How to Sell on eBay: 6 Pro Tips for Beginners

Introduction

When you take the time to effectively research and connect with your dedicated audience via your business, you will most likely find yourself on the path to success. Additionally, not only can your business reach your customers through Amazon, but other e-commerce platforms are viable, too, including eBay.

If you’re interested in selling on eBay, you’ll need to take care of a few things first, such as creating an account, adding products, and then optimizing and promoting them.

Check out our comprehensive guide on selling on eBay to not only figure out how to sell on the platform, but what to sell.

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How Does Selling on eBay Work?

The great thing about eBay is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a new or old e-commerce seller; the steps for success will be just the same.

Here’s how selling on eBay works:

• The seller (you) will list the item
• Your customer or a member of your audience buys the item
• The order is fulfilled!

Selling on eBay vs Amazon

If you’re already an Amazon seller, there are a few important things you’ll want to keep in mind:

• Buy Box: Rather than compete for the Buy Box to help get your popular product noticed by more customers (and this is only for one listing), eBay sellers have the opportunity to design and customize their own listings.
• Listing Optimization: Unlike Amazon, eBay provides its sellers with greater listing optimization choices. This helps eBay sellers more easily attract potential customers.

Here’s how an Amazon listing looks. Note the option to buy new or used in the same listing.  

And here are listings for the same product that appear on eBay.

You still have the option to purchase a product in a new or used condition, but you’ll have to find the individual listing that suits your preference.

eBay Seller Fees Breakdown

Thankfully, the eBay seller fees are easy to understand as there are only two platform fees:

• Insertion Fee: This fee, also called the listing fee, occurs whenever you list a product on eBay. Additionally, this particular fee only applies if you list more than 250 products per month. If you’re a small seller, you can avoid paying this fee.
• Final Fee Value: This is the percentage of your sale that eBay keeps for themselves. Whenever you sell a product, you’ll be required to pay 3-15% of your sale to eBay (the specific percentage depends on the product category). On top of this, you’ll be charged a $0.30 fee per order.

Keep in mind that most of the fees you’ll pay will depend on both the amount of listings you currently have and the specific product category you’ve chosen to sell in.

The ultimate, end-of-sale fee you’ll pay is based on a number of factors including the total amount of the sale, the cost of the item, shipping price, sales tax, and other important fees.

How to Find Best Selling Items on eBay

If you’re struggling to find best selling items on eBay, you may want to take a look at the trending deals page. Here, you will find the daily popular products that will give you a great idea of what to sell.

Besides the trending deals page, here are some winning strategies to remember as you start you eBay selling journey:

• Find new releases of old, popular items: Always check out the latest updates of popular products and take advantage of them.
• Always know what the new trends are: By staying on top of the latest social media trends, you can begin to offer fast-selling items that reflect these trends.
• Take seasonality into account: The end-of-year holiday season is a hugely popular time to shop for not only toys but holiday-themed decor and items, too. Use this to your advantage!
• Remember popular, everyday items: A safe selling strategy may be to simply sell normal items that remain popular enough for you to turn a profit.
• Rediscover vintage items: While old items may be of little use in today’s world, you may find after some market research that a particular vintage item is becoming popular again. This could be a great opportunity to sell some vintage items.
• Think about selling used clothing: Inexpensive to buy, selling old clothing from stores (a form of retail arbitrage) can be a lucrative strategy if you do it right.
• Kid toys and electronics will always be popular: Toys and electronics from big names such as Apple, Lego, and Disney are more than likely products that parents will buy for their children throughout the year, so consider selling some yourself.

How to Find Profitable Products to Sell on eBay

Although they’re primarily for Amazon sellers, Helium 10’s product research tools can be a great help for eBay sellers, too! This is because a product that is popular on Amazon will most likely be popular on eBay.

While there are a few different tools to choose from, all with handy features that make e-commerce selling much easier, one of the most useful tools is Black Box. With this particular tool, you can perform product research and discover winning items that will help guarantee your success on eBay. This will help ensure that your unique listing is seen above your competitor’s listing, garnering you more sales and, ultimately, more money.

How to Source Products to Sell on eBay

There are a variety of great and successful methods to source products to sell on eBay. Each has its own specific benefits attached to it, so it really depends on the individual seller and their goals to determine which one works best for them. Some of these sourcing methods are as follows:

Private Label

Private label is when sellers provide their own branded products instead of simply reselling items from existing brands.

