Eight top tips for using eBay

Rosalind Kent reveals her top tips for selling on eBay.

Lots of you will be familiar with eBay, and are probably feeling pretty jaded with it due to increasing fees, decreasing sales and depleted profit margins.

Being charged for everything from listing and final value fees, to Paypal costs can really wear you down, and whether you are a small private seller or a trader, you are probably left wondering whether to bother carrying on using eBay.

When I began using the site I, like many others, signed up to the highly popular, free and user-friendly website, Auctiva. This was an invaluable site to the small and large seller alike and provided some great selling tools, such as the ability to schedule your auction for free (research has shown that auctions ending on a Sunday or Thursday evening do the best), include unlimited photographs, and use templates to make your auction look more professional.

So, what went wrong? Auctiva started charging for its services. These fees added to an already lengthy list of charges, and unfortunately made the continued use of the site unfeasible for many.

For the larger-scale trader, I would probably advise that you continue using Auctiva, as the fees may be worth your while if you have a fairly high turnover. There are other similar websites, such as Vendio or Inkfrog, that offer a free service (as long as you stay with their most basic packages) but feedback suggests that they are not as user-intuitive as Auctiva.

For small time sellers like myself I have a few free and easy tips.

1) Is it worth it?

All manner of items are not selling on eBay as well as they used to, so it’s a good idea to check if there is a market for your item. To do this, click on Advanced Search (next to the ordinary Search button), type in the item, check the box below marked Completed Listings and it will show what these items sold for. Then decide if the 99p you might get is worth the work!

2) Get the title and description right

You only get a limited number of characters, so don’t waste them with L@@K or WOW! Just put in succinct, fact-rich item descriptions such as size, type, colour, brand etc. and get to grips with ‘eBay Speak’ (e.g. BNWT – Brand New With Tags.)  

Plain old common sense and honesty should dictate how you write your descriptions; most importantly, be truthful about faults and defects.

3) Look out for freebies

Look out for free listing days. Although you will still pay a final value fee if the item sells, you will not be stung for charges if it fails to raise a bid. For some categories, if you start an auction at 99p or below it will automatically be listed for free anyway. I heartily advise starting the bidding for ALL items, regardless of value, at 99p as it will create more of an interest.

4) Photographic evidence

For some categories, you will still get a number of free photos. Usually you will just get one free, and will have to pay 12p per shot for all the rest. Including as many pictures as possible is key to getting a buyer and you can get round this problem by ‘self hosting’ your photographs using a website such as Photobucket.

5) Scheduling

Either sign up for one of the sites like Vendio, that still offer free scheduling (but be very careful about being sucked into paying for the service), or simply make sure you are placing your items on a seven day auction on a Sunday evening so that they end on a Sunday evening. If you are selling a low value item, the 6p scheduling fee just isn’t worth it.

6) Templates

You can find websites that provide HTML templates for free with a simple Google search. I eventually worked out how to use them, and here’s how: cut and paste the HTML code for your chosen template (have a look at this Free Template Site for inspiration) and insert into the eBay description field, having clicked on the HTML tab at the top of the Description box first.

Next, click over to the Standard tab, to the left of the HTML one, to see your chosen design. You can then add item descriptions, postage costs etc. into the relevant sections.

7) Think Big!

As well as small items, I branched out and sold two cars. If buying a car though eBay, the old caveat emptor warning should be heeded (consumer rights in a private sale like this are considerably lessened), but selling is another thing altogether.

I was entirely honest about any faults, took detailed pictures and had a full service history and up-to-date MOT.

I did my research, looked up the vehicles on Glass’s Guide, put on a realistic reserve price and started off the bidding wars at 99p each. I ended up selling them both for considerably more than the dealers I had canvassed were offering. It is not all doom and gloom on eBay, after all!

8) Be an eco-warrior!

There’s a market for almost anything on eBay, and if you are disposing of something then consider selling it instead. I sold an old freezer that was cosmetically imperfect but still worked. It went for £50 and the buyer collected it from my door. Essentially I had made some cash, and saved myself a trip to the tip.

So, the moral of this story is that it is possible to be ecologically friendly, preserve precious landfill space and make a quid or two in the process. What more of a ‘feel good’ factor could you ask for?

Of course, ebay isn’t the only option. Have a read of Sell For Less: The Alternatives To eBay to find out more.

Finally, whether you’re buying or selling, make sure you know how to avoid being scammed on eBay. You’ll thank us later!