Do you want to make good money as an eBay seller? Learn how to sell on eBay and make more money from your listings.
Whether you’re starting your own online business or just looking to move some old stuff, selling on eBay can be a great way to make some extra money.
But whatever your plans, it’s best if you learn the basics of eBay selling before you get started. This way you can make sure you don’t miss any tricks and know you’re on top of all eBay commissions.
We’ve packed as much information as possible into this guide. When you finish reading it, you’ll have all the tips you need to start making money on eBay.
Here are the 16 best ways to maximize your profits when selling items on eBay:
How to make money on eBay
Table of Contents
1 .Improve your eBay profile
The best way to get started as a seller on eBay is to become a buyer first. This way other users can see that you have an eBay history and know you are trustworthy.
Even if you’re buying a few small items for a few pounds each, paying on time and providing feedback (preferably positive) can increase your presence on eBay and get a good buyer rating.
Another important step is choosing a username. Keep in mind that the label you choose will be the name of your mini-business, to inspire much confidence from potential buyers.
We recommend you choose something simple and professional, e.g a modification of your name or a name that is relevant to the type of things you want to sell (this will also make it easier for you to be found on eBay searches).
2 .Look for eBay seller promotions
From time to time eBay will offer special offers for private sellers: keep an eye out as you will likely receive an email with a link to activate the offers. If you’re able to wait until these listings arrive before selling your most expensive items, you can save quite a bit of money on seller fees.
Offers may include paying reduced commissions (sometimes as little as £1 per listing!).
To take advantage of the offers, go to the current special offers section of your eBay seller account page. “Active” is displayed next to each offer. i.e. it has been credited to your account or you need to click a button to activate it.
Or pay attention to our “Offers for students” section: We will present them when there are new offers.
3 .Pack items in one big bag to save money
If the items you are selling fit in the envelopes, this can save you the cost of shipping the goods to the winning bidder.
As long as the envelope meets the post office’s guidelines for large letters (14″ x 10″ x 1″), you can avoid the additional cost of selling packages.
Of course, not all shipments fit into envelopes. But if you’re selling something small like CDs, jewelry, or thin clothing, you can really save on postage and packaging costs (making your ad even more attractive to shoppers).
4 .Start auctions during eBay’s peak business hours
Before you place your bid, you should consider when you should open the auction.
In general, the best time for an auction to end is Sunday evening. It has been shown that this is the time when most casual buyers go shopping, so this is when the auctions really get going.
So if you’re aiming for the maximum auction duration of 10 days (which is always the best option as you’ll get more bids), schedule the auction on a Thursday evening to increase your exposure to potential buyers.
As previously mentioned, if you’re selling a themed or seasonal product, you should think about what time of year it would be best to list it on eBay.
For example, early October would be the perfect time to start listing all the costumes you have when people start looking online for their Halloween party outfits.
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5 .Upload the best price for your item
Once you’ve decided on an item to sell, use eBay’s Advanced Search to find out how many similar items have been sold for recently. You can search for what you want to sell and tick the Completed Listings box to see a range of similar items and the prices at which they were sold.
For some items, such as CDs and DVDs, you can determine the value by searching on other second-hand sale sites such as B. Music Magpie, to get quotes.
If you’re able to scan your item’s barcode you should get a fairly accurate valuation, so you can add a small amount to that amount as the selling price on eBay (unless you get a really good offer, in which case you could sell directly on this site instead).
Also, make sure the postage is priced right, otherwise, you might end up running out of money. The Royal Mail price finder will tell you how much postage will cost so you can put it on the list. But remember that you have to pay an eBay commission for the entire transaction, including shipping costs!
Keep in mind that high postage costs can deter some sellers. We, therefore, recommend adding the cost to the price of the item itself so that you can offer free shipping. This will give your items a “Free Shipping” mark in the search results. And because buyers can filter out items that don’t offer free shipping, your products get seen by more people.
