes you to the page where it shows a weekly look at the most active keywords 

on eBay. 

eBay Deal Finder eBay compares the current selling price of an item on eBay to the lowest price 

they could find on other online retailers such as Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. (excluding shipping 

and handling fees.) 

eBay Pulse shows a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay; basically it 

shows the most watched listings of eBay on a particular day. 

Popular Products is a “bestseller list” of the most popular products arranged in categories. 

Clicking any product name in the Popular Products list initiates a search for that product. If you 

click on Listing tab, the result page shows how many listings of that product are there on eBay at 

that moment. With this tool, you can identify the items that are in short supply or in great demand, 

and collect valuable price information. Also if you click on Sell one near the Product Description to 

the item title, related sale information of the product will be filled in your selling form automatically. 

You can still made changes on your form to customize your listing. 

Step 2: Creating a Seller Account 

You must be a registered user to sell your item on eBay. To create a Seller Account, click 

the Sell tab at the top of eBay page. You will see the eBay Sell page as follows: 


2 of 26

Note: The following screen shots will be different since this account was created. 

Click on “Create Seller’s Account” button on next page. 

Fill in your Credit or Debit card information. Your seller fees will be charged by eBay on a monthly 

basis using the method you selected when you set up your account. However, you can always 

change how you pay your selling fees later in your My eBay page. 


3 of 26

eBay makes revenue by charging sellers at least two fees: 

1. Initial Listing Fee (Insertion Fee): An Insertion Fee is a listing fees that eBay charges for 

listing your item for sale. It is charged to your seller’s account at the time of listing and it’s 

not refundable. 

2. Final Value Fee: If your item is sold, ends with the winning bid or is purchased, a Final Value 

Fee is charged to your seller's account. The amount of fee is based on the total amount of 

the sale, including the cost of the item, shipping, and any other fees a seller may charge, 

excluding any sales tax. 

Remember to check on the most recent fees table on eBay site. Most recent fees table can 

be found at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html. 

As of September 2011, insertion fees are free for 50 auction-style listings per month if there is no 

reserve price. See new fees table on next page. Note: eBay can change their pricing periodically. 

. 


4 of 26

For Final value fees for fixed-priced items, see at this link: 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html. 

eBay calculates the fees automatically for you when you place the listing and charges you 

via credit card or debit your bank account on a monthly basis for the previous month’s fees. eBay 


5 of 26

allows choices of payment for the seller fees in more than one method. Even after you select one 

method at the time of your seller account setup, you can always go back and select a different 

method later on. On My eBay page, click on Seller Account under My account section as follows. 

1. PayPal: PayPal automatically pays your eBay fees. You can let PayPal to pay your seller 

fees automatically OR sign up to make one-time payment with PayPal OR by using two 

other payment methods as shown below. 

2. Credit Card on file: Each month, eBay will automatically charge your invoice amount directly 

to your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card or a Bank card). 


6 of 26

3. Direct Pay: With Direct Pay, eBay will automatically deduct your invoice amount from your 

checking account each month. This option is available to sellers billed in U.S. dollars with 

U.S. bank accounts. 

4. Money Order or Coupon: You will be able to get to this option if you choose to make a onetime-payment 

method in your account. 

As a seller, if you use PayPal service, you pay fees. The following chart shows the fees for 

using PayPal as of September 2011. It does not cost a buyer to pay by using PayPal on eBay. 

Read more information at this link: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?&cmd=_display-feesoutside. 

Read PayPal’s protection for seller on Protection for Sellers page and protection for buyers on 

Protection for Buyers page. Note: These terms can be changed by PayPal without any notice. 

Always check the latest information on their website. 

eBay also provides additional upgrade selling features for extra fees. A few examples include: 

• Seller pays additional fees for setting a ‘Reserve Price’ and ‘Buy it Now Price’. Since 

eBay fees changed on Feb 20, 2008, reserve fees are no longer refundable even 

item sells. 

• eBay Picture Hosting Fees. 

• Seller pays to insert the item in bold types or a scheduled listing. 

For complete and updated fees on eBay basic and optional features, check out the eBay 

fees page at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html. Make sure to check on Optional Feature 

Fees on eBay page. 


7 of 26

After you have successfully filled in your credit/debit card information, a confirmation page 

shows that you have your seller account set up. See below. 

