Beginner's Guide To Selling On eBay 2024 Edition

By Ann Eckhart

The BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SELLING ON EBAY: 2024 EDITION is bigger and better than ever!

Updated with eBay's newest LISTING FORM!

Updated with eBay's newest SHIPPING FORM!

Updated with more SOURCING information, more LISTING tips, and more ways to MAKE MORE MONEY reselling items on eBay!

Making money online from home is the dream of millions of people.

Whether you just want to earn some extra cash or you would like to start your own full-time home-based business, there's no better website to do it on than eBay!

Millions of people around the world sell items on eBay, and in BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SELLING ON EBAY, author Ann Eckhart, an eBay seller herself since 2005, will teach you how to quickly start earning money online.

 

Since 2019, Eckhart has been releasing a new, updated yearly edition of BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SELLING ON EBAY. The 2024 edition is the 5th edition of her guide, and it is jam-packed with information for new and experienced sellers alike.

Every year, Eckhart updates this eBay guide with the latest information, both for beginners and those who are already selling on the site, including:

 

THE BASICS OF EBAY: What Ebay is, why it's the best platform for reselling, and how to set up your selling account

 

EBAY FEES & FEATURES: What Ebay has to offer you along with how much it costs for you to sell there

 

RESELLING EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES: Everything you need to photograph, list, and ship items

 

WHAT TO SELL & WHERE TO SOURCE: What sells on Ebay and where to find it, including liquidation sources

 

TAKING EBAY PHOTOS: How to take and upload photos that will help sell your items fast and for top dollar

 

CREATING EBAY LISTINGS: A step-by-step walk-through of the entire Ebay listing process

 

EBAY SHIPPING MADE EASY: A step-by-step tutorial on how to set up your shipping settings and how to print shipping labels, including the big USPS changes that have recently gone into effect.

 

PROCESSING ORDERS: The steps to take when an item sells including printing labels and packaging

 

MARKETING & PROMOTION: How to grow your Ebay business through social media and networking

 

MANAGING AN EBAY STORE: How to maximize the benefits of having an Ebay Store

 

TAKING EBAY TO THE NEXT LEVEL: How to go from hobby seller to part-time or even full-time

 

EBAY ACCOUNTING MADE EASY: How to easily manage bookkeeping and taxes

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE: How to handle difficult customers and other issues that may arise

 

Plus a BONUS chapter dedicated to RESELLING CLOTHING, which is the largest category on eBay.

 

The title of this book may be BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SELLING ON EBAY, but it really is the ULTIMATE guide as it covers everything you need to know to start selling on eBay and then scaling up your business to part-time or even full-time status!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ann Eckhart
• Release date: Jan 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224954674

Ann Eckhart

Ann Eckhart is a writer, blogger and bargain hunter who lives in Iowa. She has written a number of books on topics ranging from Ebay and saving money to self-publishing and Walt Disney World. She maintains a popular blog (www.SeeAnnSave.com) as well as an active YouTube channel. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram under the name "See Ann Save".

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Beginner’s Guide To Selling On eBay: 2024 Edition! My name is Ann Eckhart, and I have been reselling on eBay since 2005. I have also been educating others about selling on the platform for nearly as long through YouTube videos and books, as well as in thousands of posts on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. I not only write about making money on eBay, but also on Etsy, Amazon, WhatNot, and YouTube.

However, out of all of the books I’ve written over the years, this one has remained the most popular. And that is because eBay remains the number two platform for resellers, i.e. people who buy items at thrift stores and garage sales to sell for profit online (Amazon is number one). Millions of people make money selling on eBay; some do it for some extra spending money, while others earn a full-time living on the site.

But for every person who is currently selling on eBay, there is another who hasn’t made the leap to making money online. It’s not because they aren’t interested in selling on eBay, it’s because they are afraid. Afraid it is too hard, too technical, and too much work. And that is where this book comes in.

In Beginner’s Guide To Selling On eBay, I break down every single step necessary for making money reselling everything from antiques and collectibles to clothing and housewares. If you ordered this book, either in eBook or paperback format, you had to use a smartphone or computer. And that right there means you have the first skill necessary for selling online.

