Are you ready to make some money? Yes? (Call it an inspired guess.) Are you on the threshold of adding your items to the hundreds of thousands that go up for auction (or fixed-price sale) on eBay every day? Some items are so hot that the sellers quadruple their investments. Other items, unfortunately, are so stone-cold that they may not even register a single bid.
In this chapter, I explain all the facets of listing an item to get your merchandise posted on the site for sale. You get some advice that can increase your odds of making money, and you find out the best way to position your item so buyers can see it, bid on it, or buy it outright. I also show you how to modify, relist, and end your listing. These steps are required whether you are listing from a mobile device or from a computer.
Getting Ready to List Your Item
After you decide what you want to sell, find out as much as you can about it and conduct a little market research. Then you should have a good idea of the item’s popularity and value.
Before you list, make sure that you have the following bases covered:
The specific category under which you want the item listed: Ask your friends or family where they’d look for such an item — and remember the categories that were most successful when you conducted your market research with the eBay search function. Use the product UPC (or ISBN) number when you search to give you insight as to the best category to use when you list your item.
To find out which category will pay off best for your item, run a search and then select the Sold Listings option. See how many fixed-price listings and auctions of that item are running for your item (and whether people are bidding or buying them). Then click the Sold Listings on the left of your search results. Sort the results by Price and Shipping: Highest First, and then look over the most successful transactions to see which categories they’re listed in. For more information on eBay’s search, visit Book 2, Chapter 1.
What you want to say in your item title and description: Jot down your ideas. Take a good look at your item and make a list of keywords that describe your item. Keywords are single descriptive words that can include
Brand names
Size of the item (citing measurements if appropriate)
Age or date of manufacture
Condition
Rarity
Color
Size
Material (fabric)
… and more
An idea of what picture (or pictures) of your item you want to post at the top and/or put inside your description: Pictures sell items, but you don’t have to use them if you’re selling currently available media items (eBay will supply them for you). If you want to know more about using pictures in your auctions, see Book 5.
The price at which you think you can sell the item: Be as realistic as you can. (That’s where the market research comes in.)
The Sell an Item form is where your listing is born. Filling out your paperwork requires a few minutes of clicking, typing, and answering all kinds of questions. The good news is that when you’re finished, your sale is up for all to see.
Before you begin, you have to be registered with eBay as a seller. If you still need to do so, go to Book 1, Chapter 3 and see how to fill out the preliminary cyber-paperwork. If you’ve registered but haven’t provided eBay with your financial information (credit card or checking account), you’ll be asked for this information before you proceed to sell. Fill in the data on the secure form. Then you’re ready to set up your listing.
Deciding on a Sales Format
Selling an item can be like the dizzying menu in a Chinese restaurant: You have three ways to sell an item on eBay. Three ways may not seem to be very dizzying, unless you’re trying to decide just which format is the best for you.
Here’s what you need to know about each type:
Online auction: This is the tried-and-true traditional sale format on eBay. You can combine this auction with the Buy It Now feature, for those who want the item immediately. Often, if you’re selling a collectible item, letting it go to auction may net you a much higher profit — remember to do your research before listing.
Fixed-price listing: A fixed-price sale is easy for the buyer to complete; it’s just like shopping at the corner store. The only problem is that many potential buyers may lean toward an auction because of the perception that they may get a better deal.
Classified Ad: If you don’t want to put real estate, services, travel, businesses, virtual currency, and more up for auction and you’d like to correspond with the prospective buyers, this is the option for you.
Say, for example, that you want to list a traditional eBay auction. Or perhaps you want to sell your item for a fixed price. In any case, to find eBay’s Sell an Item page from the eBay home page, just click Sell in the upper-right navigation bar and select Create listing.
Getting Your Sales Specifics in Order
Yes, the Sell an Item form looks daunting, but filling out its many sections doesn’t take as long as you may think. Some of the questions you’re asked aren’t things you even have to think about; just click an answer and off you go. Other questions ask you to type information. Don’t sweat a thing; all the answers you need are right here.
When listing your item, here’s the info you’re asked to fill out (each of these items is discussed in detail later in this chapter):
User ID and password: If you’re not signed in, you need to do so before you list an item for sale.
Category: The category where you’ve decided to list your item (required).
Title: The name of your item (required).
Description: What you want to tell eBay buyers about your item (required). After you’ve written a brilliant title for your listing, prospective buyers click and scroll down to your description. Do they have to dodge through pointless verbiage, losing interest along the way? Or do you get right down to business and state the facts about your item?
Adding Pictures: Decide which images of your item you want to upload to show off your listing. Book 5 has more information on using images in sales.
Quantity: The number of items you’re offering in an auction is always one, but you can run a fixed-price listing with multiple items.
