How To Sell On eBay: Step By Step Guide For Beginners - MerchantSpring

What actually is eBay for sellers?

eBay is one of the biggest and largest online marketplaces where more than 180 million users bid, sell and buy things online each day.

The best part of learning how to sell on eBay is that you can sell anything here; be it vintage goods starting from an antique item to the wristwatch, curtains to sheets, or even your baseball gloves to your old camera.

This place is all from clothes to shoes, from books to accessories and the list goes on.

Select Your Marketplace

eBay Marketplace is a platform where the worldwide sellers and buyers come together to perform trade online for anything they want to sell. It is a one-stop solution to all your in house selling desires.

eBay is the top e-commerce platform where the worldwide sellers can expand their business as you can have the multi-vendor option here as C2C  and C2B2C is also available here.

Setting My eBay Account and Home Page.

Learning how to sell on eBay is easier than you think. Start by taking the following steps:

 1. Create an eBay account.

This is a one-time activity. You can simply register yourself as either of these :

●       Normal account

Now, don’t wonder which account will be good for you, If you are a casual seller, then go for the normal account with the following details only: First Name, Last name, email, set password.

Your account is created. Another way is to login through your current google or Facebook account.

●      Business account:

This account is good for those who are having a large inventory and are looking for tax benefits and other quality benefits on eBay.

A business account gives you freedom of lower eBay seller fees.  Once your Business ID is verified, there is no restriction on your account which are there for new seller through the normal account.

eBay gives you a section dedicated to just you. Where in your eBay account you can view all your bindings/listing. Witness all your orders placed and track your courier process. It is one page to get to know all your transactions and previous sales.

Is eBay Available In Your Area?

Yes, it’s there in almost the entire world.

• North and South America: US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico

• APAC: Australia, Japan, China, Korea,  Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Singapore, and Taiwan
• Europe, Middle East, and Africa: Belgium, Ireland, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark, Israel, Sweden, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Turkey, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the UK and now in more than 180 countries.

With the availability of eBay in some many countries, it’s really easy for professional sellers to expand their brand/business worldwide.

How Can International Searches Increase Your Sales on eBay?

So for a seller to increase their sales they need to provide the listing and categorisation in such a manner that when buyers look for items with advanced search features on eBay your product should list down on the top page.

By providing shipping to the buyer continent/ country you can finally get a chance to increase your sales. Though you could include the shipping charge in pricing in order to be on a profitable side.

Hence, it’s a win-win situation for both the buyers and seller. But do keep in mind to keep a regular check on your inventory.

Decoding the difference in eBay versus Amazon?

There are many people who have mistaken many a time by placing both of these in same eCommerce basket. As they fail to understand the basic difference in these two giant online stores.

Amazon is a retailer and eBay, on the other hand, is a wholesaler. This basic difference along with the different fee structures makes them totally different. Amazon decides the seller product description and it gives you less freedom as compared to eBay.

However, eBay, on the other hand, gives you the freedom to select from either fixed-price or auction format. It gives you the choice to describe the products as you like and above all, you can create your own personalised store.

Selling on Amazon versus eBay

In spite of these differences, people still fail to be successful in any of them and takes years to actually understand which is better to sell eBay or Amazon.

In order to achieve the desired sales number, you need to bifurcate your marketplace based on the type of demand in the market. If you are a seller of common and cheap products (which are consumed regularly by common men) then opt for Amazon. Here though you are not having much freedom but you could earn more from the margins by selling in bulk orders.

On the other hand, if you are selling used, unusual and unique items then eBay is your home. It gives you the freedom to product promotion and its listing as per your convenience. Hence an intelligent choice can help you earn in lakhs per month easily.

Setting Your eBay Stores and Its Levels

Many times newcomers wonder how to and where to start selling on eBay. You need to brainstorm what could be your potential marketplace. Although selling on eBay is easy to start locally as shipping charges are to be paid as well. Once you have identified your marketplace and basic account set up. You are then good to go.

Setting up your store page is a vital step in this tough competitive marketplace and eBay gives you the freedom to sell products either as an individual seller or have your own personalised store.

Now, this seems simple that just list the products and start selling but you have to wear multiple caps in business and here on eBay in order to create your eBay store you need to select the subscription for eBay store. Based on your subscription you are entitled to benefits on the sales front.

Once you subscribe to eBay store, there are in total 5 levels in-store levels:

1. Starter
2. Basic
3. Premium
4. Anchor
5. Enterprise.

These levels are different based on the fee structure and the discount on insertion and their final sales value fees.

