These 100+ must know tips are essential for every eBay seller.  Whether you are just starting out or a power seller, these reminders will ensure you outdo your competition, optimise your listings and source product to sell online with greater ease.

In no particular order, I hope you enjoy these Must Know Tips For Selling on eBay.

If you have your own tips to share, let us know!

Knowledge and Research

1. Videos: Watch as many videos on YouTube as you can and pick up on tips and tricks that others are freely sharing. You’ll acquire a wealth of knowledge before you know it.
2. Facebook Groups:  Join in lots of reseller groups on Facebook.  You can freely ask questions and you’ll learn from the experience of others.
3. Keep a Look Out: Watch ebay items currently listed so you can look for the items bringing higher prices. It is all about research remember!
4. Learn eBay Rules: My honest advice for beginners is to first learn eBay rules. It is essential.
5. Ask: Always ask questions if you are not sure of something. (feel free to ask me!)
6. Brand Names: Make yourself flash cards to help you memorise the best seller brands you want to be on the look out for during your buying trips.  This will save you time when out shopping and you will never have to worry about forgetting your list!
7. Completed Listing: When searching online make sure you are looking at the completed listings.   Don’t always look at what people are asking for their items. It doesn’t mean they will sell it at the price they have listed. Look for completed, sold items and go by that price too.
8. Competition: Don’t be discouraged by others post on how much they sold. Don’t get down on yourself when you see someone share how great they are doing. They may not be telling the whole story.
9. eBay Apps: Get a smart phone if you don’t already have one and download the free eBay app.  It will help with research and listing whilst you are on the go.
10. Help Others: Help a newbie, it keeps you fresh.
11. Comfort Zone: Go outside your comfort zone and own style. If something looks unique or old or unusual or new in the package pick it up and research it.
12. Cassini: Take the time to familiarise yourself with Cassini, eBay’s search engine. It can make the world of difference to your sales.
13. Research: Just because you see it on the Internet or in a video does mean it will necessarily sell.  Do your own research.

Promotion and Advertising

1. Social Media: Learn how to effectively use social media.  It’s imperative today.
2. Promote, Promote, Promote: Promote your items on social media and don’t forget Google Plus. Sharing isn’t just so your “followers” will see but so that the links to your listings get crawled and indexed on search engines. People searching outside of eBay are more likely to find your item.
3. Website: If you have a website, get a feed of your live listings direct to your site.  It’s another source of traffic and can help with views as well as sales.
4. eBay Collections: You do not need an eBay store to use eBay Collections.  Simply group your listings into categories.  Simple, free and fast and it helps promote your items automatically.
5. Store vs Personal Profile: The decision to move to a store on eBay is a big one.  While stores offer many benefits and help with the promotion and advertising of your items, there is an ongoing fee.
6. Image Sizes: Get familiar with the different images sizes needed for each different social media platform. Here’s our 2020 updated guide.

