I know it's all quite confusing, getting started, so I am going to write a list of things you should be considering, and in what order. You don't need to follow them exactly, of course. The list is meant only to be a guide. While I don't explicitly say so, there are some things that you will inherently need, such as a computer and internet service. I won't go in to such detail to tell you what computer cables you'll need, or what type of internet connection or carrier to use.
1. For steps 2 - 6 below, you'll need a notepad. You will want to write down the user IDs and passwords that you create for each of the websites and applications mentioned in steps 2 - 6, below. So, first, grab a pen and a notepad. Your notepad can also be used to jot down phone numbers (there will be times when you'll actually need to call up ebay, or paypal, or your bank, for that matter). You can also be writing down notes to yourself, ideas, or even questions, comments and/ or suggestions for me.
2. You can't do much online nowadays without an email address. Fortunately, email providers are plentiful, and you should have no trouble setting up an email account with either hotmail, yahoo, google, msn or any other plethora of other email providers.
3. Obviously, you will need an ebay account. If you don't have one already, go to ebay.com and register as a new user. You'll need to select a user ID (one that is not already be in use by another user), as well as a password. Ebay's customer support number is 1-866-907-3229, but, obviously this can change. Currently, they handle calls between 5am - 10pm Pacific time, seven days a week, also subject to change, and may not apply to holidays. Spend some time tinkering around, setting up your ebay account. Click on things you see in ebay. Be careful only to LOOK at other sellers' listings. Don't click on ANYTHING that says something like "Bid" or "Buy", because in doing so, you will effectively be bidding on, and potentially BUYING those items. As long as you simply LOOK, there should be no problems. Look at how other sellers have their listings set up. How do they describe their items? How much are they charging for their items? Do their pictures look decent, or do they look like they were taken by a 12-year old using an inferior cell phone camera (more about that later)? It's totally free to register and to look around on ebay, and even to buy on ebay. It's the selling on ebay where it costs you. But don't let that discourage you. Yes, there are ebay and paypal fees. But aren't fees a fact of life? If you are going to set yourself up to be making $500 - $1,000 a week on ebay, then, yes, both ebay and paypal are going to want a cut. It's just the way things work, and quite honestly, I'm kind of glad it IS this way.
4. You'll likely want a checking account at any local banking institution near you. You will link your paypal account to your checking account, and you'll easily be able to transfer funds from one to the other online. Linking one account to the other is the easiest way for you to get your earnings transferred to you. If you cannot get approved for a checking account, ask your banking representative if opening up a savings account will allow you to receive ACH deposits from sources such as paypal. The idea is to set up an easy and efficient way to transfer funds to and from your paypal account. Some people may opt to simply use paypal's debit card. it works just like a credit card, of sorts, and allows you to access your paypal funds from any ATM- for a fee. Why pay those fees if you don't have to? Set up a checking (or savings) account at your bank.
5. Same thing for paypal. You'll need a paypal account to accept instant payments from buyers. Paypal's customer service number is 1-888-221-1161. Write that down as well. Keep in mind that paypal is an ebay company. As soon as possible, transfer about $50 to $100 from your checking (or savings) acct to your paypal acct.
6. While not entirely necessary, you'll also likely want to establish a YouTube account as well. Doing so will enable you to upload videos of your items, and let me tell you, VIDEOS SELL YOUR ITEMS!!!!
Note: Keep in mind that these are very BASIC instructions. You will want to do some digging and find the contact numbers for ebay, paypal, your bank, and so on. If you have trouble in any one area, your best bet is to call up the customer service dept of any of these institutions and seek out help from their teams. Keep in mind that email providers, as well as YouTube do not give out their numbers. They do not want you calling them with problems, and prefer to handle problems via email.