On the home page, go this route: Sell>Seller Information Center and go to the “<strong>Selling</strong> Basics” 

under the Welcome tab. Then click on “Quick Start Guide” on that page. You will be at the <strong>Selling</strong> 

Basics page where you can see the link for selecting a selling format for your item. Or you can click 

on this link: Selecting a <strong>Selling</strong> Format. It takes you to the page where it explains details on each 

selling format. You should also check on the page where eBay specifies prohibited items at this 

link: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/policies.html#prohibited . The page defines where eBay 

clearly the list of Prohibited, Questionable, and Infringing items. Classified Ad does not enable 

buyers and sellers to transact online (no bidding takes place online) through eBay nor is eBay 

Feedback available. Items that are listed in this format show with the “Classified Ads” appeared 

under Bids column. Interested buyers fill out a contact form, and their information is sent to the 

seller. Remember Classified Ad is different from eBay Classifieds (which is similar to Craigslist – 

Local and Free). Clearly, you are reaching a national crowd on listing on eBay by using any 

method on eBay.com by paying fees as opposed on eBay Classifieds free. 


8 of 26

See some examples on Classified Ad below. 

If you prefer using a Fixed Price selling format, you must meet some requirements. Read 

details here at <strong>Selling</strong> Using a Fixed Price at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fixedprice.html#requirements. 

Step 3: List Your Item 

On the selling form, start typing a few words to select a category of your listing item and click 

“Search” button to see suggested categories for your item on next page. Or you may select 

your own category by clicking on “Browse categories” as shown below. 

See example below after inserting a few key words to decide a category. 


9 of 26

You can check a 

category – see 

sample listings 

to decide whether 

your selection 

makes sense or 

not. If not, click 

on Remove 

button. 

Remember, it 

costs you double 

the insertion fees 

to place in more 

than one 

category. 

If you click on “Browse categories” tab, you will be selecting a major category then subcategories 

for your listing until no more boxes show up on the right but the text “You’ve selected 

a category. Click Continue.” Once you see that text, the main category and all subsequent 

categories you selected for your item will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. See 

example below. 

Click on “See sample listings”. If you cannot visualize your item among those “completed 

listings”, then you selected the wrong category. You can make a change by clicking on a 

different category or you can click on Remove and select your category from the beginning. 


10 of 26

Once you complete with your selection, click on Continue button. A new window will pop-up for 

you to select a listing form between a simple form vs. a form with more choices. 

Create Your Listing 

In the next window, eBay provides you with the Sell: Create Your Listing Form to complete 

your listing(s). If you cannot finish at one sitting, you can save for later. If you start a new 

listing, it will delete your draft that you saved the last time. 

Let’s go over the Do’s and Don’ts of completing the form. 

Title - Do’s: 

• Your title should grab attention and be informative in a limited space available (80 

characters as of Sept/2011). Survey other titles of a similar item (especially the one that 

had successful transactions from ‘completed listings’) on eBay. Look at magazine ads, 

brochures, and local ads. Think as a buyer and see what would be the descriptive 

keywords that you would type in to search for the item that you are listing. More than 

85% of eBay searches are title-only searches even though it’s less effective. 

• Be creative. Bottom line is you want your title to make people pause and look. For a 

common item, you may not have much of an opportunity to be creative in your title. If 

you know your item is unusual, rather than using the word ‘rare’ which should truly be 

reserved for strictly rare items, use the word ‘unusual’ and grab the viewer’s attention. If 

you use Microsoft Word, use its build-in thesaurus feature to find attention-grabbing 

words. 

• Use numerals rather than spelling out numbers to save space. Also, the eye tends to 

slow down when it sees numerals in text. 

• Take a personal approach with a title addressing the buyer directly, such as: Here’s 

Your Next Digital Camera: Sony DSC-T9 6MPXL. 

• If your item has a brand name, artist or designer, make sure you put in your title, 

because the familiar attracts attention. 

• Make negative features of your item appealing with facts, i.e. be honest about the flaws. 

• When you’re finished Spell-Check your title. 


11 of 26

Title - Don’ts: 

• Make sure you do not use any terms, language, words that are banned by eBay in your 

title. Examples include profane or obscene language, website URL addresses, email 

addresses, and phone numbers, words such as banned, illegal, prohibited, or similar 

terms. For a complete explanation, check on eBay site at 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/title_desc_ov.html. 

