How to make money on eBay…
eBay is an amazing tool, in fact, it’s what I’ve made a living with for the last 14 years. Last month I crossed over $2 Million in total sales on eBay! To celebrate I want to share with you how I’ve done it so that you know how to do the same. If you know how to make money on eBay you can add another valuable skill to your toolbelt and possibly another stream of income!
I started selling over 13 years ago after quitting my job working in sales. I was spending at least 11 hours a day at my job and I was overworked and stressed out. My husband and I also wanted to prioritize family life and our relationship more than money. After 13 years of owning my own business, I honestly couldn’t imagine living my life any other way now…
Why Sell on eBay?
eBay has allowed me to work from home for over 13 years now. It’s allowed me the freedom to travel with my husband and spend precious time with him during his bout with MS and cancer before he passed away in November 2017. It’s also been the vessel for me to provide an income for myself after he passed as well.
The ability to make money on eBay has given me the freedom to take time off when I want, go skiing and babysit my nieces and nephews when my Brother and Sister-in-law need help. It affords me the opportunity to go skiing with my employees and my marketing consultant. And it allows me to spend time with my dogs Tinkerbell and Trixie.
On top of all of those perks, I’ve also met some of my best friends and been afforded amazing opportunities through eBay and the community they’ve cultivated! eBay has filmed videos of me working from home and invited me to speak on a panel in front of over 2,000 other eBay sellers about my journey.
When you take the leap and put your heart into the business the rewards can be unbelievable!
How did I turn eBay selling into a full-blown business for the last 13 years?
Creating a business and learning how to make money on eBay can be a complicated process, but it starts with simple steps. I’ll jump into those steps in just a minute but I want to clarify something for you, anyone who promises you a million-dollar business with little to no work is a liar. This business, like any other, requires time, work, effort and most importantly, staying on top of trends.
If you’re looking to make this your full time job the first thing to do is to get familiar with the platform by selling things around your house that you don’t use… This is how I got started and it’s lead to never working another job again. When I first started learning how to make money on eBay, I was freshly married, a new homeowner(with a $3,800 mortgage), and I had just quit my 6-figure sales job because it was slowly, or not so slowly, killing me from stress, overwhelm, lack of support and a toxic environment. I had 6 weeks of commissions and paid vacation to keep me afloat until I found or created another job…
I had never been to eBay’s website, but I knew it was a tool for selling unwanted items and since I had some jewelry from before I was married that I didn’t want or use anymore I figured this was a great way to buy myself some more time to find a new job… And that’s when it started to snowball. My husband worked as a cashier at a Costco in the community and loved to talk to all of the customers. People would choose to wait longer just to be in his line for the conversations.
After we were married, I ended up being the topic of some of those conversations(more than I ever wanted to be at first, but this ended up being a great marketing channel for me and could be for you if you have anyone in your life that’s charismatic, in the public eye and loves to talk about you.) People would ask how I was doing and my husband Arlie told them I was selling stuff on eBay to buy myself time after quitting my job. People started to ask if I could help them sell their stuff on eBay and that’s when I realized, “I could make something out of this…”
So I decided to give it my best shot. I purchased a 380-page book on how to sell on eBay and started researching what people charge for selling on consignment on eBay and that’s when my life changed forever.
**Disclaimer** I don’t advocate that anyone quits their day job to start an eBay business unless they are ready to dedicate themselves to it completely. Anyone looking to venture out on the entrepreneurial journey is best suited to test the waters and spend 3-6 months creating a bridge to their new income stream rather than making a leap and trusting that they’ll make it.
That said, let’s jump right into making some money on eBay as quickly as this week, or even today!
Step By Step: How to Sell Your Unwanted/Unused Items on eBay(Make some money this week!)
1. Find Something Worth Selling
There’s got to be at least $1,000 worth of stuff cluttering your house or garage that can be sold on eBay. Things that have gone unused for months, stuff that you might feel wasteful when you look at because you haven’t done what you wanted to with it, things that you stare at saying one day I’ll use that again walk away from and repeat the cycle 6 months later with… These are the kinds of items that are perfect for learning how to make money on eBay as they likely don’t mean as much to us as we want them to. You know, the things that you bought with the best intentions for utilizing, but instead they’ve spent more time taking up space and cluttering your house/garage than being used.
