EBay, Collectors, Flea Market & Antiques

is not a case of simply following a few easy steps. My sister and I have sold on ebay since the early days, and have endured many ups and downs over almost 20 years as ebay grew into the enormous site it is today. It is much harder now due to the size of that market. Since you have time and are willing to make the commitment, you are off to a good start.

First you will need to find a niche, and that is a challenge since they have a billion active listings. You can have the best widget ever, but if 10,000 other widgets are listed at the same time, you will have a hard time making a sale, much less a profit. So, do you have a product line in mind that you know well, and have you researched ebay completed auctions to see the level of competition and whether the product even sells successfully? Does the product fairly consistently sell for a price that is worth your time for purchasing, research, listing, packing, mailing, etc? Remember that asking prices are pretty useless as a guide; always search completed auctions and look at the items that actually sold.

Once you have your items to sell, the basics are pretty straightforward. You need a camera and software for cropping and editing to have clear pictures without a bunch of background clutter. You will need an accurate scale and a supply of boxes (or padded envelopes if appropriate) to estimate your shipping charges and ship your sold items. Most items other than media (books, cds, etc.) ship Priority Mail and you can order those boxes free from USPS or you can check with FEDEX or UPS if you prefer to use them. Most items that I sell I either ship media rate for books or Priority Mail for everything else. For very heavy items, I also offer FEDEX or UPS. I live in a rural area and it is most convenient to just deal with USPS. Your situation may be different. You will need a PayPal account since that is how almost all ebay transactions are handled. I have never had a problem with PayPal and it offers both buyer and seller protection. I understand that with new accounts, PayPal payments may be slow but I didn't encounter that when I started. I have a business account with a debit card and the money is available immediately after payment is received by PayPal.

Listing your item. Ebay's listing tools are relatively straight-forward and take you step by step through every thing you have to include. There are some tricky things like how to offer discounts if a customer buys more than one item, but that is beyond what I can accomplish here. Make sure your category is appropriate and create a title that is searchable by including as much pertinent information as you can. Write a complete and accurate description especially if selling used items, disclosing any flaws up front so that your buyer doesn't get an unpleasant surprise. Add as many pictures as you need to show the item completely. If you are selling a new item, you may get away with stock photos, but I prefer to see exactly what I am buying and therefore always take my own pictures when selling. You will have an opportunity to preview your listing before it goes live, and I suggest using that to see exactly how your listing will appear.

For shipping, ebay has a shipping calculator as part of the standard listing. You will enter the weight which you will determine by weighing your item in the proper sized box with any bubble wrap or other material, along with the measurements of the box. You will then specify which shipping options you will offer. As I indicated, I usually only offer one option unless the item is very heavy. Remember if you offer services such as parcel post, you will have to obtain and pay for the boxes which runs up your cost and generally saves the buyer only a small amount. Not worth it imo. You will also have the option of adding a handling charge which you may feel is appropriate if the item is fragile and requires a lot of bubble wrap or if you are paying for the boxes. If the item is expensive, you also have the option to require insurance paid by the buyer. When your item sells, ebay will have the address of the buyer and will automatically calculate the shipping charges based on the weight and options that you provide. Ebay automatically sends the customer an invoice with the final price and shipping charges.

Pricing. A potential customer is going to look at the total cost to obtain your item: selling price + shipping charges taking into account the condition of the item if used. You will research completed auctions for similar items (bearing in mind differences in condition) to determine your starting price (or fixed price if you prefer) and try to keep your shipping charges as low as you can while safely shipping. Some sellers offer very low prices with ridiculously high shipping charges. Few buyers fall for that deception, and ebay fees are based on the total including shipping so it saves you no money there and you risk bad feedback on your shipping component. If there are no comparable items on ebay for comparison (lucky you to have something so unique), you can search many sites such as etsy, amazon, and others to determine a fair price.

Auction, Fixed Price or Buy-it-Now? I have used all of them depending on the item being sold, and after seeing how most comparable items are sold. As ebay has grown, the number of really competitive auctions with many bidders running up the price has declined significantly. Many buyers don't want to spend a week waiting for an auction to end and prefer Fixed Price or Buy It Now options. If your item is fairly unique on ebay or generally competitive, I suggest auction with the starting price the lowest amount you are willing to take. I make all of my auctions for a week; fixed price I sometimes do for a month. I prefer to have auctions end in the evening to allow people to get home from work. I am on the east coast and end my auctions after 6 or so on the west coast. I don't think it matters with fixed price. I never end auctions on a weekend, but that is just my gut feeling that people are busier then with other activities.

I have had many requests to end auctions early and sell to someone at a fixed offering price. I always decline, and in every instance the auction was a lively one with the price going much higher than the offer. However, if you want to take the offer, you can end the auction and relist it as a fixed price.

Shipping. The auction has ended, ebay sent the invoice, the buyer paid PayPal with a confirmed address. Now you can print the shipping label through the ebay checkout system and either take it to the shipper or arrange a pickup. Ebay will automatically send the buyer a confirmation of your shipping and a tracking number. Pack carefully and use a large enough box to allow a hard hit or two as it gets tossed around. If the item is very valuable, require a signature so that the buyer cannot claim it was not received.

International Shipping deserves a few comments separately. Many sellers prefer to avoid the extra risks of shipping abroad and don't offer it at all, and they do fine. Some items do much better with buyers from abroad and are definitely worth it. You will have the option in your listing to pick specific countries or continents that you are willing to ship to. Just be sure your item is in compliance with customs regulations and be absolutely sure you weigh the package carefully before listing because international shipping is very expensive compared to domestic and a mistake can cost you dearly. Several times I have been asked to lie on customs forms by buyers who insist the risk is theirs. It's not. S/he who puts the lie on the customs form is the guilty party. If you use the ebay checkout, ebay will provide the customs form for you based on the information in the auction and you won't have the hassle of doing the form yourself.

Ebay fees are stated on their site and will be shown on your listing page when you have finished your listing just prior to going active. I haven't paid a listing fee for years, just a final value fee on the selling price + shipping. I assume free listing is available for new sellers as well, but I don't know that for a fact. I don't purchase extras such as bold titles but other sellers may have found it helpful.

Ebay is a lot of work for me because I sell antiques and used books and must be very careful with pictures, descriptions, and packing. But it can be a lot of fun, especially when the auction is competitive and a lot of bidders get involved with a few "snipers" at the end running the price up. I have had very few problems as a seller (more as a buyer). I am not perfect, but I am honest and careful with research and descriptions, and I have 100% positive feedback. In recent years it has become hard to find items worth selling on ebay, so I only do periodic auctions while in the early years we had dozens of listings each week.

This is probably way longer than you wanted to read, and yet I'm sure I missed some important things. Please feel free to PM me when you are ready to start listing if you would like an ebay buddy standing by. When it is all new, it can seem more complicated. I hope you have fun with your ebay experience and do report back and let us all know how you are doing!