• You can not use a title that doesn’t describe the item you are offering. State exactly 

what your item is, even if your title repeats the category name. 

• Do not use extravagant textual displays such as ‘@’ signs in “L@@K” or several 

exclamation points!!!!!!, or #, % or & symbols. You are wasting a valuable space that 

you could have used to include keywords that buyers use in searches. In fact, avoid 

using the words “Look” or “Wow” in your title since no one use those words in keyword 

searching. 

• Stick with the facts and avoid using the words “great”, “superb”, “wonderful”, “lovely”, or 

“excellent” that sounds like persuasive sales pitch. 

• DON’T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS! It means SHOUTING in online language. 

Besides, when every letter is capitalized, the effect is diluted. Save capitalization for 

important words that you want to stand out in your title. 

• Do not use ‘misleading text’ to scam people into looking at your listings. eBay has a rule 

against misleading auction titles and banned as keyword spamming. This rule also 

applies in writing descriptions. For example, saying that an item is “not” a certain brand 

can be considered keyword spamming. 

• Be obvious in your title description. Avoid using general terms. For example, a short 

auction title with one- or two-word though in the right category (The auction title “Lamp” 

to sell an antique lamp by placing in an Antiques category) will not attract people since it 

lacks informative facts. 

Descriptions - Do’s: 

You may also check out how to write an informative description on eBay site. You can 

also check on How to Optimize Listing Tips under Seller Information Center><strong>Selling</strong> Resources 

tab>Best Practices. 

• eBay puts no limit on the size of descriptions but, ideally, your descriptions should 

summarize your item to inform and convince the viewer within 10 seconds time frame. 

Provide the facts such as the age, condition, size, origin, and color of the item, and or 

other important factual information whether the item is working, damaged, used, 

discontinued or out-of-production, and payment and shipping instructions. 

• If you have retail price information of the item, put that in along with the source (if 

available), in your description. 

• Be honest. 

• When it’s relevant, include anything interesting about where and how you acquired the 

item such as in antique pieces. 

• If you can, give the buyer some extra facts or entertaining information such as special 

background and history. 

• Proofread each description and Spell-Check to catch potential mistakes. Remember 

Spell-Check cannot suggest you better and/or alternative descriptive words but your own 

eyes can. If your writing comes across as ignorant and careless, buyers will think the 

same of you. 


12 of 26

• Think like a buyer and expect some possible inquiries of your product and be prepared 

to give honest and factual responses as possible as you can. 

Descriptions - Don’ts: 

• Do not exaggerate or make up/lie in attempt to attract bidders. Getting more people to 

look at a listing will not necessarily result in more and higher bids. This may hurt your 

current and future auctions because someone may come along who knows you’re not 

telling the whole truth. 

• Avoid irrelevant and unnecessary comments. People will lose interest in your story 

together with your item. 

• Do not include the words that are used to promote the seller’s other eBay listings. You 

may simply say “Please view my other eBay listings”; but you cannot say "Please view 

my other eBay listings for Beanie Babies, vintage Barbies, Rolex watches and Chanel 

scarves" in your listing to sell Girls’ clothing. 

• Do not include sites that offer prohibited and restricted contents by eBay. See eBay 

page at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html. 

• Do not use inane lines such as “The perfect gift for any collector”. You do not want to 

insinuate the buyer as unintelligent. People who search for collector pieces are usually 

knowledgeable and only need extra facts if you know of any. 

• Do not use racist, hateful, sexual, or obscene language. 

• eBay members are not allowed to use another eBay user's pictures or descriptions in 

their listings or About Me pages without the owner's permission. 

• Do not slow down your listings with photos, cartoons, and sounds that have nothing to 

do with your auction items. It takes longer to load images and remember people spend 

merely seconds on each listing. 

Next, fill up all the steps on Sell: Create Your Listing form. Note you have a choice to switch 

between form with more choices and simple form. The following is a simple form. A form with 

more choices will look different and will give you to add/remove options each step. 

Adding Pictures - See below. 


13 of 26

This is where you upload your photos. eBay allows up to 12 pictures and the first is free. 

eBay offers direct uploading of photos, which means you simply have to click the Browse buttons 

and eBay will guide you through the upload process. For a more detailed explanation, check out at 

this link about Adding Pictures to your Listing on the eBay site. 

