With Spring officially over it’s now time to get rid of all the items you rediscovered during Spring Cleaning. My go-to ways to get rid of most of my items has always been Good Will, Buy Nothing Groups or Facebook Marketplace. However some items are more valuable and although you may no longer want or need them you also don’t want to let them go for a few bucks. A while back I sat down with my husband and asked him to show me his amazing eBay techniques. He’s always been successful in selling various car parts and tools on eBay.
I’m happy to say that we made it, our marriage survived Austin teaching me and me whining about it. We really only got into 5 or 6 arguments after all of my questions (I had about 100 of them) and my incessant asking “But Why”? After all the learning and extensive note taking I truly feel as though I gained a wealth of knowledge.
Literally a wealth. My first sale was over $200 on a purse I got for only $125 for at a sample sale. What? I can make this much money on one transaction, I must list more items. eBay became a obsession. In my first 6 months I had made over $1000 selling purses, shoes, and clothes, that I obviously bought in sizes way too small hoping that I would fit in them one day.
Because I just couldn’t keep it all to myself I consolidated my notes and created a list of 21 Practical Tips For Selling Your Treasures On eBay.
- Before listing an item search for similar items under the “Sold” category. This will give you a better perspective on how much you can list your item for.
- Before listing an item search for similar items that are currently for sale. You can use the existing post as a template and include similar descriptive text in your listing.
- If a similar item is listed currently for sale, reduce your sales price by a few dollars so that people looking for that item will notice yours first.
- If you are selling an item that has multiple pieces (unless the pieces need to be sold together out of necessity), separate them. For example I listed a Pandora bracelet with charms all separately. What might have sold for only $200 as a unit has sold for almost 5 times that price with each individual charm being sold separately.
- Auction’s are best for unique and rare items or items you believe will be of interest to multiple buyers.
- If you are listing an item as an Auction item, list the item on Sunday-Thursday in the evenings when people are home and more attentive to an auction. On Friday-Saturday most people have plans. Most of your bids will occur in the last few minutes of the Auction so don’t worry if you haven’t seen much action.
- List items as Fixed Price items, this works particularly well for clothing, handbags, and shoes.
- Offer a Buy it Now price to entice quick transactions. This is great for items that sell quickly at a standard price.
- Be realistic with your pricing, if you list too high people will look for like items to purchase instead of yours.
- Under Item Specifics include as much detail as you have. The more you can tell someone about the item the more likely they are to make the purchase because they know what they are buying.
- Take quality pictures in good lighting of all angles of your items. Ensure that you also give proper measurements to the buyer in the Item Specifics. Consider including a dollar bill or ruler for scale.
- You can use the mobile app to easily take pictures, crop/rotate and edit them and then instantly post them to your listing.
- If you are listing clothing take pictures of the tags which include washing instructions so buyers know how to care for the item before they purchase it.
- Ensure that you list all defects or blemishes explicitly. Include pictures of the defects. Also include phrasing in your post that the price reflects the current condition.
- Offer Free Shipping. You can offset the Free Shipping by increasing your list price by $10, if your item can fit into a flat rate envelope. Also if you offer Free Shipping buyers cannot rate your shipping price. This means there is less of a possibility of receiving negative feedback.
- This is based on preference but I don’t offer International Shipping. The reason being that the items I am listing are not expensive enough to warrant the shopping costs involved. If you do want to offer International Shipping be sure to use eBay’s global shipping program. You ship it to a local eBay shipping center and they forward internationally. You will need to know all of the dimensions of your package in order to take advantage of this program.
- This is based on preference but I don’t offer Returns. The reason being is that a lot of the items I sell are clothing or purses. Therefore I worry about buyers remorse after “using” the item and return it in worse condition. Plus it decreases the hassle of having to wait for a return and process a refund.
- Utilize the Shipping Label creation feature on eBay. It is very easy to use and ensures proper procedures. Also link your Pay-Pal account to eBay for ease of purchases and sales. Keep in mind that Pay-Pal and eBay fees apply to every transaction.
- Under Listing Duration select Good Til’ Cancelled when an item is listed as a Fixed Price item. This ensures that your item remains active on the site. And can be found in your All Selling section for as long as you would like it to be. Be sure to click the Automatically Relist button.
- If you receive an offer, counteroffer at least once unless you are wiling to accept the lower offer received.
- Maintain positive seller status on eBay by shipping items as soon as they sell. Also leaving feedback and communicating with your buyers if they have questions is a key to positive reviews.
Wow that list is extensive and covers a lot of detail. If you have any questions at all or need clarifications on anything please comment below.
