The Ultimate Guide To Starting A eBay Store: From Beginner To Professional

Starting an eBay store is pretty easy and the rewards can be amazing. People who started off just selling things around their home were able to grow their store into a full-fledged business.

Step 1: Making An Account

Making an account with eBay is easy but can be confusing for most beginners because there are a lot of different options. When you're just starting out you will probably want to sign up for a free account. This means there are no monthly fees and you only pay eBay after you make a sale. Generally, eBay will take 10% of the sales price, so if you sell something for $10 then eBay will take $1.

The only limitation of having a free account is a cap on the number of items you can list every month. When you first open the account you will be limited to 50 free listings a month but after a few sales that number will go up. There are also plenty of events where you can list even more items for free. The listing cap will only become an issue when you become a professional seller and are listing hundreds of items per month.

At that point, you should consider subscribing to a professional eBay store which can cost anywhere from $5 to $3000 a month. Each subscription comes with its own benefits but there are two major differences: an increased listing cap and a decreased selling fees. For example, with a Premium store subscription, your listing cap will go up to 1000 per month and eBay's selling fee will drop to 4% of the sale price. A full explanation of the various store subscriptions and their benefits can be found on the eBay Seller Center.

The best way to decide which store subscription is for you is to just do some simple math and see if the estimated savings due to the lower listing fee are greater than the subscription fee.

Step 2: Sourcing Merchandise

Now that you have your store up and running you are probably asking: what can I sell? Most people think that you can only sell very valuable things like new electronics, jewelry, and collectible items. The truth is you can sell just about anything on eBay. Broken electronics, old books even empty jars can all sell on eBay. Challenge yourself to find new items to list every day and you'll be amazed by how many items you can sell. The important thing is to continuously list items.

There are a lot of places you can source items from and the "secret" to making money on eBay is to find a good place to supply you with items to sell. While I can't list every possible source I will summarize a few sources below.

Around Your Home - Start by selling items around your home to get some practice. Since you already own these items you don't have to worry about losing money on anything you sell. It will also give you practice selling a lot of different things so you can learn which items sell fast and how much you can expect to make.

Yard/Garage/Rummage Sales - Once you have a better idea of what items sell best you can start sourcing from people in your neighborhood. You can haggle to get a lower price and get some amazing deals.

Local Listings - Websites like Craigslist, Kijiji, and Gumtree are all great places to source merchandise. You can check them routinely and message people who have items you think will sell.

Local Auctions - People and businesses will often auction off large amounts of stuff that they want to sell off quickly. This means you can get some great deals if show up early and pick items wisely. You can use websites like AuctionZip to find auctions near you.

Dumpster Diving - One man's trash is another man's treasure. If you live in an area with a communal dumpster you can often find some pretty great thing people have thrown away. Help reduce pollution and make yourself money at the same time.

Thrift Stores - A used items store can be a great place to find items but it's also much more competitive. Everyone goes to thrift stores looking for deals so you need to be ready to scoop up items quickly.

Outlet Stores - Retail stores will often send excess inventory to outlet stores and sell them at a steep discount. You can scoop up a lot of items at a low price and make some great profits.

Wholesalers - This is by far the best but also the hardest option for sourcing. If you find a wholesaler who can sell you items in bulk at a low price you can make some amazing profits. The main challenge is finding it right items to sell and the right wholesaler to work with. You shouldn't attempt buying items in bulk until you have a lot of experience with eBay.

Pro Tip: Sign-up for a cash back credit card to save while sourcing.

No matter where you get your items from or what you sell the important thing is to just keep listing. If you're not listing new items constantly you're not going to make any money. Push yourself to list at least one item per day.

Step 3: Listing Your Items

Now that you have the stuff you want to sell it's time to list your items. It's important that your listings are both informative and visually appealing. As you list more items you will learn what makes a listing "good" but there are a few things you should always do.

Take Good Pictures - When you list an item on eBay you can add up to 12 pictures and you should take advantage of every slot. Take pictures from multiple angles, zoom in on tags and labels that have important details, and don’t glaze over the flaws in the merchandise. If something has a scratch or a scuff, just be forward about it so the buyer knows what they're getting and you won't have to deal with returns. You don't need to invest in any photography equipment. Your smartphone camera and natural lighting can take some amazing pictures.

Use Keywords - The title and description fields on eBay are important for helping potential customers find your items. When listing an item make sure to use as many words as possible to explain what you're selling.

• Bad Title: DVD Player
• Good Title: Sony DVD Player 1080P Upscaling with USB Direct Recording

Similarly when writing the description include as much information as possible this will help the buyer understand what your selling.

Include Lots of Details - When you list an item to eBay you will see options for every last detail from the brand to the location of manufacturing. It can be exhausting to fill out all these details but the more you include the better chance you have of actually selling your item.

Step 4: Packaging & Shipping

Now that you have your items listed you will soon start making sales. It's at this point that you will have to package and ship your items. For both beginners and professionals, this can be a scary and expensive task. You must package your items well or risk them getting damaged in transit. However, if you add too much packaging the weight will increase and your ship cost might jump up.

Learning how to properly package and ship your items is an art form that you can only learn with time. When starting it you should know a few basic tips to help you save time and money.

Reuse Packing Material - With more online shopping than ever, you can find plenty of boxes from Amazon, Walmart, and dozens of other eCommerce platforms lying around. Often times they will even come with insulation and other packing materials.

Free USPS Boxes - Most people are surprised to learn that USPS will ship free boxes right to your home FOR FREE. The only "catch" is the boxes must be used for priority services like Flat Rate Shipping and Regional Shipping. These services tend to cost more than First Class Mail or Parcel Select Ground. However, depending on what you're shipping the priority services might actually be your best option.

Pay Retail Rates for Shipping - When you sell an item on eBay it will give you a discounted rate on shipping labels for USPS, FedEx, and UPS. These prices are not available to consumers and are 30%-40% cheaper.

You will learn with time how to optimize your packaging and shipping strategy but when starting out it's best to just use eBay's label generator and follow the recommendations.

The shipping label generator is a great tool for beginners and can save you a lot of time and money when you're just starting out.

Step 5: Expanding & Growing Store

There is nothing wrong with keeping your eBay store small and just selling a few items every month but if you want to turn your store into a full-scale business you need to grow your operations.

List More Items - Every item you list is another potential sale so the more items you list the more sales you make. Once you get better at sourcing items you will quickly build up a large inventory of goods to sell online. Listing constantly is the key difference between an armature and a professional seller.

Learn To Use Credit - It takes time for an item to ship and for you to get paid so you might not always have enough money to buy more merchandise. This is where applying for a cash back credit card can help since you won't have to pay until the end of the billing cycle.

Promote Listings - eBay has a feature that allows you to promote your listings for an added fee. This is a good option for people who have found wholesale suppliers and just want to make more sales. You'll make slightly less per item but you will make more sales overall.

Ship Internationally - Once you learn the basics of shipping domestically, start offering international shipping. This will open up your business to people all around the world. eBay allows you to charge the buyer for shipping so you don't have to worry about crazy shipping fees for people around the world.

Build A Brand - If you find a specific category of things that you like to sell then you can build a brand around it. Many professional sellers will get some custom packaging and build followers for their brand on social media. This will increase the number of recurring sales and help you stand out from the competition.

As you expand your business you will find new ways to make more sales and grow your store. Take it slow at first and don't lose motivation after a few sales and experiences. Building a business takes time and effort but if you persist you can find success.