eBay Listings, Details and Shipping

1. List Regularly: If possible, list new items on eBay each day.  It will make Google very happy, Cassini very happy and it will help to boost your listings, leading to more sales.
2. Sales: Runs sales if you have a store as it can help place your items higher in the search engines. Even just a 5 or 10% off, eBay will send a notice to anyone who is watching your items that the price was lowered! Not to mention bring your listings up higher in the search rankings.
3. Don’t Under Price: Don’t under price or compete to be the lowest price to make a quick sale.  Buyers may think your item is less desirable and over look it and you’ll be driving prices down making it hard to make a decent profit for yourself and your clients.
4. Shipping Quotes: Enter the weight in small print at the bottom of listings you do not have to re-weigh the package if someone wants a shipping quote.
5. Check Clothing: Before you list an item of clothing, check it once, twice even three times for damage and holes.  Hold it up to the light and don’t rush it!
6. Take Pride In Packaging: Take pride in your packaging. Nearly fold clothing, make sure it is clean and don’t just throw things into an envelope. Buyers will feel you take good care of your merchandise and will keep coming back.
7. Adjust Prices: Sometimes if things aren’t selling you don’t have to lower your price! If something is not selling at $24.95 with free shipping, change it to $19.99 and added $5 for shipping.  A small change might be just what you need!
8. Item Specifics: Take the time to complete the item specifics section in each listing properly. If possible opt to use eBay’s preferred options or recommendations.  For example with a colour, don’t enter coral if it could really be pink or orange.
9. Ship Worldwide: Posting outside of Australia is not always a preferred option but it can lead to greater sales.  Take time to look into it.
10. Categories: Make good use of categories.  Try very hard to avoid using the “other” category.  Look at other successful online stores such as Myer and David Jones and see how they organise their wares.
11. Photos: Crop your pictures so they fit nicely and remove as much excess background as needed.  Please  do not place clothes on a floor.  Use a mannequin, place on a white sheet or hang against a white wall.
12. Postage Labels: Print your shipping labels and take advantage of the discount that is offered! It does add up and while YES you are spending money on the ink and the label or paper – depending on whichever you use- the discounts far outweigh those costs in the long run and save on time of lines at the post office and having to hand write everything on the packages!
13. Recommended Prices: When eBay tells you to start an auction at 99¢, don’t do it.
14. 99 Cent Auctions: And if you do $0.99 cent auctions DO YOUR RESEARCH. They work for a very small percentage of high demand items that will always get bid up. Do not start an auction for less than you are willing to let the item go for unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure it is one of the high demand items that will get bid up. And even then be prepared to let it go if it does sell for less than you hoped.
15. Weigh Your Items: Weigh your items and the weight and dimensions in so don’t end up having to pay shipping.
16. Group ‘Like’ Products: List your similar items at the same time instead of bouncing from a shirt to a mug to a pair of pants for example – You’ll be able to just hit “sell similar” in the item you just listed and do a quick edit in the necessary fields; that will help you list quicker and need less templates.
17. Bullet Points: Make your descriptions easy to read. Use Bullet points. Almost 45% buyers are using a mobile device of some kind. Make it easy for them to read. Don’t use coloured font.  Make it as easy as possible to read.
18. Photograph Details: Make sure your pictures show all of the details that a person needs to make a good decision and not need to return. For clothing, let the buyers see the seams, how much flare a skirt or dress has, front and back, shape of the article of clothing (I mean actual shape, like straight, A-line, full, etc.) For other items, show all sides of a piece.
19. Serial Numbers – Evidence: Take pictures of all serial numbers you may need it if the buyer tries to switch the merchandise
20. No Sales: When you have stale inventory research it again the price may have changed and you need to adjust.
21. Multiple Photos: Take more pictures than you think you will need. Pictures sell your items.
22. Packaging Items: When shipping, DO NOT ASSUME that the post office will treat your packages with kit gloves. Please pack your items like you would like to receive them! Safe and protected! Don’t assume that writing on the package “Do Not Bend” or “Fragile” and assuming it will be treated special!
23. List Defects: Make sure you list ALL defects or missing pieces in your descriptions. ANY tiny stains, or pulled threads. Put all measurements in your listings for clothing. New OR used. It will save you MUCH time later on when you start getting questions asking for them later on.
24. Product Knowledge: Knowledge is power…and if u can provide some details on products, your buyers are more intrigued to purchase.
25. Quantiity: The more you list, the more you will sell!
26. Measurements: Always measure the clothes you’re listing
27. Auction vs Buy It Now: Put it up for auction if you don’t know the value of something or if you just want to get rid of something but use bin for everything else
28. Free Shipping: Raise prices and offer free postage. SEO tip: when listing free shipping, select “flat price” then check free shipping. Doing so will have your listing show up on Google Shopping.
29. Own Scales: Spend the money on a good scale, it will save you tons from not estimating. And always research before you buy. If one out of fifty items sold it’s probably going to sit on your shelf for a long time or end up being donated back!
30. Work In Batches: If you get overwhelmed with how many items you have to get listed, put the bulk of them out of sight & only have a small manageable stack in view while your working – Once listed put that “listed” stack in its place & grab another stack to work on; You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you are when your not feeling overwhelmed. (Feeling overwhelmed can be paralizing)
31. Templates: Don’t use fancy templates. Cassini doesn’t like a bunch of HTML so having templates can negatively affect your seqrch result standing. Some templates will not show correctly on mobile or will take forever to load – with so many buyers purchasing from their mobile phones you want to be as mobile friendly as possible. 14 point, left aligned, simple black and white easy to read font is recommended.
32. Get To The Point: Keep your item descriptions clear and easy to read and leave out “the fluff.
33. Don’t Wait For A Season/Event: List Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. ALL YEAR AROUND! DON’T WAIT! People buy all times of the year.
34. Renting Your Items: If you are worried that people are “renting” the clothing you are selling. Buy wristbands on eBay and get the brightest colors you can find and put them through a buttonhole or somewhere it would be visible and state there are no returns if this tag has been removed
35. Describe: Use descriptive words and describe your items. Don’t just say something like “long blue dress” and hope somebody is going to buy it based on your photos and item specifics. Give measurements for everything
36. Wrap Items: Pack your clothing items nicely in a white tissue paper before sticking it in a poly bag. I get mine bulk at Costco around Christmas time. Very cheap. It looks really nice and professional. My buyers loved it when they arrive.
37. Packing Slips: Include a packing slip in your package and write a thank you note on it or include a handwritten thank you note. Sometimes the packages come open in the mail and if there’s a packing slip enclosed it helps the item get the package delivered anyway.
38. Packing Materials – Alternative Options: Pool noodles can be cut in various ways to be used as shipping materials. Cut a v-shaped slit in them lengthwise to wrap around plates or mirrors. (you will also need to cut a slight notch to get them to make corners or curves).Slice the rippled ones thin. They make flower shaped rings that are good to place between items. At the end of summer or dollar store they are cheap.
39. Cleaning Supplies: Keep a good stock of cleaning supplies.
40. Relist versus Sell Similar: Know the difference between relisting an item and opting for sell similar.  You’ll be surprised at how it can impact your listing.
41. Short On Time: If you can’t do a listing start to finish for whatever reason spend some time just taking pictures. If I have my pictures already taken I can list from anywhere. And if you want to be mobile and be able to list anywhere be sure to take pictures of your measurements along with the item so you have them while listing.
42. Check For Duplicates: Free tool we can use to check for duplicate listings on eBay. It is called the eBay Duplicate Listing Scanner. It is a free tool. Just enter your eBay seller name and country, and the utility will run a quick check on your listings. If any are duplicated, you can take action immediately to correct the situation.
43. Consider How Much You Want To Earn: Focus on listing a certain dollar amount each day vs a total # of items. For example, if you want to sell $300 a day you need to list $300 worth of merchandise a day. It can be 10 $30 items or 3 $100 items.
44. Tape Measure: Include a tape measure with the item in your photos to show size AND stick your measuring tape to your desk edge (or wherever you do your listing)…Saves lots of time on measuring..
45. Review Listings: Look at your listings after you post. Make sure your sizes are right and your listing looks good

