This is how I make money on ebay, now you may have read a lot of other ways to make money on ebay but this is just a simple yet effective way that I have used to make money, not a lot of money but I have definitely made profit on some household junk that I no longer needed. A lot of the other ways are just props for the individual to make money off of you, they will tell you to send them money and they will give you complete access to there exclusive ebay seller program. Here’s what they don’t tell you, the simple free way to make money in your spare time using ebay.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have done your home work on the item you are selling, give specific detailed information in the item description tab and make sure you describe your item very well. What is the condition, color, make, model, age, etc. because that is what’s going to drive traffic to you auction. Being very detailed about the item is what can ultimately make someone decide if there willing to bid on the item or not. Here’s a simple example, lets say you are selling a used computer hard drive. Don’t list it as just a used computer hard drive, assuming that it still works perfect here is how I would list it.

Slightly used 100 GB western digital caviar hard drive.

7,200 rpm spin speed delivers top performance

This hard drive can store 1,800 digital photo’s, 4 hours

Of digital video, 40 hours of digital music downloads

18 digital games, and 30 software programs

Cache: 2MB pins: 40 pins Seek Time: 8.9 ms

Interface: Ultra ATA 100

That’s all I could think of off the top of my head but just as an example be very descriptive so that the bidder has no doubt that you are selling a great product. Then after that add if you know of the history of this particular item, do you know what computer it can from etc.? whether or not you accept returns?

The second thing is shipping, I usually offer free shipping because it will drive a whole lot of traffic to your product but if your not going to put a reserve price or buy it now price then watch out offering free shipping because you may end up actually paying out of pocket to sell the item. The best thing to do if you plan to sell regularly on ebay is to purchase a shipping scale, they have some that range anywhere from 10.00 to 200.00 in price. This way you can weight the item already packaged and ready to ship and get a good idea of what to charge for shipping before you even list the item, then you will basically be making full profit off the item your selling. However let’s say you decide to wholesale, so you have about 50 to 60 quantity’s of the same product (toy helicopters) and you searched and seen that someone is selling the same helicopters that you are for 59.99 plus 10.00 shipping and handling (69.99 basically). So what you could easily do is sell your items for 69.99 and offer free shipping, the consumer pays the same price but you are likely to get more traffic because you offer free shipping with the competitive price as well. This way you don’t have to worry with the hassle of shipping because you know the weights are the same you just need the buyers address and your ready to print the shipping label.

Another thing to consider on ebay Is whether or not you are willing to put a lot of time and money into your ad. A basic ad with just a title, no subtitle only 1 picture and limited item description is probably not going to get the hits that an ad with both title and subtitle, multiple pictures and a very good descriptive item description will get. It’s best to put some time into your ad and do some good research about the product like I have mentioned previously that is what’s going to drive traffic to your item. And also make sure you keep your seller rating up to at least 95% I personally wont buy from anyone who has ever had negative feedback and I’m sure that there are plenty of other people out there just like that. The best way to keep your ratings up is to be honest about the item, if it doesn’t work then in the description tab write in non-working that doesn’t mean that no-one will buy it all it means is that you are honest and not trying to be deceptive.

The only way I would list a used product as working is if I tested it myself and I’m 100% sure that the person who buys that item will get a working product. On the other hand I have sold non-working items just because the product is broken doesn’t mean that it can’t be fixed, there are plenty of buyer’s out there that love to buy broken products, fix them up and then resell them for a profit. Also I would strongly advise if your selling a broken product to make sure that you put in the description tab that returns are not accepted or item sold as is, also list this in the bottom tab that will ask you if you accept item returns.

If your serious about whole selling what I would do is start off small like maybe buy a dozen of those toy helicopters I mention earlier until you get the hang of how the whole selling business works. Once your experienced in the field you will be able to open a ebay store and stock it with all sorts of items and you will come to figure out that you can just simply look at an item and tell if it will sell so you will no longer have to worry about buying one hundred toy balls, ballons, etc. just to find out that they wont sell. By starting off small you can get a feel of what the business is like and if your first products don’t sell then you aren’t out a whole lot of money.

What I do when I set my item for auction is start the minimum bid at the lowest price I will possibly take for the item, instead of putting a reserve. It sounds kind of weird but I have found that this works best for me because when I would set a reserve price on something it would always seem like it wouldn’t get met but when I just set the starting bid off with the lowest price I would accept for the item It almost always sold. And it’s cheaper this way because your not paying a reserve fee. Now Im no expert on ebay and I'm not claiming to be one these are just some basic tips that I use selling on ebay, follow them and I think you will do fine.