9 Steps To Make eBay A Success

When you are new to eBay and the world of online selling there are a few steps that you need to take and if these steps are taken, then your journey with buying and selling on eBay will be easier. The trouble is as soon as we have signed up as a seller on eBay we want to take off at once, but one needs to sit back, take a deep breath and follow these 10 simple steps and if you do then the world of ebay will be almost pain free.

In my postings, articles and you will often see other eBay trainers talking about something as a seller we need inprinted on our minds………………………….  We must always see ourselves through the eyes of our customers. This means when we list, when we take pictures, when we write disscriptions we must think buyer and not how much will we earn today. For if we forget the buyer and just think money then very soon our buyers will leave and go and find someone else who will care about them.

Step 1 – Before you start to sell go and buy a few items on your account, this works in different ways. The first way it gets you used to the site and how your buyers find the site and what it feels like to be a buyer buying something on eBay. Also it gets you some feedback, as not many people like to buy from a seller with zero feedback. You do not have to buy expensive things just small items, or you could buy yourself packing and postage stuff for when you start selling.

Step 2 – Take nice clean and clear pictures, try and take them in daylight and not to use a flash as flash can spoil the look of your items. Also when you take your pictures if your item has any damage take a picture of it, so your buyers can see what they buying. Also be open and honest with them.

Step 3 – Always include your contact details (phone number, email address in your listings – or your About Me page), by doing this people feel at home and they also feel that they can trust you. When they see your contact details they think you are an honest and also a real person, it works wonders to build confidence with your buyers.

Step 4 – When ever you get a message or an email from your customer or a buyer respond as soon as possible, the same day if you can, if not the next day at the very latest. A tip that I use, if I find I am getting the same question over and over again, try adding the question and the answer into your listing, as this saves you and your buyers time. And if you know your listing will bring questions due to it’s size, shape, age etc, do a set of questions and answers and put these at the bottom of your listing, again saves everyone time.

Step 5 – Never except cash in the mail, this covers you, the Post Office, and the buyer The best way is PayPal or one of the other eBay approved Payment people. You get your money straight away, and if anything happens you both are covered.

Step 6 – to set your eBay selling price you can either use eBays completed listing feature to see what other items have sold in the past, or you can use one of the other eBay research tools (there are a few of these and in a later post I will cover these, but for now as you are a new seller, use the eBay completed listings)
If you are selling new items, use the RRP that the wholesaler has given you. But never be greedy, but at the same time sell for what the market allows.

Step 7 – A very big no, and one that will get you in trouble with buyers, eBay and also me (lol) is this, never , ever sell an item (for instance a DVD) for $1.00 and add $15.00 postage, when the real amount is $1.00. Buyers will soon spot this and not buy from you. Also eBay will remove your listing. In some eBay catogries you will notice that ebay make the seller have free postage and packing, this process has been brought on by greedy sellers who put up the Postage costs.

Step 8 – Use a user name that promotes your listings, but you do need to be a bit flexible here. Lets say today you are selling dog toys and call your user names “TimsDogToys”  now that is a good name………………… But what happens 6  months down the road and you want to sell cat items, it might be a bit hard for you. So if you want to sell a mixture of items pick a generic name such as “TimsHotProducts” this will allow you to sell anything and everything. With your name spend some time and brain storm a few names and ask some friends too what they think.

Step 9 – Never ever use brand names in your titles unless you are selling that brand. You must never say like XYX product. Also it is best not to use unknown names in a listing as people would never search for an unkown name. You have 55 characters to write the heading so use it wisely. Also do not use words like WOW, or Cool, or *** or, @@@, they are just a waste of space. You need to be using keyword rich words.
Another resource bought to you by
Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Related posts:

Four Steps To An eBay Profit

Did you know that the way you set out your eBay listings can either mean you make a sale or your don’t, and I would even go as far to say to means the difference between people viewing your listing or skipping over your listing to someone else. Today as eBay has many sellers and buyers the way you structure the listing is so important and gone are the old days where you could write anything and your item would sell.

So here are my 4 steps that I hope will help you get ahead of the listing game on eBay and to an eBay Profit.

eBay Profit Step 1 - Set Up your About Me Page
By setting up an about me page shows the world that you are a real live person and there is a human being behind the auctions. Once you have set up your About Me page, you can leave it, it is something that you do not need to do every time. I would suggest though that you do keep it up to date by adding things and taking things off a few times a year. This again keeps people your buyers interested in you, your About Me page and more important make them look at your eBay listings.
Something else that makes people feel at ease is if you include pictures of yourself, your family on your About Me page. A picture says many things and makes a buyer feel connected with you the seller.

Ok Your About Me page will take some time to plan and tweek, but like I said once it is up and sorted, it will just take a few minutes a few times a year to keep it up to date.

eBay Profit Step 2 – Review Your Listings

When ever you do a listing for an Auction, Buy It Now, or for your eBay shop will be asked do you want to review it. This process happens when you have written everything and added the pictures. eBay will then give you the opportunity to review the listing, now many eBayers just say no thanks………………………… Please do not do this, spend some time and go through everything because there is a chance that you may have mis-spelt something, missed a word out, used the wrong picture etc.
Once you have done a few reviews it will only take a few minutes, but those few minutes will save many minutes if you need to either take the listing off, or go and added a picture, or even in the worst case have to take the listing off eBay.

eBay profit Step 3 -  Your Characters Matter.

Did you know that eBay give you 55 characters for your headline ? Please put these to good use and do not miss use them with things like **  @@ ## etc, they both look silly and are of no use to the search engines and the people searching for the item you are selling.
Also do not waste the 55 characters with words like wow, cool  fab, again they mean nothing, waste space, and again the search engines do not like them.
Fill the 55 characters with search engine food and sell your item with them.
But a word of caution here never keyword spam. By this I mean if you are selling a pair of Jeans do not say looks like Wrangler as eBay and Wrangler do like this, and your ebay listing could be pulled and taken down. Only use a brand name if you are selling a brand name item.

Again if the item is brand new tell them this in the heading, but again be truthful as in the end it will hurt your ebay business.

eBay Profit Step 4 -  Is what I call the Tell and Show Method

What do I mean by the Tell and Show method I hear you say, well it is easy really.

Tell means that you write the body of the description as though you have no photo’s and you have to write to explain the item. Another way to put it imagine you are telling your best friend about the item you have at home and they say OK sell it to me. As they are your best friend you will tell them in full detail about the item including the story how you got it and why you are selling it. And of course as they are your best friend you will be honest with them and if there is a little bit of damage to the item you will them .

Now when you write your ebay descriptions I want you to write them like that for if you are honest and open people will buy from you time and time again.

Now the show method is …………………………….. Take the pictures as if you are not going to be able to write any thing. And if you combine the two you will have a great sales piece that will have people buying from you without problem.

Before I close, I would like to say some about the Tell and Show method, if the item you are selling has a fault in it, please take a picture of this and also write about it as again your buyers will like you if you are open and honest with them.

By following the above 4 steps you will be on your way to earning very good eBay profits.

Another resource bought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Related posts: