Seller Tips

UPDATE: We have added a new section to the tips on keywords and title bars, it includes advice on desiging web pages and getting search engine recognition for your pages.

eBay Sellers Tips

Sellers tips are written for the first time eBay user that wants to open an account and begin selling at the Internet’s number one market place. We will provide simple, easy to follow cookbook style steps to become a registered eBay user and seller.

The first two steps cover eBay registration, to skip to selling click here, or use the menu to the left.

• email address
• Your name and mailing address
• Telephone number

You are now ready to go to registration and fill in the required information.  After you have completed the required sections of the form and submitted the information you must go to your email for the confirmation from eBay.  Click or type in the address in the message to access the final form.

• eBay user ID
• eBay Password

Read the eBay user ID tips then choose your user ID carefully.  Choose an ID that best suits you or describes your interest to avoid wanting to change your user ID in the future. (eBay allows you to change your ID once every thirty days)  Fill in the blanks on the form with your user ID and password.  Complete the secret question section and click the continue button.  If the user ID you have selected is already taken you will get a form to re-enter a different ID.  There are millions of registered users on eBay so you may have to try a number of different names until you find an available one you prefer.  Once you have your user ID accepted you are now registered and have joined the largest shopping community known to man. 

Congratulations! Now lets go sell.

Things you will need

• Name
• Address
• Birth date
• Installment and credit card account information

The registration is a three-step process

Step 1: Log in and accept terms.
Step 2: Review or update your eBay contact information.
Step 3: Complete a two-part questionnaire to verify your information

You are now registered and have completed the ID verified process so it’s time to list all of that stuff you know will get bids; but, before you begin you may want to read some of the information available from eBay. A good starting point would be eBay’s basics page where you can find all sorts of information geared for the novice as well as the experienced eBayer. Another invaluable tool is the eBay community library where you can find great reference information for buyers and sellers.

Things you will need:

• The thing you plan to sell
• The category for your item
• A title for your item
• A description of the item
• A photo or digital image of the item (optional but highly recommended)
• The starting price
• Accepted forms of payment
• Shipping information

Your Auction Item

People have sold almost everything on eBay so most anything has auction potential. You may want to check the excluded items that eBay does not allow to insure you can sell your item.

The Category

Placing your item into the proper category is very important to your success as a seller. Often you may want to list in multiple categories for maximum buyer exposure. A good reference to finding the right category is searching eBay for similar items and noting the category. The eBay category guide will help you select the proper category.

Item Title

eBay gives you 45 characters to describe the title of your item. These are the most important 45 characters you will enter into the sell form. A good approach to the title line is to think of common words buyers will use to find your item. Most of the merchandise is found through the eBay search function when buyers look for specific auctions. Don’t waste this valuable space with superfluous words that are not associated with what you are selling. You don’t need to use wording like LOOOOOK HEREEEE!!!!. They are already looking and most buyers don’t use this sort of wording when searching for your auction. Put this space to work for you. Check out other auctions for accepted abbreviations and shorthand. The search engine looks for exactly what is entered. You may want to use both the singular and plural word to describe your item. (ie. Art prints print, casino chips chip). The title bar is the primary means of getting buyers to your auctions. The more hits your auction gets the more likely you are to sell the item. Put some thought into the item title.

Item Description

The description of the item should include answers to anticipated questions buyers will ask. What size, how much does it weigh, the manufacture, special features, does it work, new or used and color are some things you may want to consider. Think about the information you would need to know to purchase this item and include the answers in your description. Accurately describe the condition of your item and include any defects, blemishes, breakage or anything that affects the overall value. Buyers prefer and appreciate the honest seller. Don’t risk the possibility of a negative feedback to make a couple of extra dollars. If you are considering selling on eBay long term and we assume you are then always be truthful in writing your description.

ebay allows HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) when writing the description but that is beyond the scope of this guide. With experience and a how-to book you can learn basic HTML and enjoy a greater degree of creative freedom in designing your auction.

Your item photo

You can sell on eBay without a photo but you will not get the traffic and subsequent sales that you will when a good, in-focus photo is adding to your auction. You can take useable photos of most auction items with a simple low-cost web cam (click here to see samples of photos taken with a low-cost web cam that helped to sell these items on eBay) or you can use your digital camera to get sharp detailed photographs. A 35mm can be used and then you can scan in the images or if a one-dimensional item (ie. Coin, stamp, papers) you can scan the item directly. Try to get in-focus, lighting that shows details and accurate color pics that your buyer will appreciate. Don’t have to apologies for your photos. Keep practicing until even you like the image. We will be adding a photo tips section in the future. eBay is one of the places where a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

Starting price

You can price your item in a variety of schemes to get the buyers to look at the auction. You may want to start low and let it get bid up to the expected level or you can decide what is the minimum you want and start at that price. Depending on what you are selling usually determines the pricing method. A good idea is to try various methods until you find the one that works best for you. eBay now offers fixed pricing and you may want to consider this alternative. You can include a reserve price (the minimum price you will sell for) in the auction but this sometimes has a detrimental effect on traffic and you pay more to list your auction.

Accepted forms of payment

Buyers will appreciate knowing how you expect to be paid after they have bid and won your auction. In the item description you should include the methods of payment you will accept. This will save you some emails. LasVegasVegas has used Paypal as the preferred method of accepting credit cards for more than a year with no problems whatsoever. You may consider signing up with Paypal.

Shipping methods and cost.

Buyers like to know the shipping cost of an item before bidding. Within the description you should write a line stating the cost of delivering the item. Sometimes you may not know the cost to ship without the delivery address. Ask your customers to email a shipping destination address for a shipping quote especially if the item is large, heavy, requires special handling or will be expensive to deliver. You may want to consider offering optional shipping insurance and include the cost if possible.

