Beginners Guide to Selling on eBay in 2022

Beginners Guide to Selling on eBay
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You may have heard of eBay and know it as a place where you can sell the old, unwanted things that clutter your home, garage, or attic. However, over the years, eBay has evolved into more than a place to sell your old junk, and today it’s an online shopping mall where you can find virtually anything you will need. In this article, I’m talking about a Beginners Guide to Selling on eBay.

eBay was founded in 1995 while Amazon only followed a year afterward. While eBay was designed as an auction market for used merchandise and collectibles, it now supports a fixed-price selling system for new goods.

In other words, 90% of eBay’s Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) comes from fixed-price or Buy It Now listings, revealing its dramatic shift from its auction market roots.

The magical world of eBay has resulted in countless options for sellers to list items at fixed prices or at auction-style, include their own photographs, add informational text, and essentially sell any kind of product.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about successfully selling on eBay, including:

  • How to set up an account
  • How to create a listing
  • How to manage and optimize your listings

How to set up an account-Beginners Guide to Selling on eBay

Create your eBay account in a few easy steps.

Signup Personal or Business Account

Signup Personal or Business Account

Click register in the top left of the menu on eBay.com to visit your account. The page defaults to a personal account, but if you want to make sales frequently, a business enterprise account will make more sense.

User Id

You will then be asked to choose an ID. The selected ID will be shown to every user who reviews your items or interacts with you. Pick a password that is appropriate for your business and that no one else will know. Another pro selling books is thrift. books and musicianMagpie sell books, CDs, and records, respectively.

Payment Method

Payment Method

After creating your user, you’ll be given the option of entering an automatic payment method that you already set up, PayPal, a bank account, or a credit card.

How to create a listing

How to create a listing

Now you have a seller account on eBay, it is time to list your first product. Log in to your account and click “Sell” in the top right-hand corner to get started.

Product

When listing an item, you may use eBay s quick list tool and/or the advance listing form. The quick list tool might be suitable for your very first listing because it has detailed instructions on pricing your item and shipping it amply based on its review history and similar items. If you need to sell a great deal or adopt eBay often, the advanced listing form offered by eBay may prove useful.

To find a quick list for your eBay item simply type words, such as the name of your item or its UPC or ISBN code, into the search bar. eBay will then return listing suggestions based on similar items that have sold quickly there. For example, if you’re listing a pair of Nike men s shoes for sale, the quick listing tool will begin performing certain functions for you, as illustrated by the following graphic.

If you observe that the item being listed is the same as the one you sold, click chose as illustrated below.

Product

After gathering the information from the selected listing, you will be presented with an option to customize any fields to meet your particular demands.

To take full advantage of our advanced tools, type the keywords for your product into the search bar and select the “Find Your Item” button to get started. If you know the exact keywords for the item, you can use the “Browse Categories” button and select the category and subcategories that best match your item. For instance, if you are selling a book, you can select  Literature and  Fiction in the “Browse Categories” button.

Product 3

Once you have placed your order, a form will be generated with many fields to fill in on your item.

Product 4
  • The title is the first line of text in your product’s first impression. Be brief and include only the most exciting information so you can ensure your listing’s search engine visibility.
  • eBay requires that you supply the product identifiers UPCs and ISBNs.
  • Provide details about the item that you’re selling, such as brand, model, physical size, color, and other information. This helps visitors find your products when they’re looking for a product with that similar information.
  • Include as many as 12 high-resolution pictures of the product you are selling. The dimensions and maximum/minimum range of the images are 500×500 pixels and 9000×9000 pixels, nevertheless, 1600×1600 pixels are recommended. Place your product in front of a white background in a clean area to make it look skilled and uncluttered. Including high-quality pictures is not just appealing to customers but booming your revenue also.
  • Understand the needs of your audience when making a description for an item. It should be brief, understandable, mobile-friendly, and include bullet points. Stick to this simple style guide when creating the description.

Auction-style and fixed-price selling

You can select from several kinds of selling for sale on eBay.

Auction

In auction-style listings, you’ll bid on items until you set an end date. You can also incorporate an  Accepting Best Offers command, which will allow prospective buyers to make an offer on an item that you can choose whether to accept. You can set a fixed value for auction-style listings, but remember that the starting price cannot be far less than zero.

This practice is best for circumstances in which you are not sure about the value of an item, when you need to sell an item quickly, or when your item is rare or one-of-a-kind.

Also known as Buy It Now listings, fixed-price listings let you set the price of the item you want to sell. Such listings are best used when you know the price you want for an item, when there is a lot of inventory, or if you want to extend your selling period beyond 10 days.

After you have decided on your selling format, you can decide how long your process will be.

Listing duration

Your listing’s end date and duration time period will be set next.

duration

Consider whether it would be more beneficial to set your start date a bit earlier or later or later than your end date.

Put Price

The pricing fields appear below the duration of your listing of your item.

eBay is a popular website that’s hugely impacted by pricing. Setting a competitive rate not only impacts a buyer’s willingness to pay but also influences the item’s visibility on eBay listings.

Pricing your products is not a leap of faith; do a bit of experimenting with various price points and pricing strategies so you can find a bargain on comparable products. To view this search filter, scroll down the left-hand panel on a search results page until you reach the Preferences section. Below the  Show, the only option, check the box next to  Completed Items.

The listings with a green price tag are the ones that sold, while the listings with a red price are items that did not sell.