However, this book goes beyond just information for beginners. While I will walk you step-by-step through everything you need to know to source, list, and ship items, I will also teach you how to grow your eBay business from a hobby level to a part-time or even full-time business. This book isn’t just about how to sell on eBay, but how to sell successfully for maximum profits.

In this book, I will cover:

The basics of eBay: What EBay is, why it’s the best platform for reselling, and how to set up your selling account

eBay fees and features: I break down what eBay has to offer you along with how much it costs for you to sell there

Reselling equipment and supplies: Everything you need to photograph, list, and ship items

What to sell and where to source: What sells on eBay and where to find it

Taking eBay photos: How to take and upload photos that will help sell your items fast and for top dollar

Creating eBay listings: I walk you step-by-step through the entire eBay listing process

eBay shipping made easy: A step-by-step tutorial on how to set up your shipping settings and how to print shipping labels

Processing orders: The steps to take when an item sells

Marketing and promotion: How to grow your eBay business through social media and networking

Managing an eBay Store: How to maximize the benefits of having an eBay Store

Taking eBay to the next level: How to go from hobby seller to part-time or even full-time

eBay accounting made easy: How to easily manage bookkeeping and taxes

Customer service: How to handle difficult customers and other issues that may arise

And I also provide a BONUS CHAPTER devoted to reselling clothing, the largest category, on eBay.

I used to break these topics out into shorter eBooks, but now I’ve complied absolutely everything you need to know into one volume. This book is the ultimate guide to selling on eBay as I cover everything from starting to sell on eBay to how to make it a full-time business. Whether you have yet to create your first listing or have already been selling for a while, this book has something to offer you.

So why would anyone need to read a book about selling on eBay? After all, isn’t that information available for free online?

Well, that is true to an extent. Sure, there are active reselling communities on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube where people post all sorts of information about how to make money selling on eBay. And there are tutorials on eBay’s website to walk you through the process of listing and shipping. However, what you likely find online are only the best parts of selling on eBay. The huge hauls, the giant package piles, the impressive gross sales numbers, and the basics of how to photograph, list, and ship.

But those posts only give you a glimpse into the world of eBay resellers. They do not give you the whole picture of the reality of making money on eBay. Not all sellers are always honest about the time and effort required to source items to resell. They do not share how many hours were spent packaging up low-dollar orders. And they do not share the actual net profit after all fees and taxes are taken out. And while online tutorials can be helpful, some people need extra help.

And that’s what I aim to provide you with this book. A friend, if you will, helping you navigate all of the ins and outs of reselling on eBay.

The fun parts of reselling are finding treasures to resell, selling them, and seeing the money deposited into your bank account. However, those are only three parts of the reselling process. There is a lot more that goes into selling successfully on eBay. While huge package piles make for a fun photo opportunity, they aren’t telling you the whole story.

This book, however, tells you the TRUTH about selling on eBay, the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. I’m honest with you about every aspect of eBay, not to scare you away, but so that you have all the information necessary to make your eBay journey successful and profitable. After all, I’m assuming you want to sell online to MAKE money, not lose it!

Selling on eBay can be a lot of fun, and there is good money to be made on the site. But there are right ways to do things and wrong ways to do things when it comes to selling on eBay. This book will cover everything you need to know to sell on eBay the right way to limit potential issues and maximize your profits.

eBay is a unique marketplace with its own special learning curve to master. However, after reading this book, you can jump into selling on eBay, and start earning money immediately. And if you have already been selling on the site, hopefully, I will have given you some information to help you grow your business.

I know that, for those who have never sold anything on eBay, it can seem overwhelming initially. Even I was scared to sell on eBay initially! However, once you have a few listings under your belt and have shipped out a couple of orders, I promise you will realize how easy it is. And if you are like me, you will wonder why it took you so long to give eBay a try!

CHAPTER ONE: THE BASICS OF EBAY

eBay debuted in 1995 as an online classified ads marketplace, one of the first online shopping websites. It allowed people all over America to list items they had for sale and sell them to customers in every state. The site was very basic; there were no photos, and it resembled a newspaper classified section.

