Before I started writing this post on 15 Steps To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners, I typed “How To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners” into my Google Chrome’s Browser, and here’s what I’ve found. That phrase, How To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners, is a real popular one. In fact, I saw that there was more than 154,000,000 Websites out there, talking about this very thing.
I did searches for other titles, because I was looking for a good title for this post. Here are some of my findings:
- How do I setup an eBay Account to sell things = 480,000,000 pages
- How to start an eBay Account to sell items = 589,000,000 pages
- How to start an eBay Store = 367,000,000 pages
- How do I setup an eBay Account to start selling items = 467,000,000 pages
- How To Start Selling On eBay = 217,000,000
The reason I wanted to show you those stats before I got started, is because I want you to FULLY UNDERSTAND that there are LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PAGES out there on the Internet, that were there before this one, talking about the same shit! Yet, somehow, you are still reading this one, and I want to say “Thank You“! I don’t consider myself an “Expert” slash “Guru”, but I do know what the hell I am talking about.
All I want to do is post some “Awesome” and “Inspiring” information! I pretty much say in all of my posts, and that is…. I won’t be REGURGITATING BULLSHIT! Now….the reason why we are here is because you want to see what I have to say about 15 Steps To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners. I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna give you my “Straight Up Opinion” about what I think would be the best way to accomplish this. Then I thought to myself…Damn, I’m gonna get mixed in with those HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PAGES out there that are filled with these Fkers… (I know what you are thinking, but I meant Fakers).
Screw it! You’re still with me, so I’m gonna be as simple yet informative as I can. I’M SURE THIS POST IS LONGER THAN YOU EXPECTED IT TO BE. I’D LIKE TO MAKE A SUGGESTION IF YOU ARE ABOUT TO LEAVE, AND THAT IS TO DO NOE OF TWO THINGS;
- BOOKMARK THIS PAGE AND COME BACK LATER, OR
- SIGN UP TO THIS PAGE TO GET MORE “REAL INFORMATION” WHEN YOU RETURN.
15 Steps to Start Selling On eBay for Beginners
Step 1 – Find something to sell or think about what you want to sell. Before you even start to open an Account, decide how you are going to start in the beginning. You could offer used or previously owned items (called Pre-owned within the eBay Community). These could easily be an older Jacket hanging in your closet. One that, is of no use to you anymore. One thing to remember when selling “Opened” or “Used Apparel“, even if it is “New“, is that most people will ask for measurements.
When measuring Shirts, Coats and Jackets, you’ll most likely have to measure Sleeves, Shoulder to Shoulder Width, Total Length, Armpit to Armpit, Chest and Waist. You may have to measure from the Armpit Seam, straight down to the bottom of the Garment.
No, I’m not trying to scare you. It’s not as bad as it sounds and profit margins are really wonderful if you offer “Bulk Load Apparel” or “Designer Brands“, take quality, close up pictures from all angles, add a clear, honest and detailed description along with a nice price, and you’ll have a quick sell. It all depends on what you have to offer. Also, you could start out by selling that old Camera of yours.
Step 2 – Think of a good eBay User ID, a Password and a good Email Account to use. Think of several of them. As you know, we are rapidly becoming a Society of Usernames and Passwords. Your User ID could be “Yellowskyslap” or “Marysdreamsppl” and your Password could be “1NewsLim&fIt@MF” or “thisismyezpasswordalthoughitisverylong”. Make it whatever you’d like.
Step 3 – Start the eBay Registration Process. Click on the “Register” Tab in the upper left corner
and you’ll be taken to the eBay Start Box. Once there, Click on “Register” again and then register for a ”Personal Account”. Input the required information and don’t forget to agree to their User Agreement and acknowledge to reading their User Privacy Notice.
Remember, this is 15 Steps To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners. I’m not gonna go straight to a Business Account. Let’s take Baby Steps.
Step 4 – Confirm your Identity. This tells them that everything is okay, and that it is YOU, who is doing this and not some stranger.
Step 5 – Tell eBay how you want to be paid by your Buyers. I’ll just tell you that the best option is PayPal. It’s only a guess, because since day one, I’ve never been away from them (except for the couple of times that I quit eBay and came back). Again, I’m guessing, but probably 98% of Sellers use PayPal ….and not only for eBay (It’s probably not that high of a number, but pretty close). If you plan on doing this for any length of time, you will get a “PayPal Account“. If you don’t have one, I’ll have all of the Links at the bottom of the page for you or you can click here to go there now. When registering for PayPal, you’ll need to connect it to a Bank Account. They will guide you through the process. Just letting you know. Back in the early days of eBay, we used to get Checks, Money Orders and Cash in the Mail. I think we only received 1 bad Money Order the whole time. Now, we use PayPal.
Step 6 – My Accounts are Linked, now what? After your Accounts are linked, you are now ready to start selling. If not already logged in, Here’s how to do it. This time, click on the “Sign in” Tab in the upper left corner of the page. It’s right next to the “Register” Tab.
