Seven steps to eBay selling success
eBay is the biggest marketplace in the world, with over 157 million buyers and almost 2 million sellers. The site has everything from clown fish to antique telephones. It’s a boatload of opportunities for you to make some spare change- but it can be tough to break through the noise and stand out among all the other sellers. Well, that’s where we come in! Below are seven steps that will help anyone sell their products on eBay and get into a groove!
Step one: Open an eBay account.
Step two: List your product(s) with accurate descriptions, high-quality photos, and competitive pricing.
Step three: Wait and monitor your listings.
Step four: Post a follow-up email once items are gone.
Step five: Test drive some preset selling strategies.
Step six: Check for eBay Stores and "Buy It Now" listings.
Step seven: Make the sale!
The steps I listed above are how I have sold on eBay since 2003. They have helped me immensely, but you can also get in the game merely by taking advantage of eBay's features. Whether it's writing a well-written description that includes keywords, or opening up your business account to receive automated emails and notifications to alert you whenever one of your products has been purchased, eBay can be a great resource for sellers looking to grow their sales. But take caution and don't try to make all of these facets work for you. Focus on what is going to bring in the most sales for you! Remember that money is not the main goal. You want to make a profit, but you don't have to sacrifice goodwill from your customers. Give them the best experience with eBay.
Step one: Open an eBay account
You can set up an eBay account for free! With your free account, you’ll be able to sell items while also taking advantage of great selling tools like Gallery Photos and completing sales reports. If you want to sell on eBay for good, then I highly recommend upgrading your account with a seller subscription (only $30/month) , which will give you access to more advanced features and increased buying and selling limits.
Step two: List your item(s) with accurate and consistent descriptions
The most important thing you can do for your eBay account is to write accurate product descriptions. Writing good descriptions takes time, but it is far beyond worth it. Remember that the big selling points of your items should be in the title and in the description. Make sure that they are easily identifiable from buyers searching for the same product on eBay. The best way to get a description right is by simply writing one first!
Step three: Wait and monitor your listings
You're going to want to wait about two weeks before you post another listing for any given item that you've listed and sold on eBay. You will be able to tell that something is wrong when you see a clearly different item popping up for sale for your product. This could be because of a tracking number error, a buyer returning the product to the seller, or an inaccurate description. You should also go ahead and check the items you've sold with Collectful to see if there are any issues with them.
Step four: Post a follow-up email once items are gone
You should post an email in your eBay account ten days after your final shipping notification emails are sent out to buyers. The purpose of this email is to let buyers know exactly when they can expect their order and what they will receive when it arrives. You should also keep an eye out for a payment and make sure that it is going through.
Step five: Test drive some preset selling strategies
Go to the eBay Selling Strategies blog and check out some of the tips in any given blog post. Read the article and follow up with its suggestions to see how well they work.
Step six: Check for eBay Stores and "Buy It Now" listings
You will want to check periodically if you are in need of more income. To do this, you'll have to look at eBay Stores and Buy It Now listings on a daily basis. These listings have fixed prices, but they also keep your products off of eBay's search engine, so you will want to make sure that they are up and running. You can do this by setting up a Google Alert ( here is how ) for the keywords "buy it now" or "eBay Stores."
Step seven: Make the sale!
You've worked hard on all of these previous steps, and now it's time to make some profit! You should be receiving sales notifications on your eBay emails or through Collectful. It may take a few days for you to get all of these notifications depending on your sales volume. Once you see that your products are selling, you should be able to set up an automatic payment schedule in Collectful.
Good luck! If you have any questions or comments about this post, please feel free to ask them here or find me on Twitter or LinkedIn .
You can find me on Twitter here , and on LinkedIn here . You can also find all of my blog posts on ecommerce by clicking the following: Linked In - Linkedin - Twitter - Bloglovin' - Facebook Updates will appear on this blog every Tuesday. If you have any questions or comments about this blog, please feel free to ask them here or find me on Twitter or LinkedIn . You can also find all of my blog posts on ecommerce by clicking the following: Linked In - Linkedin - Twitter - Bloglovin' - Facebook Updates will appear on this blog every Tuesday.
You can find me on Twitter here , and on LinkedIn here . You can also find all of my blog posts on ecommerce by clicking the following: Linked In - Linkedin - Twitter - Bloglovin' - Facebook Updates will appear on this blog every Tuesday.
Conclusion
OK, so I don't know about you, but that's just a lot of work!
I've found that making money selling on eBay is difficult. You have to be organized (hence Step one) and thorough (hence Step two). You have to be able to write good product descriptions (hence Step three). You have to be aware of any and all changes in your products' prices (hence Step four). And you have to continue being proactive while gauging how well your products are selling each day.
But don't let these points discourage you! Remember that if you do this correctly, as long as you keep up with it consistently, it will easily pay off.