How to sell on eBay like a true pro

eBay is brilliant. It’s the perfect way to grab a bargain online and make a bit of extra cash for the things you don’t want – especially clothing! But if you’re not marketing your items correctly, you’ll either end up not selling them, or selling them at a disappointingly low price and having to begrudgingly post them to a rather smug buyer. So if you’re an inexperienced eBay seller, make sure you follow my failsafe tips and ensure that you’re getting the best price possible for your goods. Remember, a little bit of effort certainly does go a long way!

Do your research

Before you create a listing, do you research online and see what other people selling your items or similar are achieving. A good way to do this is to ‘watch’ a seller’s item. This means that you won’t have to be glued to the computer all day to find out how much the item sold for and you’ll receive a notification alerting you what the final price was.

It’s a great way of discovering what other people are willing to pay for your item and it may even be worth a lot more than you anticipated!

Create a striking and eye catching title

eBay gives you a character allowance of 80 per listing, so make sure you use this wisely. If you’re selling a new baseball cap, simply writing ‘Cap, new’, seriously isn’t going to cut it. Believe me, you would be surprised at the amount of lame titles like this on eBay which are resulting in top quality items not being sold. Bring the item to life by describing it in the title. Get the brand name in there, the colour, the size, if it’s brand new with tags, then let people know! I also like to capitalise the first letter of each word just to give it that extra vava voom!

Fill in the item specifics section as much as possible

Yes, there is plenty of information you can fill in here, which if you’ve got a lot of items can be boring and time consuming. Some specifics are not optional and must be entered into your listing such as brand, category and size and condition, but by filling in all those important areas such as colour, style and other areas too, you’re giving the buyers plenty of information which will hopefully result in less questions via email.

Photos

Yep, it’s common knowledge that you’ll need a photo or two for people to visualise what you’re selling, but putting zero effort into them really does ruin your entire listing and makes it look crap. I’ve seen plenty of people selling un-ironed clothing when has been laid out on the floor with a load of mess in the background. This really isn’t going to persuade me to buy the item. In fact, I’ll more than likely to scroll straight past it until I see another photo that’s clear, striking and actually looks good.

Iron your items , put them on a coat hanger and hang them on your bedroom door. With this method, you’re completely eliminating any background mess or carpet stains. Plus the background will be the door which will look nice and neutral.  In addition, I like to add in multiple photos. Ebay allows you to add up to 12 images for free which is great, so get creative. If the item is branded, I normally take a photo of the label, as well as the front or back view of the item and close ups. Alternatively, you could even get someone to take a photo of you wearing the item if you want to – just don’t forget to crop out your face!

Description

We don’t need to write an entire essay here, but making the description sound fun and appealing. Again a few bland words won’t cut it. Elaborate the title and give a little background into the item – are you having a clearout and this is a beautiful dress that you’ve just not had time to wear? If so let them know.

When I’m selling clothes, I’ll incorporate the main specifics into a sentence and give it a good round up of its condition.  I’ll also use nice adjectives such as beautiful, stunning or striking to make it more appealing and also what it would look nice with. If you’ve got a massive amount of other items for sale, let the buyer know this by adding it into the description and hyperlinking to your items for sale page. You never know, they may just like a few items that you’re selling. Never miss the opportunity to upsell!

Set a decent price

Back in the day, eBay used to make you pay a fee for listing items above £0.99p, but now you can list your item at whatever price you wish and you’ll only pay a fee if this item sells. Some people still start their items at £0.99p. Whilst this is cheap and encourages multiple buyers to potentially bid, it doesn’t suggest that your item is worth much.

I like to start items of clothing at around £2-£3 depending on their brand and condition. This normally suggests to the buyer that it’s a quality piece and worth having. Best of all, even if you only get one bidder, you’ll get more than £0.99p if it sells!  So remember, set it slightly higher than a silly low price and give it some worth!

Offer Postage Discounts

Everyone loves a bargain and if you’re having a big old clearout, then tempting buyers with a postage discount will definitely make them bid on more of your items. You’ll be able combine postage so you can take some money off each additional item won (only if it isn’t too heavy and can fit within one package – you don’t want to do yourself out of money!). This saves time wrapping the items and the buyers gets some bargains. This is win win all round!

Offer International Delivery

Offering to post your items internationally offers up a whole new market and increases way more interest in your items. All you have do is tick that you’re happy to post internationally and quote a postal service and price for this. If you’re unsure of how much this would be, you could always nip down to the local postoffice, weigh the item and get them to quote you for different worldwide services.

I’ve previously posted items all  around the world to countries in Europe, Australia and most randomly French Polynesia in the South Pacific!

So now you’ve got a few more tips, ensure you get a price that you’ll be happy with and create a brilliant and striking listing that will attract the crowds!

Happy Ebaying everyone!

Pippa Masson

Pippa is head of content at Suit Your Look and specialises in fashion and beauty.

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