As per your inventory resources availability and your current business status. You can choose as per your convenience and later upgrade as per your upcoming sales or auctions on your eBay store.

The real cost of selling on eBay.

eBay not only charges the seller for listing the items on the eBay store but also takes the final value fee from sellers. This seller fee is a combination of multiple things lets understand the fundamentals of the eBay fee and its related fee structures.

1.  Insertion fee: eBay gives the listing of the first 50 items for free each month on your eBay store and then it will charge you as per category pricing of eBay. Generally, it starts at $0.35.

2. Final value fee: This fee is not eligible for unsold items, but the moment you sell the listed or auction any item. eBay will charge your account with the Final value fee. It is generally a percentage combination of (Price of the item as listed + Shipping charges as opted by the buyer along with the logistic handling charge).

3. Upgrade Listing: With the advantage of the international market place and larger photos display or the category listing you can use these advantages to increase your sales by paying the listing fee.

4. eBay PayPal charge: Once the payment is received from the buyer in your account. eBay instantly charge you with transaction charges done by Paypal account.

Linking Your eBay Account To PayPal

Once you have registered on eBay another step is to add your Paypal account in order to receive all payments. This is a really simple step to follow

●      In the “My eBay” page click on “My Account” on the left Bar.

●      In my PayPal account select the option to link my PayPal account.

Setting your personalised eBay Store

Creating an eBay account and linking it to your PayPal will not bring customers to your new page. You need to create an eBay store that acts as an all-in-one solution to unleash the huge market place for your products. It gives you merchandising tools, features to create a customised brand where more customers are coming back. It gives a platform to your products where millions of buyers can view and analyse your brand and its products.

Also creating an eBay store will help you achieve the following easily.

●      With lower final product fee and free listing. You end up saving up to 40% of the product margin.

●  Boost traffic in your store by Driving in more buyers to your product listings and eBay Store.

●  Brand yourself. Design a custom homepage to bring in new and repeat buyers.

●  You can optimise your listing based on your store subscription level

●      eBay Anchor Store subscribers have access to white-glove customer service.

Listing on eBay:

An eBay store is useless until you do the correct listing on-page, as based on the listing of products you get more consumers. Keep these points in consideration for better listing :

●      Use HTML editor for listing this will help you list quickly and easily. These are built-in tools on eBay.

●      Write product names in lowercase as they are easy to read and will help people quickly see the products.

●      A clear high-resolution picture of your product will help you sell easily, focus on selling more based on the pictures and detailed description.

●      Another factor is mentioning the terms and conditions, shipping and returns policies

Need for free delivery on eBay?

In order to achieve a lot of potential buyers in your store, you have to give flashing sales with free delivery options. This will help to increase the more sales and the new buyer will try your product else than paying for the delivery charge for the same item to another person. Once your rating on eBay is improved you can later start charging for delivery charges.

Optimised eBay title

Titles of the product on your personalised stores are something that gets the eyes of every potential buyer. If you want to master how to sell on eBay you need to keep these key points into consideration while adding products:

• Give a detailed at least 200 words of the description on each item you are selling.
• Use more important keywords in the description
• Enter every minute details of your item like color, size, weight-related to item
• Use really good quality images to explain your products
• Give very tiny detail so that the buyer is really keen to give away money for your products.

Best Use of eBay Subtitles

Subtitles are equally important as they appear on the search listing page if anyone searches for a particular item. Hence they have to be correct and crisp. Subtitles help you get more users on your website.

Understanding what listing category is trending now and by paying a bit extra you get to list your item in more than one category.

What are eBay Item Specifics

Item specifics along with subtitles help you promote your sales as most of the users click on the items if the brand, size, style, length /width basics about the item are specified as they help more page views and chances of selling these item increases to the larger extent.

eBay Seller Hub and Setting It On Your eBay Store

eBay seller hub is one short solution to manage your eBay business. The whole purpose of eBay in introducing this is to improve the selling experience on eBay. The more streamlined platform interface which has a listing of items, sales management and even generating the reports. It’s a free platform and eBay encourages the seller to opt for seller hub.

