Here’s the exact steps we used to make $1,000 selling things on eBay over the last two months. Plus, we surveyed readers who make more than $1,000/month using eBay (including one who earned $50,000 over the last year), and we spoke to a senior executive at eBay to get insider tips on how to make extra money with eBay.
Below, you’ll find:
Expert sellers share their eBay tips
Specific tactics on how to sell on eBay (with screenshots)
Tips from readers who make 4-5 figures from eBay every month: Why the same items can sell for dramatically different prices — and how to make sure your sale price tops the charts
Case study: We sell something on eBay
Expert interview (audio download below) with the dean of eBay University: Which are the top selling items on eBay?
One day, I mentioned to my friend, Susan, that I was going to be selling a few things on eBay and she looked at me skeptically. We’re both fans of Big Wins, so I understand the skepticism — can you really make a lot of money selling on eBay?
We decided to spend time to create a useful guide on how to make significant amounts of money using eBay. I’ve earned over $1,000 in the last 2 months by selling stuff there.
Rather than generic advice, Susan went to the source: a senior executive at eBay. We also asked I Will Teach You To Be Rich readers who’ve earned over $1,000 on eBay to share their specific tactics for selling at higher prices.
Here’s an excerpt of what Susan learned.
Selling on eBay: too much work, too little gain
True or false?
You’ve heard Ramit talk about the CEO model – cut costs, earn more and optimize spending. Saving more money isn’t just about cutting spending, and your income ISN’T always fixed.
You already know that you can sell stuff on eBay, but, like me, you probably haven’t ever gotten around to doing it. What’s the point of learning and getting involved in a whole new system if all you’ll get out of it is $15 for a pair of your Sevens jeans?
I was thinking the same thing you’re thinking:
“Too much work, too little gain”
Then recently, I ended up having a phone conversation with Jim Griffith, the dean of eBay University. Griff teaches thousands of people how to use eBay as a platform to build their businesses, was personally hired by Pierre Omidyar (one of the eBay co-founders) as one of their earliest community / customer focused employees (15 years ago), and has been an expert seller since eBay got started.
After Griff shared a few really good eBay tricks and tips with me, I started to feel bad about being such a hypocrite about eBay.
“Your income’s not fixed, earn more don’t just save” … I’d say these things to my friends all the time, but I never lifted a single finger towards it.
So, I decided I’d list something to see exactly how much work and how little gain it would be.
Expert sellers share their eBay tips
Before setting up my listing, Ramit and I asked I Will Teach You To Be Rich readers who’ve made upwards of $1,000 on eBay to share their secrets.
Here’s how they optimize their eBay listings, in order of importance:
Use lots of really good pictures
Write complete descriptions and think about potential buyers
Do your research
Time your listing right and avoid reserve prices
Choose what to sell carefully
1. Use lots of really good pictures
Quality: They use really good pictures – not blurry and not old-looking. They don’t have to be perfect, but should show NOT ONLY the item BUT ALSO that the item lives in a nice environment. I don’t care how much of a deal it is – I’m not buying a designer sweater that’s being photographed in a coal plant.
Quantity: They use lots of pictures. If you’re buying something from an unknown eBay seller, your confidence goes up with the number of real photos of the item in question. One reader told us her secret was “LOTS of pictures. Use an outside app to manage listings (I use Garage Sale) and to upload photos to your own server so you don’t have to pay eBay’s prices for extra photos.”
2. Write complete descriptions and think about potential buyers
Completeness: Fill out all the fields in your listing, and make sure your textual description gives a LOT of information about the item. It’s just stupid not to, and yet SO many sellers don’t do this. Laziness I guess? Whatever the reason, don’t be like them.Think like your buyer – if I’m dropping $200 for a rare book on eBay, I want to know EVERY detail about it. I don’t care how mundane or even repetitive it is, I want every reason to have faith that my $200 will be well spent.
Search optimization: Use targeted keywords in your item title AND description. You don’t have to be a tech wizard for this. It’s as simple as asking yourself, what would a potential buyer for this item type into the search box? The more closely your description matches that search query, the more visible your products will be. If it’s a brand name thing, then people will probably be typing in the brand, not just the name of the item itself, so make sure to include the brand –eg. [pottery barn queen duvet] versus [queen duvet]. One reader told us “Don’t misspell brand names” – who’s searching for Calfin Kline, anyway? Yeah, it’s obvious. But people still get it wrong.
