Selling Your Stuff

On Ebay

Pros and Cons

What Can I Sell? • Ebay is a great place to sell antiques, handmade items, entertainment, clothes,

and a wide variety of other things. However, some items are prohibited or restricted, so when in doubt, check Ebay’s restricted items list.

• You cannot sell items that may be illegal, such as drugs, most alcohol, personal information, human remains, weapons, slot machines, etc.

• You cannot sell unhygienic items such as used cosmetics, used medical equipment, used underwear, and so on.

• Some items just have restrictions in some cases; for example, used clothing can be sold as long as it is clean and sold as used.

• Beware of selling any item that will come with a contract, such as a cell phone. The sale must abide by state and federal law.

• Beware of selling sensitive items (such as Nazi memorabilia), police items, replica coins or stamps, “knockoff” brands, or plants/seeds

• Check the guidelines for posting valuable items such as fine jewelry—it will need to be in the right category and described properly

If you post a prohibited item, Ebay will remove it and send you an email explaining why. After several of these instances, your account will be blocked.

What about fees?

When you sell an item, there are fees subtracted from your profit. Basic Fees are non-negociable, but Optional Fees can be avoided.

Basic Fees

Insertion Fee: You may be charged a fee for listing an item, generally if you post more than 50 listings per month or under more than one category

Final Value Fee: a percentage of what you make when the item sells, including what the buyer paid for the item, shipping, and any other fees you charged the buyer.

Optional Fees

Advanced Listing Upgrade Fee: Tailoring the look of your listing, changing the auction time to ten days, listing under more than one category, or any other way you might use the Advanced Listing Tool

Supplemental Service Fee: Using the Global Shipping Program or Managed Returns

If you’re extra worried about fees, use Ebay’s Fee Calculator in the Seller Information Center.

Notes on Fees

• If you and a buyer agree to cancel a transaction, or the buyer doesn’t pay/is refunded, you can request a credit for the final value fee, and that money will be returned to you.

• When you offer an international or one-day shipping service and it's selected by your buyer, your final value fee for shipping is calculated using whichever service is less expensive, either: the first domestic service you offered (UPS, USPS, Fedex) or the international/one day service. Avoid offering ONLY international or one day shipping, because offering cheaper options will lower your fees.

• If you sign up to have your item automatically relisted for free, you will be charged

Get Feedback

• Feedback is the reviews other buyers give of how quickly you shipped the item/how good service from you was

• Have a pricey item to sell? Sell your smaller items in order to get some good feedback before you list your treasure. People will be quicker to buy from you, especially an expensive item, if other have had a good experience with you.

Click the “Sell” link at the top of Ebay’s website.

Posting A Listing

Sign in if you have an account.

If you don’t have an account, start here:

Decide whether you’d like to sell your items yourself, or ship them to eBay to sell for you at a lesser profit.

Begin a new listing by describing what you’re selling. Be specific in your listing title and include key details buyers will be interested in.

Only use the Advanced Tool if you’re selling a high volume of items each month.

Listings you have started but not posted will be available to work on here.

Add details, including photos already saved on your computer, the condition of the item, format, and any other details you want to include (signed by the author, handmade, etc.). You don’t need to fill out everything, just what will best describe your item.

“Item specifics” include what the item is made of, size, etc. They are particularly important if the item is unique or handmade.

Enter the minimum price you want people to pay under Starting Price. They will then bid up from there. You can also include a Buy It Now option so people can buy it for a slightly higher fixed price but not have to wait or bid, or have your

item available only via Buy It Now (fixed price, no auction).

*Your listing may not be available for search for up to 24 hours

Buy It Now• Something many people don’t realize about Buy It Now is that when

someone bids on your item for the minimum price you set (or more), Buy It Now disappears. Then the buyer has to participate in your auction to get the item, even if they’re willing to pay way more to have it right away.

• Consider selling your item with only the Buy It Now option, and if it doesn’t sell within a week for the high price, re-list it at auction for your minimum price.

Good Til Cancelled• When considering how long to put up your ad, there is an option

called Good Til Cancelled. Good Til Cancelled relists your ad every 30 days until you or Ebay cancel it, or it sells.

• Advanced listing and insertion fees are applied again every 30 days.

Choose a shipping option. If you choose to have free shipping, be sure to include what it will cost to ship the item in your asking price.

The most profitable option depends—don’t be afraid to compare options.

More On Shipping• Three options: 1). You can let Ebay estimate the shipping cost based on

similar items and charge the customer accordingly, 2.) you can ship the item yourself using whatever option you like and either charge the customer a fee for shipping or make shipping free, or 3.) you can make your item only available for someone to pick up locally.

• Offering free shipping attracts more buyers, but means you’ll need to work the estimated shipping price into your asking price for the item

• Ebay will ship you flat rate boxes and shipping envelopes at no shipping cost if you request it (see their shipping page). USPS, UPS and FedEx have free pickup services, so you may not need to drive to the Post Office

• You can increase the item’s price to include the cost of shipping insurance if you plan to ship something valuable—but there’s no way to add a separate fee for that on Ebay

• Measure and weight items before you list• Be aware: if you’re shipping a large item that doesn’t weigh very much,

shipping companies may charge you the “dimensional weight” rather than the shipping weight.

What Is Fast’N’Free?

If an item is offered with free one-day shipping, Ebay puts their Fast’N’Free label on your listing at no charge. This will often attract more customers.

This email address option may not appear if you don’t use Paypal, a global money transfer service.

Enter the zip code where you’re selling the item, the time it will take you to ship it, and don’t forget to check the box to have your item relisted if it doesn’t sell.

Review your listing and then post it for the public to see.

Look for the box to the side of your listing that confirms that you are not being charged a fee:

What Happens If They Don’t Pay?

• Send a professional message checking in with them (enter their Ebay username on the Seller Problems page if you don’t have their contact info)

• You have between 2 and 32 days after a listing ends to act on a buyer not paying. You’ll want to go to Ebay’s Buyer Resolution Center and open a case. They will contact the buyer. As soon as the buyer pays you (or you communicate and decide to drop the sale) you will go back to the resolution center and drop the case.

• If the buyer doesn’t contact you, you can close the case four days after you open it. You have to close the case to get a refund of your final value fee (charged when you sell an item) and so that the buyer will have an unpaid item recorded on their account (someone who continually buys items and doesn’t pay will have their account suspended by Ebay)

• If you suspect the buyer was buying fraudulently, you can always report the buyer to Ebay on the seller problems page

My Account Is Suspended…

• Find the email that Ebay sent you explaining why your account is suspended. Or check your Ebay account messages box.

• If you have unpaid money on your account, pay it. Your account will be automatically reinstated.

• If you need to reimburse a customer, set up reimbursements.• If you broke a rule, contact Ebay using the link in the email and make your

case for getting your account back. Be specific about how you will change your selling habits in order to improve.

You can get your account unsuspended, often fairly easily. Don’t panic.

Ebay Questions?