7. Spend about $100 on a decent digital camera. For $100 you can get a very high quality Sony 14 mp digital. I know, your cell phone has a built-in camera, and why can't you simply use it? Well, you CAN, but do you want your pictures to end up on ebay looking like crap? The camera in your cell phone is likely crap. Buy a nice Sony and upload high quality pictures to ebay. Trust me on this one. The camera will come with a battery that only Sony cameras can use, but it will be a long-life battery that will out-perform ordinary AA and AAA batteries. The camera will also come with a means to charge that battery. The camera will NOT come with a memory chip. You will need to buy one of those as well. For $8 - $12 at WalMart, KMart or Target, you can get at least one 8 gb (gigabyte) computer memory card. Be sure you get one compatible with your camera. My Sony uses SD (secure digital cards), and I buy 16 and 32 gb capacity cards. The cards aren't much bigger than a postage stamp, but one 16 gb SD memory card can hold about 20,000 images or 3 hours worth of video. The $100 you spend today on a decent video camera should easily last you five years, and it will undoubtedly double as your personal camera for taking on vacations. Those inexpensive SD storage cards are nearly indestructible, and, considering they're so inexpensive, you might consider buying one dedicated SD card specifically for ebay. This will keep your ebay pictues and videos separate from your Florida vacation videos, and I'm guessing you won't want to inadvertently insert some raunchy vacation video into an ebay listing. Hey, it happens!
8. You are going to need a printer, if you don't already have one. I use a Brother laser printer, model HL-2040 (one of the cheaper models) for some labels (UPS), and a Dymo LabelWriter 400 for my USPS labels. You will NOT need a high-end, color laser printer for $750. Don't waste your money! If you can't afford a printer right now, don't fret. You can easily print out your labels using the library's laser printer, for about 10 cents a copy. Or, you can use a friends' printer, or look for a good used one at a yard sale or thrift store. Printers are so cheap, nowadays, that you should be able to find a decent low-cost model for under $50. Yes, printers require occasional ink cartridge replacements, but a cheaper alternative to buying new is to simply have your existing depleted cartridges refilled. Some malls have little kiosks that do this for you. You drop off your cartridges, do some shopping, then pick-up your replenished ink cartridges before you head home.
9. You'll need an inexpensive scale. You will be weighing items, and weighing boxes with items in them to figure out postage. Again, you don't need an expensive $250 scale. A $2 yard sale scale that weighs up to 10 pounds will be sufficient for smaller items, and an inexpensive used $12 baby scale (used in nurseries to weigh the babies) will be sufficient for larger items weighing up to 50 pounds. I see scales from time to time at thrift stores. Or, you can simply take your boxes to the post office or to a UPS drop-off site and have them weighed there. But, you don't want the hassle of running to the post office to weigh a box, then to run back home to print out a label, then run back out to the post office to drop the box off. KISS, remember? Keep It Simple, Silly!
10. Begin saving your old newspapers, plastic shopping bags, small boxes, etc. Never throw things out. If you can use it for padding to pad your items when you box them up, then use it! In most cases, the ONLY thing you should be spending money on on a regular basis is 2" packing tape. Most everything else can be had for free. Want a lot of free bubble wrap? Ask stores that regularly receive shipments, and which regularly put their wares on display for sale. A prime example of such a place is a Hallmark store. They are constantly getting orders for inventory, small knick-knacks and such. All that stuff comes in to the stores in boxes, and will be padded with something. The store employees are just going to throw that stuff out. Why not call up a few stores near you, ask to speak with the manager, an ask on what days do they receive their deliveries, and can you swing by for all the boxes and bubble wrap?
11. Now that you have an ebay account, a paypal account and everything else set up, now you should be starting to consider getting your "feedback" up. You do this by making a few small purchases on ebay. Look elsewhere on my blog where I go in to detail about the importance of feedback, and why you, as a seller, need to have at least SOME feedback before you start selling. It's OK to buy a few $1 - $5 here and there on ebay, and in doing so, you will be trading feedback with those sellers. That, in effect, starts you off with earning positive feedback. And, if you are going to buy some things on ebay, why not at least start out buying some things that you actually NEED? I mean, you could go to WalMart and buy six rolls of 2" packing tape. Or, you can look on ebay for 2" packing tape. Sure, you are going to have to pay for shipping, but, it's possible that you might find a price that includes shipping that is LOWER than WalMart's price. In such a case, you not only saved money, but you also saved time, you made a purchase on ebay for something you actually are going to need, AND you can trade feedback with the seller. Start getting in to the practice of looking on ebay first for things that you need: supplies, gifts, collectibles, unusual items, etc.
