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Free eBay tips and eBay tools and services to help eBay sellers build a profitable eBay business

Whether you just want to have some fun, use eBay to clear out your attic, make a few extra bucks, or even start and eBay business, you will have to master the “basics” to sell successfully on eBay. The following tips are a good start -but you will need to keep learning to master the techniques of eBay success.  Here is a collection of eBay selling tips, basic techniques and several free eBay tools and services to help you make more money on eBay.

1. Buy on eBay before you start trying to sell

I get email from people all the time wanting to know how to make money selling on eBay. The first question I ask them is if they have bought anything on eBay. Amazingly a lot of them say no.  You really need to buy on eBay first to understand how the platform works and what eBay looks like from the buyer’s point of view. You will never be successful selling on eBay until you learn to buy.

2. Learn to sell on eBay by selling on eBay

The best way to start selling on eBay is to start selling on eBay. Yes, there are some things to learn, but take your time, look at the eBay help files (and these tips) and just start selling. You will make some mistakes -we all do. But don’t get frustrated or give up. You will get better with experience.

Also, selling will make you a better buyer. You will understand things from the seller’s point of view and learn other ways to spot bargains.

3. The best types of products to sell on eBay

Everyone wants to sell the latest consumer product -but the truth is there is a lot of competition from established sellers and even big online companies that have discovered eBay. The best item to sell on eBay is something used or a very specialized (niche) product that few others are selling.

You can buy virtually anything used: clothing, books, computers, DVD’s, Stereo equipment, and so on. If you are going to sell new goods, make sure you can buy them cheaply enough to sell and make a profit. One source is the closeout and liquidation companies that sell overstocks and seasonal items returned by department stores. Here is a link to a Free Wholesale Search Engine. I also offer an inexpensive product called My Top 20 Wholesale Sources for eBay Sellers. This is a great place to find good wholesale sources that will work with eBay sellers.  These are not perfect or complete resources they are just a place to start.  Be a little careful with the Wholesale Search Engine. It is a search engine and I can’t control what shows up there. So just because a company comes up in a search that doesn’t mean I endorse it.

Another great item is consumables. The idea here is to get repeat business via your web site from customers who buy from you on eBay. One of the best selling products from The Auction Seller’s Resource is the Wholesale Buying System (WBS). This tells you how, what and where to buy products to sell on eBay. The WBS comes with access to a members-only web site where you can access thousands of wholesale companies directly. The web site is updated monthly to add new sources.

4. Search Listings on eBay to see what is selling

Go to: http://listings.eBay .com to see what is being listed and sold on eBay. The number in parentheses after the category title is the number of auctions for a given item. In general, the higher the number the more action and sales.

5. Where to get help with your auction questions

Forums and message posts are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get help answering almost any question that might come up about selling on eBay and other auction sites.

The best – and most used forums on eBay are of course at eBay’s Community section. You can find the discussion boards broken down by subject at: http://pages.eBay.com/community/boards/index.html and there are several category-specific chat rooms at:

http://pages.eBay.com/community/chat/index.html

Another excellent link on eBay is The Answer Center at: http://pages.eBay.com/community/answercenter/index.html

There is an excellent independent forum on Auctionbytes.com at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php

These forums are moderated by David and Ina Steiner and other experts they recruit. The posts are broken down by subject areas, including an excellent one on fraud.

http://www.AuctionClan.com is a fairly new membership site that offers forums for sellers and also does very low cost image hosting.

6. Bookmark these eBay links to save time

Set up a favorites folder marked eBay and place these links in it for easy and quick reference.

7. What to do when someone doesn’t pay?

EBay has a defined procedure for bidders that don’t pay. Here are the steps:

First send an email requesting payment and warning the buyer you will file a non-payment complaint to eBay if they don’t pay within a specified time. If they still don’t pay, go to your My eBay Page and find the link to the dispute resolution center.

Follow the instructions there to make a claim and file a final value fee credit (to refund your fees)

eBay will contact the buyer and give them a warning (this often gets the buyer to pay) Any bidder that receives a third warning will be indefinitely suspended from eBay.