E-Commerce starts to gain significant shares in the retail industry.
In 2021, over 19% of all retail purchases with 5.2 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide were made online.
And the forecast is not showing any signs of a downtrend.
Amazon, Alibaba, Zalando, and Shopify, all of these companies are generating huge profits through their E-Commerce platforms or services.
And eBay is a big player here too.
With $10.8 billion generated revenue in 2021 and more than 19 million seller accounts on the E-Commerce giant platform, it is clear eBay is opening doors to opportunities for many people.
So, do you want to be your own boss or take home a couple of thousand dollars besides your regular job?
Let’s continue reading.
eBay is a great way to start an online business.
You don’t need a lot of investment to start, and once you’ve created product listings and sold an item, you can get the money only within a few days.
Now, I’ll take you on a “tour” of how you too can build your own eBay store and make money from it.
Can You Make Money from eBay?
Definitely! Not only can selling on eBay make a profitable side income, but it can also become a sustainable source if you know all the pro-tips.
Now, without proper guidance on how to start cashing in from eBay, your untiring efforts would likely go in vain.
Fortunately, you’ve landed at just the right place to know all you need for a solid head start.
How to Make Money by Selling on eBay?
Now that everyone is past the fact that you can earn money by selling on eBay, you might be eager to start making that dough.
There are several areas you need to dive in and improve your skills.
With so many competitors and stores, you need to build your skill set and know how to use these to your advantage.
Thanks to the internet, many new business concepts were created. And so today you can even make money on eBay without selling anything.
As this post is about building a real online shop on the platform, you can read about the other ways here.
Sign Up with eBay Seller Account
The first step to making money by selling on eBay is to create an eBay Seller Account.
There are two types of seller accounts for you to choose from.
Choosing between the two can turn out to be a scary experience.
But, thankfully, I’m here to clear that confusion for you and help you make the right choice.
The Personal account is perfect if you’re looking to casually sell things occasionally, or as a side business.
You don’t have to pay any tax to sign up for a Personal account, and it also saves you time and money, especially if you have another job or run another business.
On the other hand, the disadvantage of a Personal account is pretty significant, as you’re only allowed to put up 10 listings without having to pay anything. Going above this limit triggers a hefty additional fee.
The Business account, as the name suggests, is for people who want to turn this project into a full-time business.
So, if you have a Business account, you have access to numerous subscriptions that assist in brand promotion, in addition to having a high selling capacity and lesser restrictions.
The only drawback of a Business account is that you can’t enjoy all the selling tools that are accessible on the Personal account.
So, before you make your seller account, make sure you consider these factors and make the right choice, as doing so can help you earn extra money.
Learn About eBay Selling Fees
Another factor that can save you a couple of bucks is knowing the eBay selling fees beforehand.
With increased global inflation, the charges also rose, but each category was affected differently.
For instance, the value fee for magazines, books, music, and films went up to 14.6 percent, while that for watches and other accessories is estimated at 15 percent.
The Monthly Subscription Fee also increased to 12 percent from the previous 11.7 percent.
But for women’s handbags, it’s 13 percent, 2.5 percent for industrial or business products, and 5 percent for NFTs.
You can set up an eBay store for a minimal monthly fee, after which you can get several benefits, including free listing and better customer service.
But, if you do not go for this subscription and simply list through your profile, not only will eBay penalize you with an insertion fee, but you will also be charged a final value fee every time your item sells.
Having an understanding of this fee structure can be beneficial and, if neglected, can cost you a small fortune.
Choose the Right Format
Only the pioneer users know that when eBay opened up shop in 1995, it had a different selling format than the one we are familiar with.
Earlier, if you wanted to sell an item, you had to auction it and sell it to the highest bidder.
But as the website gained popularity, the chief executives introduced a format called the “Buy It Now” or the “Fixed-Price Listing”.
Each of these formats has its pros and cons, in addition to its unique features.
Hence, it is important to know which format best suits you and your product if you want to make a decent amount of money off of eBay.
