Good afternoon ladies & gents!
Today I want to share with you how you can sell some of your things on Ebay! Now for those of you who just cannot part with anything that you own, consider it a growing process! Things are just that-
things. They do not determine our happiness, make us who we are, or define if we feel whole or not. Besides, who can go wrong with finding more ways to put cash into our bank account(s)?! Below are 13 easy steps that you need to know to start an Ebay account & start selling, and some tips & tricks that I have learned from managing my own two Ebay accounts.
Enjoy! :-)
1)
Set up a Paypal account on www.paypal.com.
A paypal.com account allow you to receive funds from your buyers without having to exchange personal information! :-) Go to at www.paypal.com and follow the link to "Sign up", and select a "Personal account". :-)
2)
Go to www.ebay.com and set up an Ebay account.
This allows you to list, sell, and purchase items on Ebay.com. :-) Make up a username & password so that you can access your account, link your Paypal account with your Ebay account, enter your bank account information so that you can pay any of your listing fees (my fees usually range from around 60 cents to $1.95 per item, because I like to have multiple pictures :-) ), and give Ebay.com one of your email addresses so that they can communicate with you about your sales!
2)
Go to your nearest Walmart or retailer to stock up on packaging and shipping supplies.
Get a decent-sized roll of bubble wrap, scissors, and some packaging tape (1 of each is good for now!).
3)
Figure out where your nearest post office is, and next time you're in, stock up on a few Priority mail flat rate envelopes, PM medium flat rate boxes, and PM large flat rate boxes.
In my opinion, these are fastest and most economical to use for shipping. Consider it a business deal between you and the post office. :-) It is also important to have packaging materials on hand at all times so that you can get your items ready quickly (or as quickly as time permits :-) ), to be dropped off at the post office and shipped when they sell.
4)
Select one or several items that you would like to sell, and take a few in-depth pictures of them. :-)
My recommendation is to choose items that can fit in a PM large flat rate box or less, are name brand (they tend to be searched more often by consumers looking for a deal :-) ), are in good to excellent condition, and that normally retail for a larger price tag. These types of items tend to sell rather quickly, and help you avoid having to re-list your items and pay listing fees more than once. *Depending on what you include in each of your sale listings, Ebay.com gives you some features free and others you have to pay for (Example: 1 main picture to upload of your item = free/ more than 1 picture, or to put your title in bold = $ ). Re-listing fees are the same as your original listing fee(s), you just have to pay the same price again. :-)
5)
Open up a Microsoft Word document and make a quick outline for each of your items.
This helps you to quickly put together your listings on Ebay.com! Make up a catchy, desirable title for each item that you want to sell (this is important to make each of your items stand out amongst the rest of Ebay's listings), and a persuasive description that describes each item in detail for interested buyers. Make up a listing price for each item, remembering if you would like to make the buyer pay the shipping fee separately or to list your item(s) as "Free shipping". Follow the listing guide and fill in all corresponding areas about your item, and make sure that you increase your price tag to accommodate the shipping cost if you choose to list your item(s) under "Free shipping"! :-)
6)
Go to Ebay.com and through your account, click on the tab "Sell" in the upper right corner. From the drop-down menu, select "Sell an item", and follow the steps to list your item(s)!
Do this one at a time for each item, using your Microsoft Word document outline as your "copy & paste" guide.
7)
Select "Pay now" for your listing fees for each item.
Ebay will charge this amount to your Paypal account and make an automatic withdrawal of all of your listing fees each month. Ebay refers to this as your Monthly "invoice", which you will get in your Ebay message drop-box. If your Paypal account does not have the funds in it from your sales, because you have either spent the money or transferred it to your bank account, Ebay will charge the amount to your bank account that you have linked. :-)
8)
Keep track of your items by logging into your Ebay account whenever you're at a computer.
This is important because it is crucial to your rating and customer satisfaction that you recognize when your items sell. Ship your items promptly, keeping in mind that whatever "handling time" you list for each item when making up each sale listing will justify the time it takes you to get to the post office (I like to use 10 days :-) ).
9)
If an item sells, select "Print shipping label" from the option tabs next to the item sold, and select "Pay and print now".
Ebay will charge the amount for shipping to your Paypal account if you choose to list your item as "Free shipping", and automatically deduct it from the funds that you receive from each item that you sell. This charge will be a part of your monthly invoice, and will use your bank account that you have linked as a backup source if the money is already spent or moved from your Paypal account. If you choose to list your item(s) with the buyer paying shipping costs, no charge will placed on your Paypal account. *Keep in mind, if the shipping cost for an item is above $7, people are
generally not happy about paying the price and may sometimes back out of
purchasing your item(s). In response to this, I like to list most of
my items under "Free shipping", and just incorporate the shipping cost
into the listing price of my item(s)! :-) Ebay.com will then automatically upload your tracking information for the item(s) sold, and around 21 days from the day you upload tracking information, you will be paid. Note: This "upload tracking, pay for shipping, ship, get paid" routine is an Ebay buyer protection policy that I talk about in a bit more detail below! It goes away as soon as you sell a certain monetary amount of items, or as soon as you sell 10 items on Ebay.com! :-)
10)
Package up your item(s) that have sold, and get them ready to be dropped off at your nearest post office on your way to school, work, or what-have-you!
Make sure you pick a packaging box or envelope appropriate for each item's size (no one likes to cut their item in the process of trying to open their package!). Make sure to secure the package tight with packaging tape and to position and tape the shipping label on the front of the package, so that it can be easily seen and scanned. *Be careful not to skew the shipping label's bar-code by wrinkling the tape!
11)
Drop your item(s) off at the post office!
In general, shipping counters at U.S. post offices are open from 9-5pm, so I like to list each of my items under the "10 day handling" time window that I have talked about above when making up my listings. This is so that in case I cannot get to the post office until the weekend, it does not affect my item(s) estimated date of arrival or customer satisfaction! :-)
12)
Track the item you have shipped over the next 10 days to make sure it/they have arrived safely.
This is really not an issue, but it is good to keep in mind when trying to judge if a customer is satisfied with your transaction. Generally, if a customer is happy with the item that you sold to them, they will leave you positive feedback after they receive it. If they leave you none, it could be that they forgot, that they are dissatisfied, or they are waiting for the Ebay "7 day resolution window" to pass so that they can leave you neutral or negative feedback. Feedback is important because it gives you credibility as a buyer or seller on Ebay.com. The better your feedback score, the more reliable you are, and people are more likely to purchase from you!
13)
Over the next 15-21 days, check your Paypal.com account to see if your funds have been released and deposited! :-)
Once they have been deposited, you can transfer the money into your bank account, or leave the funds in your Paypal account until your monthly fees have been deducted!
Tips:
Ebay.com withholds your funds for 15-21 days for the first 10 items that you sell or once you have sold over a certain monetary amount of items (over $200, I believe, but don't quote me!). This is important because it helps to ensure customer satisfaction, it protects buyers from bad business deals, and protects sellers in case a customer files a complaint, and funds need to be returned. *Note: This very rarely happens.
Ebay.com offers an automatic discount if you choose to buy
your USPS shipping labels through them (what I do :-) ). Your funds
from sales will be received sooner if you do this, due to the convenience of
the automatic uploading of tracking information. :-)
Here are some pictures of an item I am getting ready to ship soon!:
Have fun listing! :-)
Xo -Jess