Sourcing Product to Sell

1. Op Shops: Get to know the people in your thrift shop..very well. They will alert you ahead of time to sales or new discounts..even give you percentages off on occasion..I was able to make a return on an item when they normally don’t take returns.
2. Clothing Sizes: Don’t always stick to regular sizing.  Women’s and Men’s Larger sizes REALLY sell well
3. Garage Sales:  There are always bargains to be found at garage sales.  Just be sure you keep a keen eye out, avoid some nasties and be prepared to bargain.
4. Don’t Reveal All Your Secrets: Don’t tell stores, garage sale people, thrift stores that you are reselling. While MOST do not care, don’t mind… some do, and will get pissed off at you. Some will help you…. some will question the heck out of you… some will tell you to leave.
5. Help From Family and Friends: Let family and friends know to save you their bubble wrap, boxes all those goodes.
6. Purchase Stock In Off Seasons: buy off season. when you are at yard sales everyone wants the shorts and summer stuff. go for the jeans you can do lots of back to school clothes jeans lots starting in july for back to school. i usually spend 50cents to 1.00 for super nice jeans and can flip them for 8-10 bucks a pair in a lot of 6-8 pairs all the same size.6 pair at 59.99 sells great at bts time. roll them in a priority shirt box and save your buyers on shipping cost.
7. Source In Bulk: Source items and larger lots from e-bay, split up and resell.
8. Donations: Ask friends and family to give you their stuff instead of donating it.
9. Niche or Not To Niche: Dont niche yourself into a corner…keep a variety of things to appeal to more buyers
10. eBay Trading Assistant: When you become an eBay Trading Assistant, you sell on consignment.  You don’t need to source product as the items come to you from your clients.

