How to sell on eBay

Ebay is one of the most well-known and popular online trading sites, but anyone planning to use it needs to know the full pros and cons of the system in order to get the best use out of it.

Ebay is highly popular with sellers and for good reason: People can sell almost anything on it (provided it is legal) and can attract a myriad of potential buyers, some of who may just be browsing and not even looking specifically for the goods they end up buying.

Of course, with the right digital marketing strategy you can help steer people matching the buyer persona of your target market to your Ebay page.

Sellers can set up their own online shops on Ebay and while the site is best known as a place to trade second-hand goods, there is nothing stopping you from selling new merchandise.

How to get started

Ebay is simple to get started on. Users can register on the site free of charge. All you need is to be over 18, provide an address and phone number and have a PayPal account.

Sellers then log into their account, go to ‘Selling’ and can create a listing for each item for sale. After confirming details, sellers just need to add and automatic payment methods for any fees and they will be set.

 

 

Advertising on Ebay

Advertising on Ebay is done via the Classified Ad format. The listing fee is different for each category and there is no final value fee. It is simple to use.

•          Use the advanced listing tool or select sell at the top of any page on the site

•          Enter the details of the item and then select ‘Classified Ad in format’

•          Then select "list item”

•          Once this has happened, the listing will be set to last for 28 days.

There are many advantages to selling this way:

•          The fees are less than many other portals, such as Amazon

•          The fact that you can sell almost anything that’s legal on EBay means your product or service will be able to find its niche

•          The sheer variety on offer also means many people will come browsing and then happen upon your online store and what it has to offer.

There are some potential negatives, although these are manageable with good planning.

•          Ebay will dictate some of the rules over matters such as returns, refunds and customer service. This means you need to check these carefully to make sure they fit with what you are happy to do. If not, you might consider using a different platform. Alternatively, press ahead with using Ebay but make sure you are adhering to their policies.

•          While the fees are lower than some, it is worth checking that you are making sufficient profit to justify using Ebay. In particular, much sought-after items may attract lower prices, meaning your profit margins might be very low. Indeed, these margins do tend to be lower than on Amazon.

•          Because many people use Ebay to trade in second-hand goods, you might find you are competing against someone who is selling a similar product at a knock-down price rather than trying to make a living trading online.

Why you need to know about Ebay fees

When making a judgement about whether Ebay is best for you, it is important to understand the two fees the site charges sellers for basic listings.

•          Firstly, neither fee applies for the first 1,000 items, so you may find this will cost you nothing

•          For Basic eBay Shops, the monthly cost is £19.99, which permits you 100 special listings on top of the free 1,000. Any extra above this are 35p per listing, something known as the insertion fee

In addition to these fees, there is a final value fee to pay to Ebay when an item is sold, which is worth 10% of the sale price including postage. This is capped at £250, so you only pay this 10% on items up to £2,500. Anything more than that, say £3,000, will still incur a £250 fee.

How BeUniqueness can help you get going on Ebay

If you are planning to sell on Ebay, BeUniqueness can help you to get going and also to develop a digital marketing strategy that works for you. While Ebay gives you a great platform to sell on, extra tools such as content marketing, PPC or social media marketing can help you bring in more custom and maximise your sales potential.

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