Busy selling on Facebook - neglected this blog and my eBay store!

This week I’ll be back with a post describing the process to increase your selling limits on eBay!

Thanks for reading!

Never sold on eBay before? FREE MONEY OFFER

Never sold on eBay? As part of a special program, I'm able to refer new sellers (you can be an existing eBay member, but you cannot have ever listed items for sell) for a special bonus.

Once you have listed your first item, you will receive a $15 coupon for use on eBay.

All you have to do is list an item. Any item. Then you get $15 to spend on eBay! No risk, no fees to list, nothing.

What you need:
1. eBay account
2. PayPal account
3. No previous listing to sell on eBay

Send a private message or post below and you'll be told where to submit your email address to sign up.

Note: only a limited number of people (in order of first listing) will get the credit. Contact me now to get in on this no risk offer and pocket $15 for nothing!

Making the Most of Listings - Neon Green Frames

Here's a quick "pro" tip: use neon green or another color as a border for your primary image on a listing.

As seen in the images below, the neon green frame draws attention to your listing. This won't make up for a higher price or other issue where your item compares poorly to other products, but if the playing field is level, it is a great way to bring the eyes of a shopper to you listing quickly.

Got other suggestions? Share them in the comments section!

There are tons of options available for eBay listings and most of them can be used whether you sell a few items a month or pay for a store subscription.

eBay on About.com - Seller Features Guide

The eBay subdomain of about.com has many great overviews and links that can help you make more money with better listings. This article about seller features doesn't point out the coolest part of some upgrades: eBay (apparently) randomly offers free upgrades on many listing features from time to time. I see it most often when you've had a "Buy It Now" listing up for more than two weeks. If you use the Revise Listing link on the top of an item, features like bold title in search results and second line in search results are free (where they normally cost $1.50-$2.50 each).

Enjoy - and be sure to share your eBay profile or store URL in the comments!

Styles on the Sly eBay Store

eBay - Finding Products to Sell Online

You may wonder how to find the best products to resell on eBay, but this list of links will give you some great ideas.

http://andrewminalto.com/best-products-to-sell-on-ebay/

TeraPeak - Amazon and eBay pricing analytics

http://www.whatsellsbest.com

With tools like these, and many more you can Google, you can find the best products to buy, new or used, and information on how to price those items for selling quickly for easy profit!

Visit my eBay store here. I stock clothing, unusual and hard-to-find books and electronics and even collectibles!

 

Big Lesson on "Best Offer" Options and Using Software to Make Listings

When using software to post your items to eBay, like GarageSale or iSale (both of which I own and use), it is very easy to copy a template. This simplifies listing items in similar categories or with similar properties. By the way, I’ve had many problems with iSale and I do not recommend it. The support is slow and does not address all of your issues when you report a problem. Save your money and either enter items manually through the eBay web UI or use GarageSale!

For example, I list quite a bit of LOFT items because those are my top sellers. You’ll notice if you check those listings that many have similar prices (like-new blouses often have the same price), categories and even listing description details (except for highlights on the different sizes, approximate measurements, etc). Since I list most items as fixed price listings (it’s cheaper and lasts for 30 days), I also select “Best Offer” so buyers are free to send me a lower price request. Sometimes I’ll sell an item for a dollar or more off since I regularly run discount (percent off) sales anyway. When I’ve had something in inventory for a month I like to move it quickly so I can get new items in unless the item is absolutely *perfect* in which case I usually decline any best offer requests.

Here’s the catch: you have to remember to check everything about your listing when you copy a template using one of these applications. I had a situation come up today (and once a few weeks back) where the person purchased from me for less than the listed price. I had no idea why when it happened in the past, but today’s item was a listing for XBOX Live Gold codes, so the customer had to interact with me to get the code he bought.

This is when I realized I was very lucky his offer wasn’t much lower, as I had copied another listing which had an automatic accept of best offers of $10 or more! Because of the price I paid for the XBOX Live Codes (bought cards in bulk online a few months back), I at least didn’t lose a ton of money, but I am short more than a dollar.

eBay does not indicate anywhere in the SOLD screen that you accepted a best offer automatically.

Keep this in mind when using software on your Mac to list on eBay:

CHECK ALL LISTING PROPERTIES CAREFULLY BEFORE POSTING!

Good luck and happy eBaying!

What Sells?

One of the questions I get from people interested in eBaying for profit outside of unloading the collection of stuff in their homes is: “What should I buy to resell on eBay?”

Well, this is REALLY easy to learn. Yep, EASY!

First, the rule of making profit in any business that sells products is important to remember: buy low, sell higher. So, shopping for things to resell is all about finding deals that are like steals. Recently I found a couple of new PS3 games on the cheap at Target (thanks big T for your clearances, you always price things to move!)...

Understanding whether or not you can actually sell these items on eBay is the much harder part, at least if you are starting out. Just because you’ve found a game for $9.99 that is still on Amazon for $29.99 doesn’t mean you can sell it (and ship it) at a profit on eBay.

Here’s how to learn whether you can!

STEP ONE - SIGN INTO EBAY AND SEARCH FOR THE ITEM OR ITEMS LIKE IT

Let’s say I’ve found a great price on a MacBook Pro with Retina display from 2012 and the 4th generation Intel Core i7. Here’s what a search on eBay reveals:

STEP TWO - SCROLL DOWN AND SELECT SOLD LISTINGS

This area is on the left side of the webpage.

Once you’ve clicked “Sold listings” the page will refine the results.

STEP THREE - LOOK AT THE PRICES AND COMPARE SPECIFIC LISTINGS WITH YOUR ITEM

In this case, we’re talking laptops and models may have different components like RAM and SSD hard drives. You want to make sure that your item (or potential purchase if you are browsing eBay via the web or app on your smartphone) is configured similarly to sold items to understand if the pricing is comparable.

STEP FOUR - LOOK AT THE COUNT OF SOLD RESULTS, THEN CLICK COMPLETED TO SEE THE RATIO

In this example, there are 51 sold items. When completed is selected, the total is 59. That means only 8 items matching our search query did not sell. This is a great item to buy if you have room for markup.

SUMMARY

Remember, eBay takes 10% of your selling price, so if you sell that MacBook for $1800, you don’t get nearly $200 of that deal. This is noticeable in a large price, but these fees can quickly add up if you’re selling items for $10-$20. In a future blog post we’ll look at how shipping works and how you can save on packing and shipping supplies while building a little profit into the handling of an item. Remember, on items that cost you $5 and you sell for $10, an extra dollar made from shipping could be a huge difference in your profit margin!