12. Set up a corner of one room for an ebay corner. Buy a couple white sheets, if necessary. This corner of the room is where you will take pictures of your ebay items. Use the sheets as a backdrop so people don't see the clutter in the background. You want buyers focused SQUARELY on the items you will be taking pictures of, not of the pictures hanging on the wall in the background, the dish of cat food, or the pile of shoes next to the door. Using white sheets to cover up this clutter is just so perfect. Don't have any old sheets? No doubt you can find them used at yard sales and thrift stores!
13. Head to your local bookstore or library to look for books on selling on ebay. These books are all over the place. Of course, there is on place that should have popped in your head first as a source for looking for books about selling on ebay...... EBAY ITSELF!. There must be a million books on ebay at the moment. I just did a quick search and found 241 results relating to books about selling on ebay. You can buy one or two, read them, then turn right around and SELL THEM TO SOMEONE ELSE ON EBAY, for just about the same price you paid. You will have gotten some tips and insight, as well as some feedback, both when you bought them, and then, later, when you turned right around and sold them yourself on ebay!
14. You should have, by now, been tinkering around and exploring ebay. I suspect that now, after you've made five or 10 small purchases on ebay, that you're now ready to sell on ebay. Sell what, you ask? Well, if your home is as cluttered as mine, there must literally be hundreds of items around your home to list an sell. If not, you have yard sales, thrift stores, estate sale, consignment shops and the like. When I go out "yard saling", as I call it, I am hardly ever looking for things for myself, as most other people are that I see at yard sales. Every single time I look at every item for sale at a yard sale, for example, the first thing I am asking myself, EVERY SINGLE TIME, is "How much can I sell this for on ebay?" That should be the first thing that pops in your head as well. The four criteria I asses when I am scouting for ebay items are:
a) Is it older/ collectible / in demand / hard to find / unavailable anywhere else?
b) Can I buy it for $5 or less?
c) Is it in excellent shape visually? Any broken / missing parts? Any spots, stains, odors, signs of use?
d) Is it smaller than a breadbox, and otherwise easy to ship without too much trouble?
So, it's now or never. Yank $50 - $100 out of your checking or savings and go hunting for things to sell on ebay. I've made a video of some things I found while out on a single day of yard-saling and thrift store hopping: Click here to view the 4 1/2 minute video recorded on 9/1/2012.
15. If you've made it home with five or six things that you've found after a few hours of Saturday morning yard-saling, now you are ready to list them on ebay. But, first things, first. Take each item to the corner of the room where the white sheets are set up. The first thing we are going to do is to make videos of each item. Now, this is strictly optional, and I know very few people do this. But it takes only MINUTES of your time, and it really does WONDERS for your sales. Trust me on this! If one of your items is a toy that takes batteries, and crawls across the floor and giggles, you want to show your buyers "Hey! Check out my video! This video PROVES that this thing works! Look how clean my toy is!" You might list that toy on ebay, and there may be a dozen other toys on there just like yours, identical to yours. You have to make yours stand out. Videos make your item stand out. Read my other blog sections for more on the power of video persuasion in your listings! In addition to a video of each item, I'll also take 10 - 12 pictures of each item.
16. So, you've taken a short video of each item, along with 10 - 12 pictures of each item. Next, we are going to take the memory card out of the camera, slip it in to the slot on your laptop, and first upload the videos to YouTube. I do this first because of the time involved with uploading videos. It can take my home wifi 15 minutes to upload a 5-minute video. But, there are other things I can do while my videos are uploading (throw in a load of laundry, change the cat litter, check the mail, take a quick shower, check my email, drop of a few packages at the post office, etc.)
17. Once my videos have finished uploading, I go in and edit each video. I give each video a title, add some tags in the tag section, and in the description area, I simply type in "Ebay item #". At this point I don't have an ebay item number, as I haven't yet created the listing. Once I create the listing, then I o back in to the YouTube listing and add the ebay item number. Who knows? Maybe some random YouTuber will come across my video, then go to ebay and buy it that way! Hey, it can happen. I want to make it as easy as possible for buyers to buy my items. If they found my item on YouTube, I want to direct them to ebay with at least an ebay item # so they can make a purchase.
