Tip One. Always include a photograph with your listing. There are very, very few items that are sold on eBay that do not benefit from having a photograph... Don’t worry if you are not a David Baily or Lord Lichfield, as long as the picture gives prospective purchasers some idea of what you are offering. Ideally a digital camera is best and you can purchase them quite cheaply off of eBay. You could use an ordinary film camera and then scan the photograph in but this is not quite so instantaneous.
If all else fails add a graphic representation, we do this a lot for the CD Roms we sell through eBay.

Tip Two. Your title is your headline and it should make people want to stop and read your description. In other words it needs to be an attention getter. Also your title serves another purpose; when the eBay search engine carries out a search the [place it looks is among the titles. If someone enters the words “Wedgwood Dish” in the search box and your title is “Early Blue & White Wedgwood Dish”, then the search engine will find and display it. However, if you have titled it “Fantastic Collectors Blue and White Dish” it will not. So think what words would you put in to the search engine if you were looking for the item you are selling. Then make sure those words are in your title.

Tip Three. If the title is your headline, the description is your advertisement. Give as much detail about the item that you are selling as you can. There is an advertising cliché that says, “the more you tell, the more you sell”, and that is true on eBay. If relevant give make and model numbers. Be truthful about condition and if your item has any faults be upfront and say so, or else the buyer may return the goods and you will be out of pocket. One good tip is to browse around eBay and look at items similar to the one you want to sell and look at their descriptions, especially the ones that have attracted bids. I am not suggesting you copy them but it will give you some idea of the detail to include in your listing.

Tip Four. Always answer questions from sellers promptly. Hopefully if you have described your item well there should not be too many but the fact that they have bothered to email you means that they are interested in your item. A prompt response to their question will create a favourable impression and possibly encourage
them to make a bid. Equally so a slow or non-response could have exactly the opposite response.

Tip Five. Be a good communicator. People like to deal with people. When answering emails use a friendly and casual approach. By this I mean forget all the jargon and e-speak and just write as you talk. And answer any questions that they may have in a full and honest way.

Tip Six. When it comes to shipping there are several things to consider. How you are going to ship the goods and how much is it going to cost you. For most people it is difficult to estimate the post or shipping costs. In my early days I used to guess and often get it very wrong, once I paid more in postage than I was getting for the item. Since then I have purchased a set of postal scales and I way everything before we list it. Alternatively you can package it up and take it to the post office ant they will weigh it for you and tell you what it would cost. Further to this you could add a message on your listing to the effect that postal charges relate only to the UK and if anyone outside of the UK purchase it they will have to contact you first to find out the actual postal charge. You can of course restrict yourself to selling only within the UK but I find that about 25% of my sales are overseas and I would hate to lose those sales.

Tip Seven. Package all sold items well. For most small items, video tapes, books and similar items I use “jiffy” bags, because they are economical, easy and quick. For bigger items I use cardboard boxes. I also have a supply of bubble wrap and polystyrene chips that I use. I buy these from a local package company but you will find plenty of wholesalers offering these items on eBay in the Wholesalers section of the Industrial and Business Category. Poor packaging can lead to complaints of damaged goods or in some cases the goods not arriving at all because the wrapping has come off in transit. Labelling can be quite important and as well as an address label I also put a small return address label in the corner so that the Post Office know where to send the package back to if for any reason they cannot deliver it. As an added safeguard I always also include a thank you not in the parcel and that also have my return address on it.

Tip Eight. Dispatch the goods as quickly as possible after payment. If the customer uses Paypal or credit card you really should dispatch within 24 hours. If they have paid by cheque you may be justified in waiting until the cheque has cleared before you send the goods. I must admit that I do not do this, as soon as I get the cheque the goods go off and so far I have had no problem. I think that the favourable feed back that I get for a fast response far out ways the risks.

Tip Nine. Register with Paypal.. This is an online payment system which is now owned by eBay. In recent months, more and more of my sales have gone through Paypal and in fact it is the only payment method I now accept from overseas customers. When I first began using eBay I used to accept overseas cheques and money orders but the cost of putting them through my bank became prohibitive. On the web site I have included a link to Paypals web site and you will find all the details of their service there. I recommend it.

Tip Ten. Always keep a record of all the sales you make on eBay. There are quite a few Auction management software packages that you can buy, and these can be very useful if you are selling a lot through eBay. However, if you are a casual seller it is still worth keeping a record of the item, the buyer, amount received and date dispatched. It is surprising that occasionally you will get a query some time after the transaction and if you have kept good records it will save you a lot of time.

© 2003 Dave Bromley & Ezeeweb Solution Limited.

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