I have had a lot of people ask about setting up an eBay store so here is a quick overview.
I want to start by noting that having an eBay store is an invaluable piece of running an online e-commerce business. Whether you are doing this full-time or part-time, an eBay store is an essential part of your existence as an eBay seller. Before you can sell anything out of your store, you are going to need to populate with a bunch of products. These products can be things that you sell on auction or they can be items that you only want to sell through your eBay store.
Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially in your eBay store!
Being successful at selling on eBay definitely requires you to have quality photos of the products that you are selling. And your eBay store is no different. I suggest getting a decent digital, point and shoot camera that takes photos at 10 mega pixels or more. I am saying this because I just got a 10 mega pixel camera, with all the bells and whistles, for under $100. Be sure to have good lighting. I usually put my items against a solid surface and I do not get any furniture or items from my house in the picture too. Be sure to get all sides of your item and especially highlight any issues with or blemishes in your product.
It is better to be honest, show every detail in your photos, and save yourself any surprises for the buyer. Anything detail, no matter how small, that is not disclosed up front can result in an unhappy buyer AND negative feedback which will kill all chances of succeeding on eBay at this early stage.
Make sure to be very detailed in the descriptions you use for your product in your eBay store
The description portion of your listing is almost as important as your pictures. Just like your pictures, if you are selling a used item, you need to be very up front and detailed about the condition of the item that you are selling to make money on eBay. A lot of people will use the generic product description from the manufacturer’s website. But, unless your item is brand new, you need to talk about the condition the item is in since it has been used before. This is very important for detailing the outer portion of items (ie. painted items, shiny plastics, etc…) or electronics.
If you use information from another website in your product description, be sure to note where the information came from and put it in quotes. You do not want to be accused of using copyrighted information and have your auction pulled. Also note, if you ever use trademarked or registered names in your auction listing, you muse the TM or R mark.
If you follow my advice on photos and descriptions you should have no lingering issues that could surprise the buyer when they receive the item. Remember, if your item does not match the description and images to a “T”, you could be in hot water with the buyer. The last thing you want is a buyer not being happy with their purchase because they say that the item was not described properly in the item listing.
We have covered off on the important aspects of your listing, it is time to get these things in your eBay store. Once you fill in all of your item’s information, you have created your listing.
Once you have added all of the item’s information (description, price, shipping options, list start time and date, duration of listing, etc…) and pictures, you are ready to list it in your eBay store. Note, you will fill in the same template for your items no matter if it is listing as an auction, buy it now or as an eBay store item. One thing to make sure you read up on is eBay store categories. Once you have your categories setup make sure you assign each item in your store to the proper category.
For eBay store items, note that you can list them for 30 days or indefinitely giving you flexibility for items that you always have in stock.
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