You can easily opt for the eBay seller hub by changing your current status from seller to seller hub by opting for account settings on the top left menu in your dashboard.

eBay Seller Levels and Performance Standards

Understanding the rating process is crucial when learning how to sell on eBay. Stores rating are equal zero for every newcomer and gradually with sales, you can increase your ratings by asking for feedback from your buyer. Based on your rating your eBay account is assigned with levels :

●   Top rated: You are the top seller on eBay, with exceptional quality of products and customer service. With selling levels maintained for months, you have been consistent in your sales.

●  Above standard: As per the seller guidelines on the eBay store, you are maintaining the minimum standard each month and taking good care of your customers.

●   Below standard: You are unable to balance your monthly sales and the customer services on your products are not satisfying the buyers.

How To Be A Top Rated Seller on eBay

Every professional seller aims to become the Top Seller or power seller on eBay and this can not be achieved overnight. There are few prerequisites to be qualified as a Top Rated Seller

●   Your eBay account has to be active for more than 90 days at least.

●  In the period of a year, you should have sold 100 items and have earned $1,000 in sales with US buyers.

●  Follow all eBay policies

●  Always be aware of your inventory and share correct details of item availability

●      Deliver the items well on time or make early deliveries in order to achieve good feedback from regular consumers.

The Importance of SEO on eBay Stores

SEO is the heart of your sales and crucial when learning how to sell on eBay. As with correct detail on the appropriate timing of every product in your store, it will increase your page views.

Correct Pricing Model

Since eBay gives you the freedom to go for either fixed or auction price. You need to clearly mention the correct pricing of the product along with the seller fee and shipping charge. An intelligent seller is one who sells in accordance with the competitor seller. Keep a regular eye on other sellers who are selling the major number of products in your category.

In the flat price way, you can keep on changing your selling price based on the demand and variety of products you are selling. However, in Auction price, you schedule an auction time and invite buys to bid. In this, you end up selling comparative more than fixed price if handled smartly. 

Scheduling a Listing Routine

You have to plan ahead your routine and understand which item demand increases when. For example, the demand for dresses and women accessories increases more during valentine and Christmas. As women tend to buy more alternatives for multiple parties. You need to have a larger quantity of products in your inventory and be ready for instant shipping.

Create Your Own Brand Value

➔   Be an attentive seller: Selling and buying are just two sides of the coin and you need to understand the market needs, create your specialty by figuring out what is sold less on quality on eBay.

➔   Understand the difference between selling just electronics versus the need for a particular product in the market.

➔    Be unique in listing and product description

➔   Study the time when most of the buyers are online.

➔   Give your earlier sold product feedback on the listing page. This will help promote sales for the same product.

➔   For the used items on your store give the usage condition with appropriate words like “mint used”/ “hardly used”, give details of the accessories with this product you will be sending.

➔   Be a master in shipping. You need to understand what customer is looking for and how well packed you will send them the product. The packing and timing of delivery are key factors in the selling of products. Early delivery then the expected date will buy you more consumers.

➔   By opting for build-in postage service on PayPal you can save a lot of time on printing labels for both UPS and USPS orders.

➔   By opting for the calculated shipping option on the product listing page. You give the consumer the right information well on time. This helps him evaluate the actual cost even before placing an order.

Check Your Own Sales On My eBay Account.

Every professional seller should always keep a track of all his sales and earning regularly to maintain proper invoices each month for their track record. You can check all sales reports on account status. On the left side of your, eBay store tap on the Sell section now click on the Sold link Based on the date, fee types and the number of items sold everything is listed here.

eBay Sponsored listings

People really get worried when they hear about eBay sponsored listing as in how much charge will be deducted from my account if I start using this service. Sponsored listing is a no brainer and it cost you nil if your item is not sold on eBay.  Sponsored listing increases your product visibility by up to 30% in the market place. eBay charges you for the Ad if you make sales through this.

Role Of eBay Plus and Its Benefits

eBay Plus is just like Amazon Prime where you get some added advantage of some more benefits to users. You can avail of the chance of free domestic delivery and the return of millions of products. This is absolutely free for the first 30 days and then there is an annual charge of $49. This gives the add on advantage to the seller as their listing is improved on eBay plus with bonus flybys points, gives you the exclusive member-only deals and premium customer service.

eBay Guaranteed Delivery (eDG)

If you are opting for eBay Guaranteed Delivery (eDG) then it’s just a service that ensures the buyer will be getting the item well on a specific date. This will increase your feedback from 0 to top rater sellers.

This is the simple guideline on how to sell on eBay just by following these simple steps.

Ready to start selling on eBay? Check our pro tips to become a marketplace expert.