Photo courtesy of 123rf.com
Ebay is a wonderful resource for people who are looking to make some money on the side. Of course, like any new business venture, there are a few tips that can help ensure your success. Here are some below:
1. Post Amazing Pictures
No one will want to buy your one year old Polo shirt if the photo is fuzzy. Make sure you take them in bright, natural light. If that’s impossible, you can always construct a light box relatively easily. Keep your camera in focus and take one or two other detailed shots to help describe your item.
2. Make Sure The Quality Is Great
You don’t want to have the success of your first sale only to find out that it’s been returned for a defect. Make sure that anything you try to sell is in top condition, and if it’s not, describe the defects in detail so that potential buyers are aware of it.
3. Offer Returns
Many buyers will be more confident in purchasing an item if they know they can return it.
4. Offer International Shipping
The international market is strong on eBay. By opening up to international buyers and offering them their own shipping prices, you can actually have your items available to more sellers at no cost to you.
5. Include a Perfect Description
When you are describing your item, make sure that your post is grammatically correct and accurate. Nothing turns off a buyer more than an eBay ad that resembles spam.
6. Check Your Inbox
Often, potential buyers will message you to ask you specific questions about an item. If you answer them promptly, they will likely bid on your item. If you take a few days to respond, you could lose a buyer.
7. Include Dimensions
Whether you are selling clothes, jewelry, or furniture, it helps buyers to know the dimensions of your product. Even if you have a specific size on an article of clothing, sometimes it helps buyers to have extra dimensions so that they know if it will fit them correctly.
8. Ship Promptly
As soon as someone has purchased your product, go ahead and ship it. People get so excited when they expect a package on Saturday and it arrives early on Wednesday. It gives them a positive impression of you, and it can lead to more sales in the future.
9. Price Accurately
You don’t want to sell an item for too much or too little, and it’s hard to get the pricing structure just right. Essentially, you need to think about the time it takes to upload and describe the product in addition to how much you invested in the product to being with.
10. Have Fun
The most important thing to remember about being a successful seller on eBay is to have fun. Buyers can tell when you enjoy what you do. It comes across in your messages, your descriptions, and even your pictures. Having a positive attitude and great customer service are what makes people come to your store time and time again.
Have you had any luck selling on eBay? Do you know any tips that are not covered in this post?
One of the biggest on eBay right now is to offer free shipping. Buyers love it and it is a good promotion. EBay even puts you higher in their search results.
That’s a great tip, Grayson! I didn’t know you could bump up in the search results!
I’ve often thought about selling stuff on eBay for extra cash. On tip I would suggest to people is to start with things already around your house this way if it don’t work the way you want it will be easier to learn from the experience and move on.
We are in the process of moving, and are discovering how much crap we actually have and certainly dont need. My wife is actually thinking about selling some of her clothes on Ebay, rather than give everything to the church or Goodwill.
These are some great tips! We actually sold our car on Ebay several years ago and it was a great experience. Other than that we mainly sell our stuff…err junk on Craigslist and many of the same issues apply, especially including good pictures.
John, in your experience with craigslist, do you have to deal with a bunch of tire kickers and people who just want to nickel and dime you? Thought about trying that, but haven’t ever sold anything on it. One thing it is good for is finding tenants for my rental property.