How to Sell your Items on eBay
As part of Mrs Everything, I offer a service whereby I take your items away and sell them for you for a commission.
What a genius idea this is. Something that so many people don’t get time to do, and really don’t have the inclination to do it. BUT i’m going to share my secret with you. It’s actually really easy!!! If you have patience!!!
Below i’m going to outline the steps you need to take in order to successfully sell your items online.
Get your ‘Stuff’ together & Categorise it
Dedicate an area/drawer/storage container/cupboard to your eBay stock!!!
If it’s all together, you know what you have, what you need to list, and you’re not searching the house when that item finally sells.
If you’re selling lots, categorise it. I often have hundreds, if not thousands of items live, so I need to know where i’m looking when it’s packing and posting day.
A lot of people sell children’s clothes, so my advice is to categorise by age, then brand.
BUNDLE!!!
Create bundles. eBay buyers love a bundle. They feel like they’re getting a bargain when bidding on several items for not a lot of money, and often loose sight of how much they are bidding as they just want to win. You’d be surprised with how much some of the bundles i’ve sold in the past have gone for. For 2nd hand clothes.
Pricing
Don’t set your sights too high. Start your listing prices low. But if you have a specific expectation, take that into account. People are often unrealistic with the return price they want on something that is basically brand new as it’s only been worn once, or it’s brand new condition. But think about it from a consumer point of view, it’s still second hand (not brand new, no guarantee, no return and refund policy), so they want a bargain. If you paid £50 for it, even asking for 50% can sometimes be unrealistic.
Patience
Be Patient. Just because you list something because you’re short of money this month, doesn’t mean that you’re going to sell it straight away. I have some listings that i’ve had live for over a year, that are brand new, designer, brilliant products that get lost in the Big World Wide Web of eBay.
Algorithms mean that sometimes a particular listing may not even get looked at for weeks at a time. And then all of a sudden, 6 months after I listed it, and relisted it and relisted it, I get a bidding frenzy. There are millions of people selling on eBay, some businesses who pay for their items to be top of the search area, and your items sometimes get lost. But they will go. I promise. You just have to be patient.
Check your competition
Price Check your items. If you search for the item that you’re planning to sell, you can see how much like items have sold for in the past.
- Go to search bar and type in what you’re looking to sell
- Click on Filter
- Click on condition (select New/Used)
- Click on Show More
- Click on ‘Sold items’
- Show results
This will show you the range of prices that your item has sold for over a period of time and how popular it is on eBay. This can give you an idea of where to set your expectations and how other sellers have priced their items. Some people have the confidence to start an item at a starting price of £0.99 and end up selling for £35. But you do risk the chance that your item will sell for £0.99, so be careful with that. Check how popular your item is before you do that!!!
Photographing your Items
When it comes to photographing your item, try to use a nice clean and clear background. I use a white photo backdrop so that there is none of my house in the background. You can use a white sheet or just a wall background too. You only need to highlight the item that you’re trying to sell.
Take lots of pictures from all angles, and ensure that you take pictures of any blemishes, tears and damage.
Make sure you’ve got good lighting.
Be Specific (with your description)
Add as many item specifics as you can. Colour, size, accents etc in the drop down menus. eBay are asking for more and more of these details of late, so the more you add when you list, the better. It also stops lots of questions when your listing goes live.
When you come to the written description of you item, make sure you include any damage/blemishes and be completely honest. eBay buyers want to know EVERYTHING about their purchases even if they are only spending £3.00 for an item that brand new was £30. Let them know that the reason for a low starting price is that it’s damaged or imperfect.
Clothes tip – Armpit to Armpit and Armpit to Hem measurements are absolutely key. Especially with women’s clothes.
Free Advertising!!!
Let them know that you’re selling other items (if you’re listing more than one) by putting a little comment at the end of your description like ‘I’m selling lots of baby clothes (age 2-6), so please check out my other items. And offer Bulk P&P for multiple buys.
AUTO relist
Always check the ‘Auto-Relist’ button. This will give you 7 re-listings. i.e, if your items doesn’t sell in the first auction, it will automatically re-list it 7 more times. I set my auctions for 7 day listings, so therefore, any items unsold will be listed for 8 weeks without me having to do anything.
eBay freebies – Make sure you’re signed up for promo emails
Watch out for 0% Selling fees events. These are few and far between, but can be good to look out for so that you take advantage of selling your items without paying any eBay fees. Yes, that’s right, you can sell for FREE. They usually get announced only a day or 2 in advance of the 4 day event (which usually starts on a Friday and ends of a Monday).
Please remember that these events have T&Cs. Automatic re-listings do not count. They have to be New Listings. Auto Listing thereafter will be charged at the usual rates.
Remember your Fees
eBay fees are 10% (You are invoiced by eBay once a month to pay the fees in one hit, so make sure you account for this when totalling up your profit – you don’t want to get hit with an unexpected debit from your bank account/PayPal account)
PayPal Fees are 2.9% + £0.30p (This gets deducted straight from your PayPal account as soon as you are paid by your buyer, so you don’t need to worry about this as it’s debited as you go along)
Packing your items
Ensure you pack your items properly. If your sold items gets broke or damaged in transit, you’re responsible if you didn’t pack it well.
Postage (Size Matters)
Make sure you weigh your items and check the size of the final package in advance of listing – You need to make sure you charge the right amount or postage to your buyer, otherwise you’re going to be out of pocket.
https://www.royalmail.com/price-finder can help you find your price.
Try to keep your postage costs low. Sending 2nd class standard is one of the cheaper ways to post. And you can still get proof of postage this way. When you take your eBay items to the post office, make sure you keep Proof of Postage and tracking reference receipts because if your parcel goes missing, you need to prove to your buyer that you actually sent the parcel.
Even by sending 2nd class standard postage, you can prove that you that posted your item, and make a claim to Royal mail if your items goes missing. This luckily doesn’t happen too often, but unfortunately does happen.
I have been selling on eBay for 18 years now. And I also buy a lot from there too. My feedback has been 100% my whole selling career.
The reason, because i’m honest, I communicate with my buyers, I add every detail that is possible to my listings, I package my sales in the best way possible and I treat my customers as I would like to be treated as a consumer.
Now go forth and Declutter your wardrobe, Empty your Cupboards of clutter, find your hidden treasure, sell your ‘stuff’.