Business Management and Customer Service Tips

1. Patience: Selling on eBay is not always going to land you sale after sale.  Ebb and flow.  Take the quiet times to re-visit your listings, update titles, promote on social media and remember that sometimes it’s a seasonal thing.  It’s temporary. Don’t forget that.
2. Know your numbers: Keep track of ALL expenses so you know your profit margins
3. Be Professional: Remove emotion from your business. From lowball best offers to returns to angry customers to parting with inventory. It takes time to master this but once you do you will have much more longevity in this business, and much more success.
4. Terms Of Service: Keep your TOS (terms of service) short, simple and easy to read. Don’t bitch, whine or threaten your customers.
5. Business Cards: Bring business cards where ever you go.
6. Answer Questions Promptly: Anwer all questions from customers, even if you think the buyer is being too picky or if you don’t understand why they are asking such a “stupid” question. Thank them for their interest, and if you believe the question is a matter of opinion, like “what is the weight of this sweater?” then say it is your own opinion that, whatever the answer is, and say that it’s a matter of personal preference (or something).
7. Get Organised: Get organized and create an inventory system before it gets out of control. One system many use is using plastic bins or clear boxes labeling each box with a letter or number than utilizing eBay’s “custom label field” to enter in location of the item. When item sells, you see (for example) purple shirt is in Box 24, pull shirt from box 24 and ship. Easy peasy!
8. Customer Service: Treat customers as you would want to be treated. Provide the best customer service possible. Answer any questions or handle any problems quickly, let them know they are important. Admit mistakes when they happen, we are human and it does happen. It lets our customers know we are real, and not some impersonnal company that doesnt care. Treat every sale as though it was YOU buying the product. Customer service is paramount.
9. Business Minded: Treat it like a business. Keep business accounts separate from personal accounts. Work at it like you would if you were being paid by an employer. If you treat it like a hobby or a low priority that is what it will become.
10. Set Your Own Timeframe: Work when and how it’s best for you! But be sure to work.
11. Be Open To Change: Trying to be an expert at everything at all once is hard so if you focus on one or two areas at a time it becomes much more manageable. It’s amazing how much you will learn! But also remember that sometimes you have to change your strategy and try something new. Mistakes will happen – just learn from them and keep going
12. Small Value Returns: If a customer wants to return an item, if it’s under $20, just refund and move on. It doesn’t happen often and it’s not worth the headache.
13. Organisation: Inventory management is a must. Make sure you know were things are.
14. As a Buyer: If you receive something as a buyer that isn’t what you expected. Write the seller 1st and give them the chance to make everything right BEFORE opening a case against them. If they don’t answer you or are unprofessional to you… then open the case!
15. Avoid Emotion: DON’T take things personally!!! If someone gives you a low offer on something you have listed, laugh it off… don’t get mad! It is the buyer’s job to get the best price they can! If you have Best offer in your listing and low ball offers bother you, then set the AUTO DECLINE to automatically decline any offers that are below a certain price range.
16. Bookkeeping: Keep track of all costs of things you bought to post and package your items. Whether its daily, weekly, or monthly you should make time to have your records up to date.
17. Hire a Bookkeeper: As your business grows, consider hiring a bookkeeper. Your time is valuable. The amount of time it takes to create and maintain a good bookkeeping system may be worth your while by outsourcing this part of the job. Consider how many hours it takes you to do your bookkeeping. Compare it to how much you can make doing other aspects of your business…listing and selling. You may be surprised.
18. Network: Be nice to everyone who works at your post office!delivering mail or behind the counter-get to know them and show your appreciation
19. Feedback: Don’t beg for feedback. Just don’t do it. It is against eBay rules anyway. The numbers will come in time!
20. Face To Face Meetups: See if your area has a local meet up group for those in e-commerce!
21. Keep a Notebook: Make sure you have a notebook by your side all the time, or alternatively take notes in your phone.  Keep track of things you find and prices and use that to do your research.
22. Trust In Yourself: and second to never ever belive what others are saying, first get the knowledge and then go and buy, also make sure you will get your money back and make a profit when you buy a item, last but not less important , try not to get in debt when you don’t know how to pay it back
23. Always Impress: Under promise and over deliver.
24. Give Buyers Benefit Of The Doubt: Assume good intent – most buyers are honest people who genuinely want your item (not people out to “get you”). Give benefit of the doubt, treat others as you would want to be treated and kill with kindness.
25. Outsource: Consider hiring an assistant to outsource particular jobs or seeking help from family and friends especially when you are starting out.  Sometimes it is more efficient to get help.
26. Take a Break: If you ever get an angry buyer who sends you a hateful message for any reason, your first reaction is to get mad and strike back. Don’t. Just close the message and walk away until you can reply without being angry. Find a reason to thank them for contacting you, like thank them for pointing out whatever it was and then explain whatever you need to explain and give them a choice of solutions to the problem. (or refund, if you need to, whatever the situation calls for)

These 100+ essential tips for selling on eBay are designed to motivate and inspire you to source great product, optimise your listings and run your business as effectively as you can. The list will continue to grow so bookmark and pop back regularly for more and more essential tips!