How to Get Started on eBay
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

eBay is the world's largest and most frequently used online auction site. You can use it to buy and sell all sorts of items, from old records to upcoming sports tickets. Here's a short primer on how to use eBay and its features.
Steps

1. Register with eBay. You will be required to provide your name, email address, and other information that will help to identify you as a user of the site and allow you to bid on items. You will also need to create a username and password.
   
2. Search the site. Now you're ready to get started with bidding. In the search box at the top of the page, type the name of an item or type of item that you are looking for (e.g. Beatles records, or simply The Beatles). You can do a general search, or search within several categories such as Music, Sporting Goods, or Books.
   
3. Sort your results. Many searches, particularly for popular items, will show several pages of results. In order to find what you want more quickly, you can sort the items by price, time left in the auction, date of listing, or payment options available.
   
4. Find out more. By clicking on an item in the list, you can find out further details about the item, such as where it ships from, the seller's feedback rating from previous customers, and a picture of what you would receive.
   
5. Make a bid. If you decide that you'd like to try and buy the item, you can bid on it by clicking "Place Bid". Most auctions will require bids in increments of at least 50 cents (for example, if the most recent bid is $7.00, your bid will have to be at least $7.50.). You can also type in a maximum bid amount, and eBay will continue to bid for you up to that amount. This is helpful so that you don't have to sit online and continually watch the item.
   
6. Monitor the auction. Every once in a while, you will want to check on the progression of the auction and see who else has bid. If you are not the high bidder, you can raise your bid up to the end of the auction in order to win the item.
   
7. Pay for your item. If you win what you were bidding on, you will receive an email notifying you of the sale. From there, you should either contact the seller to discuss details of payment and shipping, or wait for him or her to contact you. It is considered polite to complete this part of the process as soon as possible. Paypal is the most common payment processor used by eBay buyers and sellers to send and receive payments, so you should consider signing up with Paypal aswell at www.paypal.com item.
   

Tips

• Some auctions will have an icon next to the price of the item that says "Buy It Now". This means that you can purchase the item for a certain price without having to get into a bidding war with another person. Be warned: this price can often be higher than you might otherwise have paid.
  
• Many items have "Reserve" prices, which mean that the seller will not sell the item unless the bids have reached a certain level.
  
• If you don't win an item, sellers will often direct you to similar items they are auctioning off, or you can do another search yourself. Ebay is a huge place, so don't get discouraged if you don't get what you are looking for right away.
  

Warnings

• Do not make bids that you can't actually back up financially. Each bid you make on eBay is considered a binding contract, and you will be given a poor rating (or possibly worse) if you back out on a winning bid.
  
• Be aware of the snipers. Many bidders wait to the last few seconds of an auction to make a bid and many use a "sniper program" to do the bidding.
  
• You can be lead to pay more than you expected or losing the bid if you wait until the last few minutes or seconds to do your final bidding.
  
• Better to do some research and decide ahead of time how much you want to spend on the item and put in a proxy bid approximately 2 minutes before the end of the auction and then don't look at the auction until it is over...
  
• Always make sure to check the shipping costs. If you bid on an item for $100.00 and the shipping is $300.00, you will be paying $400.00. If you are only willing to pay a certain amount for an item, check the shipping costs first.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Know Whether to Bid or Not on Ebay
  
• How to Snipe an Ebay Auction
  
• How to Set up a Drop Ship Business on Ebay
  
• How to Be Successful Selling on Ebay
  
• How to Run a Silent Auction
  

Sources and Citations

• eBay Basics Learn the eBay essentials
  
• For more information on how to use eBay, visit the Site Map page at http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html
  
• Learn to use ebay A starting guide to ebay
  
• Make money on eBay Discover how to make money on eBay
  
• Do You Know if You are Shipping Hazardous Materials? Pamphlet to help small buinesses (like ebay sellers) to know how to safely ship items that may be hazardous from the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
  

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It really isn't difficult to start selling on eBay. They are the largest auction site in the world, and they didn't get that way by being difficult to deal with. Many people still have the impression though that you need some special marketing skills to make money selling on eBay - nothing could be further from the truth.