This will bring you to the “Sign in” Box. Input your “New Username” or “Email Address“, along with your “New Password” , then click “Sign in” or push “Enter” on your Keyboard.
Step 7 – Now I’m on the eBay Home Page. Now that you are there, to start selling, all you would have to do is click on the “Sell” Tab that’s located in the upper right, first ¼ of the page next to the “My eBay” Tab.
Welcome to your Sellers Hub. eBay is always changing this page. Every time I get used to it, they change it. After all of the years being an eBay Member, I’ve given up on trying to learn every aspect of this page. Since your focus is on How To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners, again, I’m trying to keep it as simple and easy as I can. Click on “Overview” that’s located in the upper left
From there, go straight down to where it says “Create Listing”
Step 8 – Now you should be on the “Tell us what you’re selling” page, and there’s 4 options that they are giving you;
1) enter a “UPC“. UPC = Universal Product Code. Look at the picture. The UPC Number is all of those numbers at the bottom, starting from left to right. 2) enter the “ISBN“. ISBN = International Standard Book Number.
Look at the picture. The ISBN Number is the 13-digit code that is usually at the top of the Barcode on Books. This would be called the EAN -13 Barcode. Sometimes you would have to use the ISBN 10 Digits at the top, and combine them with the first 3 Digits on the bottom (the EAN Numbers) to make up the 13 Digits for the complete ISBN Number. 3) enter the “Part Number“. The Part Number is a little easier to find. It’s usually on the back of items like Televisions, Dolls and Machined Items. Those Numbers are really easy to find, because they’re placed onto the physical items themselves. It would usually spell out the words “Model and Part Number“ followed by the Numbers. If it’s not there, then it should be somewhere on the paperwork or the “Box” the item came in. Look in your drawer for the Manual to that Juicer you got for Christmas, or that Grill. I betcha it has the “Model/Part Number“, easy for you to find. 4) enter the “Product Name“. It’s best to enter the “Brand” and then follow that with what the actual item is. Sticking with our Apparel example, we could say Ralph Lauren Polo then Jacket, or Nordstrom then Shirt. For practice, enter Nordstrom Shirt into the box. eBay will automatically give you suggestions on what kind of Title to make, for a particular Category.
Let’s pick our own category to get the feel of it. Click somewhere in the Gray area so that Drop-Down Suggestion Menu will disappear. Click on Browse Categories
Click Clothing, Shoes & Accessories Click Men’s Clothing and then Click Dress Shirt. You should be on the “Create your Listing” Page. 
Are you getting the hang of things by now? So at this point, I’ll try and be a little shorter.
Step 9 – It’s time to create our Listing so we can start selling! Here we go….
- Title = Nordstrom Shirt. Give a very detailed description here. This is how buyers will find what you are selling. Put the size, color, style, brand, is it for Men, Women, Children, Dogs, Cats, etc…use all of the available characters if you can (you do not need to bold or have a subtitle)
- Custom Label SKU… (SKU=Stock Keeping Number). You do not need this unless you’re making your own Apparel and are keeping some kind of inventory. Usually for Retailers or for those who have a “Physical Business” and holds lots of “Inventory“. So skip.
- We already have the Category chosen. Clothing, Shoes, Accessories>Men’s Clothing>Dress Shirts.
- You do not need a Second Category because people don’t search by category anymore. They input a Barcode Number or the name of what they are looking for or something similar. Skip it.
- If you had a Store, you would create Categories for that Store then choose your Store Category. Skip it.
- If you have a UPC Number, enter it here.
- Enter the item’s condition. “Choose Pre-owned”. You can toggle between the 4 options given. The only one that you will not have to input a “Condition Description” is “New with Tags”. Each one that you choose will give an brief explanation directly under the Box.
- Enter a Condition Description. Continue with the Nordstrom Shirt… Description could be; lightly worn, Very small hole on the lower right back near the bottom, Dry Cleaned Yesterday, Smells good and fresh.
Step 10 – Adding Quality Photos The next thing you would tackle would be to add some QUALITY PHOTOS that you have. eBay allows you to add up to 12. The first one will be the “Main Photo” that everyone will see first. This one has to be the ATTENTION GRABBER. It should make people stop in their tracks, and click on your link. Skip Display large photo.
For more in depth information on Photos and Pictures, visit my other post called: How to be Successful on eBay – Advice on Good eBay Pictures
Step 11 – Being Specific Next under Item Specifics, enter as much or as little as you want. The more information you can input, the better. If you have information that eBay does not have, click on “Add your own item specifics”, to add it there. Now click on “Standard” unless you know HTML Computer Code.
Step 12 – It’s all about the Description Okay, now it the time to input the complete and detailed Items Description. Example could be anything like; 7 Button Placket Shirt, the last Button going down from the top is missing, but it will be hidden when the shirt is tucked in. Large Long Sleeve, Lrg L/S, LG/LS Straight Collar Plaid, Solid, Light Blue, Very small hole on the lower right back near the bottom, measures 23” armpit to armpit, $108 brand new, will let it go for $50 with free shipping, Shipping Worldwide, Free U.S.A. Shipping Only Vintage Style, Modern Look to it, Priced for quick sale.
