How does the selling process on ebay work?

Question

How does the selling process on ebay work?

Answer 1

Your first stop should be eBay's Guide to Seller Services http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/services...

eBay's Seller Central has all the resources you need to learn about the basics of selling on eBay http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/inde...

The key to a successful eBay selling is simple -- Sell products that people actually want.

Selling on eBay is not as easy as some portray. In fact, go to eBay and check out the number of auctions that end without a single bid. Competition is getting tough, as more sellers go to eBay; even the big boys are joining in the eBay marketplace. Add to that the increasing listing and final value fees.

eBay has several ways for you to determine exactly what the hot items to sell on their marketplace:

Items In Demand = the most popular items currently within that particular category. To see the In Demand page, go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sell...  

Hot Items by Category Report = a monthly report that lists the fastest growing categories on eBay for the previous month. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/what... and select "Hot Items by Category" from the menu on the left.

eBay Pulse = "a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay". Go to http://pulse.ebay.com/ to see eBay Pulse in action.

Merchandising Calendar = eBay promotes specific categories on its home page each month. Savvy eBayers know that this home page exposure results in more interest in such categories. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/cale...  to view the current Merchandising Calendar.

Answer 2

You have to register first with ebay.  Then do some research on how much other sellers are selling or have sold the same items for in the past.  Decide on your price, upload pictures of the item and a description.  Ebay will charge you fees just to list the item determined by the price, number of days, etc.  You keep track of your items in your My Ebay account.  When the item sells, you are charged a final value fee by ebay.  If you accept payments via PayPal, then PayPal will take a pretty good chunk of your money as well.  Once the payment is received, you ship the item to the buyer.  Once they leave you feedback, you leave feedback for them and the sale is closed.  You have 30 days to pay your fees to ebay.