When eBay first launched, it was an online auction site; people put their items up for auction, and customers bid on them. You could not purchase anything for a set Buy It Now price. The highest bidder won the item, paid the seller through eBay’s payment system, PayPal, and then the seller shipped the winning bidder their merchandise.

Initially, customers could also bypass PayPal and mail checks to sellers; sometimes, they even sent cash. Yes, you read that right: people mailed strangers envelopes filled with cash to pay for their EBay items! And yes, that even happened to me!

After initially being only available in the United States, eBay quickly expanded to sellers and buyers worldwide. Policies and features changed and expanded, including the option for sellers to open their own stores. Until Amazon took over, eBay was the number on shopping site in the world. While antiques remain what the site is known for, clothing is the largest category on the site, and large brands even have a presence on eBay.

And while auctions were once the standard way to sell, these days, large and small sellers can also sell new and used products through eBay at what is called Buy It Now (formerly referred to as Fixed Price). When listing an item at Buy It Now, the seller sets the price, and there is no auction, no bidding. Today, most items on the site are sold at a Buy It Now price, although the auction option still exists.

I sometimes miss the days when you could start every item at a 99-cent auction and watch the bidding go up and up. I remember sitting at my desk and hitting the refresh button on my computer every minute to update the bidding, watching the price rise until the auction ended. Those were fun times!

However, those days are long gone except for scarce, in-demand collectibles. Nowadays, eBay is mainly a buy-it-now shopping site, just like Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers. And while nostalgia for the old days remains among those who were on the site in the beginning, eBay now functions much like every other shopping website, giving it an even playing field and making it less confusing for shoppers to navigate.

One thing that was always unique to eBay was PayPal, which was eBay’s payment processing system. For buyers to shop on eBay, they used to have a PayPal account. PayPal allowed buyers to set up multiple funding sources, everything from their bank accounts and their own PayPal balances to their debit and credit cards, to pay for items on eBay. Sellers also had to have a PayPal account to facilitate their orders and to get paid. PayPal was the payment system that everyone on eBay, regardless of whether they were buying or selling, HAD to use.

However, in 2015, eBay and PayPal split, becoming two individual companies with no ties to one another. And while eBay continued to rely on PayPal as its payment processor for several years, in 2019, eBay introduced its own payment system, Managed Payments.

All eBay sellers are now enrolled in eBay’s Managed Payments. PayPal is no longer an option on the seller’s end. While shoppers can still pay for orders using their PayPal accounts (they can link PayPal as their payment method the same way you can link your credit card to pay for purchases), eBay runs all sales through Managed Payments.

Now, all listing fees, final value fees, and shipping charges are automatically deducted from each sale, and eBay disperses the remaining balance to sellers on a schedule they choose (daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly). This is one of my favorite features as sellers previously always had an outstanding bill they needed to pay. Now sellers don’t have to worry about racking up fees; the fees are automatically collected at the time of sale.

Note that as a seller you will need to add a bank account to your eBay account for eBay to disperse your payouts. There is no longer an option to request a paper check to be mailed to you. And if you have an eBay Store subscription, you will need to have a credit card on file to charge that fee to.

While PayPal used to be the only option for shopping on eBay, now it is just one of many options available. This opens up the site to new customers who haven’t wanted to open a PayPal account. The PayPal requirement turned off some potential customers, but that is no longer an issue.

In short, buyers can now shop on eBay the same way they do on most other websites. And just like PayPal, buyers can pay via Managed Payments using various methods, including credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts, and even PayPal. I still use PayPal to pay for my own eBay purchases, although it is connected to one of my credit cards as I no longer have a running PayPal balance from my eBay sales.

For eBay sellers, Managed Payments means that eBay, not PayPal, now manages their funds. When someone purchases one of your items on eBay, eBay will process their payment, deduct the fees and shipping costs (after you have printed off the shipping label) associated with the transaction, and then disperse the remaining funds to you.