18. Now you are ready to start your first listing. It doesn't matter in what order you list the items. Read my other blog sections where I go in to much more detail about the best times to start listings. Check out my video series where I get extremely specific about how to create a listing. Here is the link to the first video.
**TO BE CONTINUED**
1. For steps 2 - 6 below, you'll need a notepad. You will want to write down the user IDs and passwords that you create for each of the websites and applications mentioned in steps 2 - 6, below. So, first, grab a pen and a notepad. Your notepad can also be used to jot down phone numbers (there will be times when you'll actually need to call up ebay, or paypal, or your bank, for that matter). You can also be writing down notes to yourself, ideas, or even questions, comments and/ or suggestions for me.
2. You can't do much online nowadays without an email address. Fortunately, email providers are plentiful, and you should have no trouble setting up an email account with either hotmail, yahoo, google, msn or any other plethora of other email providers.
3. Obviously, you will need an ebay account. If you don't have one already, go to ebay.com and register as a new user. You'll need to select a user ID (one that is not already be in use by another user), as well as a password. Ebay's customer support number is 1-866-907-3229, but, obviously this can change. Currently, they handle calls between 5am - 10pm Pacific time, seven days a week, also subject to change, and may not apply to holidays. Spend some time tinkering around, setting up your ebay account. Click on things you see in ebay. Be careful only to LOOK at other sellers' listings. Don't click on ANYTHING that says something like "Bid" or "Buy", because in doing so, you will effectively be bidding on, and potentially BUYING those items. As long as you simply LOOK, there should be no problems. Look at how other sellers have their listings set up. How do they describe their items? How much are they charging for their items? Do their pictures look decent, or do they look like they were taken by a 12-year old using an inferior cell phone camera (more about that later)? It's totally free to register and to look around on ebay, and even to buy on ebay. It's the selling on ebay where it costs you. But don't let that discourage you. Yes, there are ebay and paypal fees. But aren't fees a fact of life? If you are going to set yourself up to be making $500 - $1,000 a week on ebay, then, yes, both ebay and paypal are going to want a cut. It's just the way things work, and quite honestly, I'm kind of glad it IS this way.
4. You'll likely want a checking account at any local banking institution near you. You will link your paypal account to your checking account, and you'll easily be able to transfer funds from one to the other online. Linking one account to the other is the easiest way for you to get your earnings transferred to you. If you cannot get approved for a checking account, ask your banking representative if opening up a savings account will allow you to receive ACH deposits from sources such as paypal. The idea is to set up an easy and efficient way to transfer funds to and from your paypal account. Some people may opt to simply use paypal's debit card. it works just like a credit card, of sorts, and allows you to access your paypal funds from any ATM- for a fee. Why pay those fees if you don't have to? Set up a checking (or savings) account at your bank.
5. Same thing for paypal. You'll need a paypal account to accept instant payments from buyers. Paypal's customer service number is 1-888-221-1161. Write that down as well. Keep in mind that paypal is an ebay company. As soon as possible, transfer about $50 to $100 from your checking (or savings) acct to your paypal acct.
6. While not entirely necessary, you'll also likely want to establish a YouTube account as well. Doing so will enable you to upload videos of your items, and let me tell you, VIDEOS SELL YOUR ITEMS!!!!
Note: Keep in mind that these are very BASIC instructions. You will want to do some digging and find the contact numbers for ebay, paypal, your bank, and so on. If you have trouble in any one area, your best bet is to call up the customer service dept of any of these institutions and seek out help from their teams. Keep in mind that email providers, as well as YouTube do not give out their numbers. They do not want you calling them with problems, and prefer to handle problems via email.