There are several experienced eBayers who have extensive knowledge on taking 

photographs for online auction. One such eBayer site is listed as Camera Jim’s Guide to eBay 

Auction Photography at http://www.sigma-2.com/camerajim/index.htm. You should also check out 

on eBay site for Do’s and Don’ts of picture taking at 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/photo_tutorial.html. 

eBay’s Gallery option displays a small photo next to an item’s title in Search and Browse 

lists. The photo used is the first photo you post with your listing. Since February 2008, eBay 

makes this feature free of charge. Gallery pictures are usually generated within minutes of being 

submitted, but may take up to several hours at peak times. eBay maintains that according to their 

statistics, listings with gallery photos not only get more viewers but also more bids. 

A Step-by-Step approach on how to upload your photo from your digital camera onto your 

computer is shown in Appendix at the end. 


14 of 26

If relevant, enhance your listing with Item Specifics 

The sample page on right shows how to identify the condition 

of your item and where to fill in the detailed description of your item. 

Use either Standard or HTML for your Item Description 

Step 4: How to Determine the Best Price 

Use Designer Background to enhance your listing 

If you run a traditional auction, you must determine a minimum bid. For a reserve auction, 

you must determine the reserve. In either case, your knowledge of the market of the item will get 

you the most money. Make use of the option given under the box where you would place the 

starting price of your item on the Sell Form. 


15 of 26

By clicking on 

the Completed 

listing next to 

where you insert 

your minimum 

selling price box, 

you will see the 

successful bids 

in green print 

and listings that 

never received 

bids in red under 

Price column. 

Pay more 

attention on 

transactions with winning bids, specifically, with the highest winning bid. Sort the results by price 

(highest-priced first). This way you’ll see who is making the most money on this item and consider 

learning a few tips from these successful transactions: 

• Scrutinize the most successful sales and see what keywords sellers used in their title? 

• Which category did the winning sellers choose? 

• How the sellers have described and promoted their items in their description in order to 

earn top dollar. Did they provide any incentive to build their credibility by giving “100% 

money back guarantee”, for example? 

• Are there any additional close-up Pictures on the winning listings? How much more 

emphasis and detailed information of the item was presented? 

• How did the seller set their pricing strategy? Did he set starting bid low enough to 

attract but intend to create emotional bidding tension hoping to sell high? You will miss 

to achieve the purpose of auctioning your item for the highest bid possible if you set a 

minimum or reserve price too high or too low. Notice the trend that the sellers with the 

lowest prices also have the lowest feedback score. This is probably because it is the 

only way to attract new business and establish your name on eBay. Or they may have 

negative reviews due to their inexperienced first flop sales or no prior business to have a 

rating. If this is the first time selling for you, think about the incentive to do a good job to 

avoid negative ratings. eBay’s New DSR (Detailed Seller’s Rating) scale also helps to 

give a better picture of a seller. DSR allows buyers to rate anonymously on their 

experience with a particular seller on accuracy on the item description, communication, 

shipping time, and reasonable shipping/handling cost. 

• Setting your End Time of your listing is more important than you think it is. Though most 

sellers on eBay end their listings on Sunday evening to give an opportunity to shop on 

eBay for most workers, it does not mean that your potential buyers will be on eBay at 

that time. If you are selling office products, for example, setting the End Time during the 

day may attract more potential bidders than ending after working hours. Your timing 

should consider the fact that the majority of nation’s population lives in three different 

time zones would still be awake and active. There is no single answer to which day is 

the best to end. Many variables such as type of merchandise, the time of year, and 

even what’s the fad or what shows on television can affect bidding. General rule of 

thumb is to start on Wednesday for a 10-day listing to catch two weekends. 


16 of 26

Keep in mind that if very few completed items are available for your product but a growing 

number of newly listing are there, this would indicate that supply supersedes the demand and future 

winning bids prices probably could be lower. The opposite could also indicate a supply shortage 

and it might be a perfect opportunity to enter the market with your product. 

There are also several print and online resources that you can utilize for your research in 

determining the price of your item. For our example of selling a music CD, search under 

‘Collectibles’ as a subject heading in your local library catalog page and see Music related items. 