The are only two skills you really need to get started selling on eBay. If you can accurately describe what you are selling and take a photograph, you have all the skills you need. While it isn't necessary to use a self-taken photo in your listings, it does increase the odds of a successful sale.

Now, are these two requirements so earth-shatteringly difficult? Hardly, just write yourself a short description of the item; warts and all. By all means, cast it in a good light but if there is a flaw in your item or apiece is missing, you must tell your buyers all about it.

Part of what keeps eBay sellers honest is their feedback system. eBay sellers live in mortal fear of negative feedback and will bend over backwards to make sure their customers are satisfied with their purchase. In fact, they would rather lose money on a sale than receive a negative rating because that could affect their future earnings.

So, for example, I have this coffee cup in front of me and I want to sell it on eBay. How would I describe it?

"Speckled gray coffee cup with image of the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis pressed in royal blue on one side and twelve line paragraph describing the Gateway Arch Jefferson National Expansion Memorial on the other side, also in pressed in royal blue. Small nick in handle. Never used. Purchased during road trip two years ago at the actual Arch! A true piece of Americana. Holds ten ounces."

Of course, I could go on, but it is after all just a coffee cup!

A picture of whatever you're selling would show exactly what it looks like, and psychologically would add confirmation to your description. People would know it was genuine. Take a few pictures from several angles, showing off all your objects attributes.

Once you've transferred the photo to your computer, the 'upload photo' button on your eBay auction listing page will walk you through the process to add it to your description.

You don't even have any out of pocket expenses. You pay eBay a small listing fee at the end of your auction, hopefully out of your auction profits, and if successful a small fee to paypal for processing.

It really is that easy to start selling on eBay. I have no doubt that you can find something in your house that you can sell on eBay today - go for it; the only limit to success is yourself!

Selling on eBay can be a little confusing on your first time out. The key to selling on eBay is to stay focused on what works. There are so many distractions but if you stay focused on the basics you will do well. I've broken down some steps to get you started:

1)First Signup

In order to sell products on eBay you must first signup. This is an easy process and only takes a few minutes. Once you finish signing up you need to read the eBay selling tutorials. Just skim over this material ensuring you don't get lost in the details.

2)Decide what to sell

I always recommend you sell something from around your house the first time you sell on eBay. Find something that you don't want/need but someone else might find valuable. Make sure it is working order and not just a pile of junk. The purpose of this step is to list your first item and hopefully sell it. This will give you an idea of what is involved in selling products on eBay. Most of your time will be consumed when creating the listing. Keep the listing simple and add only one picture. Don't spend any more than you have to when listing your first item. Also set a reasonable price because you want to sell the item. After you sell the item you will need to contact the buyer and arrange for shipping the item and collecting the money. I use PayPal to collect the purchase price. Make sure you receive feedback from the buyer before leaving feedback yourself.

3)Find reliable wholesale sources of product

Now that you have your feet wet you need to get your selling machine going. You will need a good supplier of product if you want to become a Power Seller on eBay (the average powerseller earns $10,000 per month). I use several suppliers and I also use drop shippers. The beauty of using drop shipping companies is that you do not have to buy the product before you sell it. The other good point is that the drop shipping companies will ship the product for you. This will save you a tremendous amount of time. Some of the better drop ship companies offer pre-made eBay listings. All you have to do is copy and paste the listing. This again will save you a tremendous amount of time. As a seller you want to focus your time on answering customer questions and selling products. Not having to worry about the actual listing copy and shipping the product will save you valuable time.

Finally, if you want to become an eBay PowerSeller you need to take action now. So many people are making a good living selling on eBay and you can too if you just take action. Get started today by signing up, listing your first item and then find a good wholesale source of product. Most importantly have fun with your new eBay business and good luck!