The distinct advantages of private label include:

• Being able to design your own brand and associated products
• Creating high-quality photographs of your branded products instead of using stock images like other sellers
• The ability to save a sizable amount of money by simply sourcing your products from suppliers outside of the U.S.

Retail Arbitrage

A highly popular e-commerce business model that works on eBay as well as Amazon, retail arbitrage can be a good selling strategy for the right person.

Typically, retail arbitrage sellers go into physical store locations, find items on clearance, and then resell them on Amazon.

It’s also easy to do with eBay if you follow the steps below:

• When looking for products, try to find ones that are on clearance or in the toys or electronics departments. All three of these categories perform well on eBay.
• Make use of the eBay app on your phone. This will allow you to scan the barcodes of the items you’re looking at to see whether or not they have excellent sell-through ratios.

Online Arbitrage

Think of online arbitrage like retail arbitrage but, instead of reselling products from physical stores, you’ll be finding and reselling items you’ve located on other e-commerce sites.

A few of the biggest advantages of online arbitrage are:

• A convenient way for sellers to source and resell products from their home by simply using the internet
• Heightened scalability by simply selling, reinvesting, and purchasing more products
• Lower overhead costs leading to higher profit margins
• The ability to analyze the data relating to certain products to quickly see if they’re worth selling.

Wholesaling

Wholesaling involves ordering your products directly from the manufacturer instead of ordering through a seller. This usually leads to discounted prices and bulk orders which sellers can then use to make a long-lasting profit on eBay or any other e-commerce site.

Specifically, the advantages wholesalers can expect are:

• The opportunity to create a business relationship with your supplier, allowing you to continue selling their item for a prolonged period of time.
• The chance to quickly scale up your business depending on how much you’re willing to invest.
• Selling a product that is proven to be successful, rather than one you may end up losing money on.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping works when eBay sellers list products on the platform which they in turn order from another seller supplier whenever they receive an order. This allows these specific eBay sellers to sell on the platform without inventory.

If dropshipping sounds interesting to you, check out the list of pros below:

• Able to avoid costs associated with shipping and storing products
• Able to sell on a variety of different e-commerce sites including Amazon, Walmart, and eBay
• The opportunity to sell your product internationally
• A low-capital investment requirement in the beginning

Print on Demand

If you’re a graphic artist or digital creator, Print on Demand allows you to sell your designs on multiple different products, including t-shirts and mugs.

With Print on Demand:

• There is no capital investment required
• You can earn a huge portion of each sale while avoiding fulfillment and inventory fees at the same time.

If you want a quick way to find products to sell on eBay that doesn’t involve the prolonged processes of the six methods above, you should definitely check out the Supplier Finder feature of our free Chrome Extension tool.

Is It Easy to Sell on eBay?

Yes, it is easy to sell on eBay. It only takes a few minutes to get everything set up (although additional processes will take longer), allowing you to start selling ASAP.

However, keep in mind that selling on eBay can often get more complicated as you go along. That is why it’s important to take the time to research common selling tips before you begin.

Is Selling on eBay Worth It?

Yes, it absolutely is. With a sound business model, you’ll be able to sell items that will net you a profit while taking advantage of the fulfillment network that will enable you to continue growing.

eBay Seller Requirements

There aren’t very many eBay seller requirements, although each one is very important, so it pays to have them handy as you’re creating your account.

• You’ll need to confirm your identity and provide proof of identification
• Next, you’ll have to upload the relevant documents to eBay
• After, you’ll be asked to verify your bank details
  • Your bank statement will be required for this section

How to Create an eBay Seller Account

For those who are registered as a sole proprietor or LLC owner (or another form of registered business owner), you can simply choose to open an eBay seller account right on the registration page. Here, you’ll need to provide your business name, type of business, and address.

Here is a quick step-by-step guide to get started:

• Head to the registration page
• Create a business name and email address for the account
• Create your new password
• Choose your business’s location
• Select ‘Create Account’

Additionally, you can also create a username for your account, but this is optional and can be changed later.

6 Pro Tips to Sell Successfully on eBay

1. Optimize Your Listing for Relevant Keywords

All eBay customers use keywords to quickly find the products they’re looking for which is why it’s vital that you strategically add relevant keywords to your listing. This will help your product appear whenever someone searches for a product matching your item’s description.