7. Spend about $100 on a decent digital camera. For $100 you can get a very high quality Sony 14 mp digital. I know, your cell phone has a built-in camera, and why can't you simply use it? Well, you CAN, but do you want your pictures to end up on ebay looking like crap? The camera in your cell phone is likely crap. Buy a nice Sony and upload high quality pictures to ebay. Trust me on this one. The camera will come with a battery that only Sony cameras can use, but it will be a long-life battery that will out-perform ordinary AA and AAA batteries. The camera will also come with a means to charge that battery. The camera will NOT come with a memory chip. You will need to buy one of those as well. For $8 - $12 at WalMart, KMart or Target, you can get at least one 8 gb (gigabyte) computer memory card. Be sure you get one compatible with your camera. My Sony uses SD (secure digital cards), and I buy 16 and 32 gb capacity cards. The cards aren't much bigger than a postage stamp, but one 16 gb SD memory card can hold about 20,000 images or 3 hours worth of video. The $100 you spend today on a decent video camera should easily last you five years, and it will undoubtedly double as your personal camera for taking on vacations. Those inexpensive SD storage cards are nearly indestructible, and, considering they're so inexpensive, you might consider buying one dedicated SD card specifically for ebay. This will keep your ebay pictues and videos separate from your Florida vacation videos, and I'm guessing you won't want to inadvertently insert some raunchy vacation video into an ebay listing. Hey, it happens!
8. You are going to need a printer, if you don't already have one. I use a Brother laser printer, model HL-2040 (one of the cheaper models) for some labels (UPS), and a Dymo LabelWriter 400 for my USPS labels. You will NOT need a high-end, color laser printer for $750. Don't waste your money! If you can't afford a printer right now, don't fret. You can easily print out your labels using the library's laser printer, for about 10 cents a copy. Or, you can use a friends' printer, or look for a good used one at a yard sale or thrift store. Printers are so cheap, nowadays, that you should be able to find a decent low-cost model for under $50. Yes, printers require occasional ink cartridge replacements, but a cheaper alternative to buying new is to simply have your existing depleted cartridges refilled. Some malls have little kiosks that do this for you. You drop off your cartridges, do some shopping, then pick-up your replenished ink cartridges before you head home.
9. You'll need an inexpensive scale. You will be weighing items, and weighing boxes with items in them to figure out postage. Again, you don't need an expensive $250 scale. A $2 yard sale scale that weighs up to 10 pounds will be sufficient for smaller items, and an inexpensive used $12 baby scale (used in nurseries to weigh the babies) will be sufficient for larger items weighing up to 50 pounds. I see scales from time to time at thrift stores. Or, you can simply take your boxes to the post office or to a UPS drop-off site and have them weighed there. But, you don't want the hassle of running to the post office to weigh a box, then to run back home to print out a label, then run back out to the post office to drop the box off. KISS, remember? Keep It Simple, Silly!
10. Begin saving your old newspapers, plastic shopping bags, small boxes, etc. Never throw things out. If you can use it for padding to pad your items when you box them up, then use it! In most cases, the ONLY thing you should be spending money on on a regular basis is 2" packing tape. Most everything else can be had for free. Want a lot of free bubble wrap? Ask stores that regularly receive shipments, and which regularly put their wares on display for sale. A prime example of such a place is a Hallmark store. They are constantly getting orders for inventory, small knick-knacks and such. All that stuff comes in to the stores in boxes, and will be padded with something. The store employees are just going to throw that stuff out. Why not call up a few stores near you, ask to speak with the manager, an ask on what days do they receive their deliveries, and can you swing by for all the boxes and bubble wrap?
11. Now that you have an ebay account, a paypal account and everything else set up, now you should be starting to consider getting your "feedback" up. You do this by making a few small purchases on ebay. Look elsewhere on my blog where I go in to detail about the importance of feedback, and why you, as a seller, need to have at least SOME feedback before you start selling. It's OK to buy a few $1 - $5 here and there on ebay, and in doing so, you will be trading feedback with those sellers. That, in effect, starts you off with earning positive feedback. And, if you are going to buy some things on ebay, why not at least start out buying some things that you actually NEED? I mean, you could go to WalMart and buy six rolls of 2" packing tape. Or, you can look on ebay for 2" packing tape. Sure, you are going to have to pay for shipping, but, it's possible that you might find a price that includes shipping that is LOWER than WalMart's price. In such a case, you not only saved money, but you also saved time, you made a purchase on ebay for something you actually are going to need, AND you can trade feedback with the seller. Start getting in to the practice of looking on ebay first for things that you need: supplies, gifts, collectibles, unusual items, etc.