Some Print sources include: 

• Collectible Compact Disc Price Guide 

• Goldmine Records and Prices (published to cover several forms of music categories from 

Rock to Jazz) 

• Warman's American Records 

• Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums by Billboard 

For many other consumer and electronic items, especially, if your selling item is a pricy or 

unique and you could not find comparable price on eBay, make your value research on other 

auction sites. While other auction websites such as www.ubid.com, and www.bidz.com will 

give you an idea of comparative price of your item on their auction websites, searching a 

particular products on the websites such as www.bizrate.com, http://shopping.yahoo.com/, and 

http://www.google.com/products will return results from both auction and online merchant sites. 

www.bidz.com specializes in auctioning of jewelry, art and collectibles. 

There are a number of options that a seller can use when setting a price on eBay. 

1. Auction-Style Listing Price: List an item for sale by setting a minimum bid for a fixed length 

of time and let the market decides the price. 

2. Buy it Now Feature: You must meet certain requirements to be able to use Buy it 

Now (BIN) selling format. See complete information at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fixedprice.html. 

These items are identified with “BIN” icon paired with “BIN” price on search 

result page. There are two ways for sellers to use this BIN option. 

a. Auction-style: Seller sets a minimum bid for an item and at the same time offer a 

“BIN” option to potential buyers who may desire to avoid bidding and make a 

purchase immediately. That means the first buyer who is willing to pay the seller’s 

BIN price gets the item instantly and the purchase terminates the auction. OR, if a 

bid comes in first, the BIN option disappears. Then auction proceeds normally. (In 

Reserve Price Auctions, Buy It Now disappears after the first bid that meets the 

reserve.) 

b. Fixed Price: Most common alternative to using auction-style format. It lets you list an 

item for an unchanging, set price, with no auction-style bidding. You need some 

requirements to be qualified to use Fixed Price Format as a seller. You might quality 

to sell multiple identical items and/or to include Best Offer feature in your listing. 

Check out the information at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/best-offer.html. Best 

Offer is a feature available on Fixed Price format listings that allows buyers to make 

a price-based offer on item and if accepted, will close the listing immediately. Best 

Offer is available at no charge for buyers and sellers but it does have some 

limitations and restrictions. 

3. Reserve Price: A Reserve is the minimum price you will accept as a seller. This is optional. 

You will pay an extra fee to use this feature. The cost of posting a reserve price depends on 

the amount of the reserve. Learn more at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/reserve.html. 


17 of 26

You may lower your Reserve Price after you put up your listing as long as the reserve price 

has not been met and there are at least 12 hours left on the listing. When a reserve price 

has been lowered, all bidders are automatically notified by email. Learn more at 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/lowering-reserve.html. 

Identify your minimum price, the quantity of your item(s), duration of your auction, 

and your payment method in the remaining area of the form as shown in the example below. 


18 of 26

Please refer to Payment Methods in eBay Buying Handout on pages 16-18. Generally, 

individual sellers accept PayPal while merchants may offer either PayPal and/or Credit/Debit cards 

plus other payment systems. You can also check out on this link directly 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/methods.html. 

Checks, money orders, and bank wire transfers aren’t allowed for most eBay purchases. But 

sellers can offer these payment methods for certain items in some categories, including 

Motors, Capital and Business Equipment, Real Estate, and Adult Only. 

Hypothetically, Money Order is safe and turnaround time is faster than a personal 

check. However, Money Order must be handled like a check and must be deposited or 

cashed at a bank. The best practice is to accept USPS Money Orders for eBay purchases 

since they can be cashed at any post office and banks also welcome them. 

A Cashier’s or Bank Check is also treated as a Money Order. However, when 

accepting a Cashier’s Check from foreign buyers, watch out for a stiff fee from your bank for 

handling foreign checks. The best advice to your winning bidder in a foreign country is to 

buy a Money Order or a Cashier’s Check in US Dollar other than in their own currency. 

Western Union and eBay specifically recommend that you do not use Western Union 

or MoneyGram money-transfer services to pay for auctions, as they can easily be turned to 

fraudulent uses. 

For selling valuable items, it is recommended that either buyer or seller or both by 

sharing the cost, uses the third party escrow service. An escrow service holds payment for 

an auction item and does not release the money until the buyer has reported satisfactory 

delivery. eBay recommends using only www.escrow.com, eBay’s approved escrow service, 

should either you or buyer decides to use an escrow service. 