Starting Price: This would be the Minimum bid for an auction or the sale price for a fixed-price listing.
Duration: The number of days you want the listing to run (required).
Reserve price: The hidden target price you set for an auction. This is the price that bidders must meet before you’ll sell this item (optional). eBay charges you a fee for this feature.
Private listing: You can keep the identity of all bidders secret with this option (optional). This option is used only in rare circumstances (such as when you’re selling psychic readings and your customers might not want their proclivities made public).
Buy It Now: You can sell your auction item directly to the first buyer who meets this price (optional).
List item in two categories: If you want to double your exposure, you can list your item in two categories. Note that double exposure equals double your listing fees (optional). For some items, eBay does not permit a two-category listing.
Boldface title: A selling option to make your item listing stand out. eBay charges $2 to $4 for this feature (optional).
Ship-to locations: Here’s where you can indicate where you’re willing to ship an item. If you don’t want to ship out of the United States, check the Ship to the United States only option. You can select individual countries as well (optional).
You may want to consider whether you want to be in the international shipping business. If you don’t ship internationally, you’re blocking possible big spenders. Give it a try when you’re ready and see how it works for you.
How you will ship: Select the options that apply as to how you plan to ship the item.
Shipping charges: Your listing will get preference in search if you offer free shipping. Consider building that expense into your price.
Immediate payment: Fill out this area if you want to require the buyer to pay immediately through PayPal (optional).
Since I’m talking here about listing an item for sale, I briefly go over some high points on strategies — but be sure you also check out Chapter 1 to get some serious insight on listing strategies.
Selecting a Category: The How and Why
Many eBay sellers will tell you that selecting the exact category isn’t crucial to achieving the highest price for your item — and they’re right. The bulk of buyers (who know what they’re looking for) just input search keywords into eBay’s search box and look for their items. Potential buyers also may select a category and — just as if they were window-shopping in the mall — peruse the items and see whether one strikes their fancy.
For best positioning in search results, be sure to select the appropriate category for your item. If you pick an unrelated category, you run the risk of your listing being removed from the site as a listing violation.
On the first page of the Create a Listing form, you will select the main category for your item. After you select your main category, you land on the official working portion of the Sell an Item page.
With tens of thousands of categories, finding the right place for your item can be daunting. You need to apply some marketing techniques when deciding where to place your auctions. You can list an item in two categories, but you have to pay double for that. Does your budget allow for it?
Consider these ideas and techniques for finding the right category for your item:
Find out who’s currently selling your item (and where): Check the active listings; are lots of people selling your item? If you see that you’re one of 40 or 50 people selling the item, you need to get exacting about where to list yours. Evaluate the item and its potential buyers. In what categories would someone shopping for your item search?
Use appropriate subcategories to catch in-the-know buyers: Most bidders scan for specific items in subcategories. For example, if you’re selling a Bakelite fruit pin, don’t just list it under Jewelry; keep narrowing your choices. In this case, you can put it in a costume jewelry category that’s especially for Bakelite. I guarantee that the real Bakelite jewelry collectors out there know where to look to find the jewelry they love.
As you start the listing process, eBay gives you a tool to find where the bulk of sellers are selling your item. Simply type three or four keywords (or a UPC or ISBN number in case of media) in the first step’s search box and click Search to answer the question: “Tell us what you’re selling.” If eBay has your item in its catalog, the item’s category will be automatically suggested. Figure 3-1 shows you how easy it is to find where your item is being sold.
FIGURE 3-1: eBay will suggest the proper category for your item.
Alternatively, you can select your item’s category from this Browse Categories tab for a deeper look. eBay offers you a wealth of choices in a handy point-and-click way. If you’re unfamiliar with the types of items you can actually find in those categories, you may want to check out a category before you choose it to describe your item. Figure 3-2 shows you how to use the Browse Categories tool to narrow down subcategory selection.
Click one of the main categories in the pane on the left.
On the next pane to the right, you see a list of subcategories.
Select the most appropriate subcategory in the pane to the right.
eBay makes it easy to narrow the category of your item: Just keep clicking until you hit the end of the line.
Move to the next pane and continue selecting subcategories until you’ve narrowed your listing category as much as possible.
You know you’ve come to the last subcategory when eBay sends you to the listing form.
If you’ve chosen to list an item, bid on an item, or even just browse in the Everything Else: Adult Only category, you need to follow separate, specific guidelines because that category contains graphic nudity or sexual content that may offend some community members. You must
Be at least 18 years of age (but you already know that all eBay customers must be 18 or older)
Have a valid credit card
Complete a waiver stating that you’re voluntarily choosing to access adults-only materials
If you have erotic items that are not quite that racy, you might like to sell them in a private auction; see the “I Want to Be Alone: The Private Auction” section, later in this chapter.
