Sunday, September 7, 2008

How To Sell on Ebay


A friend of mine told me that she wants to sell online and, she asked for some tips. I gave a few suggestions including the following:

1. You need a computer and a digicam. If you dont own a pc, you may rent one. Invest in a good digicam. Some sellers scan their items, though.

2. You need to open an Ebay account. The account name must be something relevant to your items for sale. I use mameecloset as username because i sell items that could be seen inside a mamee's closet ;-)

3. Buy a few items on ebay. This is for you to be able to get some positive feedback or just to have a "feel" of how ebay works. I have zero feedback though when i started but, the buyer opted for a meet up.

4. Decide what to sell. I sell clothes, books and perfumes because i have access to those; I sell wholesale ukay ukay or used clothes, I looove books and I know where to source the most affordable authentic perfumes. You could start by selling used clothes, toys, books etc. Be sure that they are in good condition, though. I will try to expound on this, next time.

5. Take Pictures of the Items. Take pictures during the day. Do not use flash; I use soft flash sometimes. Use a a background with solid colors: black or white. You can lay them on a flat surface, either on the bed or table

6. Edit the Pictures. Crop the edges and resize them. Some even put a watermark of their username to discourage picture theft.

7. List Your Items. For clothes, include the following: item name, size, color, fabric and any other important descriptions. For books: name and author. For perfumes: name, edition (optional) and quantity.

8. Wait. Wait for the buyers questions or winning auctions, if ever. Answer questions promptly and send out payment invoices patiently.

9. Confirm Payment. My savings account is enrolled online so i merely check online to verify the payment. You may ask the buyer to email you the scanned copy of the deposit slip or you may ask for the transaction number. Gcash is also convenient; it shows the sender's contact number and transaction receipt.

10. Pack the Items. Use bubblewraps, packing peanuts, plastic wrappers, boxes etc depending on your items fragility. I use bubblewraps when I ship perfumes; Plastics for books. I use small boxes when i send out more than 1 dozen books for a single order.

11. Ship the Items. Opt for those which offer free pick up services so you will not spend for transpostation costs. I use Xend Express for my deliveries within Metro Manila while I use Air21 for provincial shipments. Text/ Email the winning bidder about the waybill or tracking number. The number could be seen in the upper right part of the waybill. And, it could be tracked on the courier's website (www.xend.com.ph/) or on your mobile phone (www.air21.com.ph/?q=track).

12. Feedback. Some sellers give the buyer's feedback once payment has been confirmed because the buyer's responsibility (paying) has been done. Other sellers wait for the buyer to leave a feedback for them first arguing that some buyers leave negative feedbacks for no reasonable reasons at all. I generally leave feedbacks immediately once payment has been confirmed. Im cautious though when it is difficult to transact with the buyer.

No comments: