eBay has been around since 1995 and it is a business model that keeps growing as customers love a bargain and eBay is full of them, as well as the fact eBay pretty much sells everything. So it’s no wonder more of us are looking to get involved in the action and start selling our bits and pieces. When you’re looking to do a clear out eBay is a quick and easy process when it comes to listing and also the platform has enough customers to attract attention to potential sales without you needing to do much promotion. 

So how do you start selling on eBay and when does it go from a hobby to a job?

What to sell

When trying to figure out what to sell, there are a number of things to consider, including how popular the items are, e.g. are they a fad or is it a long term seller like clothing as well as how saturated the platform already is with sellers of that item. If you’re looking to figure out if it’s worth it, check out the reviews of some of the sellers and see where they’re at in terms of reviews and sales. If there are lots of popular sellers already in that niche, it may be worth looking for something else. 

Where to source the products

Whether you’re looking to start with your own items to see how well your business could work or something completely new, start small, buy 10 or fewer items and try to sell them. The last thing you wanted to do is spend lots of funds on items which won’t sell and then losing money on them. Sourcing products will depend on the items you are looking for, however, there are places like wholesalers, buying job lots or even looking in a charity shop to see what they have to offer.

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Work towards getting good feedback

If you’ve ever received an item which has arrived damaged, you can often feel disheartened, especially when the seller hasn’t correctly packaged the product. For example, if it’s something large look into where to buy boxes for the best price, so the item has plenty of room. By making sure the item arrives in perfect condition as described is the first step to getting good feedback. 

How to get started

If you’re already on eBay, looking into the shop feature, as it allows you to customise your shop, create more listings and even send out newsletters with discounts and deals in. Once you’ve done this, it gives potential shoppers a place to come back to if they’re looking to purchase again. 

If you’re looking to work towards setting up your own eBay business, hopefully, these tips will be useful for you.