Creating the Perfect Item Title
After you figure out what category you want to list in, eBay wants to get down to business.
The most valuable onscreen real estate on eBay is the 80-character title of your item. The majority of buyers do title searches (in my research, around 98 percent of searches are performed by title only), and that’s where your item must come up to be seen! So the onus is on you to give the most essential keywords right away to grab the eye of the reader who’s just browsing. Be clear and informative enough to get noticed by eBay’s search engine.
Here are some ideas to help you write your item title:
Use the most common name for the item.
If the item is rare or hard to find, mention that.
Mention the item’s condition and whether it’s new.
Mention the item’s special qualities, such as its style, model, or edition.
Avoid jargon or unusual characters, such as $, hyphens, and L@@K (or WOW), because they just clutter up the title — buyers rarely search for them.
Ordinarily, I don’t throw out French phrases just for the fun of it. But when making a profit is an issue, I definitely have to agree with the French that choosing or not choosing le mot juste can mean the difference between having potential buyers passing by your item and having an all-out bidding war on your hands. Read on for tips about picking the best words to let your auction item shine.
Look for a phrase that pays
Here’s a crash course in eBay lingo that can help bring you up to speed on attracting buyers to your auction. The following words are used frequently in eBay auctions and can do wonders to jump-start your title:
Mint
One of a kind (OOAK)
Vintage
Collectible
Rare
Unique
Primitive
Well-loved
There’s a science to figuring out the value of a collectible (called grading). Do your homework before you assign a grade to your item. If you need more information on what these grades actually mean, Book 2, Chapter 2 provides a translation.
Getting eyes on your listing
Keywords! Keywords! Keywords! I can’t stress enough that keywords are essential in your title. Keywords are single words that people would naturally use to search for an item. For example, if you’re selling a shirt, common keywords for your title might include words that tell
Color
Size
Fabric
Manufacturer’s name
Whether it’s a men’s, women’s, or children’s garment
Whether it’s new or used, such as NWT (New With Tags)
eBay acronyms and initialisms at a glance
The initialisms and the phrases described previously in the section “Look for a phrase that pays” aren’t the only marketing standards you have at your eBay disposal. As eBay has grown, so has the lingo that members use as shortcuts to describe their merchandise. Table 3-1 gives you a handy list of common abbreviations and phrases used to describe items. (Hint: “Mint” means “may as well be brand new,” not “cool chocolate treat attached.”)
The item is in the original box, in great shape, and just the way you’d expect to find it in a store.
MIMB
Mint in Mint Box
The box has never been opened and looks like it just left the factory.
MOC
Mint on Card
The item is mounted on its original display card, attached with the original fastenings, in store-new condition.
NRFB
Never Removed from Box
The item has never been opened.
COA
Certificate of Authenticity
Documentation that vouches for the genuineness of an item, such as an autograph or painting.
NOS
New Old Stock
Merchandise is new and unopened, but may have been stocked (or on the shelf) for a while.
OEM
Original Equipment Manufacture
You’re selling the item and all the equipment that originally came with it, but you don’t have the original box, owner’s manual, or instructions.
OOAK
One of a Kind
You are selling the only one in existence!
NR
No Reserve Price
A reserve price is the price you can set when you begin your auction. If bids don’t meet the reserve, you don’t have to sell. Many buyers don’t like reserve prices because they don’t think that they can get a bargain. (For tips on how to allay these fears and get bids in reserve price auctions, see the “Creating Your Item Description” section.) If you’re not listing a reserve for your item, be sure to let bidders know.
NWT
New with Tags
An item, possibly apparel, is in new condition with the tags from the manufacturer still affixed.
NWOT
New, but Without Store Tags
Generally a new article of apparel that is missing the store tags, but is unused.
HTF, OOP
Hard to Find, Out of Print
Out of print, only a few ever made, or people grabbed up all there were. (HTF doesn’t mean you spent a week looking for it in the attic.)
Normally, you can rely on eBay abbreviations to get your point across, but make sure that you mean it and that you’re using it accurately. Don’t label something MIB (Mint in Box) when it looks like it’s been Mashed in Box. You’ll find more eBay (and social media) abbreviations on my website at
Or you can click the Tools tab at www.coolebaytools.com, and then click the FAQ on Online Acronyms and eBay Abbreviations.
Don’t let your title ruin your listing
Imagine going to a supermarket and asking where you can find the stringy stuff that you boil instead of asking where the spaghetti is. You might end up with mung bean sprouts — delicious to some, but hardly what you had in mind. That’s why you should check and recheck your spelling. Savvy buyers use the eBay search engine to find merchandise; if the name of your item is spelled wrong, the search engine may not find it. Poor spelling and incomprehensible grammar in descriptions also reflect badly on you. If you’re in competition with another seller, the buyer is likelier to trust the seller hoo nose gud speling.
