Digital Guru: Selling on eBay
MAKE SOME EXTRA CASH ON THE SIDE BY SELLING YOUR UNWANTED GOODS.
AS PHYSICAL RETAILERS continue moving towards the world wide web, so too does a different kind of e-commerce. Second-hand selling has grown exponentially over the last ten years, with a growing number of platforms offering a place to buy and sell items among a community of ordinary users. eBay is one such service, with more than 11 million unique users visiting eBay Australia every month. While a large proportion of the goods up for grabs may be brand new, don’t let that deter you from listing second-hand items – it may surprise you to learn just how much some things are worth, especially those that are one of a kind or limited edition. By the same token, eBay is also a great platform for small businesses looking to sell their goods to users all over the world. Whatever it is you have to offer, eBay makes it extremely easy to sell it. We’ll walk you through the steps to creating your first listing before looking at the various tools and features that are available.
THE BASICS
GETTING STARTED. If you already have an eBay account from purchasing goods in the past, then you can also use it to sell. Alternatively, sign up for a new account by clicking register in the top-left corner of the homepage. If you’re a small business looking to regularly sell a large number of items, then you may want to consider creating a business account – just click the business option shown on the registration screen. Once you’re all set up, it’s time to get selling.
CREATING A LISTING. To add a new listing, click Sell in the top-right corner of your browser. If this is your first listing, you’ll be taken to eBay’s quick listing tool. Begin by typing a description of your item – for example ‘medium Levi’s denim jacket’. Next, choose from the list of recommended categories before picking a similar item already up for sale on the site – this will help eBay pre-populate some of the fields required for your listing. Once done, you can then go ahead and upload some photos – try to make them clear and professional, and remember the more photos the better. For the details section it’s a good idea to add specifics such as brand, material and length. This information will be very important to potential buyers, especially those using filters to find items in a particular size, colour or condition.
AUCTION VS. BUY IT NOW. When creating you’re listing you’ll have to decide how to sell it. The first option is to hold an auction where potential buyers place ‘bids’ on your listing, with the highest bidder winning the item. To set it up you’ll just need to choose a starting bid. Alternatively, you can choose to sell using the ‘buy it now’ option – allowing users to purchase your product at a fixed price set by you. For both options, eBay will suggest a recommended dollar value based on similar listings.
FEES. All sellers are charged a number of fees for listing items on the site. Individual sellers get 40 free listings per month which can be used on a combination of both auctions and fixed-price items. For every listing beyond this you’ll be charged an insertion fee somewhere between $1 and $4. At the conclusion of every sale eBay will also charge a final value fee that’s normally a 10.9% cut of what the final buyer pays.
STEP IT UP A LEVEL
PAYMENT METHODS. eBay offers a number of payment methods you can choose to
accept. PayPal for example is very easy to set up – just login and link your existing account (note that PayPal charges an additional fee for every transaction). Using the quick listing tool you can also choose to accept a bank transfer or instead opt for cash payment upon delivery.
POSTAGE. A key factor to consider when selling an item is how you’ll eventually get it to the buyer. eBay provides postage options for shipping both locally and overseas. Using the quick listing tool you can pick from a number of standard and express services via Australia Post that eBay can automatically calculate and oncharge to the buyer. Alternatively you can choose to offer free delivery or local pickup.
BEST OFFER. If you’re looking to sell in a hurry, then consider allowing potential buyers to make an offer less than the asking price. Useful for items that need to be sold quickly (such as flights or concert tickets), the best offer tool can be set up to automatically accept or reject offers within a certain price range. If unsatisfied you can even make a counter offer. This option is only available through the advanced listing form (more on this later) and may result in additional fees.
DISPUTES. As a seller you’re responsible for handling any customer complaints that come through about your listing. If a buyer reports an item as faulty, damaged, not delivered or doesn’t match its description then you’ll be notified and have three days to respond. Failing to do so will result in eBay automatically stepping in on your behalf, but be aware that this may result in you being penalised with restrictions or fees.
PERFORMANCE. Not only do reviews have an impact on a seller’s reputation, they can also influence their ability to sell. eBay has a number of performance standards relating to things like missing orders and customer complaints that sellers must adhere to – fall below these and you’re account could be restricted or charged additional fees. You can monitor your performance from the selling section of My eBay – located in the top-right corner of any page.
DRAFTS. If while creating your listing you become hesitant about parting ways with your cherished item, know that you can save your listing as a draft to revisit later. All drafts are located in the selling section of My eBay.
GOING PRO
PROMOTED LISTINGS. Similar to a Google search ad, eBay gives you the option of making your listing stand out from the rest for a fee. Available for fixed-price products, after submitting your item via the quick listing tool, eBay will ask whether you’d like to promote it. If you agree, you’ll be charged an ad rate which is a percentage of the final sale. Note that this feature is only available for certain categories and for sellers with a high performance standard.
ADVANCED LISTING FORM. While the quick listing tool may be great for getting items up
in a matter of minutes, sometimes it pays to tinker. Using the advanced listing form you can make finer adjustments to things like auction duration, buyer requirements and postage discounts. To switch from the quick listing tool click Change listing preferences and check the box labeled Enable more options before hitting save. You can then change to advanced mode by clicking the option that now appears in the top-right corner of the listing page.
REPORTS. eBay offers a number of reporting tools which are useful for analysing your selling performance. The free version can be activated from the subscriptions section of My eBay under the account tab. You can also upgrade to Sales Reports Plus for a monthly fee (or free to store subscribers) which in addition to being able to export data, offers reports on things like category performance and buyer statistics.
RELISTING. Don’t feel down if your item fails to sell at the end of an auction. eBay will automatically re-list auction items up to a total of eight times, while fixed-price listings will continue to renew monthly until sold. Be aware that this feature is not available for short-term value items like concert tickets, flights or gift cards.
EASY PRICING. For ‘buy it now’ listings you have the option of enabling eBay’s easy pricing mode. Available via the quick listing tool, every time your listing is renewed (monthly), eBay will automatically reduce the price slightly in the hopes that it’s more attractive to potential buyers.
SELLER HUB. After selling your first item you’ll gain access to eBay’s advanced seller tool. Free to all users, the Seller Hub is a great resource for keeping track of current listings, new orders and past sales. To get started, visit https://www.ebay. com.au/sh/landing.