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Christian, Homeschooling Mom of 2, Photography Lover, Southerner, Blogger, Encourager, and Prayer Warrior. I love sweet tea, my Nikon, cooking, & traveling.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Home Engineer: The Ultimate Guide To Selling On Ebay
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
Meghan
I've sold ALOT on Ebay over the past 10 years. For a while I had a store and did very well with my little business. When our second child arrived, I closed up shop due to storage issues in our house and having more inventory than storage. Everyone always asks how I made it a success and I thought this guide would help you sell on Ebay. Whether you want to sell individual items sporadically or open up an Ebay shop, this tutorial will help you succeed at selling on Ebay.
1. Getting Started:
The first thing you will need is, of course, a computer with a reliable internet connection. You will also need a digital camera. You can use either a point and shoot or a DSLR. I definitely recommend finding an area to store your inventory. I used the guest room closet but do whatever works best for you.
Mailing supplies. You will need a printer to print shipping labels in plain paper or self-stick labels. This is much easier than hand-writing labels and standing in line at the Post Office (plus you get a discount on delivery confirmation by printing online via USPS.com or Paypal.com). You will need a postal scale, or a kitchen scale, digital is best.
And the main key here - INVENTORY! Start by cleaning out those kid’s closets. I found most of my inventory from our closets and cabinets at home. Then find and visit your local thrift stores. They are little goldmines of children’s clothing, and baby items.
2. Where Do I Buy Inventory?
As I mentioned earlier, a good place to start is in you own children’s closets. I found tons in the closets that my son had never worn and some that still had tags on them. Get those suckers out, and look them over for tears, rips, stains, or worn look.
After you search the closets, find out where the thrift stores are in your area. Some popular thrift store chains are: Goodwill, Salvation Army, Savers and Value Village
I do not recommend shopping for merchandise at consignment stores, since basically, you are targeting the same customer and the prices you pay will be much higher, lowering or completely negating your profit margin.
So, lets say you found something in the thrift store - what now? How much do you hope to make on this item? What will it sell for? Check out the condition...this is very important! I definitely have sold items in ‘play’ condition, which means they have a lot of fading or some stains. But in general, you want to sell clothing that looks great, no excessive fading, pilling, stains or holes. And yes, usually I've found items that have the tags still on them.
Another important thing to remember is seasonality. In July and August, shoppers are looking for Back-To-School clothes, not Summer items. So you need to carefully consider what you are buying, unless you have an eBay store.
3. Do I need an eBay Store or not?
The answer is “No.” You don’t need to open an eBay store, especially in the beginning. At first you may only have a few items to sell, so not having a store is just fine. But as your inventory grows, you might want to consider opening an eBay store.
It is a small investment, about $15.99/month for a basic Store, which includes Selling Manager, a tool for keeping track of your sales, shipping, and listings. You also get monthly sales reports so you can track your total sales, per item average, eBay and Paypal seller’s fees, etc. So, there is definitely a plus in having a store!
A great thing about having an eBay store is that you can have out of season things listed in your store and they will sell. You can have Halloween costumes, Christmas outfits, and swimsuits listed at the same time.
The store option is up to you but if you plan on having an average of 30+ items on a normal basis, then you probably want to head towards a store.
In order to sell on eBay, you will need a seller account. This is easy to do at www.ebay.com and www.paypal.com
We will continue this tutorial/guide next week. We will cover: Details on listing your items, and FAQ's when it comes to selling on Ebay.
Was this guide helpful to you? Let me hear from you!
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4 comments:
Yes this was very helpful! Maybe one day I'll actually try and sell something!
Thanks!
heather
Thanks Meghan. I started selling some kids' stuff on ebay last year. I should get back to it. It is funny how the things I thought would sell, didn't and the things I didn't think would sell did. You never know what someone is looking for.
This is very helpful!! I have been considering starting to put some things on E-bay I look forward to reading next weeks article!!
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