In my travels, I meet so many interesting people with lots of great stories about their forays on eBay. One of my favorites is the story told to me by a lovely lady in Salt Lake City. She brought to my class her biggest eBay bargain. She won a Shaquille O’Neill–signed basketball on eBay for 1 cent! Yep, one red cent (plus shipping). I’ll bet that seller had a rude surprise when his listing closed! Oh, you want to know why such a valuable collectible sold for so little? The seller couldn’t spell Shaquille and listed the all-important name in the item’s title as Schackeel.
If you’ve finished writing your item title and you have spaces left over, please fight the urge to dress the title up with lots of exclamation points and asterisks. No matter how gung-ho you are about your item, the eBay search engine may overlook your item if the title is encrusted with meaningless **** and !!!! symbols. If bidders do see your title, they may become annoyed by the virtual shrillness and ignore it anyway!!!!!!!! (See what I mean?)
Another distracting habit is overdoing capital letters. To buyers, seeing everything in caps is LIKE SEEING A HYSTERICAL SALESPERSON SCREAMING AT THEM TO BUY NOW! All that is considered shouting, which is rude and tough on the eyes. Use capitalization SPARINGLY, and ONLY to finesse a particular point or keyword.
Giving the title punch with a subtitle
A useful feature on eBay is the availability of subtitles. eBay allows you to buy an additional 55 characters as a subtitle, which will appear under your item title in a list-formatted search. The fee for this extra promotion is $0.50 (up to $3 depending on price and duration), and in a few circumstances, it is definitely worth your while. Any text that you input will really make your item stand out in the crowd — but (you knew there would be a but, didn’t you?) these additional 55 characters won’t come up in a title search. So if you have all those words in your description, the words will be found either way with a title-and-description search.
Creating Your Item Description
After you hook potential bidders with your title, reel ’em in with a fabulous description. Don’t think Hemingway here; think infomercial (the classier the better). Figure 3-3 shows a concise description of the item for sale. You can write a magnificent description, as well — all you have to do is click the box and start typing.
FIGURE 3-3: A brief, informative description can mean the difference between success and failure.
Composing the description
Here’s a list of suggestions for writing an item description:
Write a factual description. Do you carefully describe the item, stating every fact you know about it? Do you avoid the use of jargon? Does the description answer almost any question a potential buyer might ask? If not, do some revising.
Accentuate the positive. Be enthusiastic when you list all the reasons everyone should buy the item. Unlike the title, the description can take up as much space as you want. Even if you use a photo, be precise in your description — tell the reader, for example, the item’s size, color, and fabric. Refer to “Creating the Perfect Item Title,” earlier in this chapter, for ideas on what to emphasize.
Include the negative. Don’t hide the truth of your item’s condition. Trying to conceal flaws costs you in the long run: You’ll not only get tagged with bad feedback, but the buyer can get his or her money back from PayPal if it arrives “not as described.” If your vintage item has a scratch, a nick, a dent, a crack, a ding, a tear, a rip, missing pieces, replacement parts, faded color, dirty smudges, or a bad smell (especially if cleaning might damage the item), mention it in the description. If your item has been overhauled, rebuilt, repainted, or hot-rodded, say so. You don’t want the buyer to send back your merchandise because you weren’t truthful about imperfections or modifications. This type of omission can lead to losing the item and having the money taken out of your PayPal account.
Include short, friendly banter. You want to make the customer feel comfortable shopping with you. Don’t be afraid to let your personality show!
Limit the number of auction rules (or terms of sale). Some sellers include a list of rules that’s longer than the item’s description. Nothing turns off a prospective buyer like paragraph after paragraph of rules and regulations. If you really must put in a litany of rules, use the following bit of HTML to make the size of the text smaller: <fontsize=-1>.
Choose a reasonable typeface size. Many users are now looking at eBay on mobile devices. If you design your listings for a large computer display, your typefaces may be way too large for the average user. Forcing a user to scroll leads to frustrated customers. I recommend something in the range of 10 to 14 points, depending on the typeface you choose.
Be concise and to the point — don't ramble! As my sixth-grade English teacher used to say, “Make it like a woman’s skirt: long enough to cover the subject, yet short enough to keep it interesting.” Too many sellers these days drone on and on, causing bidders to have to scroll down the page several times. You can quickly lose your audience this way. They’ll look for a listing with a less complicated look.
Jazzing it up with HTML
When you type in your description, you have the option of jazzing things up with a bit of HTML coding, or you can use eBay’s HTML text editor, described in Book 5, Chapter 3. If you know how to use a word processor, you’ll have no trouble dressing up your text with this tool. Table 3-2 shows you a few HTML codes that you can insert into your text to help you pretty things up.