With PayPal, sellers had to pay for their labels directly on PayPal and then pay their eBay fees every month. Now, however, postage and fees are taken out before your money is released, meaning you don’t have to worry about paying for labels or fees. You can choose to have your funds dispersed daily or weekly. The only fee that isn’t automatically deducted is if you have an eBay Store subscription. I let my store subscription charge to a credit card that I earn points on.

Don’t worry: we will tackle the payment process of eBay distributing your money to you in-depth later in this book.

I have been selling on eBay since 2005 and have shipped items to every corner of the globe. When I started selling on eBay, it was one of the few online shopping sites on the internet, meaning you could sell nearly anything on it. In fact, when I started to sell online, eBay and Amazon were pretty much the only two e-commerce sites available to sell or buy on.

Today, however, eBay competes with Amazon and Walmart for the top marketplace spot. Plus, nearly every retailer, both large and small, has its own website. And sites like Poshmark, Etsy, Mercari, WhatNot, and even Facebook Marketplace are making the online reselling landscape even more crowded.

The competition between online sellers is much fiercer than when I first started selling online, too. Therefore, the types of items that are sold and the methods by which they are sold have also significantly changed. Many sellers now turn to Amazon to sell their new goods, while eBay is more centered on secondhand items.

However, while things may not always sell as fast as they once did on eBay, you can still sell almost anything there, new or used. And, more and more companies are expanding onto eBay to sell their goods the same way they sell them on their own websites and through other retailers. For example, KitchenAid sells products on its website. They also sell through other retailers, such as Target and Kohl’s, both in-store and on those stores' websites. And KitchenAid also sells directly to customers on eBay.

Despite the competition, eBay is still the number one site for individuals and small businesses to sell their items to people worldwide. While it is much larger than it was initially, at its core, eBay still functions like the world’s largest flea market with items of every type and at every price point available. eBay continues to expand and improve, giving sellers like me confidence that they will be around for years to come. With nearly two hundred million registered eBay users, there are still plenty of opportunities to make money on eBay.

But why sell your items on eBay instead of a garage sale or consignment shop? Hands down, you will get the most money for your items on eBay versus selling them locally. As I mentioned earlier, there are nearly 200 million registered EBay users, meaning there are 200 million more chances to sell your items.

Let’s say you have a rare collectible to sell. While only a handful of people will come to your garage sale or enter your local consignment shop, on eBay, your item is available for purchase to the millions of eBay account holders worldwide. You only need to wait for that one special buyer who is looking specifically for your item to find it and willingly pay you top dollar for it. The chances of that same buyer coming to your garage sale are slim to none. Hence when people at garage sales say that something is selling on eBay for a particular amount, I tell them they need to list it on eBay!

The biggest perk of learning to sell on eBay, for me, is that it provides you with a certain level of financial protection. Once you know how to sell on eBay, you can sell your unwanted items for top dollar any time, raising cash quickly if the need arises. While you could earn a couple of hundred dollars fast by selling your stuff at a garage sale, you can rake in a few thousand dollars for those same items after a couple of weeks of them being listed on eBay. I honestly believe they should teach high school seniors how to resell as it’s a valuable life skill!

Most people who sell on eBay got their start by selling their extra stuff from around their house. And once they were hooked on selling off their own items, they started searching thrift stores and garage sales for more item overstock of gift basket supplies, I went through my house, pulling anything and everything that I wasn’t using, and listed it all on eBay.

How To Set Up Your eBay Account: Signing up for an eBay account is the first step towards both buying and selling on eBay. Buyers need to provide payment information to shop on the site, but sellers need to provide more information including a back-up funding source, banking information for payouts, and tax information.

eBay makes the process of signing up to buy or sell very easy. Simply visit eBay.com and click on Register in the top left corner of the page to get started.

When signing up for an eBay account, you will first need to select a User Name, also called a screen name. Think carefully about the name you choose; you do not want to give out too much information (such as singlewomanlivingalone), but you also do not want to have a crazy name no one understands (what does dhioatg89yrew mean, anyway?). Selecting an easy-to-remember user name will help you attract repeat customers and build your brand.

