Do's and Don’ts When Making Money on eBay - Part 1

This world is full of jungles and I would say the biggest of them is eBay. eBay is probably the most famous auction giant than any other in the world. Everybody, young and old wants to sell and earn money here. However, you will be able to tackle this monster only if you understand how it works. We are not going to talk about what to sell as that in itself calls for a whole new article, we are going to talk about the dos and don’ts of eBay.

First, there are things you need to do before selling.

Creating your account at EBay and Paypal
The first thing that needs to be done is creating an account in eBay by registering on their site. You will then need to open an account with ‘Paypal’, if you don’t have one. Many people that buy on eBay prefer to pay by Paypal.

Digital camera
If you are planning on taking this seriously, you will need an excellent digital camera. This is required because you will be including pictures of your products along with the ads. Photos provide a confirmation to your buyer as to what you are selling and in what condition. Remember the old adage, ’Seeing is Believing”? There is no ‘if’, you will need a camera.

Next step is finding something to sell. Once that is done, you will have to set up an auction.

How to set up your first auction
Once you have decided on what you are going to sell, click ‘sell’ and you are on your way. Choosing a category for the item is important, but then eBay helps you with this too. You will need to type the item name and eBay will suggest which category it belongs to.

Writing the title and description for the item comes next. Including keywords in the title that people use to search is very important. The rest of the information about your product goes into the description. Then set a starting price. People will be more attracted to your product if the setting price of your product is 1 cent. You don’t have to worry on that front because most articles are sold at much higher. You may set up the duration of the bid, depending on the options given, because the longer the auction, the more bids you get.

Adding a picture is important, because products with pictures sell more. Select the payment method to ‘paypal’ since you already set it up. Submit and watch eBay do the magic. Some buyers may send emails with questions, make sure to answer them all. If for some reason your article doesn’t sell the first time, you don’t have to worry, eBay lets you list it again ‘free’ of charge. Once you find a winning bidder, eBay does all the work for you, like sending the buyer emails and guiding them to send you payment. Pack and send the item only after receiving the money. You will find the buyer’s address in the sale confirmation email sent by eBay.

To read part 2 of this article, please click here.