6 .Never do shill bidding on eBay
Shill bidding occurs when you bid on an item to increase its price/search rank or make it more desirable rather than actually buying it. This is illegal, so neither you nor your friends or family should bid on your auctions.
There are systems in place to detect this and prevent it from happening on the site. Please see eBay’s Bogus Offers Policy for more details: The policy is very clear so if you are unsure the information on the eBay website should give you peace of mind.
7 .Keep in touch with buyers on eBay
Once the sale is successful (whoops!), send your buyer a confirmation email as soon as possible and bill them in full, including shipping costs.
You should then email them again once payment has been received and you have shipped the item. We know this sounds like a lot of emails, but buyers appreciate being kept in the loop, and if you’re too quiet they risk being suspicious and reporting you.
Also, make sure that you ship the item as soon as possible, and don’t be too ambitious when specifying the “handling time”. If you take two days to ship the item but don’t meet the deadline you set yourself, you may receive negative feedback and the buyer may request a refund on eBay.
When your customer received your product, you should give them good feedback. This is how the world of eBay works, and as the saying goes: word gets around.
8 .Send shipments with a handwritten note
It makes a big difference when you add a personal touch to your deliveries. Writing the buyer a small note thanking them for their purchase gives the buyer an idea of the person behind the purchase and will mean more to them than an anonymous eBay username.
For example, if you sell vintage clothing, you could include some information about the item’s history in the note, e.g. when you first bought it, where it came from and why you sold it.
It only has to be a few sentences (a full letter would be a little too long) and can also repeat things from the product description. But make an effort to present it well and you can be sure that your eBay customers will appreciate it.
It might even make buyers more inclined to give you a positive eBay rating and buy from you again.
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9 .Buying cheap things in order to sell them at higher prices
In addition to selling items you no longer need, it’s also worth looking for cheap things to sell at higher prices.
Whether it’s your local charity shop, a flea market, or even eBay itself, there are many ways to find great deals on products.
There is a risk of losing money in the process if you don’t know how much a particular product costs on eBay. Therefore, we strongly advise you to do some research first. Our guide to upselling is a good place to start.
However, if you’re certain that a seller has underestimated the value of an item, this is a good opportunity to buy it, sell it at what you think it’s worth, and (hopefully!) make a profit.
Take this student as an example, who took items from a car sale and sold them on eBay for 10 times the purchase price.
10 .Bid low to attract buyers’ attention
You might be tempted to start your listings with a high starting price, but if you start at 99p (or similar) you will sell more in the long run.
A low starting bid draws the attention of more potential buyers and encourages a bidding war when the item reaches the last day of the listing.
However, remember that this tip doesn’t apply to truly niche products: if it’s a product that’s only wanted by an avid collector, don’t set your starting bid too low, as there’s a good chance you’ll get a lot of bids on the item received is less.
You can always put a minimum price (the reserve) if you are worried about getting a bad deal, which means the item will not sell if it doesn’t meet the minimum price.
11 .Increase your eBay selling limits
If you are selling on eBay for the first time, you can only list 10 items up to a value of €650. Before you can list more items in your eBay store, you must prove that you are a good seller by listing your items quickly, communicating with buyers, and collecting positive feedback.
To increase your limits, you can click on “Request increase of selling limit” in your profile: eBay will then decide whether it wants to send you further offers. However, you can only do this once a month, so it may take a while before you reach a reasonable number of entries. Especially if you’re selling high-value items, you could hit your limit pretty quickly…
If you want to speed up the process, you can contact the support team via email. They are often willing to increase your account limit sooner as long as you have good reviews and are selling your items at a reasonable price. We tried it ourselves and increased our limit to over 1,000 items per month in just a few weeks!
12 .Always obtain proof of posting when selling on eBay.
Send all items you sell by registered mail or at least obtain proof of posting. Unfortunately, there are eBay buyer scammers who cause problems by telling eBay that items have not been received, even when they have actually been delivered.
