A little background: Four years ago my partner and I had to decide on which one of us would be the “stay at home” parent to our newly arrived daughter; a decision was based largely on the earning potential of our respective jobs. My partner won (or lost) and returned to her career; but being used to two incomes, and with an additional mouth, I needed to contribute to the purse. I had predominantly been involved in retail and a family friend suggested using ebay as a means of supplementing our diminished income. Almost immediately the money started coming in and after four years, I’ve decided to share some successful techniques, invaluable tips and ways to avoid costly pitfalls along the way. This guide will explain (my) proven techniques in how to list and what to sell. If you follow the advice provided, you can at least expect to achieve similar results; more enterprising individuals will far exceed these results.
This is not intended as a guide to selling new items, in fact 95% of what I sell is second hand requiring very little capital outlay. No specific expert knowledge of any items is required as most of my research involves no more than a few minutes at a time on google.
Selling goods on an auction site is not a “get rich quick” scheme! However, it can be a very rewarding, enjoyable and exciting opportunity to earn a significant income limited only by your willingness to take part. I can think of no other venture that would have afforded me the opportunity to vastly increase my knowledge of collectibles while at the same time, allow me to raise our little girl and earn cash at the same time.
Selling through on-line auctions is an ideal “scalable” activity. My involvement occupies approximately 20 hours per week and over time I will break down what goes into that 20 hours. My intention is to present this guide in weekly, easy to follow installments, thereby giving the reader practical real time advice and actual “individual item” success stories.
Part One – Starting Out
When you first sign-up with ebay, seriously consider obtaining three separate user ids; one to sell with, one to buy with and a third to post (on the forums) with. This will ensure your anonymity and can save you a lot of headaches if you happen to post something on the forum that someone takes offence to. This is also helpful if you intend to buy and re-sell an item. Interestingly, in four years, I have never posted in ebays’ forums but I always read them as an excellent source of knowledge.
What is the first item you’ll sell? My first item was an autographed cricket bat which sold for over $300.00 but it doesn’t have to be anything particularly valuable. A great way to get started is to scan your rooms and type in item descriptions of your belongings and check out how much sellers are asking for those items and (more importantly) what those items sold for. It is worth pointing out that I would never sell an item that I have had a personal attachment to – as you will always value it at more than it’s actual market value and will face possible disappointment when it fails to reach your expected price.
Please do not start the bidding at 99c unless you are absolutely sure that it will far exceed that. A good general rule of thumb is to start the bidding at the lowest price you are willing to accept; any higher is a bonus and you will be surprised at how often bids will far exceed your expectations.
Once you’ve done a little research on your chosen items, it’s time to photograph and list them. Do not photograph your item on the floor, kitchen bench top, table, dirty and stained garage floor or anywhere that the background obscures or cheapens your item. Please use a sheet or similar as a neutral background and let the buyer focus wholly on your item. If possible, try and use existing light rather than a (harsh) flash.
List any flaws that the item has (anything that you would want to know) as you will be wanting to receive nothing but positive feedback from your buyer. Please avoid text such as “you are bidding on…….”. Be succinct, include dimensions (where appropriate), be honest and importantly, invite questions and (tick the box to) display the Q&A in your listing as others may have the same question.
Carefully consider postage & pick-up options. An item requiring pick-up will generally attract far less interest than if postage is offered. Care should be taken however, in listing heavy or awkward shaped items as high postage costs may render the sale of large, lower value items unfeasible. As with any rule though, there are exceptions and I have (on several occasions) posted items sold for $50 to overseas buyers at up to $120 (p&p). Use the postage calculator (wherever possible) to avoid confusion.
Next installment will focus on proven methods of when & where to find your items, how much you should pay and what you should sell.
Click link to read part 2. http://webupon.com/money-making/making-money-with-ebay-how-to-guide-for-beginners-experts-part-2/
Happy Bidding.
Image via Wikipedia
