EBay Auction vs. Buy It Now: Choosing the Right Listing Option for Your Items
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Before you start building your eBay empire, there are a few items to consider in laying a firm foundation for your future profits. Even if you don't plan on establishing an actual eBay empire, a little preparation will go a long way in saving you time, lowering your stress level, and maybe even saving you money.
When I started on eBay, I spent a lot of time agonizing over the wrong details while overlooking some of the most crucial preparation. Your first decision is whether to set up as a personal or business account. Unless you have already set up a business entity and are ready to start raking in the money, start simply with a personal account. If business booms, you can upgrade to a business account later without losing any transaction history.
If you already have a business entity, either a bricks-and-mortar retail store or online business, then go ahead and set up a business account. If you want to start a new business and open an eBay business account, then first make sure your business is set up legally. This includes registering your business name with your state and following your state's laws regarding sales tax collection.
Some people want to keep the account they use for personal purchases separate from their selling account. The advantages are that it rescue bit ebay buying convey a more professional appearance as well as protecting your privacy by not showing buyers your list of purchased items. Check out eBay's guidelines to learn their criteria of what is and isn't rescue bit ebay buying in user names. Already have an Amazon seller account or other e-commerce business name? Consider using the same seller name on eBay.
You'll need a PayPal account if you want to get paid. This is the simplest rescue bit ebay buying for new merchants, although there are a couple other options if you really hate PayPal. You can use your personal PayPal account or set up another PayPal account for your business. PayPal does allow users to have one personal and one business account, so it's completely legit to have two accounts.
Each account must have a unique email address, bank account, and credit card associated with it. If you're not setting up as an official business yet, then I'd suggest also holding off on the business PayPal accountant as you can change over later. Do be aware that using your personal account will show buyers your personal name rather than your business name on the payments they make to you. If that is a big concern to you, then you'll want to set up as a business with Paypal and eBay.
That's more than we'll cover in this article. Buyers don't incur fees when they use PayPal, but as a seller you will be footing the bill.
The current fee is 2. If this seems high to you, remember that all the stores we shop at pay to process the credit cards we love to use. This is part of the cost of running a retail business and you'll need to account for it as an expense and when calculating your per-item profit. Start out using your personal PayPal account and upgrade later if the need arises. Items you ship out will need a return address. If you don't want that to be your home address, then get a PO Box before rescue bit ebay buying list your first item.
I cringed when I realized that my full name and home address was going out on the shipping labels I had printed up through eBay. It surprised me and scared me a bit to lose that privacy. Now you know and won't be surprised! You can read more about options in my hubpage article "Get a Business Address. Use your home address until you start selling on a regular basis. I was advertising free shipping and figured I could just work out those pesky little shipping details later. The problem was that the listing auto-populated as "expedited shipping".
Shipping that item would have cost me twice the price it sold for! The buyer generously allowed me downgrade to priority mail and receive their item a day later than expec. When you list an item for sale, you will be asked to enter the dimensions of the box and weight. This means that you need to have the item boxed and any cushioning material added before you click to submit the listing.
Don't guess what size box the item will fit into or how much it will weigh all rescue bit ebay buying and ready to go. And don't just accept the options that auto-populate based on what other sellers chose for their shipping!
This could really mess up your shipping fees when the item sells. If the buyer is paying, they will expect to pay what was shown even if the actual cost turns out to be higher. If you are paying, well you could end up with a much bigger bill than anticipated!
You really can't down-grade the shipping once the item is sold as it isn't fair to a buyer to get an item later than they expected. You'll be safest having the buyer rescue bit ebay buying shipping costs if you do start with a low bid, so that rescue bit ebay buying low ending bid doesn't end up costing you shipping and the rescue bit ebay buying cost both as losses.
Bidding wars don't always ensue and as a new seller you don't have the experience to know which prices are guaranteed to soar and rescue bit ebay buying ones are going to sink you! If it will break your heart or your wallet to sell that low, then rescue bit ebay buying may want set a minimum opening bid. Set it high enough that you will be happy to sell and making a profit. You don't even have to list your item as an auction.
You can use the "Buy it Now" feature, set a price you are comfortable and see what the market says. There is also rescue bit ebay buying "Make an Offer" feature you may want to look into using, once you get the hang of the basics. Don't start your auction at. Don't be one of the whiners who say " eBay is a ripoff! Rescue bit ebay buying lost money selling my items on eBay! Understand that the amount an item sells for will not go directly into your pocket as profit.
You will pay eBay for hosting your item, PayPal for processing the payment, shipping fees to the buyer if you choose to pay thempackaging costs, the cost of the item itself, and any incidentals of business.
What's left after all that is your profit. Every business has overhead; eCommerce is no different. Those are just the basic fees and there are additional fees for other features to help you sell your items. Selling on eBay eliminates the need to sit outside at a garage sale all weekend or to pay rent and utilities in a standard retail location, but it doesn't guarantee a profit anymore than opening up the doors of a new store in a local mall guarantees a profit.
Consider all your expenses when calculating profit. Although getting started on eBay can seem like a daunting task, you can keep it simple when starting out and grow your business as you learn. The most important aspect of selling successfully on eBay is good customer service and positive feedbackso make that your initial focus of learning.
Making money will mean nothing if you get poor feedback by disappointing buyers. A list of links to important eBay seller information is included further down the page. All information should be verified directly at the eBay site for the most up to date information. I own quite a few of Jordan Malik's books and have learned a lot from them. They are easy to understand, quick reading, and great references to look back on for review.
He is a trusted source of information for eBay and Amazon sellers. To comment on this article, you must sign in or sign up and post using a HubPages Network account. Liz Elias - good luck this time around! It helps to have learned rescue bit ebay buying our mistakes, doesn't it? I appreciate your comment, thanks so much. I just began putting listings up a month or so ago after about a 3-year hiatus.
I left when it became "FEE-Bay" a few years back. Now, they no longer expect you to start a listing at 99 cents, and say as much in their updated tutorials. Also, you can now list up to rescue bit ebay buying items per month for free as of this writing, I have to really watch it, as I'm not selling very high-value items right now, so the pennies do have to count and mount up in my favor.
Glad you enjoyed the hub and thank you so much for commenting! Shipping from Canada would certainly be a game-changer in ecommerce. Good luck with whatever biz you decide to do! I'm still humming and hawing about whether to sell on ebay. Rescue bit ebay buying shipped to and from Canada is truly expensive. Fanseller - You can buy and sell out of the same personal account. You can close out the business account to make it simpler for you. Please visit Ebay's Seller Center linked to in article for more information and to learn the ends and outs of Ebay.
Signed up just last night as EBay seller, however, I couldn't see how to 'sell' rescue bit ebay buying a personal account. EBay only showed me how to buy with it. Consequently, I signed up as a business. I'm not, though, so your comment about being legal concerns me. What am I dong wrong or where do I go to remedy this please? Im so glad that I read this article!! I had sold on ebay quite often a few years back and found that I had success at it. Now that being said a large portion of the items I sold were found, I am an addicted dumpster diver I am always rescue bit ebay buying at the things people toss out!
I rescue them and rescue bit ebay buying a profit: But it appears things have changed the shipping rule you mentioned was not in place when I was selling Im so thankful I read your posting that is an area of the process that can really hit your profit if done without much thought:
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