My eBay username is the same name as my eBay store: Annabella’s Gift Shop. My original gift basket business was called Annabella’s Gift Baskets; I changed Baskets to Shop when I began selling single gift items. And even though I have transitioned to selling vintage collectibles, I’ve kept the name as I’ve used it since the beginning.

And, no, my name is not Annabella. I just thought it sounded more sophisticated than Ann!

Since there are millions of registered eBay users, the first user name you want to use may already be taken, so have a few options ready. If you think you might want to sell on eBay consistently in the future, choose a name that reflects what you plan to sell. But don’t narrow your focus too much. You may start out selling sports cards, for example, but eventually expand to other collectibles. Bob’s Sports, Bob’s Collectibles, or Bob’s Sports Collectibles would be a better choice than Bob’s Sports Cards. Note that if you choose to open an eBay store, you will choose a different name for your shop; although I believe it should match your user name.

Next, American users will need to provide their Social Security number. And all users must provide financial information to create their eBay account, either a bank account routing number or a credit card. Some people balk at providing this information, but every single selling platform, whether online or in a brick-and-mortar store, requires these details.

The reason Americans need to provide Social Security numbers is for tax purposes. If you sell more than $600 a year on eBay, they will provide you with a 1099 tax form in January to file with the IRS. And they will report your earnings directly to the IRS. When PayPal issued the tax forms, the threshold for receiving a 1099 form was $20,000; but the new $600 threshold aligns with what most other companies use when issuing 1099 forms. Don’t worry: eBay will notify you when you have a tax form available so that you can print out your copy.

If you are registering outside of America, eBay will prompt you with the information you need to enter your country along with what financial documents they will be providing to you and your government.

All sellers need to enter banking information to register for Managed Payments, which is how eBay distributes earnings. Many sellers open a separate business bank account to attach to their eBay account, although if you are just starting, it’s fine to start out using your checking account.

PRO TIP: If you open a business bank account, make sure the name matches your eBay account. When you print shipping labels through USPS on eBay, your user name will show on the label. If you need to file a claim with USPS for lost or damaged packages, they will issue a check made out to your USER NAME, not your legal name. Most banks will not cash checks unless they are made out to the same name on your account.

It is also essential, I believe, to have a credit card on file with eBay as a backup funding source. Note that while eBay will deduct your fees and shipping charges from your pending balance, it is still a good idea to have a credit card on file just in case of a charge that your balance or bank account does not cover. I do not want a billing dispute to disrupt my sales, and I do not want eBay to withdraw money from my checking account that may be delegated to something else, so a credit card on file gives me an added layer of protection. And if you open an Ebay Store, the monthly subscription fees will be charged to your card, not taken out of your balance.

As I have already discussed, in 2015, eBay and PayPal split into two separate companies, with eBay implementing their own payment system, Managed Payments. All eBay sellers are now enrolled in Managed Payments. If you are just now setting up your eBay account, you will be enrolled in Managed Payments right from the start. The connection between eBay and PayPal is now officially severed.

When eBay sellers used PayPal, we were billed for our monthly fees, which we had to manually pay from our PayPal balances, credit cards, or checking accounts. The great thing about eBay’s Managed Payments is that eBay now takes out all listing fees, final value fees, and postage costs once a transaction is completed. That means the money left in your account will all be dispersed to you.

However, as I’ve noted already if you pay for an eBay Store subscription, that monthly fee WILL be charged to your backup payment account. This fee will show up in your monthly invoice along with any expenses that your balance didn’t cover. You can pay for it manually from your checking account or PayPal account, or allow it to be charged to the credit card you have on file.

Once your eBay account is set up and enrolled in Managed Payments, it is time to experiment with the eBay site itself. If you’ve already been shopping on eBay, you are hopefully comfortable with the layout. However, selling on eBay is different from buying. The interface you used to sell has many more sections and options than the shopping interface.

Reselling is a unique skill, and learning a new skill takes some time. To help you learn exactly how to sell on eBay, I believe there are three steps you should take:

Step #1: Buy Some Low-Dollar Items: After you have set up your eBay buying account, purchase some cheap items from several different eBay sellers (there are millions of no-risk 99-cent items on the site) to familiarize yourself with not only eBay’s