EBAY SELLING 101.....

• Hello again!! As you can tell by the name of my page...I'm an Ebay Mommy...I sell on Ebay and get to be a stay-at-home Mommy to my sweet 2 year old little boy. I started sellin about 5 years ago and have never looked back. If you are considering selling on Ebay then please post any questions you might have and I will try and cover that in upcoming posts. First thing is first...
  
• You should have an Ebay account which is a no brainer...
  
• If you have a name that has lots of numbers or would be hard for potential buyers to look up then I advise changing your Ebay name to something simple and maybe even about what you are selling, ect. My ID name is a_lil_of_everthing which is what I sell is a lil of everthing...Yes, the "y" is missing because I had a brain freeze when I changed it and once you change it you can't change it again for at least 30 days and by the time 30 days was up I have had comments on how cute that was because that is how their child or they even say everything...but anyways that is my id name if you want to look me up and see how I do it.
  
• I advise getting a Paypal account if you have not already....I think Paypal is very safe even though you might hear it's not. I have had paypal for 5+ years and have NEVER had any problems at all. You just have to be very careful about any e-mails you get that look like they are from Paypal or Ebay. If Paypal or Ebay sends you an e-mail then never ever click on any links and automatically delete them to be on the safe side. If they really did send you anything then you can log into your accounts and it will show up in your e-mails on your Ebay account or on Paypal in alerts I believe. There are alot of clever people who can send out e-mails with Ebay and Paypal logos and make them look legit. So to be on the safe side....NEVER click on any links in an e-mail....
  
• K, now we got your account on Ebay and your account on Paypal (a Paypal account is not needed to start selling, but advised as it's the easiest way for you to get your money and for buyers to pay....me personally I will not bid on anything on Ebay unless they accept Paypal).
  
• You have to decide what you want to sell...I don't recommend any "dropshippers" alot of Ebay sellers have gotten bad marks because the dropshippers didn't ship or they ran out of the product after it had been bid on and won and were not able to ship. For me I sell mostly vintage, collectible and home decor items I find at rummage sales, auction sales, thrift shops or even stores that are going out of business. I love to rummage and go to auction sales so it's a fun job for me!! If you love to rummage sale then you are off to a good start if you can get up in the morning and hit those sales early. I have found so many great stuff for Ebay and plus for myself and family. So it's a win-win situation when you can find clothes or home decor for yourself and plus find things to sell on Ebay.... You save money by buying clothes at rummage sales and I have found some really nice name brand clothes for under $1. which brand new in the stores would be over $50. a piece.
  
• My rule of thumb when looking for stuff to sell on Ebay...I never pay over $1. unless I am pretty sure I can make more. Usually I can find cute little figurines for .25, Home Interiors pictures for $2. , Fenton pieces for $2. ect. You got to have a little knowledge of what sells and I advise to look around on Ebay. If you know you can find alot of Home Interiors pieces then search for Home Interiors on Ebay and check the 'completed' box and then go to the highest sold and see what type of price certain things bring. Or if you know you can find alot of Avon bottles, figurines, ect. do the same just to get familar with what sells and what doesn't. You will also learn as you go along. I didn't really have a clue at first when I first started and I am still learning more everyday, but as you become familar and know what to look for it will be more rewarding.... I love to find that "Gem in the rough" which I have found a time or two and it's a great feeling to bring your treasures home and to look them up on Ebay to know if you did find a treasure.
  
• K, you got all your treasures home....Do you have a digital camera? I do see people that do list items without pictures and 9 times out of 10...they don't sell...I strongly advise you take pictures of your items you want to sell...
• Don't have a digital camera? Maybe you know someone who does and wouldn't mind borrowing it to you to use like once a week so you can take your pictures until you can save up enough or make enough on Ebay to buy your own. I have a 8.3 Mega Pixels FinePix Fujifilm digital camera which I love!! I have had this camera for about a year now...The digital camera I had before which still works, but is only a 3 Mega Pixel is also a Fujifilm. So I am favor Fujifilm cameras because they take such great pictures and I have dropped my cameras a time or two and they are very well made and have never broke or stopped working.... They are very easy to use also. That's just my opinion...I'm sure the Kodak or other cameras are just as good, I just never have had any experience with them.
  