You can go back and forth from the HTML text editor to regular input and add additional codes here and there by selecting the View/Edit HTML check box (when you're in the HTML text editor). You can prepare your listings ahead of time in an HTML composer in the Mozilla SeaMonkey suite (see Book 5, Chapter 3 for more details) and save them to your computer as plain TXT files (I do). That way, pre-designed listings are always retrievable for use (just copy and paste) no matter what program or form you’re using to list them.
Listing Multiples of an Item for Sale with Variations
Whether you have 20 of one item, or the same item in different variations (size or color), eBay has a handy way to list multiple items in one listing. For a fixed-price sale for multiple items that are all the same, just indicate the number you have in the appropriate box on the Create a listing page.
When you have different sizes or colors for your fixed-price listing, you’ll want to list with variations. A listing with variations will look similar to regular listings, but there the buyer can choose size, type, color, and so on from drop-down lists.
The option to include variations in a listing will not show up on the Create a listing page, but after you select one of the categories where variations are permitted, an option will appear to Create Variations. Click those words and you’ll be taken to a page with appropriate options for the item you are selling.
Currently, you can create listings with variations in the following categories:
Baby
Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
Crafts
Health & Beauty
Home & Garden (most sub-categories)
Jewelry & Watches
Pet Supplies
Sporting Goods
eBay provides you with a list of common variation details when you click the Add Variation Detail link. If you have custom variations, click Add More Details. You can select up to five variation details — such as Color, Size, Width, Material, and Style — with up to 60 values for each detail.
A multi-variation listing may appear higher in search results. Putting up multiple listings for the same item is fruitless; eBay won’t show more than one identical listing from a single seller at one time in search results and may remove identical listings from the site.
Setting Bids, Prices, and Reserves
What do a baseball autographed by JFK, a used walkie-talkie, and a Jaguar sports car have in common? They all started with a $.99 minimum bid. eBay requires you to set a minimum bid, the lowest bid allowed in an auction. You may be surprised to see stuff worth tens of thousands of dollars offered for auctions starting just under a buck. These sellers haven’t lost their minds. Neither are they worried someone could end up tooling down the highway in their $100,000 sports car for the price of a burger. They protect their final sale price with a reserve. (Keep reading; I explain in the later section “Using your secret safety net — reserve price.”)
Before you set a minimum bid, do your homework and make some savvy marketing decisions. If your auction isn’t going as you hoped, you could end up selling Grandma Ethel’s Ming vase for a dollar. See “Making Midcourse Corrections,” later in this chapter, to see how you can make changes in your listing if you’ve made some egregious error.
Estimate costs with a fee calculator
For years I have looked to the Internet to find accurate ecommerce fee calculators. These tools calculate eBay and PayPal fees and allow you to input your expenses to get an idea of how to profitably price a specific item.
The most comprehensive calculator I’ve found is at salecalc.com, but it hasn’t been updated as of this writing. I did find an updated eBay and PayPal fee calculator at finalfeecalc.com. They also have a calculator app in the Android Play Store.
Setting a minimum bid — how low can you go?
Setting an incredibly low minimum is a subtle strategy that gives you more bang for your buck. You can use a low minimum bid to attract more bidders who will, in turn, drive up the price to the item’s real value — especially if, after doing your research, you know that the item is particularly hot.
The more bids you get, the more people will want to bid on your item because they perceive it as hot.
If you’re worried about the outcome of the final bid, you can protect your item by using a reserve price (the price the bidding needs to reach before the item can be sold). This ensures that you won’t have to sell your item for a bargain-basement price because your reserve price protects your investment. The best advice is to set a reserve price that is the lowest amount you’ll take for your item, and then set a minimum bid that is ridiculously low. However, use a reserve only when absolutely necessary; some bidders just pass up reserve auctions.
Going with a Buy It Now price
eBay’s Buy It Now (BIN in eBay-speak) is available for single-item listings. This feature allows buyers to purchase an item now. Have you ever wanted an item really badly and you didn’t want to wait until the end of an auction? If the seller offers Buy It Now, you can purchase that item immediately.
When listing an item this way, just specify the amount the item can sell for in the Buy It Now price area — the amount can be whatever you want. If you choose to sell a hot item during the holiday rush, for example, you can make the BIN price as high as you think it can go. If you just want the item to move, make your BIN price the average price you see the item go for on eBay.
After your item receives a bid, the BIN option disappears and the item goes through the normal auction process. If you have a reserve price (as well as a BIN price) on your item, the BIN feature doesn’t disappear until a bidder meets your reserve price through the normal bidding process. To list an auction with Buy It Now, the price needs to be at least 30 percent higher than the starting price.
