eBay is a trading leader connecting millions of buyers and sellers around the world. Want to start selling on eBay? Find out what you need to know.
eBay is a global sales platform that provides enormous growth opportunities for people from all over the world. Its most important advantages include enormous popularity, which translates into increased trust in sellers, a small entry barrier and the ability to run a business regardless of size and geographic location. Want to start selling on eBay?
What do you need to know before you start?
Think of eBay as a place to sell unused everyday items, furniture and clothing. You can also treat selling on the platform as the main source of profit, ensuring a stable, high income. The first step to selling on eBay should be free registration. When you finalize it, you will be able to create an offer to sell the item. The next step will be to add the payment method you will be paying for listing your bids or final value fees. Ready? You can start selling!
eBay fees
Private Seller Charges
Private sellers can list their bids on eBay for free – you will only pay for any optional upgrades and a final value fee when your item is sold. The residual value fee is 10% of the final transaction value (including taxes and postage). The maximum final fee is £ 250 for a single item.
More information and details on fees for private sellers can be found here.
Fees for eBay Store Owner
If you open an eBay store, you will have to select one of three packages: Basic, Featured or Anchor. Each of them comes with a monthly subscription fee. For the Basic package it is £ 25, for the Featured package – £ 69, and for the Anchor package £ 399. In each of the packages, sellers have at their disposal additional services that significantly improve sales, help reach new customers and create an attractive store design.
See also: Establishing a company in Great Britain – registration of a LTD company
More information and details on fees for eBay store owners can be found here.
Sell on eBay – practical information for sellers
Here is a handful of additional useful information that will help you better manage your store.
Who’s selling on eBay (stats – countries)?
Americans are the largest proportion of eBay sellers (31%). The British (29%) are just behind them, followed by Germany (15%), Chinese (12%) and Australians (4%).
Advice : given the great popularity of the platform in the UK market, an island retailer will be seen by many as local, and therefore more credible and trustworthy. This is a good argument for starting a company in the UK.
Which product categories are selling the best?
eBay offers products in many categories, and each category has its own top-selling items. Having a better understanding of what products are popular will help you increase your online sales.
The most popular products by category (examples)
Business and industry:
- facility maintenance and safety → Replacement masks refills (top brands: 3M, Eco Solutions, Safe Life);
- healthcare, laboratory and dentistry → Disposable face masks.
Cameras and camcorders:
- digital cameras (best brands: Canon, Nikon, Sony);
- cameras, drones and photo accessories → Batteries.
View also: Sales abroad – how to start selling online in Europe on the example of Germany and Great Britain?
Mobile phones, smartwatches and accessories:
- mobile phones and smartphones (best brands: Apple, Samsung);
- mobile phone accessories → Cases, covers and skins;
- mobile phone accessories → Kits headphones.
Computers, Tablets, and Networking Hardware:
- tablets and e-book readers (best brands: Apple / iPad, Samsung / Android, Amazon / Kindle);
- laptops and netbooks → Laptops and netbooks PC;
- printers, scanners and consumables → Ink cartridges.
Clothing, Shoes and Accessories:
- women → Hair accessories;
- men → T-shirts;
- men → Hats.
Health and Beauty
- fragrances → Men’s fragrances (top brands: Calvin Klein, Versace, Creed);
- skin care → Anti-aging products;
- hair care and styling → Treatments against hair loss.
Source: Webretailler
Selling on eBay – tips and practical advice
- Take care of the freshness of offers. The eBay algorithm promotes stores that are active and add new products regularly, with new items appearing at the top of the page in the Newly Listed section. Keeping your offer fresh will help you increase your sales. If you are unable to list bids on a daily basis, please use the scheduling function. Thanks to it, you will plan adding offers for those days when you will be busy with other matters.
- Test the promotion of offers function. With fantastic targeting options to show your listings to the right buyers, Promoted Listings get 36% more impressions than Organic Listings!
- Get Top Rated Seller status. If you provide excellent customer service and fast shipping, you can earn Top Rated Seller status. This status will not only provide you with greater customer favor, but also additional perks, such as greater visibility of your bids.
- Edit bids with bulk edit. If you’re selling hundreds or thousands of products, bulk edit can save you time. It will allow you to edit many subjects at once or in batches. Such traffic will not only save time, but also change the eBay algorithm. And this one will benefit your shop.
- Use the promotion management tool. Potential customers love bargains and eBay’s algorithm knows it. The promotion management tool will help you attract new buyers and increase your sales.
- Use your smartphone. To prepare an offer in minutes and upload photos straight from your device, use the eBay mobile app.