Auction-Style Selling
Even though it’s not that popular nowadays, the Auction-Style Selling format can still prove to be the right one in some cases, especially if you’re Video Game Vince.
Most of his collectible items are so special that comic book fanatics would be ready to pay way above the normal price to lay their hands on them.
Similarly, sports fans would empty their savings account for an autographed item, letting you pocket a nice little profit.
Fixed-Price Listing
When it comes to everyday items that your customer can easily get from any seller other than you, the fixed-price listing is the suitable format.
Since there is no waiting time or haggling, some even consider the “Buy It Now” option more convenient and efficient.
Store Optimization
Any content marketers here? You might’ve heard of SEO.
Well, store optimization is almost the same thing.
It is a popular strategy to get your product listing right to the top of the search result.
As a result, your listing will draw more traffic, eventually boosting your sales significantly.
You can hire an eBay listings optimization service to make your product rank higher in the search result.
Or, if you’re not in favor of spending money to make someone else do it, you can follow a few basic steps to optimize your listing.
Firstly, use high-quality pictures and mobile-friendly visuals.
These end up being the deciding factor in several of the product categories.
So, use a good camera to take clear, HD pictures with a plain, uncluttered background.
Secondly, opt for a graphic yet brief product description and avoid using unnecessary details.
You can look at your competitors’ descriptions and use the right keywords to come up with the perfect description that befits your product.
Lastly, use social proof statements, which also help seal the deal and persuade potential buyers into becoming customers.
Marketing
New sellers need all the help they can get, and eBay offers exactly that with the promoted listings feature.
If you’ve used eBay before as a buyer or casually explored the site, you must’ve seen listings on the top with ‘sponsored’ written next to them.
These listings are the ones that use eBay’s exclusive advertisement feature and allow significantly more potential buyers to see your product.
Let’s get the basics out of the way first.
You can only benefit from this feature if you’ve put up a product in the fixed-pricing category.
On top of that, there are several things to consider before investing your hard-earned money into this.
For one, does your product need marketing in the first place?
For those who’ve put up unique items, your products will likely pop up on the top results in any case.
However, promoted listings can boost your sales significantly when you’re selling in a competitive market, especially if you’re looking to grab a little profit and not sell your items for dirt-cheap prices.
Once you’re sure that you fall into the category of a seller in need of promoted listings, you can jump ahead to the process.
Log in and navigate to the seller’s hub. There you’ll find “Promoted Listings” in the Marketing tab.
Create a new campaign and select the product(s) you want to advertise.
eBay helps you set up everything, from suggesting which items you should promote to giving you an overview of the average ad rate (between 1-20% of your product’s price) for your item’s category.
The higher you go above the average rate, the better your chances of scoring the top place.
Build a Good Reputation as a Seller
It might be one of the most basic tips, but it’s often the one that gets frequently overlooked.
In order to make easy money on eBay, it is vital that you build a good reputation as a seller.
Like most other online stores, eBay allows its users to leave a review on a product.
These reviews go a long way in building your reputation as a seller.
Additionally, it also helps potential buyers recognize you as trustworthy and build their confidence.
Think of it this way: no matter how good the ad is, you wouldn’t dare buy a product that has the majority of its reviews as negative ones.
There are several ways to garner positive feedback.
For starters, having a professional username builds a great first impression.
Gameofthronesfanboy1203 does not give off a decent vibe. 😅
Secondly, being responsive and having a good refund policy wins customers’ hearts, even if everything doesn’t go as smoothly as you’d want.
What can build a good reputation as a seller is adding a personal touch and leaving a cute handwritten note.
Best Things to Buy and Resell on eBay
Several factors determine whether you go big on eBay as a seller or not, among which the type of product(s) you list is the most significant one.
There are several items that you can buy at a cheap price and resell on eBay at a profit after some time.
Care to know more about them? Of course, you do!
Auto Parts
Among the best things to buy and resell on eBay, auto parts are the most reliable.
One of the reasons why auto parts are almost always a safe investment is their exceptionally high demand.