Here’s a list of things you might have around your house that you can sell:
- A camera/video camera that you no longer use
- A fancy purse that you no longer use
- Jewelry that’s gone unused and has no sentimental value
- Power tools that were bought for that project that still hasn’t been started
2. Create Your eBay Account
Creating your eBay account is fairly simple… when you go to the registration page you’ll have to enter these pieces of information;
- First name
- Last name
- Email address
- A password for your account
You’ll have the option of creating a personal or business account. If you 100% see yourself turning this into a business where you’re selling things consistently go ahead and create a business account but if you don’t see yourself creating a full-time job out of it just yet, you can create a personal account AND once you get addicted to amazingness that is owning your own eBay business you can convert it to a business account.
Once you login you’ll see the home screen and be able to start selling immediately. Some things to know about a personal account, you get 50 free insertions. Listings on eBay are called insertions… and these insertions have all sorts of rules depending on what and how you’re listing your items. If you’re curious eBay has an article all about insertions and their selling fees, but for those just starting by listing a few items from around your house, there’s not much that you truly need to know.
A couple of other things to know, you can upload a profile picture, choose your name and personalize your profile… Once you’ve decided to go all-in on creating a business of your own, you’ll want to know more about the different types of insertions and their fees, how to personalize your profile and upload a profile picture but let’s focus on making some money NOW, more on all that later in your journey!
3. Research Similar Listings
Creating a listing(aka an insertion, I’ll reference them as listings from now on though…) is about finding items like yours that have recently sold. I love this process of learning how to make money on eBay! Luckily eBay makes this super easy for us. The best way to do this is to go to eBay and search for your item, then scroll down while looking in the left tab and find the sold box, you’ll click on it and both the sold and completed boxes will become checked/selected. This is when I start to get motivated to list my items, seeing what my items will sell for is always super exciting!!!
Your page should refresh and show you all of the most recently sold items matching your search. Next, you’ll select the listing order to show you listings from low to high including shipping. Some of these might appear out of order because shipping prices are calculated into the total price of the item…
Search through these items to find the item that is most similar in condition and quality to yours that have also sold for the most amount of money. Save these listings as they’ll be an important reference when you’re creating your listing. You may even be able to use eBay’s help with the “list like item” tool. You’ll want to make sure that the item is selling for a price that you’re willing to accept before you go any further but remember that just because you paid a certain amount for your item 5 years ago and haven’t used it, doesn’t mean that it’s going to be worth that now…
The most important thing when learning how to make money on eBay and selling your items is to remember that it’s much better off in the hands of someone who is going to use it, AND instead of donating it, you might as well put some cash back in your pocket.
When looking at these similar listings, you’ll want to look at a few key things…
- How do they display their items?
- How many pictures have they’ve used and from what angles?
- What was the listing title?
- How did they describe the item?
- How much did they charge for shipping? Does it seem like an accurate shipping cost? (We’ll go over this more in a few steps but it’s important when listing your item to include a shipping price that’s fair but doesn’t take away from your profit.)
When you’re looking at these and thinking about listing your item, you’ll want to think about what the feeling is that your buyer will get from buying the item. Instead of things like the features of a camera, purse, power-tool, or whatever item you’re selling… sell the idea that they can capture high-quality pictures and forever remember the moments that matter the most.
Of course, certain people will love the techy lingo of an item’s attributes and functionality but most people buy things for what’s called an “after-state,” a feeling that they get from buying the object. A well-known example is a quote from a highly respected Harvard Marketing Professor Theodor Levitt, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.” More on that in a Harvard Business Review article if you really want to geek out on marketing tactics… But really, just stay with me on this one and let’s get this item listed!
Read More : The 3 Things I LOVE About Running an eBay Business
4. Create Your Listing
Write Epic Listing Titles and Descriptions
Now that you’ve found similar items and what they’ve sold for, it’s time to look back at their pictures, title, and descriptions. Your pictures should be on par with theirs or better. Again the better quality your pictures, title and description the higher likelihood of your item selling for the highest price!