Using your secret safety net — reserve price
Here’s a little secret: The reason sellers list big-ticket items such as Ferraris, grand pianos, and high-end computer equipment with a starting bid of $.99 is because they’re protected from losing money with a reserve price. The reserve price is the lowest price that must be met before the item can be sold. It is not required by eBay but can protect you. For this feature, eBay charges an additional fee that varies depending on how high your reserve is.
For example, say you list a first-edition book — John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. You set the starting price at $.99 and the reserve price at $80. That means people can start bidding at $.99, and if at the end of the auction the book hasn’t reached the $80 reserve, you don’t have to sell the book.
As with everything in life, using a reserve price for your auctions has an upside and a downside. Many choosy bidders and bargain hunters blast past reserve-price auctions because they see a reserve price as a sign that proclaims “No bargains here!” Many bidders figure they can get a better deal on the same item with an auction that proudly declares NR (for no reserve) in its description. As an enticement to those bidders, you see lots of NR listings in auction titles.
If you need to set a reserve on your item, help the bidder out. Many bidders shy away from an auction that has a reserve, but if they’re really interested, they will read the item description. To dispel their fears that the item is way too expensive or out of their price range, add a line in your description that states the amount of your reserve price. “I have put a reserve of $75 on this item to protect my investment; the highest bid over $75 will win the item.” A phrase such as this takes away the vagueness of the reserve auction and allows you to place a reserve with a low opening bid. (You want to reel ’em in, remember?)
On lower-priced items, I suggest that you set a higher minimum bid and set no reserve.
If bids don’t reach a set reserve price, some sellers offer an underbidder a Second Chance (also known as Best Offer) or relist the item for another whack at the buying public.
Timing Your Auction: Is It Everything?
Visit Chapter 2 of this minibook to learn about timing your eBay listings. Just know that if what you’re listing is in demand, it will sell at the going rate without worries.
I Want to Be Alone: The Private Auction
In a private auction, bidders’ User IDs are kept under wraps. Sellers typically use this option to protect the identities of bidders during auctions for high-priced big-ticket items (say, that restored World War II fighter). Wealthy eBay members may not want the world to know that they have the resources to buy expensive items. Private auctions are also held for items from the Adult Only category. (Gee, there’s a shocker.)
The famous sign pictured in almost every piece of Disney promotion (for the first 40 or so years of Disneyland’s existence) was put up for sale on eBay in 2000. The sign was purchased by actor John Stamos for a high bid of $30,700. Unfortunately for John, the Disney auctions did not use the Private Auction feature. After news of the winner’s name hit the tabloids, the entire world knew John’s eBay User ID! He had to change his ID in a hurry to end the throngs of lovey-dovey email messages headed to his computer!
Adding Visuals to Highlight Your Item
With so many listings posted daily on eBay, you need some way to get your listing noticed. Adding visual interest to catch a potential buyer’s eye is one way. As you fill out the listing page, take advantage of the visual elements that eBay offers.
eBay requires that you have at least one image to illustrate what you are selling. You can add up to 12 pictures on your listing for free, as shown in Figure 3-4. You can find the images (after the listing is over) in My eBay⇒ Completed Listings for 60 days.
FIGURE 3-4: Upload images to eBay with a couple of mouse clicks!
If you want to host your pictures on a website or other server, you can use the import from the web uploader. Your pictures will then be optimized automatically for use on eBay. You may also add web-hosted images to your description. See Book 5, Chapter 4 for the necessary coding and instructions.
For the best quality, eBay recommends that you upload images that are 1600 pixels in height or width (although the minimum suggested size is 800 pixels).
Listing the Payment Methods You’ll Accept
Yeah, sure, eBay is loads of fun, but the bottom line to selling is the phrase “Show me the money!” You make the call on what you’re willing to take as money from your auction’s high bidder. eBay offers the following payment options — just select the ones that you like:
Personal check, cashier’s check, bank transfers, or money orders: These are only permissible as payment for capital equipment, Real Estate, Adult Only, and some Motors categories, or when a customer picks up an item in person. For more information on the variables, check http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html#categories. As a seller, you want to get paid with as little risk as possible. The only drawback? You have to wait for the buyer to send the money.
Credit cards: If you accept credit cards, using PayPal is the cheapest and most convenient way to go. If you have a merchant account through a retail store, be sure to select the check boxes next to the credit cards you accept. eBay also allows sellers to accept credit card payments from Allpay.net, CertaPay, hyperwallet.com, Fiserv, Nochex.com, XOOM, or the merchant credit card account you’ve set up for your business.
Online escrow: An option for selling vehicles in eBay motors, an escrow service, escrow.com, acts as a referee, a neutral third party. This service charges you a percentage of the sale price.
