Welcome to part 2 of my eBay for beginners series!  This series is intended for my readers who know little-to-nothing about using eBay (like me, when I started out).  If you’re a seasoned eBay user, I’d love for you to share your tips in the comments below. If you haven’t seen part 1, click on over to see how to know what your stuff is worth.

So you’ve done your research and decided to give the ol’ eBay a try.  Your next task is to format your listing.

If you’ve never done this before, the thought of it may seem daunting.  Trust me, I know. The reason it can be overwhelming is because eBay gives you a lot of decisions to make. In many ways this is a good thing, but the problem is knowing which decisions are the right ones to make.

In this post, I’ll tell you the decisions that we make on our listings.  I’m not saying these are 100% “correct.”  There might even be better ways to do it.  But this is just what has worked for us and works for our circumstances.  I did a quick comparison, and saw that our items have sold an average of 18% higher than other similar items.

Since there are so many decisions to be made, and some of them don’t matter as much, I’ll be presenting these in order of importance, with the most important ones listed first.

KEY DECISION #1: AUCTION vs. FIXED PRICE

Choosing the Auction format allows buyers to bid on your loot until the auction ends, with the goods going to the highest bidder.

Fixed Price format doesn’t mess around with bidding, and instead lets you set the price you want to sell it for, and the buyer can buy it instantly.

Our Choice: AUCTION!

Here’s why:

• It doesn’t put a glass ceiling on your price, meaning your item can sell for higher than you expect.
• The item always sells, if you’ve done your research before listing it of course.  With a fixed price, there’s a chance you’ll never find the right buyer.
• It’s exciting – for the buyer and the seller!

The Fixed Price method has its merits if you have an absolute amount you won’t go below, and if you’re willing to wait as long as needed for your item to sell.  But for eBay tourists like us who are itching to get in and get out as fast as possible, the auction is the way to go.

KEY DECISION #2: STARTING BID

Every auction needs to start somewhere.

Our Choice: 99¢, for every item, no matter what.

This may sound scary, but think about it for a minute.  If you were shopping around for something specific, say an original Bob’s Big Boy statue, and you found one starting at 99¢, wouldn’t you pay attention? And at the prospect of getting a Bob’s Big Boy at a lower price than those listed for a fixed price of $1000, might you stop looking around and only watch this one item?  And is it possible that after watching this item for a whole week you might become obsessed with winning it, which might possibly lead to a last minute bidding frenzy resulting in you paying $999.99 for it?

This is the psychological theory we’re working with.  A few of our items have sold for more than their retail costs.

KEY DECISION #3: BUY IT NOW and RESERVES

Buy it Now is an option you can add to let a buyer to skip the bidding process and purchase it straight up for the price you determine.  This option is only good however until the first bid is placed.  After that, Buy it Now goes away.

A Reserve is an extra safety measure you can add if you’re starting your bidding low (99¢, right?), but you don’t want it to sell below a certain price (say $20 is your minimum).  The buyer will see a notification that your listing has a reserve, but eBay doesn’t publish that amount.  It’s your little secret.

Our choices: No and No.

Setting a Buy it Now is similar to showing your cards.  You’re telling any potential buyers what you’re expecting to get for your stuff.  And there’s always a chance you could be selling yourself short.

Reserves probably aren’t that bad, but we’ve never bothered with them.  There’s a chance that a no reserve auction could be more appealing to buyers, since they know they aren’t wasting their time waiting for an unknown dollar amount to be met, but I don’t have any evidence to verify this.

Note: the default listing leaves reserves out, but if you want to add one you have to do it here…

KEY DECISION #4: WHEN TO START YOUR AUCTION

I read an article once in which eBay executives divulged that timing is everything for eBay success.  First of all, time of year is important.  The busiest traffic times for eBay are in the fall months leading up to Christmas, and just after the first of the year when everyone is spending their Christmas money.  Obviously we’re not concerned with the time of year windows right now, but it’s interesting to note.

Second of all, time of the week is an important factor too. Sales that end on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning receive more bids than any others according to the article.

Our choice: 2:30 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday.

This way our west coast buyers will be home from church and done with lunch, and our easterners won’t quite be starting dinner yet.  And we can get everything packed up for shipping on Sunday night after the sale is done.

To do this you’ll need to utilize eBay’s scheduling feature.  This option likes to hide in the same place as the reserve, in case you can’t find it.

It’ll cost you an extra 10¢ in fees, but it’s worth it if it gets you top dollar, no?

Whew! This post is getting long.  But the good news is we’re through the meat and potatoes portion of the eBay listing!  The rest is just the green beans, so I’ll keep it brief.

DECISIONS OF MODERATE IMPORTANCE

How many photos to post? As many as is needed to show off the item, but not too many since eBay charges you per photo.

TIP: hang a painter’s drop cloth in the sunniest corner of your house for the perfect photo backdrop.

How do I title my listing? With as much detail as possible.  Fill the whole space available.  Try using all caps to make it stand out.  If you have extra room, use descriptors like New! Mint! GS! (good shape).

How many categories should I use? One is usually good.

What about my description? Again, use lots of details.  Make it personal – talk about how you used the item and why you’re selling it.  Be honest about the condition.  If you’re selling an electronic or something with a specific model number, utilize eBay’s stock descriptions.  Mention that there’s no reserve price.

Should I pay extra to have a Designer Theme (pretty background)? Nah.

How do I ship it? Using the most economical option available (typically parcel post based on weight).

TIP: Pack your item in its box and weigh it before you begin your listing.  eBay can calculate the shipping cost with just that information.

BONUS TIP: A $2 roll of painter’s paper makes great packing material.

What countries should I sell to? That’s up to you.  If it’s a small item we’ll typically offer it to all English-speaking countries.  If it’s large, only US and Canada.

What payment methods should I take? Paypal, baby.

Should I allow returns? Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t, we go with our guts.  But if we do allow returns, we give them a 7 day window to decide.

How long should my auction be? 7 days is pretty standard.  We used 10 days once when we wanted one of our auctions to start right after a similar auction ended in hopes of catching those bidders.

 

So there we have it! In the beginning, setting up your listing can be a long process, but after a few runs through you’ll be selling like a pro. Be sure to utilize eBay’s help center whenever you need to. It explains everything in detail, and they provide great resources for buyers and sellers.

If I didn’t cover something here, either it’s not important, or I don’t know about it. :)  That’s where you all come in, you eBay experts out there.  Got anything else to add?  What works for you?

PS: If I had a ton of money I’d totally have one of these in my backyard.  Guess what the starting bid was on this one…

That’s right, 99¢.

(Disclaimer: I’m not in any way affiliated with eBay, nor am I an expert. Just sharing what’s worked for us in the past in hopes it helps you too.)

Thank you to Funny about Money for featuring this post in the Carnival of Personal Finance

You might also enjoy these related posts:

1. eBay for Beginners: What Is My Stuff Worth?
2. I have eBay-itis