Seller Guide

The best eBay sellers know the platform inside and out.

We give sellers the platform, solutions, and support they need to grow their businesses and thrive. We measure our success by our customers' success.

We’ve conducted research which shows that small businesses in Britain without digital infrastructure, like a presence on an online marketplace, are missing out on £20.2 billion in revenue each year*.

This equates to £20,000 in increased revenue or efficiency savings per business, across all sectors from retail to manufacturing.

Hear more from our sellers who have successfully grew their business on eBay.

Dan: From modifying his own car to creating a £1 million businessDan Coton has always had a love of cars and it didn’t take long for the young entrepreneur to turn this passion and his talent for designing car parts into a profitable business.

*Research conducted with DevelopmentEconomics, commissioned by eBay

Back in 2011, I was working at my dad’s engineering company. I would make parts for my own car and for friends, who were always asking me to make small components for them. I started to get more and more requests, so I decided to put a few items on eBay, to see what might happen.

I was only 19 years old at the time, and the business world seemed very daunting. Thankfully, the eBay platform is easy to use, so I soon got to grips with managing orders and stock. Within a few months I was offering around 50 products and achieving 30-40 sales a day.

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Dipesh: Inspired by his son to kick off a new football businessIt was seeing his young son struggle to kick a football that inspired Dipesh Morjaria to think there had to be a better way.

Hannah: Overcoming illness and prejudice to do business her wayFor party games entrepreneur, Hannah Daragon, becoming a seller on eBay gave her a purpose and reason to go on, when her life had hit rock bottom.

Running my own business on eBay has given me the flexibility and work-life balance I craved, so I am able to spend quality time with my wonderful little boy. I don’t take phone calls or do any business on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Those days are for my son.

For me, Hannah’s Games is so much more than just a way to earn money, it’s got me through the good times and the bad, and will always have a special place in my heart.

The next thing I needed was a route to market and eBay was an easy way to get in front of a consumer audience.

In less than two years, I have gone from having a handful of orders each week, to making around 700+ sales a month. Alongside my eBay shop I have a website, but my sales on eBay have always been far greater. I have found the marketplace to be a very simple, yet effective tool for selling products online and it continues to be one of my main sales drivers.

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Inside the eBay economyThis glimpse into the eBay economy will show you how our diverse community of small businesses have used eBay to thrive and grow.

eBay millionairesThere are almost 2,000 eBay sellers across the top five European countries turning over £1m or €1m, and this number – like their profits – continues to rise.

In recent years, the number of millionaires in the UK has grown by 49.7%, going from 443 to 663 sellers.

Seller hotspotsThanks to the internet, business doesn’t just happen in big cities. Looking at all eBay businesses active in 2016, we have identified the top hotspots for eBay businesses, per 10,000 people in each local population.

East Midlands

North West

West Midlands

Yorkshire and the Humber

East of England

New seller snapshot 2016From new business registrations on eBay last year, we can see that each country tells a different story about shopper priorities and small business successes across Europe.

In the UK, the top category in 2016 was Clothing, Shoes & Accessories with 26.3%.

26,3% Clothes, Shoes & Acc.

22.9% Electronics

20.2% Home & Garden

8.6% Collectables

7.4% Parts & Accessories

6.7% Lifestyle

5.4% Business & Industrial

2.5% Media

2013 443

2016 663

2018 1000+

Why sell on eBay?Benefits for sellers

Tap into our audience of 171 million active buyers around the worldWhatever the size of your business, we can help you become a global online retailer.

*Source: eBay 2015 B2C sellers over $10k in sales.

190 countries

16%average increase in sales volume through international trade

21eBay sites worldwide

8languages

90%of UK's eBay sellers sell internationally*

Have you completed your registration?

Here’s what you should do to get started:

Go to Account Settings and link a PayPal account to your eBay account.

Confirm payment method by accepting the terms of use on PayPal.

Confirm your addresses in My eBay: The ‘Post from’ address is where your items will be sent from. The ‘Return’ address is where returned items will be sent.