Step 5: Packaging and Shipping 

1. If your item has the original box or wrapping, include it with the item photos. It will 

authenticate the condition of the item and increase its value. 

2. Make sure the item is as clean as possible. 

3. If it is an electrical item, plug it in and test it to make sure it works. 

4. If serial numbered, make sure the serial number is accessible and readable. 

You can offer just the flat shipping rate to all buyers. Sellers use this practice to ship the 

item within the limited geography such as “will ship to United States only”. Or you can offer to 

include shipping calculator and let the buyer figure out the possible shipping cost of the item if won. 


19 of 26

Some seller specifies that the item will be shipped to the Confirmed Address only. 

A buyer's Confirmed Address is checked against the credit card billing address maintained 

by his or her credit card company, or is verified by PayPal. Because Confirmed Addresses 

must be in the name of the account holder, Gift Addresses can never be confirmed. Thus, 

an Unconfirmed Address is any address which is not associated with a credit card or 

which has not been verified by PayPal. 

Addresses can become Unconfirmed if the credit card associated with the address is 

removed or expires. In addition, you may have two identical addresses available to you 

during the eBay Checkout process, but only one of them will be Confirmed. To make sure 

your Confirmed address is set as your primary eBay shipping address; click the "set as 

primary address" link from your eBay address book in your My eBay page. 

eBay now allows printing out shipping labels from eBay site without any fees thus 

eliminating the trip to the local post office. When you are ready to ship an item sold, go to 

you My eBay page, find out the tab “Items I’ve Sold” and select the item you want to ship. 

Your shipping charges will be paid from your PayPal account. For a complete instruction, 

check out at http://pages.ebay.com/usps/shippingitems/labels.html. Your USPS® mail 

carrier will pick up your package at no charge when your mail is delivered. And now, you 

can also request that your package be picked up on specific days. 


20 of 26

If a seller believes that buyer abandons the winning bid and decides to ignore seller’s 

attempt to contact, he can file for the Unpaid Item Dispute at 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/unpaid-items.html. Many experienced eBay authors 

recommend that threats with Unpaid Item Strike on buyers hardly work since the strike does 

not affect a buyer’s Feedback profile. 

TIPS FOR SELLING ON EBAY 

1. Know your market and research before you list. 

2. eBay allows only 80 characters in Title. Use the space wisely. For an expensive item, you 

can always pay an extra 50 cents to get extra attention. 

3. Spelling counts. Remember 85 percent of searches are done in title searches only. 

However, if you have the space, be sure to include some intentional misspellings (Hewlet 

Packard, Hewlett Peckard, or Hewllet Packerd, for example) to accommodate your more 

spelling-challenged customers; just make sure the correct spelling is also there. 

4. Create a clear but compelling description. Use easier terms to find your item. Include any 

and all identifying characteristics and features, including the item’s condition, when it was 

made, and any flaws. Try to anticipate questions potential buyers may ask and address 

them in your descriptions. 

5. Take good pictures. Buyers want to see the items they are interested in purchasing. Make 

sure the pictures are clear and close-up. Use natural or ambient lighting and a neutral 

background. 

6. Treat Shipping and Payment Terms as vital information. Provide as detailed information as 

you can on those terms and avoid confused and disappointed customers. 

7. Be practical in setting price to sell. If you are allowed to use Buy it Now option, set your BIN 

price in the neighborhood of what you expect your item is worth. You can probably raise it a 

little higher for products in demand, or take a few dollars off if you want to move your 

merchandise fast. Setting the starting price (the opening bid) anywhere from a single dollar 

to no more than half your item's value will encourage healthy bidding, thus raising the 

perceived value and the final price. 

8. Setting a reserve price for common items in listing tend to scare away bidders and can lower 

the closing price unnecessarily. Bidders get more confused to see a Buy-It-Now price 

alongside a reserve price and can easily give up any hope of getting a bargain. 

9. For pricey items, you may want to choose multiple listing categories and upgraded features. 

Listing your items in multiple categories and using feature upgrades like text bolding and 

highlighting and additional photos can increase your chances of selling an item. 