You now have all the information you need to list your item and let the auction begin. You may now want to take a look at the sell form you need to complete for eBay to get your auction under way.

Sell Form

The First Page

The first sell form screen you see will offer you three choices for your auction. This forum will go through the steps required to list your item at auction with either option of bidding or fixed price. If you qualify, fixed price auctions allow you to sell your item at a fixed price. You have made your decision and click for the second screen.

The second page

The second needs to know the category for your item. We have already covered this so you are prepared to select the category you think best for your auction. You are also given the option of listing in two categories. Find out more about second category. Click for the third screen

The third page

The third screen asks for the item description. The most important 45 characters you write in helping buyers find your auction.
Next, you are offered the option of adding item specifics. Complete this section for greater exposure.
Now you add your description to your auction. Remember that a good description answer obvious questions, honest condition, payment methods you will accept and shipping cost. If you are a good composer and typist you may write your description into the provided text box. It may be easier to use notepad or any word processor to write your description and then cut and paste into the box. You can prepare a number of auctions in advance using this method. Click for the forth page

The fourth page

The fourth page needs to know the duration of the auction. eBay gives you four choices, three day, five day. seven day and ten day. The most common period is seven days.

Next you need to add the starting price of your auction. If you qualify you may want to use the buy-it-now option allowing a buyer to pay this price and end the auction early. We have covered the basics of reserve price so click if you want to add this feature.

You should type in the location of the item. List the city and state where the item is located. This space is an information service for your customers. Knowing the true location allows the buyer to estimate shipping or add to the desirability of the item for sell. Your auctions will look far more professional if you do not use this space to show the networld how witty and clever you are. Complete the additional regional info to take advantage of regional searches.

Adding an image often presents the new seller a seemingly difficult task but it is not difficult at all if you use eBay’s picture services. You have two basic options to add your item image. You can use eBay’s picture service, iPix, or you can use your own host. The beginner auctioneer would be well advised to use the iPix. This easy-to-use service for adding photos is simple and straightforward. Most Internet Providers (IP) allow subscribers to store photos in their free web space. If you are familiar with FTP (file transfer protocol) you should consider hosting your photos and entering the URL (web address) where the pictures are stored. Remember when self-hosting that the image files should be of the smallest size that accurately portrays your item. Smaller (25K or less) image files download fast and don’t make your buyer wait for your auction to load. We will be adding photo tips to the seller’s tips pages in the future. You have added your photo and now have a number of optional features you can add. The gallery option option cost an extra $0.25 and is highly recommended. A small thumb of your chosen photo is added to the listing and is seen by buyers looking at search results when you choose this bargain option. The increased visibility is well worth the small cost. Other options are presented and you should determine if they are right for you. Most of the additional options are extra cost.
You are given the option of adding a free counter. One of your best marketing tools is the counter. You can keep track of the number of hits and the time of day to fine tune future auctions. A great help in finding exactly the right category. Recomended and free. Ready to go to the next page.

The fifth page

The fifth page offers the payment option. The only box you need to check here is the “see item description” box. We are assuming you outlined accepted payment methods in your item description. Recommended and easy.
Next you choose who pays shipping. You, the seller, or the buyer.
For the next question about shipping cost you may enter the actual shipping cost if you know it, otherwise choose the “later” option.
Click on the box provided for the areas you will ship the item. Finally! The last page.

The sixth and final page

This page is a last opportunity to review and correct anything in your auction. You should carefully review the information and assure yourself that it is correct. You can make revisions to an auction after it is listed if no bids have been received: but, it is easier to make any correction now. Most sellers don’t enjoy seeing a glaring error in an auction that has received a bid and cannot be revised. Should this occur eBay offers an option to add to but not alter existing information. After carefully proofing your auction and are now ready to submit. Click the “Submit Listing” button and let the auction begin. A good idea to click on the link offered in the eBay Congratulations! Your-Item-Is-Listed reply and do one final proofing of your auction. Catch a mistake? Correct it with the revise auction link. Satisfied? Yes? Congratulations! You are now a seller in a worldwide market place. Good Luck and Many Bids. We hope some of the rookies that listed the first auction using our tips go on to become a high time eBay power seller.

You should also consider the time of day when listing auctions. Remember, the auction will end at the same time as you list it so don’t choose a time that will have your buyers asleep. The best time to list will depend on the primary market you are selling to. Observe the time of day you have the maximum number of hits and list accordingly.

Many of the most successful eBay sellers use an auction assistance service. A good choice is eBay’s Seller Assistant Pro. The service provides assistance to the seller and offers many convenient tools to assist you in becoming a successful eBay seller. LasVegasVegas auctions are listed using our own proprietary service. You may see one of our typical auctions now. You will note the advanced features of “shipping cost” buttons to give the buyer the exact delivery cost and the “Express Checkout” button that gives the buyer a simple form to enter payment method, shipping insurance and shipping destination. The overall look of our auctions shows what can be done with existing computer technology.

We at LasVegasVegas offer these seller’s tips as a free service. We hope they make your eBay experience a pleasant and successful endeavor. In providing them we have included some of the things we have learned through our selling experience. Our staff has a development program well underway to provide an expanded version of eBay Tips, templates and tools to assist the seller in designing an auction with their own “unique look”. We will include the scripts to add some of the interaction auction features found in our current selling format. All of this information will be available on an easy-to-use low-cost CD.

The eBay Tips are “living documents” that will expand and change as the great Internet Marketplace, eBay, evolves so come back often to check for addition and updates.