So make sure you are armed with evidence in case you need to defend your position.
13 .Write compelling product descriptions
Now comes the hard part: writing descriptions that will sell your product. Taking the time to do this is very important as a good description can make or break a business.
eBay allows you to use up to 80 characters for your title, so make the most of it. Make it clear and concise and use lots of keywords to make your article as easy to find as possible.
How to write eBay product descriptions
- Avoid spelling mistakes: Typos can make it difficult for your listing to be found in eBay searches.
- Be brief, informative, and accurate, highlighting key characteristics and strengths.
- Use common eBay acronyms such as VGC (very good condition), BN (brand new), BNIB (brand new in box), and BNWT (brand new with tags).
- Be honest about all issues and defects: Buyers can leave negative feedback and request a refund if the item is not in the condition you described.
- If applicable, mention how often the item has been used or why you are selling it.
- Your items will have a much higher price if you have all the packaging, tags, and instructions.
- Ask potential buyers to contact you if they have any questions.
- List all of your terms, including payment, postage and packaging, and refunds.
- Try to make your description fancier with HTML (there are free online courses that can teach you how). But if you’re still struggling, you can use simple, bold fonts and colors instead (while maintaining professionalism, of course).
- Make sure you’re listing your item in the correct category – if this isn’t immediately obvious, do a search for what you’re selling and see where similar products are generally listed.
- If you sell many similar items at once, include a link to your other sales in the description.
- For ideas on how to word your descriptions, look at how top sellers describe their high-priced items
14 .Know what sells best on eBay
Whether it’s old-school books or your Pokémon card collection, before you list anything on eBay, it’s important to take the time to determine if what you’re selling is in good condition.
Maybe you want to make money from anything you can get your hands on. However, if you make the mistake of selling items that aren’t in good condition or are missing important parts, you could end up with negative reviews that make it difficult for you to sell other items on eBay.
If you’re looking for the best items to sell on eBay, use the Market Research tool to find out which items are of the most interest. Also, check which items are viewed the most and which are bidden on the most. This way you can get an idea of which products are selling best.
Also, keep the time of year in mind: you probably won’t get many deals on sunglasses in the middle of winter, so put them in a safe place until the time is right. You’ll likely make a lot more money off them if you can wait until they’re no longer in demand.
15 .Start auctions during eBay’s peak business hours
Before you place your bid, you should consider when you should open the auction.
In general, the best time for an auction to end is Sunday evening. It has been shown that this is the time when most casual buyers go shopping, so this is when the auctions really get going.
So if you’re aiming for the maximum auction duration of 10 days (which is always the best option as you’ll get more bids), schedule the auction on a Thursday evening to increase your exposure to potential buyers.
As previously mentioned, if you’re selling a themed or seasonal product, you should think about what time of year it would be best to list it on eBay.
For example, early October would be the perfect time to start listing all the costumes you have when people start looking online for their Halloween party outfits.
16 .Research eBay commissions
Before you can make money on eBay, you need to know exactly how much an item is worth and how much it will cost you to sell it. Of course, you want to make a reasonable profit, but there are some additional costs that come with selling on eBay that you need to consider.
Ecal is a nifty tool that calculates how much you have to pay for each sale based on the price you list it for and the price it eventually sells for. Try testing your item this way to see what kind of profit you will make.
What are eBay’s commissions?
You can list 1,000 articles per month for free, after that you will be charged a commission of 35 cents per article.
Additional charges apply for optional updates, such as adding a subtitle or listing the article in more than one category.
12.8% of the first £2,500 of the total transaction (including postage) goes to eBay, plus £0.30 per order.
Depending on how much you sell on eBay, you may have to pay taxes. Take a look at HMRC’s trademarks. If you come across some or all of them, you may have to pay taxes.
These are just a few of the possible fees you may be charged for your eBay store. This page on the eBay website provides details of all fees, which vary by item.