10. For high-demand items, you can set shorter auction times to create additional demand. 

11. Provide good customer service. Just because you don't have to meet your buyers in person 

or talk to them on the phone doesn't mean you can provide poor service. Responding 

promptly to inquiries can help facilitate a sale. If you are slow in responding to bidders’ 

questions they may lose interest in buying your item. 

12. Offer satisfaction guarantees, warranties, or returns. Every consumer feels more 

comfortable with some sort of guarantee, warranty, or the option to return an unsatisfactory 

product. Most low-volume sellers prefer to sell their items "as is," so offering some kind of 

guarantee is a great way to set yourself apart. Make sure you post your return policy 

prominently. 

13. If you know HTML, make use of it. It offers many features that eBay Sell Your Item Form 

does not offer, such as in-line images, tables, and even JavaScript. 


21 of 26

14. Open communication. Everyone hates junk e-mail, but your attempts to curb it may be 

costing you more than you realize. 

15. If you suspect that your e-mail isn't reaching its destination, there are a number of back 

doors you can use. First, use eBay's Contact Member form whenever possible, as e-mail 

originating directly from eBay's servers is less likely to be trapped by an errant junk filter. If 

that doesn't work, send your message from an alternate account just in case your return 

address is what's causing the problem. If you're a seller, put a note in your auction and 

payment instructions that tells customers to disable their spam filters if they don't get e-mail 

from you. Finally, try to answer your bidders' questions right in the auction description to 

educate—as well as reassure—all your potential customers. 

16. If you're listing a dozen or more items at once, eBay’s free automated listing software, Turbo 

Lister lets you create professional-looking listings and upload thousands of items in bulk. 

For more information, check out at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/turbo-lister-ov.html. You 

can save the listings on your hard drive, which makes selling similar items or relisting the 

same item easy. 


22 of 26

APPENDIX 

The following instructions show step-by-step approach on how to download images from 

your digital camera to your computer. 

STEP 1: After you 

have connected 

your camera with a 

USB port to your 

computer, doubleclick 

on “My 

Computer” from 

“Start Button” of 

your computer. 

When you camera 

image appears on 

your “My 

Computer” window, 

double-click on it. 

STEP 2: The picture you took with your camera 

will show up. Double-click on the image. 


23 of 26

STEP 3: Picture shows sideway. 

Click on “Rotate Clockwise” 

button at the bottom. 

STEP 4: A dialogue box will show up and warn you that you have to click “Copy To” button with 

‘floppy disk’ icon at the bottom of the page to save it by giving a new file name. Click on ‘OK’. 


24 of 26

STEP 5: Select your location to save and click on ‘Open’. In the next window, give an 

appropriate name and click on ‘Save’. 


25 of 26

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sinclair, Joseph T. Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way: Use Fro ogle, Datafeeds, Cross- 

<strong>Selling</strong>, Advanced Listing Strategies, and More to Boost Your Sales on the Web’s #1 Auction 

Site. New York, NY. AMACOM. 2004 

Sinclair, Joseph T. eBay the Smart Way: <strong>Selling</strong>, Buying, and Profiting on the Web’s #1 Auction 

Site. Fourth Edition. New York, NY. AMACOM. 2005 

Prince, Dennis L. & Meyer, William M. How to Sell Music, Collectibles, and Instruments on 

eBay and Make a Fortune! New York, NY. McGraw-Hill. 2004 

Sinclair, Joseph T. & Livingston, Stanley. eBay Photography: The Smart Way Creating Great 

Product Pictures That Will Attract Higher Bids and Sell Your Items Faster. New York, NY. 

AMACOM. 2005 

Elms, Janelle. eBay Your Business: Maximize Profits and Get Results. Emeryville, CA. 

McGraw-Hill/Osborne. 2005 

Ginsberg, Adam. How to Buy, Sell & Profit on eBay: Kick-Start Your Home-Based Business in 

Just Thirty Days. New York, NY. HarperCollins. 2005 

Holden, Greg. How to do Everything with eBay. Emeryville, CA. McGraw-Hill/Osborne. 2004 

Elms, Janelle. The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing. New York, NY. McGraw- 

Hill. 2005 

Banks, Michael. The eBay Survival Guide: How to Make Money & Avoid Losing Your Shirt. 

San Francisco, CA. No Starch Press. 

www.eBay.com 

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ 


26 of 26

Selling on eBay! The Basics PLEASE REMEMBER ANY OF THE ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?