Where You Are and Where You’ll Ship To
When listing an item for sale on eBay, you come to the area where you need to input your payment and shipping information. You have the option of offering free shipping, a flat rate, or offer calculated shipping. The charges appear in a box at the top and the bottom of your item description.
But how you handle shipping — and its associated cost for your buyers — depends on what you’re shipping (how big it is), where you’re shipping it, and the carrier you decide to use. So take a bit of time to consider your location and your shipping options before you fill out this section.
Offering free shipping helps sell items and gets you a better place in Best Match search. Customers always prefer to buy items online that offer free shipping.
eBay has some rules about shipping
eBay has rules about how much you can charge for shipping in certain categories. Some greedy sellers would charge egregious amounts for shipping their items, so eBay cracked down and made maximum shipping limits. Table 3-3 gives you the current shipping charge limits as of October 9, 2017.
Before you list your item, think about the details related to shipping your merchandise. Here are some of your choices for where you’ll ship:
Ship to the United States only: This option is selected by default; it means you ship only domestically.
Will ship worldwide: The world is your oyster. But make sure that you can afford it.
Will ship to United States and the following countries: If you’re comfortable shipping to certain countries but not to others, make your selections here. Your choices appear on the item page.
When you indicate that you will ship internationally, your listing can show up on the international eBay sites (for a small fee), which is a fantastic way to attract new buyers! eBay has lots of international users, so you may want to consider selling your items around the world. If you do, be sure to clearly state in the description all extra shipping costs and customs charges.
You also get to set the method and fees related to shipping. eBay buyers love seeing a flat shipping fee. If you can convince yourself to find a reasonable midway point, a fixed shipping price may just beat your competition.
Also in the form’s shipping details, you can set a handling time, which is more attractive when you say you will ship the same day (or within a business day) of receiving the customer’s money. eBay puts the phrase “Get it fast” on these listings when you also offer overnight shipping. Offering speedy handling also gets you leverage in Best Match searches.
Combining free shipping with 1-day handling earns your listing the designation Fast ’n Free, as shown in Figure 3-5. This delivery-truck icon attracts a lot of eyes when customers are searching. Plus, eBay gives a boost to items having this designation in Best Match search results.
When your item weighs two pounds or more, you may want to use eBay’s versatile shipping calculator to determine your flat shipping-and-handling cost or to quote a calculated shipping cost. Using the shipping calculator has these advantages:
It accounts for variable rates: Because UPS and the U.S. Postal Service now charge variable rates for packages of the same weight, based on distance, using the calculator simplifies things for your customers (and for you). Note: Be sure you’ve weighed the item.
It includes your handling amount: The calculator allows you to input a handling amount and adds it to the overall shipping total — but does not break out these amounts separately for the customer.
Figure 3-6 shows how simple the calculator is. You may select up to three levels of shipping per item.
FIGURE 3-6: The results of checking out the shipping costs.
You can check out the associated costs by clicking the Show Rates button, which shows you all shipping costs, so you can decide to ship with either the U.S. Postal Service or UPS. I always test my packages from a California Zip code (because that’s where I live) to a New York Zip code. Doing this gives me an estimate for Zone 8, which is the most expensive option (coast-to-coast by distance) when shipping in the U.S.
eBay’s shipping calculator does not include Domestic First class (can be used for up to a 1-pound package) or First Class International (can be used for up to a 4-pound package). It also does not offer the options for domestic Regional Flat Rate Priority boxes (see Book 7 for more details).
You can check out the fees for different shipping services also (after signing in) by using the full eBay shipping calculator located at
The proper shipping price appears on the item page based on the shopper’s registered Zip code, so they will know immediately how much shipping will be to their location. Follow these steps in the Create a Listing process to have eBay calculate the charges for you:
In the Shipping area, choose Calculated: Cost Varies by Buyer Location from the drop-down menu.
Select your package’s type and weight from the drop-down lists, and fill in package dimensions as needed.
Select a carrier from the drop-down lists.
In the additional options, click to add a Handling Cost to cover your shipping expenses.
When adding your packaging and handling charges, don’t worry that the buyers will see these individual fees. eBay combines this amount with the shipping cost and shows the total as one shipping price.
After you’ve input all your information, you can forget about shipping charges, because eBay takes over. Check out Book 7 for more information on shipping options — and on how to mechanize the process.
Checking Your Work and Starting the Sale
After you’ve filled in all the blanks on the Sell an Item page and you feel ready to join the world of ecommerce, follow these steps:
Click the Review button at the bottom of the Sell an Item page.
You go to the Verification page, the place where you can catch mistakes before your item is listed. The Verification page shows you a condensed version of all your information and tallies how much eBay is charging you in fees and options to run this auction. You can also click to see a preview of how your auction description and pictures will look on the site.