Even though they’re designed with Amazon in mind, Magnet and Cerebro, two tools offered by  Helium 10, can help you find those crucial keywords, saving you potentially hours of exhausting work. Instead, you can adjust the parameters of both tools, find the keywords you’re looking for, and move on to other important aspects of your growing e-commerce business.

2. Ensure Profitability in Pricing by Factoring in All Costs Before You Commit

When investing your money into your products, it’s important to know whether or not you’ll be able to make a large enough profit on the products to make the work worth it. Not only that, but you’ll also have to take into account eBay’s seller fees in mind.

An insertion fee, one of the fees eBay sellers have to keep in mind, occurs whenever you list a product on eBay. However, this insertion fee also applies if you relist the item after taking it down, if you duplicate the item for auctions, or list it under a different product category. These fees are non-refundable, including if your product doesn’t sell. However, you can avoid these fees if you list less than 250 products per month. If you’re a big seller, then these fees, plus a $0.35 per listing.

Additionally, the final value fees, charged after each sale, are a calculated percentage of the total amount of the sale the customer pays. This includes shipping with an added $0.30 for every order.

New and old eBay sellers will also have to factor in product costs and shipping costs.

By keeping all these hidden fees in mind, you can aim for a lucrative profit margin (we recommend 15-20%) for every item you sell. 

3. Price Your Item Competitively

You can ensure that your item, no matter what it is, is priced competitively by entering the UPC code, ISBN code, or name in eBay’s search bar. In rare cases where your item is hard to find, you will see other listings for the same or similar item, along with the price.

Next, you’ll want to check the filter box labeled ‘Completed Listings’ to view the ones that have finished selling. A green price means that the given item has sold at that price. Conversely, non-green prices mean the item did not sell.

You can also check the filter ‘Sold Listings’ to see the ones that sold at a certain price, helping you discover the correct amount to list your own, similar product at.

4. Turn on International Shipping

When using the Global Shipping Program (GSP) offered by eBay, you can easily connect with potential customers from all over the world!

If this seems like more work, don’t worry! Sellers who choose to use this program will not have to think about any of the logistical details that go into international shipping. All these sellers will have to do is simply ship their products—that have been bought by an international customer— to eBay’s Kentucky-based global shipping center. There, eBay will ship your product to your customer and take care of any paperwork that goes along with it.

eBay customers love this option because it guarantees no surprise deliveries when they’re not at home and allows them to locate their items with enhanced tracking information provided by the e-commerce platform.

If this sounds like an opportunity you want to take advantage of, you can add individual listings into the GSP or choose instead to automatically include the option in your shipping options. By adding this option into your existing policy, you can begin to grow an international audience who prefer your products, and their quick and easy delivery, over your competitors.

5. Run Promotions

The Promoted Listings tool on eBay can help sellers on the platform get their products noticed more easily by a greater number of people. It also helps boost your search visibility, allowing you to reach more customers, drive more clicks, and expand your audience. As an added bonus, all eBay sellers qualify for this tool.

When sellers use the Promoted Listings tool, they only pay for the service whenever a product sells. Subscribers to this tool also gain access to other important tools that help them change the trajectory of their campaigns to better maximize their potential sales.

Additionally, Seller Hub Promotions help eBay sellers design offers specific to their products with the ultimate goal of moving inventory and encouraging more purchases. These promotions can include:

• Discounts centered on order size
• Unique sales events
• Buy one, get one free promotions
• Exclusive shipping discounts
• Coupons

6. Ask for Product Reviews

Whenever one of your customers has had a good buying experience with you or your brand, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask them for a review. eBay sellers should want as many good reviews as possible since they will earn you both better ratings and more sales. You can also automate this entire process so you don’t miss out on any review opportunities, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.

Conclusion

While selling items on eBay can be challenging if you’re serious about the process, you can increase your odds of success by researching key strategies.

By knowing how to price your items, how to counteroffer, how to take advantage of good opportunities, and more, you can potentially see your fledgling business expand at a rapid pace.

No matter if you’ve sold products on eBay in the past or are a newcomer to the scene, a determination to succeed paired with the knowledge to help you grow will see you go far.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Pays Shipping on eBay?

While most shipping costs are paid by the buyer, some shipping fees can be paid by the seller, depending on the chosen fulfillment method.

How Much Can a Beginner Sell on eBay?

A beginner eBay seller can sell a maximum of 10 products per month or a total of $500, whichever occurs first.