Create an eBay Shop: choose a subscription based on your business needs.

You're now ready to start listing.

Basic settings

Selling toolsThere are many ways you can manage, streamline and keep track of your eBay listings.

MIP

The Merchant Integration Platform (MIP) is an easy-to-use, feed-based selling platform for small businesses and enterprise merchants. It lets you easily and efficiently upload your inventory to eBay in bulk and then quickly and efficiently manage your orders.

Supports industry-standard CSV and XML feed formats

SKU-based inventory management

Easily manage orders and order fulfillments

Supports custom feed formats

Supports multiple feed types (product, order fulfillment, etc.

Reduced time to onboard

Easily scale inventory as your business grows

Automatic daily inventory reports

Unpaid Item Assistant

Unpaid item assistant automates the process of opening and closing unpaid item cases, leaving you with more time to run your business.

Marketing toolsOur marketing tools can help you reach more customers and encourage them to buy more of your products.

Seller Hub Promotions*

Running promotions is a great way to attract more customers and increase basket size. Using Seller Hub Promotions can help set your items apart from your competitors. There are two types of promotions you can set up:

Order Discount

• Cross promote - get more visibility for your inventory

• Grow order size - offer discounts for bigger orders

• Reduce postage costs - save on postage costs by posting multiple orders in one package

• Increase revenue - encourage buyers to buy more items at a time

Sale Event + Markdown

• Increase sales - sell more items quickly

• Introduce new items - drive sales of a new stock line

• Attract new buyers - find new customers with a great offer

• Clear inventory - close out old lines to make space for new ones

*Only available for eBay Shop subscribers.

Seller Coupons

• Coupons allow you to provide offers to a specific group of buyers instead of store-wide offers

Seasonal Retail Moments

Plan ahead, push your inventory and grow your business by offering promotions in line with seasonal retail moments.

Communications Preferences Make sure you're subscribed to our email and phone communications so we could keep in touch. Whether it’s about an exclusive promotion, online marketplace trends, product updates, selling tips, or just great news, you’ll be the first to hear from us!

Seller Centre Your essential selling guide to find practical tips, clear guidelines and services to help you successfully list and sell items on eBay.

Help & Contact Find the answers to your questions with eBay Customer Service. You can call us, request a call back or chat with us. Alternatively, you can search our Help pages by topic, keywords or phrases. We're here to help.

Keep in touch eBay announcements Get the latest eBay news.

eBay community Join our vibrant community of sellers to chat, ask questions, and exchange advice and tips

Subscribing to an eBay Shop gives you these benefits:

Inclusive fixed price and auction-style listings

Monthly credit to spend on listing upgrades and Promote your listings (Featured and Anchor Shops only).

A voucher each month to spend on eBay-branded packaging supplies (Featured and Anchor Shops only).

Powerful tools to create a unique shopfront that captures your brand.

Access to eBay marketing tools

Get the most out of your eBay shop

Seller Hub: Manage your listings and ordersSeller Hub* provides a complete and updated view of how your business is performing so you can make quicker, better decisions.

Listing items, individually or in bulk, is faster and easier

Learn how buyers find your products, see your daily sales trends and identify your top performers

The Orders tab provides quick access to your order status, with details on current returns and cancellation requests

Customise your dashboard to keep track of your monthly selling limits, stay up-to-date with the latest eBay announcements and more

*Available after you list your first item.

FAST & FREE postageFree postage and fast delivery are often the final consideration for buyers when deciding to buy.

Posting items to buyersGetting your products to their new owners quickly and reliably is a key part of running your business. Find the postage solution that is right for you.

eBay delivery powered by Shutl – eBay’s hassle-free delivery service that helps you send your sold items by printing postage labels straight from eBay at great rates. Offering a range of 1 day and 2-3 day services via a range of trusted delivery partners:

• Royal Mail• Hermes• CollectPlus

• UPS• DPD• UK Mail

Find out more

Offer free postage: Items with postage included rank better in Best Match searches and are likely to get more visibility than listings with high postage costs

Manage postage using business policies: Save time by adding your preferred postage, payment and returns options to business policies that you can apply to your listings.

