For a little over a year now, I've been experimenting with selling things online. Things ranging from photographs, hand made jewelry, old china dolls (etsy.com) to slightly damaged designer jewelry (I buy for cheap), shoes, purses, unused makeup etc. I've only been successful fairly recently and that success has come through ebay! I finally signed up for my own account a little over a month ago and I've been a selling machine ever since! Well, a selling machine by my standards, anyway. Ebay isn't the best site to sell stuff (there are some extra fees when setting up to sell, and fees when you DO sell...blah, blah, blah) but it is certainly got one of the best range of people to sell to!
There are some things I have learned so far. I think my list would probably be a list for dummies, but oh, well. Here is my list:
1. Don't offer free shipping when you aren't selling the item for
enough money to even pay for the shipping!
2. Priority Mail is different than First Class Mail. (Priority goes faster,
but can cost twice as much or more sometimes)
3. Do you really need to post so many pictures of your item?
On Ebay, they charge you $.15 a pic. if you have more than 1. Thinking ahead of
the cost of even posting the item takes away from your pure profit.
4. Be specific in where you ship to and your shipping rates! Someone from, oh I don't know, NORWAY could bid on & win your item that costs $8, but when you have a set
shipping rate of $4 and the cost to ship that item to Norway is at LEAST
$15, you will be in the HOLE $3. Not a good way to start out!
5. Spend a few minutes becoming familiar with your ebay account web page.
Links like questions from potential bidders, and leaving feedback for
people you've sold to, or bought from like to hide themselves on the page
sometimes and can start to hurt your reputation as a seller!
