Eight Step eBay Sales Plan

As long as you're at least 18 years old, you can be a student, the CEO of eBayor a trash collector...

- you can still sell on eBay. You don't need any experience inbusiness. You just need to follow the rules, gather good feedback by being honestand responsive, and sell items that people want

- the kinds of things that merchantshave depended on throughout the ages. First, you need to start by registering as an auction seller. eBay makes you registeras a seller even if you are already a registered eBay buyer. You can use the sameusername and password; the main purpose is to put your credit card on file so eBaycan charge it if necessary. The following steps give youa miniature version of the process described in detail in subsequent articles so youcan begin the process of selling on eBay.

Decide What to Sell

Sometimes, it seems like you can sell anything on eBay. Some people certainly tryto sell oddball, weird, tasteless, or even illegal materials. eBay quickly removes themost offensive things. But if you are trying, as this article assumes, to develop anongoing eBay sales effort, you need to identify materials that eBay customers areactually going to bid on and buy on a consistent basis. Based on what I've learnedand been told by longtime sellers, you need to choose items that:

- You like to sell Choose things that you know and love, and that you know well enough that you can come up with reasonable reserve and Buy It Now prices. You'll be working with these items for years at a time; don't sell clothing if you are really interested in sports equipment and collectibles, for instance.

- People actually want Shop around on eBay and see which items get bids and which don't. Don't waste your time buying, and then reselling, merchandise that just isn't desirable to begin with.

- Are easy to ship Keep in mind that you'll not only be buying merchandise and hauling it home, but that you'll need to photograph it, pack it up, and probably haul it to a shipper.

- You have room to store Sellers who deal on eBay on a regular basis soon need to buy merchandise on a regular basis, too. The question of where and how to store that stuff can become a problem. Sellers have given up their basements, garages, and eventually rented warehouse space just to store the merchandise they're planning to sell in the future. In my experience, the items that sell best on eBay are ones that are offbeat and that appeal to specialists or collectors. Items also are more likely to sell if you include more than one good-quality photo and if you write honest descriptions.

Choose One or More Categories

What you sell also involves decisions about where to sell

- which one of eBay'shundreds of auction categories is right for your particular item. If you decide tospecialize in a particular type of item, you might find that certain categories becomeplaces that you frequent on a regular basis. Getting to know the category in whichyou're going to deal is a good idea

- get to know who the big players are in a category,and study what they sell and how they describe what they have. Don't try to copywhat they do

- rather, pick items that are slightly different and put your own personalspin on your descriptions so you can attract your own customers.

Enlist the Help of Friends and Relatives

What to sell, and how many items to sell, also depends on whether you are goingto do the work yourself or whether you're going to develop a team of assistants. Selling on eBay is ideal for two or more people

- two spouses, two domesticpartners, two friends, or two relatives. You're sure to have some nieces, nephews,or cousins around who can help you with packing and shipping

- or photographingor doing other computer work with which you're uncomfortable. Collecting and then selling dolls, action figures, cards, or other goodies canbe a great family activity. Your kids can keep you company and help you shop forthe most desirable collectibles and keep you informed about the latest trends. Theycan help look up addresses, affix labels, and relieve some of the burden of shippingthings out.

Set the Price

You don't always need to worry about setting a price at all on eBay. It depends onhow you decide to sell.

- Starting Bid This is the price at which bidding starts.

- Reserve Price This is the lowest price at which you will commit to sellsomething. If bids don't reach the reserve price, you don't have to sell. Usually,the reserve price is secret, but some sellers do reveal the reserve price of anitem right in its description.

- Buy It Now Price If you want to sell something at a fixed price, you canspecify it, either in addition to placing the item at auction, or as an alternativeto an auction.

- eBay Stores price If you have enough positive feedback, you can set upan eBay store: a page where you list items on eBay for a reduced, fixedprice for 30 days. It's a great place to unload items that didn't sell the firsttime or to find another way to sell stock from your store if you have one. Find out more at http://www.stores.ebay.com. Many auction sellers don't worry about reserve prices at all. They simply put astarting bid of $1 or so on an item and let the marketplace determine the price. Therisk, of course, if that you might lose money on what you sell without a reserve

- you could conceivably pay $10 for a lamp and sell it on eBay for a high bid of $6if you don't put a reserve of, say, $15 on the item. On the other hand, items that areadvertised as having no reserve price do tend to attract more attention than thosewith a reserve, because bidders are attracted by the certainty that the item will sell and the possibility that it will sell at a bargain price. If the seller loses a few dollarson one particular item, he or she will probably make it up on others that are soldwithout reserve and that attract lots of bids.