The FAST & FREE logo appears on listings when all the following conditions are met for your default postage options:

Estimated delivery of the item is 3 working days or fewer (from receipt of cleared payment), based on the dispatch time and postage service you've specified.

You offer free postage & packaging

You don't offer collection in person

Both the item and the buyer are located in the UK, with the exception of the Hebrides, Shetland and Scilly Islands

The listing isn't in Classified Ad format

Seller performance standardsMillions of buyers and sellers around the world put their trust in our marketplace. In return, we reward sellers that give the best customer service and keep their customers coming back for more.

Shop by Product: a new experienceWe know that buyers like to compare their options when they shop, and so as part of our improvement work we're introducing a new ‘product-based’ shopping experience where groups of similar listings are displayed together using the eBay catalogue.

What you need to know:

The eBay catalogue is a library of product information that helps buyers and sellers reach a common understanding of what is for sale. It’s been built for you to use, so that you can quickly associate your listings with existing product details.

Listing using the eBay catalogue will be required for some products in order to provide buyers with streamlined, product-focused search results.

Maintain and grow your seller levelWe evaluate your performance on the 20th day of each month based on how satisfied your customers are with their purchase and your service, and the results determine your seller level from the following:

• eBay Top-rated Seller

• Above Standard

• Below Standard

eBay Top-rated Sellers are rewarded with exclusive benefits, such as higher ranking in search results and eligibility for discounts on final value fees.

Do you sell internationally?

90%of British companies on the eBay marketplace export to another country

209total number of markets reached by British exporters

20is the average number of foreign destination destinations per exporter

8%of sales to other EU countries

3 ways to sell internationally

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2

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Basic international sellingSell on eBay.co.uk with international postage options offered.

Advanced international sellingSell directly on international eBay sites, e.g. eBay.de.

Global Shipping ProgrammeWith the Global Shipping Programme (GSP) international postage is just as simple as selling to someone in the UK.

Go globaleBay is helping to create a new era of opportunity for European small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Top 5 destinations for exports

1.2.3.4.5.

United States

Australia

Germany

France

Italy

Be brilliant at the basicsEvery sale starts with a listing. Let us guide you through all of our best practices for creating listings that sell.

Listing optimisation essentialsImprove buyer confidence and make your items easy to find.

Take advantage of our selection of advanced listing features that can help you get more visibility on your listings.

Access a suite of selling tools, both from eBay and third-party providers, than can help give you the edge over the competition.

Make your listings mobile-friendlyWith more than half of all transactions on eBay viewed on a mobile device prior to purchase, you may be able to improve sales by making your listings mobile-friendly.

Include product identifiers and item specifics to ensure your listings will be displayed when buyers search using filters.

Use our listing fields to include your postage, payment and returns information.

Keep the formatting simple for easy readability. Use bullet points in items descriptions so information is easy to scan.

Promote your listingsAs a Shop subscriber, you can increase the chances of making a sale by creating ad campaigns to promote your best listings in prominent locations on eBay where buyers are actively shopping for related items.

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3

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Start your campaignJust choose the listings you want to promote with ads on eBay.

Pay when you sellNo sale, no fee. When you get a sale from a click on your ad, you pay your chosen ad rate.

Choose your ad rateYou're in control. Choose the percentage of the item's sale price you want to pay if your item sells.

Buyer-friendly returns can pay offOffering a generous returns policy doesn't just make your buyers happy - it could help you sell more.

Tips on how to set up your returns policy:

Offer free returns: A majority of online shoppers specified free returns as one of the most important considerations when making their purchase decisions

Offer a 30-day or 60-day returns duration: Enable your buyers to make more confident purchase decisions while you benefit from more seller protection.

Use Click & CollectOffer your buyers the choice to collect from over 1,000 eBay Collection Point locations across the UK.

Ultimate convenience – buyers collect locally, at a time that suits them.

Entice buyers with a great shopping experience and a vast choice of collection locations.

