What Is Ebay?
eBay is a website where you can buy,sell,auction and bid for items. It is an online marketplace where almost anything can be traded. As a seller you can list your items either as a Buy Now item or list it for Bidding. In Buy Now a fixed price in placed on the item and the buyer can offer the price and purchase the item. When putting an item up for auction the seller has to specify a minimum price and the length of the auction. At the end of the specified time period the buyer with the highest bid wins and gets the item.
When you register with eBay,apart from buying and selling,you will also be able to interact with other members,save your searches and get notified when the items you’re looking for are listed and keep track of up to 200 items.
How To Buy In eBay?
Though the idea is to sell and make money in eBay,sometimes you also need to buy to collect initial points or buy items that you think you can resell for a higher price. To look for and item type into the search box at the top of the page. The items will then be listed. Choose your selected item. Each item will be listed as a Buy Now or to be Bid for. If you have any queries about the item you can ask the seller by clicking on “Ask Seller A Question”. Payment and delievery methods are normally listed. Payment can be cash or electronic and it will also be specified if the item is to be collected or delivered. Delivery charges might apply for delivered items.
Becoming a Seller On eBay
Even though you are a registered member on eBay you still need to create a Seller’s account to be able to sell. There are three things that you will be asked to do when registering your Seller’s account.
- Verify your ID
- Select how you’ll pay your Seller fees
- Select the payment methods you want to accept from buyers.
Verifying your eBay Seller account ID
The first way of getting verified is by providing your Credit Card or Debit Card information. Your personal information is protected by eBay privacy policy and your card will only be charged when you buy items or pay for listing fees(sales commision to eBay).
To make sure your card is accepted,ensure that:-
- you enter the correct card number
- your address matches your billing address
- your account is activated
- your card is not blacklisted
- your card does not have an internet or phone order block
- you only use Debit Cards with either the MasterCard or Visa logos
If you do not have a Card or do not want to give out your Card information you can verify your Seller account by using ID Verify. This will be done using your home address and telephone number on file and therefore you should make sure that these information have been submitted correctly. ID Verify costs USD5.00 and will be charged to your eBay account within 24 hours of successful verification. Your verification using ID Verify is valid until your name,address and phone number change.
Paying Your Listing Fees
Listing Fees are the the commision you pay eBay to advertise your product. These fees can be paid in four ways:-
PayPal (monthly and one-time payments)
Credit card (monthly and one-time payments)
Direct pay from your checking account (monthly and one-time payments)
Cheque (business only)
Select Buyer Payment Method
When a buyer purchases your item you need to provide options of payment. At least one electronic payment method should be included which will ensure that you get immediate payment. The rest of the options are:-
PayPal
ProPay
Moneybookers
Paymate
Merchant credit card
Payment upon pick-up
Listing The Items You Want To Sell
Now that your seller account has been set up here are some tips on Listing your items. Before you list your item,search for similar items on eBay to see how they are categorized,promoted,priced,delivered and payment options. Do not copy the title,description or photos of the other items as you risk their account holders lodging a complaint against you. Once you’re ready with the information you need,click on the “Sell One Like This”link at the bottom of the page,to be taken to Create Your Listing Form.
Alternatively,first click on the “Sell”link at the top right and then on the “Start Selling”blue button,to be on your way to creating your first listing. Do not worry about making mistakes as you can preview your finished listing before confirming it. This way you’ll always be able to make the necessary changes or even create a whole new listing if need be.
Selling Tips On eBay
It is always wonderful if you have unique items that are in demand to sell but this is not the case most of the time. The next best thing would be to search for the currently popular selling items and take a percentage of the market. With a little bit of research you could source out wholesalers for the items in ebay itself and get them at a cheaper price when you buy in large quantities and then sell them at a higher price individually.
You could also look at the eBays of different countries to source out the items. Sometimes certain items sell cheaper for instance in eBay UK compared to eBay US. What you could do is purchase the item of eBay UK and sell it eBay US. However you will have to consider the delivery charges that you have to pay when buying from eBay UK and make sure that there is still a margin for profit.
Once business catches up,packing and shipping items can get a little hectic. There is a solution for this in eBay where companies offer a service called Drop Shipping. All you have to do is list an item and once the buyer pays for it,everything else is taken care by the Drop Shipper. This service becomes very handy when you become an eBay powerseller with a regular buying community.
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