You also may find the Verification page helpful as a last-minute chance to get your bearings. If you’ve chosen a general category, eBay asks you whether you’re certain there isn’t a more appropriate category. You can go back to any of the pages that need correcting by clicking the appropriate tab at the top of the Verification page. Make category changes or any other changes and additions, and then head for the Verification page again.
Check for mistakes.
Nitpick for common, careless errors; you won’t be sorry. I’ve seen eBay members make goofs such as the wrong category listing, spelling and grammatical errors, and missing information about shipping, handling, and payment methods.
When you’re sure everything is accurate and you’re happy with your item listing, click the Submit My Listing button.
A Listing Confirmation page pops up. At that precise moment, your sale begins, even though it may be as much as an hour before it appears in eBay’s search and listings updates. If you want to see your listing right away and check for bids, your Confirmation page provides a link for that purpose. Click the link, and you’re there.
All listing pages come with this friendly warning: Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item. Some eBay veterans just gloss over this warning after they’ve been wheeling and dealing for a while, but it’s an important rule to remember. Whether you’re buying or selling, you’re always responsible for your actions.
Making Midcourse Corrections
If you made a mistake filling out the item listing page but didn’t notice it until after the item is up and running, don’t worry. Pencils have erasers, and eBay allows revisions. You can make changes at two stages of the game: before the first bid is placed and after the bidding war is underway. This section explains what you can (and can’t) correct — and when you have to accept the little imperfections of the Create a listing page.
Making changes before bidding begins
Here’s what you can change about your auction before bids have been placed, as long as your auction does not end within 12 hours:
The title, subtitle, or description
The item category
The item’s Minimum Bid price
The item’s Buy It Now price (you can add or change it)
The reserve price (you can add, change, or remove it)
The URL of the picture you’re including with your auction
A private-auction designation (you can add or remove it)
When you revise a listing, eBay puts a little notation on your page that reads: Description (revised).
To revise a listing (or auction before bids have been received), follow these steps:
Go to the item page and click the Revise Your Item link.
This link appears only if you’ve signed in to eBay. If the item hasn’t received any bids, a message appears on your screen to indicate that you may update the item.
You’re taken to the Revise Your Item page, which outlines the rules for revising your item’s listing. At the bottom, the item number is filled in.
Click Revise Item.
You arrive at the Revise Your Item page which looks uncannily like the Create a listing form.
Scroll down to the area you’d like to change.
Make changes to the item information.
When you’ve finished making changes, click the Continue button at the bottom of the page.
A summary of how your newly revised listing appears in search is on your screen. If you’ve incurred any additional fees, the amount is listed at the bottom of the page. If you want to make more changes, click the Back button of your browser or the Edit Listing link.
When you’re happy with your revisions, click Submit Revisions.
Making changes in the last 12 hours
If your auction is up and running and already receiving bids, you can still make some slight modifications to it. Newly added information is clearly separated from the original text and pictures. In addition, eBay puts a timestamp on the additional info in case questions from early bidders crop up later.
After your item receives bids, eBay allows you to add to your item’s description. If you feel you were at a loss for words in writing your item’s description — or if a lot of potential bidders are asking the same questions — go ahead and make all the additions you want. But keep in mind that whatever you put there the first time around stays in the description as well.
Follow the same procedure for making changes before bidding begins. When you arrive at the Revise Your Item page, you can only add to your description, add features, or add further payment information.
Always check your My eBay messages to see whether bidders have questions about your item. If a bidder wants to know about flaws, be truthful and courteous when returning emails. As you get more familiar with eBay (and with writing descriptions), the number of email questions will decrease. If you enjoy good customer service in your day-to-day shopping, here’s your chance to give some back.
Organizing your sales
To find out which category will pay off best for your item, run a search and then select the Sold Listings option. See how many fixed-price listings and auctions of that item are running for your item (and whether people are bidding or buying them). Then click the Sold Listings on the left of your search results. Sort the results by Price and Shipping: Highest First, and then look over the most successful transactions to see which categories they’re listed in. For more information on eBay’s search, visit Book 2, 
Before you begin, you have to be registered with eBay as a seller. If you still need to do so, go to Book 1, 
For best positioning in search results, be sure to select the appropriate category for your item. If you pick an unrelated category, you run the risk of your listing being removed from the site as a listing violation.
In my travels, I meet so many interesting people with lots of great stories about their forays on eBay. One of my favorites is the story told to me by a lovely lady in Salt Lake City. She brought to my class her biggest eBay bargain. She won a Shaquille O’Neill–signed basketball on eBay for 1 cent! Yep, one red cent (plus shipping). I’ll bet that seller had a rude surprise when his listing closed! Oh, you want to know why such a valuable collectible sold for so little? The seller couldn’t spell Shaquille and listed the all-important name in the item’s title as Schackeel.
