Whether you’re looking to make extra cash by cleaning out forgotten items around the house or you’re looking to expand your multichannel ecommerce business, eBay is the perfect platform to start selling. By taking advantage of eBay’s vast and well-established marketplace you can enhance your existing online store’s sales and further expand your ecommerce empire.
Selling on eBay provides your business with a new platform to reach potential customers where they’re at and drive sales. At the same time, it allows your business to easily connect with a global audience–providing the tools and support to thrive. In this guide for multichannel sellers looking to expand, we’ll cover how to sell on eBay and everything you need to establish yourself as a standout seller on the channel.
Getting Started with eBay
1. Creating an eBay Account
If you’re already a registered business owner (including sole proprietor, LLC, etc.), you can open a seller account on the registration page. You’ll need to provide some additional details, including your business name, type of business, and address, to sign up. For established multichannel sellers this will be pretty basic information.
- Go to the registration page.
- Enter your business name and email address.
- Choose a password.
- Input your business location.
- Select “Create account.”
You can also opt to choose a username at this stage, but you’ll still be capable of changing it later. Either way, eBay will send you a confirmation email once you sign up.
2. Create a Listing
To start creating product listings on eBay you’ll need inventory. If you’re an active and established seller, you’re already good to start selling. If you’re new to eBay listings though, you’ll need to add products to your store and connect your bank account.
Once you have products ready to be listed, select “Create listing” in the Seller Hub Listings dropdown menu. Make sure that you’ve configured the following settings for your eBay listing before pushing it live:
- Product title or identifier
- Product description
- Product images and videos
- Category and details
- Quantity, price, weight, and other options
- Package settings and shipping details
- Item specs and variations
- Condition of the product
- Pricing
If you’re managing products across a multichannel business, this a great place to use a Product Manager tool to ensure synchronization of inventory levels, pricing, and more.
3. Select shipping and delivery
Today’s buyers have come to expect stores to offer free and fast shipping options. To appeal to more buyers, and compete with other ecommerce marketplaces’ pricing, consider incorporating the shipping costs into the price tag.
Typically buyers pay for shipping on eBay. However, the marketplace often offers discounted shipping fees so you can always pass those savings on to customers.
eBay Guaranteed Delivery
The eBay Guaranteed Delivery (EGD) program offers shoppers guaranteed rapid delivery times without impacting participating sellers. For listings to qualify for EGD, eBay sellers must offer same-day or one-day handling. Research shows that shoppers tend to prioritize merchants that deliver their orders in 3 days or less–the timelines prioritized by EGD.
Global Shipping Program
If you’re looking to sell internationally but don’t want to worry about the logistical details involved with international shipping, eBay’s Global Shipping Program might be for you. When a qualifying item sells to a customer from abroad, you will ship the parcel to eBay’s Global Shipping Center, located in Kentucky, and let the professionals handle the rest.
3rd Party Shipping
eBay allows third-party shipping for sales on their website, making it incredibly flexible to your business needs. Whether you already work with a shipping and handling facility, or you’re mailing things straight from the post office, an Shipping Management tool can be incredibly helpful in keeping things organized across multiple marketplaces.
4. Create your return and exchange policies
Offering a 30-day return window is standard best practice for eBay sellers. However, if your multichannel business already has another policy for returns, you can utilize other available options. Offering free returns often further reassures customers about shopping with your business–driving more sales.
5. Connect your bank account to get paid
eBay pays sellers via ACH transactions, so you’ll need to connect your bank account for payouts. Once you connect your bank account you’ll be able to have money deposited directly.
Understanding eBay Fees for Sellers
There are two main fees for eBay sellers and both are straightforward. You will pay two platform fees:
- Insertion fee. This is also known as a listing fee, and it’s the price you pay when listing a product on eBay. This fee only applies if you list more than 250 products per month, so if you’re a casual seller this will allow you to benefit from free listings.
- Final value fee. This is the portion of sales eBay keeps when your product sells. You’ll pay somewhere between 3%-15% to eBay, plus about 0.30 cents per order.
Fees vary by the number of listings you have and the product categories you’re selling in.
eBay Store for Established Brands
An eBay Store subscription allows you to group your listings in a branded location, as well as giving you access to more tools to help manage your business. eBay Store subscribers also benefit from discounted fees and more free listings per month. The eBay Store subscription comes at five different levels, with options in a variety of price ranges.
If you already have a well-established business on other online marketplaces, an eBay Store subscription can help you maintain branding cohesion. This is perfect if you sell large volumes of the same product or have a product line under your brand name, since an eBay Store subscription allows you to showcase all of your listings in one location.
If you’re looking for an alternative to eBay Store, consider a Marketplace Manager that can help you keep up with your multichannel business in one place. Not only will this ensure branding and voice cohesion, it can also help streamline and automate processes within your business.
Finding Profitable Products
Similar to Amazon, you can sell a wide variety of items on eBay. You’d be shocked at some of the interesting products that rapidly rise to the top of eBay search results. However, just like any other online marketplace, eBay has several top selling product categories:
- Automotive.
- Clothing, shoes, and accessories.
- Collectibles.
- Jewelry and watches.
eBay has a reputation as a platform for resellers, but that doesn’t mean it’s exclusive to second-hand items. You sell on eBay as a big business or an amateur seller–there is a space and niche for almost everyone. Just make sure that your product listings are well optimized for whatever audience you’re looking for.
Promote your eBay Listings
If you’re looking to reach a large audience quickly on eBay and elevate free listings, Promoted Listings is a simple tool for you to get products noticed. Promoted Listings improves your placement in search to reach more buyers and drive clicks. All eBay Store subscribers are eligible for this service.
Building Your Seller Reputation
Your financial success on eBay depends highly on your ability to build a strong seller reputation quickly and effectively. You’ll need to fulfill orders quickly and accurately while keeping shipping costs low, and receiving positive feedback from customers.
As you establish your business as a reliable seller on the marketplace, your products will quickly climb the eBay search results. By using eBay’s feedback system to build your reputation and increase sales you can set yourself apart from the competition.
Managing Your eBay Business
As eBay grows into a thriving channel for your ecommerce business, it can be difficult to manage it alongside other online marketplaces. That’s where automation and management software can come into play.
Managing a multichannel ecommerce brand can be a difficult and overwhelming task without the right tools to support your business growth. That’s why Base offers sellers a fully integrated solution for multichannel ecommerce management, including order, shipping, product, and marketplace management, among a variety of other tools. You can get started today with Base’s 14 day free trial here.