Step 13 – Now let’s input some Selling Details
- Format, go ahead and enter “Fixed Price”
- Duration, 30 days, Schedule to start on (choose a date)
- Price, enter $50 as the “Buy it Now” price, no best offers
- Quantity, let’s leave that at 1 it is not a “Lot“, so leave that box blank..as is
- Private listing, leave the box blank. A Private listing is a type of listing, where as, when someone makes a purchase from you, receives the item and then leaves you “Feedback“…. the feedback information will pretty much only show who made the purchase, at what time and the feedback quote that was left by the buyer. Pretty much that’s it! It will not show what was purchased.
- Make a donation if you’d like to.
- Click if you’re going to be charging “Sales Tax”
- You can have it “Automatically” relist an item up to 8 times if it doesn’t sell, by checking this box.
Step 14 – Now that we’ve made it to the Shipping Details, this is really something that can’t be taught. You WILL have to learn and understand this over time.
- You will have to create a Payment Policy. Just click on “Create” and it will guide you through it. (I personally do not like this payment policy feature)
- Create a Shipping Policy – Hit the arrow for the Drop Down menu and select something like; Flat Standard First Class Shipping (First Class Shipping within the US is a small package weighing 16 oz’s or lighter.
Image of 8.5″ X 11″ Bubble Envelopes A small shirt in a small “Bubble Mailer” will cost Between $3.00 – $4.00 to ship. A single shirt will fit in an 8.5” X 11” Mailer if folded properly. You can view “Bubble Mailer” prices by clicking on the picture left now, then come back! Also, if you’re going to be shipping items, you will need the Correct Weight before shipping it out. One of the basic tools for ANY eBay seller is a 5 Pound Portion Scale.
It is vital that you have the correct weight, ESPECIALLY if you’re shipping Internationally, because the buyer has to pay a lot of money in Custom Fees, even on a small item, possibly!
You can view “5 Pound Portion Scale” prices by clicking on the picture left now, then come back! You don’t necessarily have to get this one. This is just the one that I use and it’s great. They have a wide range of sizes and prices to choose from.
- Create a Return Policy – When making a “Return Policy”, it’s usually best to offer returns, however, sometimes I don’t. It depends on whatever you think is best for YOU!
Once the policies are created, it may be possible to use them for every item. (example…20 shirts all individual listings). If your next listed item is a printer, then you’ll have to create a new “Shipping Policy” because it will have more weight that a single shirt. If you are selling an item for “Parts Only“, you’ll have to decide if you are going to change the “Return Policy“. Once a policy is created, it will be added to a “List” that is within a particular policy. So if you wanted to change back to a previous policy, you’d just have to select it and not have to create it again. You can even make policies ahead of time, and when you list an item, you’ll just find the policy that fits, then select it.
- On the “Package” Section. Sometimes you don’t have a package until you have a paid sale. What if someone were to order 20 items… I hope you didn’t package that shirt. Now you have to throw way that package that you had to rip open, just to get the shirt out.
- Going with our shirt, we would choose “Package or thick Envelope”, 8.5” X 11” X 1”, skip “Irregular Package”, “Weight” should be between 4 oz and 8 oz. Put in 8 oz.
- Your “Items Location” should already be there.
- Since I have an “eBay Store”, my “Fees” came out to .10 and that was because we “Scheduled this Listing“, otherwise, it would have been $0.
Step 15 – Finally, we’ve made it to the point where you can “ACTUALLY LIST YOUR ITEM”!
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT CLICK ON THAT BLUE BUTTON UNLESS YOU WANT THAT ITEM TO BE LISTED. THIS IS ONLY OUR WALKTHROUGH EXAMPLE.
….. Go ahead and preview the listing if you want by clicking on the “Preview Listing” Tab next to it. Them “X” out when you’re done.
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If you accidentally closed out of your window, no worries because eBay saves you information as you go. Just get back in there to the “Sell an Item” Section, and you should see something like this
It would say “Latest Drafts” then you could complete them or delete them.
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Well, That’s It! I’ll give it a proofreading but I’m pretty sure I got all of the basics in there. What you have here is something that I’ve could’ve easily sold on the Internet, but I’m choosing to give it to you for FREE! I can only hope that you have enjoyed this and will appreciate, learn from and use the information that I have UNLEASHED and with NO BULLSHIT to follow.
THE FOLLOWING VIDEO MAY BE OF SOME USE TO YOU, CHECK IT OUT!
Click Here For More Amazing Info!
My Conclusion
So there you have it. Keep it simple, take your time and learn as you go.
I hope this post on “15 Steps To Start Selling On eBay for Beginners” has helped you to get started and in the right direction!
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