5 tips for eBay selling

Want to be successful selling on eBay? These 5 tips for eBay selling are a good starting point for your eBay business.

1) Understand your eBay selling costs of doing business

eBay selling is not as simple as some people make it out to be. Your are running a complicated business, so treat it that way. Learn about your eBay selling fees, PayPal fees, shipping and handling costs, labor costs and your cost of packaging materials.


2) Understand the risk factor with eBay selling

eBay selling does not come without its risks. Like any business, you have marketing expenses that may or may not translate to sales and dollars in your pocket. With eBay selling, your eBay selling fees should be treated as your marketing budget. You will have to make choices regarding which listing upgrades and eBay selling formats to list your items with, and monitor their progress to see the impact on your profits. Some items are meant for an auction or fixed price eBay selling format, and others will be more effective as a Store Inventory Format eBay listing. Study up on this and become a pro on your risks and costs of doing business before you start selling on eBay or try to ramp up your eBay sales!

3) Don't fall into the "what to sell on eBay" trap

Many up-and-coming eBay sellers scour the internet and attend seminars to find that "magic source" of the best products on earth to sell on eBay! If there was a magic source, no one would tell you what it is, no matter how much money you pay them for their advice. Truth is, you will need to work with distributors on an individual basis who source products straight from the manufacturer, and then sell to the retailer (you). The other option is to create your own "custom" products. Either way, the "hot sources" of products that are advertised out there for a fee aren't very good. Think about it... if thousands of people are paying for access to the same products and all competing with each other, how would anyone make any money?

4) Research, Research, Research!

Before you sell a single item on eBay, make sure you have researched the market first. There are tools out there to help you with this, but the simple tool (that I use) is free and right on eBay. Do a search for any item, then on click on "completed listings" to see what has sold and what hasn't in the last two weeks on eBay. Sort this list by "highest first" on price, which will organize the information for you so you have a strong idea of what sells well before you begin your eBay selling journey.

5) Determine your eBay selling price

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, your eBay selling price is very important, and not just for your buyers. The price you set your eBay listing at will impact your eBay selling fees, PayPal fees and will obviously matter to the eBay buyers out there.


There is so much more to learn about selling on eBay, this is just the beginning...

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