Auction Reviews

Mommy Auctions

Govenment Auctions

Click to receive this book FREE !

EBay Income-What You Need to Know Before You Get Started

So you've decided that you want to get started as a seller on eBay. There are a few things that you really need to know before you jump in at the deep end.

What to Sell

First off, you need to know what it is you're going to sell: what's your specialty or niche? You'll do far better on eBay if you become a great source for certain kinds of products, as people who are interested in those products will come back to you time and again. You won't get any loyalty or real reputation if you just sell junk at random.

 

 

Learning the eBay "Lingo"

Do you have trouble sometimes understanding when people talk about eBay? Don't worry, some of the jargon is really obscure, and you can't be expected to understand it until someone's told you what it means. Here's a little list of some of the most useful lingo to know, but you don't need to memorise it - even the most common jargon is only used relatively rarely.

Words

Bid: telling eBay's system the maximum price you are prepared to pay for an item.
Dutch: an auction where more than one of an item is available.
Feedback: positive or negative comments left about other users on eBay.
Mint: in perfect condition.
Non-paying bidder: a bidder who wins an auction but does not then go on to buy the item.
PayPal: an electronic payment method accepted by most sellers.
Rare: used and abused on eBay, now entirely meaningless.
Reserve: the minimum price the seller will accept for the item.
Shill bid: a fake bid placed by a seller trying to drive up their auction's price.
Snail Mail: the post, which is obviously very slow compared to email.
Sniping: bidding at the last second to win the item before anyone else can outbid you.

Abbreviations

AUD: Australian Dollar. Currency.
BIN: Buy it Now. A fixed price auction.
BNWT: Brand New With Tags. An item that has never been used and still has its original tags.
BW: Black and White. Used for films, photos etc.
CONUS: Continental United States. Generally used by sellers who don't want to post things to Alaska or Hawaii.
EUR: Euro. Currency.
FC: First Class. Type of postage.
GBP: Great British Pounds. Currency.
HTF: Hard To Find. Not quite as abused as 'rare', but getting there.
NIB: New in Box. Never opened, still in its original box.
NR: No Reserve. An item where the seller has not set a reserve price.
OB: Original Box. An item that has its original box (but might have been opened).
PM: Priority Mail.
PP: Parcel Post.
SH: Shipping and Handling. The fees the buyer will pay you for postage.
USD: United States Dollars. Currency.
VGC: Very Good Condition. Not mint, but close.

The chances are that you'll find more specific jargon related to whatever you're selling, but it'd be an impossible task to cover it all here. If you can't figure one out from your knowledge of the subject, then type the term into a search engine, followed by the word 'ebay'. The chances are that someone, somewhere will have seen fit to explain it.

While it's good to be able to understand others' jargon, avoid using it unless you really need to (for example, if you run out of space in an item's title). Many people on eBay are not experienced buyers and you will lose them if you write a load of gobbledegook all over your auction.

By now, you're well prepared for eBay life, and you're probably ready to get started with that first auction, go ahead - Make It Happen!

When you think about what to sell, there are a few things to consider. The most important of these is to always sell what you know. If you try to sell something that you just don't know anything about then you'll never write a good description and sell it for a good price.

You might think you're not especially interested in anything, but if you think about what kind of things you usually buy and which websites you go to most often, I'm sure you'll discover some kind of interest. If all else fails mention it to your friends and family: they'll almost certainly say "Oh, well why don't you sell…", and you'll slap yourself for not thinking of that first!

Out of all the things you know enough about, you should then consider which things you could actually get at a low enough cost to enable you to resell at a profit, and how suitable they would be for posting or mailing. If you can think of something that you're knowledgeable about and it's small and light enough for shipping relatively cheaply, then that would be great!

Don't worry if you think the thing you're selling is too obscure - it isn't. There's a market for almost everything on eBay, even things that wouldn't sell once in a year if you stocked them in a shop. You'll probably do even better if you fill a niche than if you sell something common.

Tax and Legal Matters

If you earn enough money, you should be aware that you're going to have to start paying tax - this won't be done for you. If you decide to sell on eBay on a full-time basis, you should probably register as a business.

Prepare Yourself

There are going to be ups and downs when you sell on eBay. Don't pack it in if something goes a little wrong on your first few sales: the sellers who are successful on eBay are the ones who enjoy it, and stick at it whatever happens. It's happened to me. I didn't sell an item the first time round, but I listed again and sold it! Try, try and try again.

Anyone can sell on eBay, if they believe in themselves - and if you do decide it's not for you, with the start-up costs so low that you won't really have anything to loose.

If you're ready to start selling, then the next thing you need to know is the different auction types, so you can decide which ones you will use to sell your items.