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This post will share how to become an eBay seller and start a side hustle this year.
I’ve made steady side income from my eBay account for the past nine months. With the cost of living rising in April, there’s no better time to start a side hustle than now. It would be best if you had all the extra income you could get. You also need as many passive income streams that require as little to no effort as possible. At this stage, we have gone past relying solely on our day jobs to get us through.
So, if you want to learn how to make money from existing stuff you already own or if you have a passion for e-commerce and you’re looking for a way to start on a small scale, then this post is for you. I’m going to make this post as straightforward as possible in a way that I wish someone had explained to me when I started.
How To Set Up Your eBay Account & Get It Ready For Selling
The first thing you need to do before you can start selling is to become an eBay buyer. You want to set up an account as you usually do, fill in your details and buy a bunch of stuff you’ll need. This is the first thing you need to do to build credibility. For every item you buy, you’ll get feedback from the seller, which counts as a rating for your account. So the more you buy without any problems, the higher the chances of the seller giving you a positive rating. You can also get negative or neutral ratings depending on how the transaction goes.
I think I had about 50 stars before I was confident enough to start selling. There was a point when I was shopping so heavily on eBay. I never really use Amazon, so my ratings added up quickly. So, set up your account, buy stuff and let your ratings accumulate. It’s as simple as that. Except you have prior business experience or an existing business, I would not advise you to open an eBay business account just yet. Start with a free private account and learn the ropes first. Then if you want to scale your business, you can then take it to the next step.
How To Start Selling On eBay As A Beginner
Before officially becoming an eBay seller, there are some things you need to do prep yourself. Think about it as starting a new business. You don’t just jump into it without adequate preparation. The same thing applies to eBay selling. You need to decide what products you’ll be selling, how often you’ll list, how you’ll price and package your orders for shipping. The more information you have up front, the better your chances of succeeding. I know how excited I felt after getting my first sale. That was enough to spur me on to make even more sales. So far, I haven’t had any issues whatsoever because I did my homework correctly.
To help you understand the fundamentals of selling on eBay, I’m going to categorise this section into three parts;
- Product
- Pricing and
- Packaging
Product
The first thing you need to decide is what you’re going to sell on eBay. Do you want to declutter your closet or your home entirely? Do you have excess sealed toiletries, including skincare and makeup, that you can resell? The beauty about eBay is that you don’t need to put yourself in a box. You honestly don’t need a niche, as you can sell just about anything. At the moment, I’m decluttering my closet, so I’m selling;
- new clothes with tags,
- pre-owned coats that I don’t like anymore,
- all my pre-owned denim that don’t fit anymore,
- new skincare I haven’t opened in over six months.
- preowned gadgets and tools
- new kitchen items I don’t use.
- general items in the house that haven’t been used in over a year.
You can see how random my shop is, which I love so much. I love that I can sell anything that I don’t like anymore. Sometimes I buy stuff, and I’m too lazy to return them, so I sell them on eBay.
Best Practices For Listing Items On eBay For Sale
The act of uploading a product to eBay to sell is called listing. Anytime you want to sell something, you’re listing that product as an item for sale. To get the most out of your listing, including quick sales, there are some best practices you must follow:
- Clean your lens and take clear photos of your products on a blank background. Most of us have iPhones. There’s no excuse for blurry or poor quality photos in 2022. As for your background, make sure your product is the centre of attraction without distactions. I use my wooden floor for pre-owned items because it just works. For brand-new items, I take the ecommerce photo from the brand’s website.
- Use keywords in your listing. You don’t want to list an item buyers won’t find in the search bar. Use as many keywords that describe the item as possible.
- Fill in as many details in your listing as possible. From measurements to fabric types to texture and skin concerns. eBay will give you a lot of details you need to fill out so make sure you do just that. Every little detail will help you make sales faster.
- Be trutful about the condition of your items: Don’t try to pass off pre-owed items for brand new. If an item is ripped or needs repair, mention it in your product description. Someone will still buy it as long as you’re honest and upfront.
As an eBay seller, identifying what to sell is something you’re constantly thinking about, especially when the orders become regular. But once you get a hand at it, you’ll notice the products that move fast and then you’ll have a better idea of what to sell next.
Pricing
It’s so important to get your pricing right as an eBay seller, especially for brand new items. The least you can do is get your money back even if you don’t make a profit. This is why I love using the eBay Fee Calculator. It simplifies the whole pricing, including eBay seller fees which I’ll get to shortly. This calculator is super easy to use. I plug in my cost price, shipping fee and selling price based on the competitive price on eBay. If I want an item to sell quickly, I set the price as the cheapest, sometimes sacrificing a nice profit. If it is a hot item that sells out quickly, I increase my profit margin as much as I’m comfortable with.
Managing eBay Seller Fees
Shortly after I started selling, eBay scrapped their previous fees and introduced a general called a final value fee which is 12.8% of the total value of the order. Personally, I don’t like to overthink these fees, as the eBay Fee Calculator takes care of that for me. When giving me a final selling price, it gives me a breakdown that includes the eBay seller fees, so I know that I’m not short-changing myself.
Thankfully, eBay has weekend promos where they cap the price of the final value fee to £1 so take advantage of those to add to your profit.
Payment
Last year, eBay cut off PayPal as their payment partner. Now everything is done directly with your bank account. From seller fees to refunds and payouts. You get to determine the frequency of your payouts. I love the thrill of getting paid at the beginning of the week so I prefer a weekly payout. You can set yours to bi-weekly or monthly. It is also a good thing to get a business account for eBay to separate your personal and business transaction for your taxes later on. I use Starling because it is super easy and convenient to set up. Before paying you, all the seller fees are deducted so anything left over is your profit.
Read about eBay Managed Payment Dates
Packaging
The final important part of selling on eBay is packaging and shipping your orders to your customers. In a previous post, I’ve shared some practical Small Business Packaging Ideas to give you an idea of some of the packaging you can use for your orders. I like to reuse my old shipping boxes to save money, especially on boxes. Whatever I buy comes in a box; I store it nicely for my eBay orders. If the box has logos, I use kraft paper tape to remove them or stick them over it. I make sure I remove the shipping labels carefully not to destroy the box.
General Packaging & Shipping Tips
- Get the cheapest bubble envelopes and poly mailers that works across various items to cut costs that will not eat into your profit.
- Buy your labels directly from eBay. It’s usually the cheapest.
- Package your orders and print your labels at home. Get a sheet label to use with your laserjet printer if you can’t afford a thermal printer. Buying ink will add up quickly so if you want to be an eBay seller for a while, it is wise to invest in a thermal printer.
- If you work from 9-5 and only have time in the evenings, factor in your dispatch and shipping times on your eBay account.
- Package your orders as firm and tight as possible to prevent it from opening up before it gets to your customer. I use a lot of clear tape to ensure my packages are well-wrapped.
- Leave feedback for your customer after every order. It encourages them to leave one for you too.
Finally,
If you are ready to start your eBay side hustle this year, I hope this post has helped. I’ll have subsequent follow up posts to share and document my experiences selling on eBay. You might think that little extra doesn’t add but it goes a long way especially if you have a 9-5 and you’re paid monthly. Having extra money come in the middle of the month hits different all the time.