Provide Good Online Photos

As much as I would like to think that words are the most persuasive mediumaround, I have to admit that photos are probably the most important sales featureyou can include with your merchandise. Items that are put online without anyphotos just aren't going to get as many bids as they could. There's no excuse not toinclude photos, either, because the range of options for capturing digital images isgrowing all the time. Digital cameras and scanners are growing more affordable, too. Don't be stingy with creating and posting photos of your sales items. Often,bidders will ask you for more photos if you haven't included enough to begin with. You'll get to know how many you should include. There's no rule about how manyphotos you should include of a particular object; as a general rule, however, two tosix photos taken from different angles is a good range. Often, wristwatches needmultiple photos in order to show all the different features.

Pile On the Information

If you run a brick-and-mortar business, you'll probably be surprised by the importantrole descriptions play in making sales on eBay. After all, in a store, you place youritems in the window or on a shelf and put a tag on them. Perhaps the tag identifiesthe item and provides some basic information about it, perhaps not. On the Internet, shoppers decide whether or not to buy something based in largemeasure on how much information you provide about it. Yes, the price matters,and yes, the experience and level of trust the seller inspires is also important. Butwhen several similar items are available on eBay, many placed up for auction byreputable sellers, the ones with more information are more likely to get the mostbids. A good description is:

- Concise Good descriptions don't have to be long. They describe sizes,dates, colors, and other characteristics.

- Upbeat Selling means telling prospective buyers why an item is exceptionaland desirable and why they need to have it.

- Complete Along with the good points, be up-front about any cracksor flaws the item has. Also be sure to include model numbers and serialnumbers for collectors who are very knowledgeable and are looking forspecific items to fill out their collections. The best descriptions engage a bidder's imagination and get him or her toenvision how the merchandise might be used, or (if it's a used item) how othersused it in the past.

Give Good Customer Service

Customer service on eBay is a little different than customer service in either a retailstore or an e-commerceWeb site. On eBay, a substantial amount of customer contacttakes place before a sale is made, and it mostly takes the form of answering questionsby people who have either bid on your items or are considering placing a bid. Inaddition, you might be answering questions from individuals who don't turn outto be your actual customers. After all, a single item can have only one high bidderor buyer, but you might receive six, ten, or even (if you're lucky to get this muchinterest) twenty questions from bidders before the sale ends. Customer service oneBay, to a large extent, is a matter of checking your e-mail and responding to it ina professional and prompt manner. After a sale, customer service means making sure the merchandise is sent outquickly and that it arrives in good shape, as described in the next section.

Process Those Sales

Once a sale is completed, you need to communicate to your high bidders or buyersthat you are competent and in charge. Send them an e-mail message to notify themthat they are the winner and congratulate them on making such a good purchase. Provide them with shipping information, and ask them to respond as soon as possible. Once you receive payment, you need to pack your items carefully. Many sellersinclude notes or extra gifts with their items; you don't have to do this, of course,but it helps build goodwill. It's more important to include bubble wrap or othermaterials in the package to protect what you're sending, and to get it out to thepost office or shipper in good time.

Pay Your eBay Fees

Everyone's got to pay the piper for the services they receive, and eBay is no exception. After you sell something on eBay, it's time to pay the fees charged not only for sellingitems but for listing them. eBay calls its listing fees insertion fees, and the fee chargedwhen you actually sell something a final value fee. You have to pay your insertionfee whether you sell your item or not. The fee is based on the higher of two amounts:your starting bid or your reserve price. For instance, if you sell something with astarting bid of $1 and a reserve price of $40, your insertion fee is $1. 10; if you haveno reserve price and your starting bid is $1, the insertion fee is $0. 30.

If your item sells, you then have to pay a final value fee; for reserve price andno reserve auctions, the "final value" is the final bid. On a reserve price auction,the final value fee is only charged if the reserve is met. If the final value is, forexample, $100, the final value fee is about $3.38. eBay makes it quite easy to pay your fees. You can configure your seller'saccount so you pay by check, money order, credit card, or by debiting a checkingaccount. Find out more about configuring your seller's account at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/payfees.html.

Deliver the Goods

The final step in becoming an eBay auction expert is shipping out your merchandisequickly and safely. You've got to find good shipping boxes, pack your items safelywith plenty of packing material if necessary, and get the package to the mailer quickly. You've got to provide your customers with different shipping options. You'll get toknow your local postal employees and mailing services well. The professionalismwith which you ship has a direct impact on the amount of positive feedback youreceive.

Eight Step eBay Sales Plan

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