- Your description should be similar to the listings that have sold but with a little added marketing swag. Remember to sell them the “after-state.”
- If you’re selling something of your own, you can say that. It helps lend credibility to the authenticity and history of the item.
- Your titles should be similar to the listings that have been sold as well. You’ll want to have keywords that people would be typing in to find that item. The title is 80 Characters of free real estate to promote your item. These keywords have the ability to show up not only on eBay but on google as well, so choosing them wisely is key to taking advantage of your listing and selling your item for the most money!
- eBay will suggest the best eBay category based on your title, but if they are wrong you can search for and select another category.
- Select the item condition (new or used). Under the item condition is “Condition Description”. Be sure to point out any flaws here or make it known if the item does not have flaws, either way, be specific. For example, for clothing, I would say, “In excellent condition- no stains, tears, pulling or other signs of use. (see pics)”
Take Great Pictures and Lots of Them!
Pictures are key to selling more items on eBay… and the better the quality of those pictures, the better the chance of getting the highest possible price for your items. These days phones are super high quality and are able to do the job well but there are some important things to remember about taking pictures of your items in order to sell them for the highest price…
- Keep the frame clean, a messy background will distract the buyer… Keep the background clean and try to limit distractions. You want your item highlighted, not the clutter of your house.
- Lighting is key to great photos. If you don’t have good lighting you can easily spice it up with a lamp or by changing location.
- Don’t try to hide any blemishes, scratches or damage, highlight it in your description (more on this later) and make sure you show your buyers exactly where the damage is
- Here are eBay’s rules for posting pictures;
Choose Item Specifics
Many buyers search for items using eBay’s Item Specifics in addition to or instead of typing words in the search field. eBay will suggest item specifics based on your title. Fill in as many item specifics as possible to be included in the maximum possible search results. Utilizing as many item specifics as possible will be key in the process of learning how to make money on eBay!
Select Your Shipping Service
I suggest choosing calculated shipping so eBay will calculate shipping for the buyer based on their location eBay will do this based on the item’s location, the weight, and dimensions you enter for the item. For items, 3 lbs and under USPS is the fastest and least expensive way to ship. For items with a dimension over 12 inches or over 5 lbs, FedEx Ground is your best option. It’s still only 1 to 5 days delivery time but will be much more reasonable than USPS. If you make this into a business you’ll learn that shipping is one of THE MOST important pieces in your journey of learning how to make money on eBay, pay attention to shipping.
International Shipping
About 10% of my items sell internationally and eBay makes shipping internationally almost as easy as shipping domestically. Always choose calculated shipping and make sure you have selected your shipping box so that the weight and dimensions are accurate. With international shipping make sure you double-check your weight and dimensions… 1 pound and/or a fraction of an inch can make a big difference in the price you pay to ship.
A couple of housekeeping items about international shipping:
- Always round up when entering the package dimensions. I always choose USPS Priority Mail for international shipments.
- You can also select which Countries to exclude. From experience (which I share with many other sellers) I exclude Brazil, Italy and the Middle East other than Israel.
Here’s a video from eBay’s 20th Anniversary in 2015 highlighting sellers (including myself) and the various countries we’ve shipped to.
Handling Time
If you can ship Monday through Friday, choosing a 1-day handling time will help your item to sell. Everyone wants their item as soon as possible. But only choose this if you can ship every business day or eBay is trying to provide the best service possible for their customers(and yours) so they will penalize you for late shipping.
Select Whether You Will Accept Returns.
Next, you’ll want to select whether you’ll accept returns or not. I always accept returns because it gives the buyer confidence in purchasing your item. Also, if you do not accept returns, the buyer is more likely to claim the item is not as described and open a claim with eBay instead of simply returning the item through eBay. If you start selling regularly you’ll come to expect some returns, it’s just part of learning how to make money on eBay. eBay does, however, provide Seller Protection, just as they protect the buyer. Buyers are required to return the item in the condition it was received.
