Most people that can use eBay can make money with it but there is a huge difference between selling some items on eBay and running a successful business. In most situations people start small. They sell their video games and different items that they do not need anymore. This is always great for some quick cash but you may want to move this to the next level.

If you want to make more money with eBay, selling products or even services, always remember the following.

Understand What Works On Ebay

First off, eBay is not the best place to sell anything online. You want to focus on the items that have the highest possible chance of being wanted. This includes products that are:

• Popular
• Easy to ship
• Rare
• Highly convenient when selling online – if the item generally needs to be checked when bought, eBay will not be great

Always Be Honest

Whenever selling anything online through a platform that gives clients the possibility to write reviews you need to be honest. Well, you should always be honest in business period. There are some that will tell you that you can boost sales as you lie but in reality, you get more money as your reputation increases and more people see you as a good seller. Negative comments are going to hurt your eBay business, especially when there are other people selling similar items.

Wording Counts

As you list the item on eBay you have to properly choose wording and take advantage of proper keywords. Always:

• Keep titles concise
• Use keywords in descriptions
• Right long and detailed descriptions

A great trick you can use is to search for items that are similar to what you sell and analyze the listings that have the most activity. This will give you an idea of what words to use in your description and even what style works best if you have no idea how to write the descriptions.

Always Use High Quality Pictures

In many cases the listing features numerous photos but the quality is really bad. If you want to increase sales you want to use photographs and they need to be as great as possible. Always have pictures from all relevant angles and sides. Use the lighting that is necessary and place the items in front of neutral backgrounds. Blurry pictures should never be posted. Also, when the item has any imperfection, take a photograph so that you can show it to the interested buyers.

Choosing The Best Price

This is a huge part of any eBay listing and is much more complicated than what you may think. However, we have 2 main scenarios to consider:

• Selling popular item – Starting price can be low, like $0.99 and marketplace demand will drive prices up.
• Selling less desirable item – Your starting price should be the minimum that you are going to accept.

A reserve price option is generally not a good idea as many potential bidders avoid such deals. Reserve prices should only be considered when there is a high-end item that is sold but interest levels may be low. Reserve prices help in this case as they protect you from big losses.

Research helps you the most to decide what prices to use for your listings. Ebay has an advanced search tool that allows you to see only results for listings that were completed. You can thus see the successful sales and the final prices. This can also help you when you want to potentially invest into products to then sell on eBay.

Smart Shipping Costs And Options

There is this strategy where people list the item for a really low price and make their profit from high shipping rates. It is a really bad strategy for any possible item since many potential buyers are going to be turned off and will be aware of what you do. A much better approach is to charge nothing for shipping when your costs are really low.

Be sure that shipping is done in a proper way. This includes properly packaging items and putting an extra effort into using protection like bubble wrap. Even water protection may be a really good idea if you ship some items like books or clothes.

Always check shipping prices, know how much you will need to pay and try to offer proper options based on what is truly appropriate for the item that is sold.

As an extra tip, when there are international customers, get in touch with them to see what the best way is to handle shipping expenses.

High Quality Customer Support Is Vital

This is actually true for any business out there but particularly vital when you rely on customer reviews. You want to always offer stellar customer support. This includes ideas like:

• Respond to all questions as fast as possible.
• When there is no answer to the question, respond and say you are going to come back as soon as possible.
• Offer packing slips.
• Tell people when their item is shipped and offer all details that you can.
• Do not go outside the established eBay system.
• Be courteous and respectful.
• Work with buyers when special situations appear.

As an extra tip, be sure that you never negotiate payment terms. Some people will try to make you to sell at lower prices. Once you set your prices and you know they are right, do not negotiate.

The idea is to always be sure that there are no lacks that appear in your policies. You want to maintain the reputation so everything listed in the listing has to be clear, especially when talking about policies for shipping and returns.

Auction Start And End Times

This is another tricky thing but you really need to carefully choose auction start and end types. A great idea is to start during the night as there are more online users. Sunday is generally the best day. You are not charged much to choose the start and end time so why not take advantage of this? Just focus on the time zone differences. You want to choose the time where the potential buyers are. At the same time, you really want people to be around and awake when auctions close.

Final Thoughts

A huge part of making good money with eBay is trial and error. You want to be prepared for some bad deals on your part but just do not make that a habit. Mainly focus on knowing as much as possible about who is most likely to buy your items and always offer a great customer support.