Selling Through E-bay

raq

sorry folks, one other thing I wanted to ask.

How easy is the photograph side of things...

Welshlassie

If you have a digital camera then very easy. Ebay have a hosting service where the first photo is free and subsequent are 10p each (if I remember correctly), if you decide to host your own photos using something like photo bucket then you can use as many as you like.

Photos are a must to get good prices for your items.

Good luck.

raq

Welshlassie wrote:

If you have a digital camera then very easy. Ebay have a hosting service where the first photo is free and subsequent are 10p each (if I remember correctly), if you decide to host your own photos using something like photo bucket then you can use as many as you like.

Photos are a must to get good prices for your items.

Good luck.

oh great. Have the digital camera. Once the kids are asleep and all settled this evening I will be hidden away in that room of ours.

chevalier

Depending on what you want to sell, you might want to use more than one photograph. The first photo on ebay is free, but then any more cost 12p each time. This can seriously eat into your profits!

I have an account with https://www.photobucket.com. What you do is upload your extra photos to photobucket, and then copy and past the html tag (this is simple honest), and there are your extra photos.

If you use turbolister, then you add the first photo via the select photo button. For the rest you go into the 'HTML view' tab and paste the code onto there. Hey presto extra photos for free. When you go back into design view in turbolister, the extra pictures will be a bit big, but it is easy to resize them.

I do this with clothing bundles, and it means I can put in lots of photos so people know what they are getting, and it does not cost me anything.

I also use the price calculator on the Royal Mail website. The only thing though is that if my parcel is say 295g I round it up to 300g. The reason being that the post office scales aren't as sensitive as mine, so I would be charged ghe 300g rate (which might be more).

Finally just to say that if you are selling your own personal posessions (or those of your family) that is fine. But if you start buying things to sell on, then you are meant to register as a sole trader, and treat it as a business (ie save for tax etc).
Hope this helps

jenchin66

Don't forget there are community boards on Ebay as well. Can pick up great tips and ideas from there.

raq

thanks for all the further info.

Couldn't wait until the kiddies where in bed so went ahead this afternoon. Well I am impressed. It is easy, does it all for you. I have taken a couple of photos but like a lot of you have said it will eat into our profits. I will certainly use the photobucket.

Thanks guys

postingalwaysposting

once you get up and running download turbo lister... with turbo lister you can make a template and save that then you can work of that only changing minamal things like description etc... then you can have different folders after that to save your items into... then on a cheap listing day you can upload 30-100's of listings for more than half the cost... also it means all the hard work is done so on the day you arnt rushing to get listings made... its also much simpler than using the original way to sell...

also packaging ~ reuse things that you have at home... i keep everything (ie bubble wrap and jiffy bags etc) and pack it in my ebay cupboard... i then buy a huge roll of brown paper from a cash and carry for £5.49 but that lasts months... also use tissue instead of bubble wrap ~ much cheaper and the same weight too

postage ~ weigh everything... even if its only going to cost you say a stamp... weigh it better to be safe than sorry... also i send everything recorded delivery (preferance) as then i know they are all insured... if you do this get a pile of recorded delivery slips from the post office and write them out at home ~ saves the queue at the post office

start price ~ always start the price at what you would be prepared for it to go for... ie dont put it at 99p and it is then sold and you would have rather got £3.99... i start most of my items at 99p unless i want them to go for more...

check ebay every night ~ the reason is people will ask questions up untill 30min before the auction closes... best to catch thier question and then have a bid rather than miss it amd miss out on a sale

gallery/designer listing ~ you can add these at a fee (using both turbo lister and original ebay) only do it if you are prepared for the fees or its an item you really want to sell... they are 20p* for gallery (people can see your picture on the left hand side) and 35p* for listing designer (pattern around your listing) people imo dont want a pattern they want to read the description and then bid... fancy stuff puts people off... (*when i last listed/cheacked)

also make terms and conditions... use the same paragrapah on each listing and say put it as the last paragraph in each listing... state what payments you take... your delivery times... your delivery charges and returns procedure... although this is outlined below this many people will not read this so state it anyway...

hope this helps

DEBTFREEWANNABE_6

Sorry How Does Ebay Work Can Anyone Help Me ?

mo1_2

no i dont get e.bay either,cant work out how people make a living on it

BusyGirl

I started selling bits and pieces (CDs, DVDs, clothes, perfume, records, jewellery etc) on ebay about 3 weeks ago and I've made about £160 in profit and I've still got 20 listed items finishing this week.
It is very addictive and even the word 'Ebay' has entered my 6 year old's vocabulary! I am constanty looking for things to sell and I'm always checking to see how my stuff is doing...so be warned!
You will learn as you go along, I know I still am.
Buy your padded envelopes from Poundland/cheap shops.
Get a good set of kitchen scales, I bought some for £7 last week from Home Bargains.
Also, get one on those red leaflets from the post office that tell you about the cost of posting. I went to a different post office today and I was nearly charged double as the lady classed my CD as a packet instead of a large letter. Also, as others have advised use The Royal Mail site for costs.
Include a good photo of what you're selling and you don't need to put it in the gallery as that costs extra.
I've found that clothes from NEXT sell well, I've sold about 6 girls dresses for decent prices.
Good luck!