Invoice the Buyer
eBay will automatically invoice the buyer, but you can send a reminder invoice through your eBay’s sold items screen as well. eBay does this through Paypal so you’ll have to have a Paypal account to receive payments.
5. Monitor Your Listing
Once your item is listed the next activity in the process is to learn how to make money on eBay is to manage your listings. You do this from your listings from your “My eBay” page. Here you can view your Active listings and sold items. Buyers may have questions about your item. If they do you can answer them through your “My eBay” page. Answering questions in a timely manner can be the difference between selling an item and not. If your item is not selling, consider lowering the price but before you do that you might want to send an offer to people watching your item. You may also get offers on your items in your messages. If your item doesn’t sell in the listing time period you can make an offer to someone watching the item and they may accept that lower price. If you’re looking for quick money and willing to accept a lower price, this might be your quickest and best way to sell your item.
6. Pack and Ship Your Item
Packing the item will vary depending on the selected carrier and service, the weight and fragility of the item:
USPS First Class: The item must be 16 oz or less. For clothing or other items not requiring padding or a box, you can use poly mailers. You can purchase poly mailers on eBay. If your item requires a box, you cannot use Priority boxes for First class shipping
For items shipping via USPS priority, you can use Free Priority packaging from bags for clothing to flat rate envelopes to boxes for either non-flat rate or flat rate shipping. Usually, the post office only carries the flat rate boxes so I recommend going to USPS.com to order free priority boxes and flat rate envelopes. They will deliver them right to your door for free.
Here’s an eBay Radio spot where I went into detail on choosing the best shipping for your sold items.
Here is a flow chart to help with choosing the ideal shipping method. (Keep in mind that if you need to ship with the method you specified in your listing unless you are upgrading).
7. Decide What To Do With Your Money
Once you’ve figured out how to sell on eBay, you get a enjoy the fruits of your labor! My favorite part of this is the reward, once I’ve done the work and have sold my items I get to reap the rewards! With Paypal, your money is in your account immediately and you can choose what you’d like to do with it… Pay bills, book a vacation, buy a new pair of skis(like I just did after skiing on mine for nearly 20 years), put it in savings, invest in more items to flip. The world is your oyster, enjoy the fruits of your labor and spend the money wisely. If you enjoyed the process you might want to check out the next section because it can truly become your job if you’re ready to put the time and energy into making it a full-time business.
How Do I Make it a Full-Time Job?
Once you’ve listed and sold a couple of items it’s easy to become addicted. And unless you’re ready to Marie Kondo your entire life it’s time to find others to sell for, especially if you’re going to build this exciting opportunity into a business. There are a number of ways to find clients, some of your best clients can be your friends and colleagues.
I guarantee that you’re not the only one that has a pile of unwanted stuff in your house that could be placed in better hands. So the first place to look for consignment clients is within your network. A simple post on Facebook or an Instagram story saying, “Hey I just made an extra $250 or $1000 this week from selling my unwanted stuff, are you too busy to get rid of your stuff but want some extra space and money in your pocket? Hit me up I can help!” This is the best way to get more practice with listing and selling your items. Once you’ve gotten the hang of that you can start stepping out and marketing yourself in various other ways.
I’ve found some of my largest clients on Craiglist, using Facebook Ads and on LinkedIn. With social media, there’s no shortage of people that could use your help in getting rid of their unwanted items. If you’ve got some money saved up and some time on your hands’ garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, and other reselling platforms can be extremely lucrative. Especially if you start to understand a particular niche. Fashion is something that can be extremely lucrative when you know what to look for.
If you’re looking to learn more about selling or how I’ve made selling on eBay my full-time job, check out this free case-study I created about how I created a 7-figure business on eBay.
If you’re looking for more help selling your items or other resources, I have a course launching very soon that’ll walk you through everything you need to know about creating a full-fledged eBay business including the tactics and strategies I’ve learned for finding items that make me $3,000-$5,000 per sale, consignment clients that literally send me truckloads of high-fashion items that sell for $100’s+, and so much more!
By Shari Smith
Published 1/15/2020
Thank you for all the content-rich information Shari!