Take a look at your sold and unsold items, and determine why some items were sold, while others weren’t. Was this due to legitimate reasons, or could a different factor, such as high prices or negative feedback, be more involved? You can use this data to determine how much a specific item sells for on average and to check how other sellers accomplished it in an auction or fixed-price setting.

Remember that if you’re selling a high-priced item, an antique, or a collectible, it can be helpful to include a professional valuation or authenticity paperwork to add weight to the item’s considerable price and appeal to bidders. Including an image of such paperwork in the listing, pictures is encouraged.

Shipping

You have to set up a shipping policy for your product, and your strategy needs to be enticing. Do your best to provide customers with access to an efficient shipping plan and options, whether that means free two-day shipping or on-demand shipping. Impressing Amazon Prime members is an absolute necessity in the e-commerce world.

shipping

Offering a strong shipping policy has increased the exposure of your products on eBay. With the marketplace search engine, buyers can sort products based on quick shipping alternatives that comply with eBay’s Guaranteed Delivery (EGD) guidelines. To fulfill EGD, a product must have a short processing time or a same-day shipping choice.

Choose from a flat rate, a rate based on a potential customer’s location, freight shipping for heavy items weighing no less than 150 pounds, or no shipping offer. Carriers are available You can choose from a variety of shipping services and carriers, including the US Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS.

Screenshot 124

If you aren’t shipping internationally, you’ll have only a single rate option, either a flat rate or a calculated rate dependent on the buyer’s location.

If you want to enhance the efficiency of your export shipments, consider signing up for the eBay Global Shipping Program (GSP). With this program, eBay will forward any purchased items to the importing center in Kentucky, where it will sort out the customs and shipment process for you.eBay will be responsible for any delivery mistakes made as a result of its handling of the delivery.

There is absolutely no fee to enroll in the GSP Program. However, standard eBay selling and PayPal fees apply, including PayPal’s transaction fees for cross-border transactions. The final fee is calculated based on the total amount of the item sold, including any domestic shipping fees.

How to manage and optimize your listings

As soon as your listing is published, you’ll receive a notice that it has been posted, but your role as the seller is not at all accomplished. You’ll still need to address the questions buyers have, promote your listing, and complete the transaction if your product sells.

While eBay will send you a notification if a buyer asks a question, you can also keep track of all of your listings by logging into eBay and clicking on  My eBay at the top of the screen. From here, you can view your active listings, see how many people are currently viewing your listing, or have already placed bids, and answer questions that buyers may have for you.

Positive seller

Maintain a positive seller reputation to increase your credibility as a seller and encourage consumers to shop with you. A rise in search ranking is also achievable through this strategy.

Creating a positive reputation as a seller can allow you to increase your sales.

  • Offer competitive prices and free shipping. Answer buyer questions quickly.
  • Provide stellar customer service. Keep proper records of inventory to avoid losing sales.
  • Track shipped items and provide buyers with delivery dates.
  • Report any issues that arise with buyers and request that they contact you regarding any problems.
  • Leave positive feedback for buyers, and ask them to do the same for you.

Complete a transaction

As soon as an item sells, eBay will signal you. When you receive that message, complete the transaction quickly and completely to keep a good reputation as a seller.

Ship the product as soon as the payment is made. As soon as payment is received, eBay will let you know. Depending on the payment system used, you may have to wait sometime before payment arrives. If you have Internet access, you can frequently monitor the status of your payment through My eBay. If you see that your transaction is pending or on hold, PayPal or eBay may have placed a temporary hold. You are a new seller if you have not yet established a selling record. You will have become an established seller if it has been at least 90 days since your first successful eBay sale or if you have had at least 25 completed transactions and exceeded $250 in earnings.

If you receive payment some time ago and haven’t received any further complaints, you can call the debtor to confirm their progress. If you don’t receive any reaction following your doctrine of an email or your invoice, alert eBay to the problem within 32 days of the close of your sale. You must submit your case within 32 days of the auction being put out. Cases are opened within four days after being reported to be opened. After four days have elapsed, go to the eBay Resolution Center to close the case by selecting receive credit and then closing the case on the following page. Once this, the unpaid item will be recorded on the account belonging to the buyer, the credit you requested will be credited back to you, and the item can be republished.

Promote Listing

Selling on eBay can be difficult due to the staggering volume of listings on the platform. By featuring your listing on eBay marketing, your product stands a higher chance of standing out and catching a buyer’s attention. In fact, according to eBay, the exposure of promoted listings is 36 times greater than those that are not advertised.

If a buyer searches on your website for your product or service, your listing will be labeled as “Sponsored” at the top of the search results.

To set up an eBay promotion, you must be a store subscriber. To set up your promotion, go to ebay.com/create-pls and choose how you want to set up your campaigns by selecting listings or selecting them in bulk.

Once you’ve decided on the item you wish to advertise, an ad will be automatically generated. All you need to do is determine how much you plan to pay for your advertisements. This is the ad cost.

Sellers set their ad rate at eBay to 1% of the item price. Anytime that a buyer clicks on your promoted listing, you pay eBay one percent of their share of the item price. The higher the rate you choose from this range, the more likely eBay is to promote your listing when a buyer searches for an item similar to yours. eBay is more likely to promote your listing if you have a good ad rate. To view current ad rate trends by country and category, go to eBay’s Advertising Rate Checker.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, there are a few things that you should keep in mind to maximize your chances of selling successfully on eBay in 2022. First, be sure to use the right keywords when listing your item. Second, be prepared to offer a high price and be relentless with your marketing efforts. Finally, never give up on your auction! With a little effort, selling on eBay can be a rewarding experience.