Selling on Ebay?

[AlanStache]

I have minimal experience on ebay and no paypal account.  How hard would it be to sell my first product there?  I assume I have to make a paypal account and link it to a bank account so I need a routing number and there will be some nominal verification transaction.  I only have a few hundred dollars of stuff right now (mostly books) but once it is set up it will be easier to sell one off things latter on. 

Are there any bizarre requirements I will need to meet or that might take time?  (Am US citizen & living in the US.)

[Gimesalot]

Setting up a paypal account is really easy.  You can get it done in a few minutes over a few days.

One thing to remember selling on ebay is that you pay 10% commission to ebay and about between 3% and 6% to paypal.  You can use this website to calculate how much paypal takes: http://thefeecalculator.com/

[newelljack]

It's super easy! If you have a smartphone, you can download the eBay app which allows you to take pictures and list the item right from your phone.

Some tips: when pricing items, check what other similar items have SOLD for, not what others are listed for. You can filter your search for "sold" and see what people have been paying. If you are selling fragile items, go the extra distance to wrap it really, really, really well. Nothing hurts more than having to refund an item that smashed into a thousand pieces.

Good luck!

[frugaliknowit]

You might explore Amazon for books...?  Not an expert, but I tend to think ebay is not the best place to sell books. 

[AlanStache]

Thanks all.  Did not think it would be hard but a friend had some problems getting setup-maybe that was on them or a one off.

[Cwadda]

Hi there, check out the guide in my signature.

[tallen]

It's pretty easy, but many people are leary about buying from someone with no or little positive feedback, so buy some items off ebay (that you'd buy anyway) to get some positive feedback since you get it buying or selling items.

[newelljack]

It's pretty easy, but many people are leary about buying from someone with no or little positive feedback, so buy some items off ebay (that you'd buy anyway) to get some positive feedback since you get it buying or selling items.

+1

I had not considered building up my rating that way!

[AlanStache]

It's pretty easy, but many people are leary about buying from someone with no or little positive feedback, so buy some items off ebay (that you'd buy anyway) to get some positive feedback since you get it buying or selling items.

+1

I had not considered building up my rating that way!

thanks!  Will look at buying up some reputation points too. 

[aperture]

You can lose big time on shipping.  Weigh your item before listing.  Avoid items that will be an oversize shipping charge.  You will lose on some of your first transactions - take your lumps and learn from each.  Don't try to sell your most expensive items when you have no experience.  Do not use auctions unless you know you are in a very hot market that is going to have multiple buyers.  Look at price of books on Amazon.  The used price of most books is the most money you are going to get for your book.  Some books are worth bank, but most are worth almost nothing.  Sell what you know and grow what you know.  Estate sales are great places to pick up merchandise for resale.  Usually on the last day of an estate sale everything is 50% off. I carry my phone with the ebay app running and check sold prices on the things I find.  Sometimes I buy a one of a kind item because I can sit on stuff for a long long time (years). 

[BlueHouse]

I did okay selling some of my old junk on eBay. I think the main thing was that I was very upfront about any blemishes or scratches on anything. Taking closeup pics of the problem makes the buyers trust that if you think every little thing is worth noting, then they have faith that your are being honest.  And have some humor! 
My very first sale was for my grandmothers old curtains.  I titled it "Ugliest curtains in the world".
I included the story about how these had been hanging in her house for 30 years, and had an enormous and unpleasant print on them. I added that if anyone thought they could make them into an equally hideous Halloween costume, they were wrong because the fabric felt like steel and was very scratchy to the touch. Oh, and grandma smoked like a chimney - but they had been cleaned and I couldn't smell any trace of smoke on them.

I find that including something personal in your listings makes them sell. When I sold a bunch of my books for a certification, I said "I've already underlined and highlighted the important parts for you!" 
After a while, I got sick of the shipping and made everything "local only" and pickup only.   Don't ship books. Not worth it. Just list them for local pickup only.
Of course I didn't think I would get any takers!  I was just testing out how the process worked!  Low and behold, someone bought them for $15!