This is a straightforward guide for beginners in online commerce which explains how to start to sell on eBay and become a pro.
Why start selling on eBay?
Whether you want to give a new life to the old stuff in your shed, start up the craft supplies store or extend your full-fledged business to one more marketplace, there is no place better than eBay. Launched in 1995, eBay has made its way from an auction site to one of the most favorable platforms for selling fixed-price goods. These days, eBay is the second most preferred shopping website worldwide, giving ground only to Amazon. This is a lucrative opportunity for both established businesses and newbies to get an online presence in front of millions of shoppers.
Where to begin?
If you’re new to the eBay marketplace and wonder how to approach it, this article will walk you through the basics in 4 simple steps.
Step 1. Create an eBay account
Your eBay journey starts with choosing the type of seller account: personal or business. Both are free to create, so everything depends on your purposes on the market.
A personal account works fine for individuals who sell casually. Business account presumes some bigger scale and larger quantities. In turn, it provides access to benefits like increased listings limits, tools for promotion, and better brand displays, unavailable for personal accounts.
A business account is what a reputable seller will definitely want to have. However, you may start small if you feel like that and change the account type later.
Be ready to enter your legally registered business name and address to obtain a business account and double-check correctness since eBay is going to verify these details. As long as everything is OK, the result won’t keep you waiting.
Step 2. Set up your store policies
eBay expects that customers will have only a pleasant and positive buying experience on the website. Clear and client-oriented terms of service are a must for a flourishing business. Consider payment and delivery options as well as the return policy in advance.
- Payment. This year, the eBay team has moved sellers to their payment system — Managed Payments. It offers payment by card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal and automatically sends payments directly to the seller’s bank account.
- Shipping. Buyers look forward to receiving the ordered goods as quickly as possible, and preferably free of charge. Still, the shortest handling time and the lowest shipping cost contribute to your seller rank only if you meet the stated deadlines and obligations. So play fair!
- Accepting returns. Finding out that you have a return request from your buyer is no doubt an upsetting experience. Life is life, and things don’t go smoothly all the time. Generous return limits build trust with buyers and automatically place you higher in search results. Whereas, breaking your return promises will inevitably make eBay step in.
Step 3. Find the winning product
eBay has almost no limits on what you are selling. You are free to focus on niche products or follow the trends and sell what is popular at the moment: from antique coins and used clothes to NFTs and auto parts. Whatever you plan to offer your buyers, it’s always a good idea to make a bit of preparation.
The market researching tools are of great help here, eBay offers some for free. One of them is Terapeak. It scans the eBay catalog and gives an insight into what products are sold the best and at what price, what strategy can attract buyers, and what keywords to include in the product description to promote the listing.
This way, you can be sure your selling ideas will bring a return on your time and money investment.
Step 4. Create a listing
Finally, it’s time to list your products. Just hit the “Sell” button in your eBay account to kick off. Let’s dive into a few more highlights you may encounter along the way:
Decide on the listing type
Today, 90% of products on eBay are of a ‘Buy It Now’ type. It means merchants hope to sell them at a particular price. The auction-style listings haven’t vanished, you still can choose to list an item for several days and make bidders compete — perfect for exclusive and time-sensitive products.
Mind the fees
Every month, eBay charges you two main types of fees: an insertion fee for the listings you created and the final value fee, which is a percentage of total sales. The total amounts depend on various aspects such as price, listing format, category, and, of course, your sales performance. Undoubtedly, there are other fees eBay charges its sellers, however, they’re mostly optional.
Stick to eBay selling policies
Keep your account in good standing, pay your account fees on time and never break eBay’s selling policies unless you want to have your account banned at some point.
Follow beginner limitations
Sellers often believe eBay is a more buyer-oriented platform. There is indeed some truth in this, especially when it comes to listing restrictions. All sellers have their limits on eBay, but for eBay newbies, they are even more hindering. Their limit starts at just ten items per month. This way, eBay intends to prevent some level of fraud.
The bottom line
As you understand, selling on eBay is not that easy and has its pitfalls. Indeed, there is much more you need to learn about this giant of e-commerce to master it in full. But great things always start small. A bit of patience and diligence will make you into an established seller on the platform and introduce your products to a massive audience worldwide.
By the way, we’ll be pleased to give you a helping hand in your endeavors. Consider our solutions to easily integrate your Magento and Shopify with eBay, making your selling experience smooth and effortless. Check out M2E Pro, our Magento native extension that, among other things, helps to automate your business on 30 eBay marketplaces, including eBay Motors.
M2E Cloud, our cloud-driven solution, will get you covered on Shopify and BigCommerce. Use it to conduct your business and grow as a seller in a seamless and trouble-free way.
