Expert: Marvinator - 2/16/2004

Question
Please get me started. I have informed myself on general knowlege, have signed up for PayPal, etc. now I need the step by step procedure to sell my first item....You all make it sound so simple.

Thank you.  

Answer
This is a very broad question.  The neat thing about ebay is that if you have any questions, you can just look them up on the site Map.  The link to the Site Map is at the top of just about every page on Ebay so it's not hard to find.

In "getting started" there is a lot of ground.  I will assume for the moment that you have a product, or products which you are wanting to sell.  I will also assume that you know this product and are merely seeking more information as to the steps needed to put these product(s) on ebay.  This is the homework that I try to stress every seller should do.  Know what you're going to sell and know it well.  

The first thing you will need to do is decide on a layout.  Are you going to just type a paragraph or are you going to use one of the templates to dress it up a bit?  (Stay away from animations, music, extra graphics, bright colored fonts, large fonts etc. as these only slow down the page load.  A slow page load chases away bidders!)  The best analogy as to what you're creating is an Encyclopedia article.  In an encyclopedia, you will find a couple of quality photographs along with a few paragraphs describing the item in detailed, specific terms.  This is exactly what you want your auction to be.  (Use photos that are not larger than 800 x 600 pixels, a minimum of 72 dpi,  in JPG format as these will load quicker. As already stated, you do NOT want to slow down the page load as you will lose bidders.) Take the time to write out your description ahead of time.  You can use a simple program such as Windows Notepad and even save it for use in listing.  Get someone to read it and ask them to be brutal in their assessment of it.  Does it leave out any pertinent information? (Hey, you know it's blue, the picture shows it's blue, but do you SAY the color is blue in the description?  Be exact.  Describe the item as if there were no picture.)  Is it choppy?  Does it flow well from paragraph to paragraph?  Are there any mispelled words? (Funny thing, but as much as we tend to overlook spelling errors on the Internet, a mispelled word can mean the difference of selling or not selling.) This will save you time and headaches in the long run as the Sell pages will time out if you take too long to go from one page to another.  This doesn't mean you have to hurry, but the notepad file is the best way to avoid problems.  I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've heard a seller complain that they were typing their description into the sell page and when they tried to move to the next page, it was 'timed out'. They lost their desctiption!  Having the description in a notepad file means you won't EVER have this happen.

Now you are ready to list your item.  Go to the Sell My Item page and begin following the instructions.  As I've stated before, I don't recommend the extras (bold, featured etc) for the one time seller or part time seller.  There is no evidence to support that these items help any one kind of item but you are free to select them as you see fit.  Simply follow the page top to bottom, selecting the pieces you need as you go.  When you come to the description, you can copy from the notepad you created  and paste directly into the description box.  Quick and easy.  

Before you hit the SUBMIT button, consider the following:  First, check over your description one more time.  Leave anything out? (If you want to add something, don't forget to add it to your notepad file, too!)   Any mispelled words jump out at you? (Changes again, should be made to the notepad file as you work.)  Are the pictures visible?  (If the pictures are not visible here, then there is a problem. DON'T submit unless the auction looks exactly as you want it - pictures and all.)  Next, What about the duration and listing time?  Ok, now you've come to the last few questions and duration/list time is one that many people forget about.

The thing that many people do not know and I would like to pass on to you is that duration versus listing is important.  It works like this.  Most if not all auctions receive most of the bids in the last hour.  Yes, I know a lot of people will see it during the first few days, and then it seems to just sit there, causing you stress and suddenly in the last hour you get 2-3 bids.  Don't worry, this is normal.  The thing to understand about this is that you want your item to END when there is a better chance more people are viewing it.  AND it will end exactly the time of day that it starts.  So this means that if you want more people home to view your auction, you may not wish to list your item during the day (because it will end during the day.)   If you plan on dealing with more 'stay at home' types, then a daytime listing may be better for you.  In either regard, a little research on other similar items will help you to see when the high sellers ended and when to list yours.   Some items do better ending on Sunday night, others do better ending at noon weekdays.  It's important for you, as the seller, to know this information before you hit that "Sell my Item Page."

When you're set, and the page is ready to be submitted, click the SUBMIT button and your item is immediately listed.  You can go right to the category and find it.  Keep in mind, though, that those people who will be using the search engine won't be finding your item for 2-24 hours.  The Search Indexes are only updated once a day and they won't include your item until the next update.  Again, don't worry, this is normal, and everyone goes through the same thing.

Your work isn't over, in fact it's just beginning.  There will be bidders with questions.  (Remember the example above about "blue"?  Yeah, even though the pic shows it's blue, You said it's blue in the description, someone will write and ask if it's really blue.) Again, you'd be surprised at the rude responses I've received from fellow sellers (and BIDDERS!) when it comes to questions.   Remember to always be polite and businesslike in your dealings.  Always thank people for writing.  You may not BE a business but that doesn't mean you can't be business like.  There will also be questions you hadn't thought about.  Questions about shipping rates etc.  Try and be ready for them and always be your best.

When the auction is over, you will need to get a total (with shipping) to the winner, and collect the winnings.  I won't go into all that as that is 'after the sale' and this is only dealing with selling.
Thanks for asking - I look forward to any more questions you may have!