Whether it’s for regular maintenance or repair work after an accident, there will always be someone who will be in desperate need of a new, refurbished car part.
And here’s the icing on the cake.
There are so many cars, each with numerous different car parts, that you will easily find something within your price range.
Or, you can stock up on a few body parts and sell them at a decent profit when their demand increases.
To top it all, dealerships or supply stores usually sell auto parts at a higher price since they have to compensate for overheads like staff and building costs.
So, people would be more inclined to buy the same part that you will be selling at a relatively cheaper rate.
Toys
Earlier, the sole concept of buying toys was to let kids play with them.
Now, you can buy toys and sell them at a value of 10-15 times, or even more, their cost.
The most profitable toys are the ones that have been discontinued or are no longer available, whether it’s a collectible item or simply a Lego set.
Even if your Lego set has a couple, or more, missing pieces, you can still put up an ad for it and earn a significant amount of profit.
A Star Wars Imperial Destroyer Lego set, which you can buy from a thrift shop for a mere 10 dollars, can be sold on eBay for almost 100 dollars.
Even if you have a single Lego piece, you might land a few bucks.
The hottest category in the “Toys & Hobbies” section is collectible card games.
So, if you have any individual cards, or even the whole set, that your kid has gotten tired of, you’re in for a big splash.
Action figures and other toys from TV and movie franchises can be resold for a decent profit.
Computer Accessories
From PC components to headphones, chargers to portable audio, computer accessories are one of the most profitable products that can be resold on eBay.
According to a survey, cell phones, smartwatches, and computer accessories are ranked as the 4th category sold the most on eBay, while consumer electronics come in 5th place.
If you have a Personal account, you can earn a couple of bucks if you put up an ad for your Beats headphones instead of throwing them away.
Similarly, if you have a PC component that has no use for you anymore, someone else might be dying to get their hands on that exact component.
Even if you have a Business account, computer accessories can rake in hundreds to thousands of dollars.
You can easily get your hands on mouses, keyboards, headphones, speakers, or WiFi routers at a garage sale or a thrift shop and resell them at a profit to people who are desperate for them.
Video Games
Our parents and elders used to be adamant that video games won’t benefit us in any way.
Well, not only can you make a career out of playing video games nowadays, but you can also earn a lot of money by reselling them on eBay.
From the vintage Nintendo DS to the latest PS 5, GameBoys to Xboxes, almost every gaming console has a high demand on eBay.
If you have set up a business and sell brand new consoles, that’s great. But even if you don’t have the box, you might make a profit from it.
If you are in possession of a game that is no longer continued and you’re absolutely done with it, someone will be ready to pay more than what you ask to experience the vintage gaming days again.
E-Books
If you’re a budding entrepreneur who does not have enough investment on hand, reselling eBooks on eBay can be a significantly profitable venture.
Although paper books outsell eBooks 4-to-1, the latter has the upper hand in several aspects.
There are several restrictions and policies to look out for while dealing in eBooks.
But, as long as you follow all the rules, which aren’t unreasonable in the first place, you can make real money by reselling eBooks.
But before you set off on this path, make sure you know which books are trendy so that you invest in the right ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can you make flipping items on eBay?
For newbies to the eBay flipping venture, you can earn $500-2,000 each month on average, even if you’re only committing to it as a fun part-time job for the time being. If you’re thinking of leaving your 9-5 and switching to this business, it’s well worth thousands of bucks per month.
What makes the most money on eBay?
Without a doubt, vintage items and collectibles get the most attention on eBay. Imagine, the first Apple computer, the Apple-1, was sold for 0.34 million dollars! Get those vintage watches, jewelry, and gadgets out of the store, and who knows how much you’d be able to bag by selling on eBay.
Conclusion
That’s your cue to come out of your comfort zone and make quick and easy cash! I hope you took away a good amount of useful bits to start earning money through eBay.
Follow the step-by-step instructions and tips I’ve highlighted in this article, and you’ll be ahead of the race in no time!