12. Set up a corner of one room for an ebay corner. Buy a couple white sheets, if necessary. This corner of the room is where you will take pictures of your ebay items. Use the sheets as a backdrop so people don't see the clutter in the background. You want buyers focused SQUARELY on the items you will be taking pictures of, not of the pictures hanging on the wall in the background, the dish of cat food, or the pile of shoes next to the door. Using white sheets to cover up this clutter is just so perfect. Don't have any old sheets? No doubt you can find them used at yard sales and thrift stores!
13. Head to your local bookstore or library to look for books on selling on ebay. These books are all over the place. Of course, there is on place that should have popped in your head first as a source for looking for books about selling on ebay...... EBAY ITSELF!. There must be a million books on ebay at the moment. I just did a quick search and found 241 results relating to books about selling on ebay. You can buy one or two, read them, then turn right around and SELL THEM TO SOMEONE ELSE ON EBAY, for just about the same price you paid. You will have gotten some tips and insight, as well as some feedback, both when you bought them, and then, later, when you turned right around and sold them yourself on ebay!
14. You should have, by now, been tinkering around and exploring ebay. I suspect that now, after you've made five or 10 small purchases on ebay, that you're now ready to sell on ebay. Sell what, you ask? Well, if your home is as cluttered as mine, there must literally be hundreds of items around your home to list an sell. If not, you have yard sales, thrift stores, estate sale, consignment shops and the like. When I go out "yard saling", as I call it, I am hardly ever looking for things for myself, as most other people are that I see at yard sales. Every single time I look at every item for sale at a yard sale, for example, the first thing I am asking myself, EVERY SINGLE TIME, is "How much can I sell this for on ebay?" That should be the first thing that pops in your head as well. The four criteria I asses when I am scouting for ebay items are:
a) Is it older/ collectible / in demand / hard to find / unavailable anywhere else?
b) Can I buy it for $5 or less?
c) Is it in excellent shape visually? Any broken / missing parts? Any spots, stains, odors, signs of use?
d) Is it smaller than a breadbox, and otherwise easy to ship without too much trouble?
So, it's now or never. Yank $50 - $100 out of your checking or savings and go hunting for things to sell on ebay. I've made a video of some things I found while out on a single day of yard-saling and thrift store hopping: Click here to view the 4 1/2 minute video recorded on 9/1/2012.
15. If you've made it home with five or six things that you've found after a few hours of Saturday morning yard-saling, now you are ready to list them on ebay. But, first things, first. Take each item to the corner of the room where the white sheets are set up. The first thing we are going to do is to make videos of each item. Now, this is strictly optional, and I know very few people do this. But it takes only MINUTES of your time, and it really does WONDERS for your sales. Trust me on this! If one of your items is a toy that takes batteries, and crawls across the floor and giggles, you want to show your buyers "Hey! Check out my video! This video PROVES that this thing works! Look how clean my toy is!" You might list that toy on ebay, and there may be a dozen other toys on there just like yours, identical to yours. You have to make yours stand out. Videos make your item stand out. Read my other blog sections for more on the power of video persuasion in your listings! In addition to a video of each item, I'll also take 10 - 12 pictures of each item.
16. So, you've taken a short video of each item, along with 10 - 12 pictures of each item. Next, we are going to take the memory card out of the camera, slip it in to the slot on your laptop, and first upload the videos to YouTube. I do this first because of the time involved with uploading videos. It can take my home wifi 15 minutes to upload a 5-minute video. But, there are other things I can do while my videos are uploading (throw in a load of laundry, change the cat litter, check the mail, take a quick shower, check my email, drop of a few packages at the post office, etc.)
17. Once my videos have finished uploading, I go in and edit each video. I give each video a title, add some tags in the tag section, and in the description area, I simply type in "Ebay item #". At this point I don't have an ebay item number, as I haven't yet created the listing. Once I create the listing, then I o back in to the YouTube listing and add the ebay item number. Who knows? Maybe some random YouTuber will come across my video, then go to ebay and buy it that way! Hey, it can happen. I want to make it as easy as possible for buyers to buy my items. If they found my item on YouTube, I want to direct them to ebay with at least an ebay item # so they can make a purchase.
18. Now you are ready to start your first listing. It doesn't matter in what order you list the items. Read my other blog sections where I go in to much more detail about the best times to start listings. Check out my video series where I get extremely specific about how to create a listing. Here is the link to the first video.
**TO BE CONTINUED**
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