Don't miss out - be part of one of the UK's fastest growing delivery channels.

Free and easy to qualify – we'll automatically add a Click & Collect option for free to all of your eligible listings.

Offering Click & Collect may make your items surface higher in search results

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After the sale When your item arrives in your customer’s hands it’s a key branding opportunity.

Protect your items, protect yourself: Choose eBay branded packaging

You can personalise with your own brand or use ours

Posting your items in colourful, eBay-branded packaging not only helps you protect your items but also creates a high standard delivery experience which can, in turn, strengthen buyer trust. This could result in repeat purchases and positive feedback for your business. Give it a try.

Global Shipping Programme (GSP)With the Global Shipping Programme (GSP) international postage is just as simple as selling to someone in the UK.

All you need to do is list your item on ebay.co.uk and post the item to a UK Shipping Centre, and we’ll take care of customs clearance, tracking and all the rest.

You don’t have to pay anything extra - just the cost of posting the item to the UK Shipping Centre.

Your package

1Global Shipping Centre

2The world

3

Translating your listingsWebInterpret can help you you manage your international business including foreign language customer service.

Overview of service

Detail

How it works

Translation: Human (for titles, categories & item specifics) and Machine (for descriptions).

Listing creation: An online platform that lists your new inventory internationally and synchronises stock levels for your listings.

Human and machine translation tailored for e-commerce through an online platform that connects directly with your eBay account. Your top selling items are selected, translated and listed directly on international eBay sites.

In addition, your messages from eBay buyers are also translated through the platform.

Call and coaching with your international growth specialist.

Join a webinar to learn how to use the platform.

Detailed analysis of your international listing performance and opportunities for growth every week.

If you continue you can convert to the paid service.

Would you like us to recommend some partners?

Put your everyday tasks in expert handsThere are a number of service providers that specialise in helping you sell successfully on eBay.

Our recommended service providers offer a range of services in:

Start taking advantage of these service providers to grow your business on eBay.

Our service providers include:

Fitment Adoption Listing Optimisation

Fulfilment

Full Service Provider

International Sales

Customer Service

Inventory and Order Management

Get insights with our Sourcing GuidanceLearn what will sell in the next few months at what price.

Search for items by keyword or by browsing a list of categories. Plus, browse listings you’re following, your categories, or recently viewed items.

Select an item to view a page of metrics, including seasonal shopping activity and the trending price over the past year.

Analyze the top selling opportunities by score. The higher the score on a specification, the higher the demand.

Find the scores of specific items by selecting variables like product line or color, and click Apply.

Product reviews

* Source: Econsultancy, July 8, 2015

Product reviews are ratings and comments submitted by buyers who have purchased an item. Based on information we have for your listings such as product identifiers, we match listings to reviews across the site for the same item. The more information we have about what you’re selling, the better we can show and match your items to the buyers who are looking for them.

Benefits of product reviews:

Give buyers deeper insight into your product by letting other buyers do the talking

Clarify information about the product and reduce doubts or confusion

Keep buyers on the site, resulting in an average 18% uplift in sales*

Business growth webinarsLearn with us as eBay experts share their advice on growing your business.

Index

Seller stories 3

Inside the eBay economy 5

Why sell on eBay? 6

Have you completed your registration? 7

Basic settings 8

Selling tools 9

Marketing tools 10

Keep in touch 11

Get the most out of your eBay shop 12

Seller Hub 12

Posting items to your buyers 13

FAST & FREE postage 13

Seller performance standards 14

Shop by Product 14

Do you sell internationally? 15

Go global 16

3 ways to sell internationally 16

Be brilliant at the basics 17

Make your listings mobile-friendly 17

Promote your listings 18

Buyer-friendly returns can pay off 18

Use Click & Collect 19

After the sale 19

Global Shipping Programme (GSP) 20

Translating your listings 21

Would you like us to recommend some partners? 22

Put your everyday tasks in expert hands 23

Get insights with our Sourcing Guidance 24

Product reviews 25

Business growth webinars 26

Seller Guide