• K, you have a digital camera or borrowed one? Now you need a nice clean spot to take pictures of your findings. I have an old library table that I lay a white sheet over and there's a window with lace curtains for the background. They do have picture boxes with the lights and sides and backings that you can find at Walmart and maybe other places, but those are only good for smaller items like figurines, small pictures, ect. I have one myself that my hubby bought for me and I love it. It does work nice and the pictures come out good, but they also come out good on my table, so a picture box is not needed and if you can take good pictures elsewhere then I would recommend not wasting your money on it.
  
• Now you got a nice clean spot to take pictures? Remember lighting.... I have a flourescent floor light that I use and love. When I take pictures of pictures I just have to remember not to have it reflect in the glass. You don't need a flourescent light of course if you don't have one. Just an open curtain on a nice day will be good and even after you take the picture and it seems too dark because the flash didn't go off then there are ways to brighten your picture with any photo software. I use PhotoImpact 8 and love it. You can brighten or darken pictures, you can crop the extra from your picture and you can frame your picture. I advise framing with a bright color so it stands out from the rest. You will be surprised how many people don't take the time to frame their pictures.....You don't have to frame your pictures, but it doesn't take long and will be noticed more in the gallery pictures. I advise also to take pictures of any maker's markings and added them to the picture that you took. Merging it in or "copy & paste" it in. I seldom ever use more then one picture for any of my auctions...The first picture is free, but extra pictures are usually I think .15 each. Unless it's big and you can't catch all the details in one picture, I recommend one picture to save you money and keep your profits up. Every little bit helps.
  
• You don't have any photo software? Then borrow from someone.... You can easily borrow some type of photo software from a friend or relative and load it onto your computer and then just give them back the disc. You don't need the disc anymore once it's loaded onto your computer so that's a cheap alternative to some type of photo software. I advise the PhotoImpact, but it's only because this was the easiest software for me and did what I needed. That way if you have any questions about PhotoImpact I can try and help otherwise you are on your own with that one...
  
• K, you got your treasures, got a nice spot for taking pictures, took pictures, load them onto your computer, use the photo software you have on your puter to crop and frame your pictures....Now your pictures are all nice bright and great looking...what now?
• Goto your Ebay account and log in and click on "Sell" which is at the top. A box will come up that you type in what it is you are selling type in things such as "Avon Figurine", "Precious Moments trinket box" , "Home Interiors Picture", ect. and it will give you a choice of catagories that best fit what you are selling. Click on what you think is the best one and click on next....
  
• Now the title.....you want to try and use as many as the characters as you can to make your item more searchable. For example...Say I have a cow bell to sell...what more can you put then "cow bell"?? Well you can put "Old Metal cow bell~cattle~bull~animals~collectible"....you get the point? I believe that if you just put in "cow bell" then you are loosing the oportunity for other people to find you....maybe they are looking for "collectible bells"....you lost that person....maybe they are looking for "animal bells" which is different then a cow bell, but they do come across your auction and think to themselves...'hey, that's neat and it's cheap! maybe I should bid on that for my kitchen, or for my sister, ect."
  
• K, now the description...... always get to the point unless you wanna have fun with it or what it more personable. But please never ramble on and have someone loose interest after the 10th sentence. I advice just saying what it is, always note any imperfections, chips, repairs, breaks, ect. and measurements are always good and will save you time with questions of people asking for the measurements. After you do that it's good to have a "copy & paste" of your payment policy, ect. I don't have any auctions up at this moment, but will tonight at about 9 p.m. so you can check out my copy & paste just to get an idea of what I mean.
  
• OMG!!! I have been writting for so long that I didn't pay attention to the time...lol...I gotta get a few things done around the house and I will try and be back later to continue this talk...if you have any questions then please ask away and I will try and help you if I can...
  Thanks for reading Part 1 so far....Part 2 coming soon.........