4. Watch for Your Auction to End
You may need to invoice your winning buyer. Here you can provide additional check out instructions or adjust the cost of shipping. Sometimes an invoice is sent automatically and you will not need to do it. Make sure you check though, as you cannot expect payment if the buyer has not received a statement.
5. Be True to Your Word
If you claim that you will ship within 1-2 days upon receipt of payment, do so. Any other statements you made in your ad, you will be held accountable for. Ship items in a timely fashion in the way you declared you would.
Leave feedback for your buyers. Would you recommend them to other sellers? If not, you will not be able to leave any negative feedback; you will just leave none at all. The only way to get feedback is to leave feedback. More feedback equals more trust from buyers and potentially lower fees through Ebay. It pays to do this one extra step.
7. Pay the Man
Both Ebay and PayPal require a portion of your profit for their services. Ebay will send you a monthly statement and will charge you based on two things: final value fee plus insertion fee. The insertion fee varies depending on what category you post your item into, and what price you start your auction with. The final value fee is a percentage of your overall earnings. Ebay is very fair with these fees, and they will charge you less the more you use their site. Ebay will either take the money from your PayPal account or you can pay them using a debit or credit card. The choice is up to you, but make sure they get paid or they can suspend your account.
PayPal also takes a portion of your profit, but it does so automatically. Basically you pay PayPal in order to help you receive and manage your profit.
8. Pay Yourself
Using PayPal, there are several ways to get your money. You can have it directly deposited into your verified bank account, you can ask them to cut you a check (for a small fee), or you can use a PayPal debit card for purchases. Personally, I have it deposited into my account for security reasons. The only drawback is that it can take 3-4 business days for that transaction to be completed, but PayPal has been known to do it faster than that upon occasion. (As a side note, credit unions tend to accept direct deposits from PayPal quicker than a regular bank. Why, I’m not sure, but it may be worth looking into.)
9. Wash, Rinse, Repeat
Now you are on your way to becoming a great Ebay seller! Ebay is a piece of cake to use, and you will find your own niche once you gain more experience. Considerable profit can be made by selling the weirdest of items, and you won’t know until you try.
After you run out of your own junk to sell, check garage sales, GoodWill, craigslist.org, or sell stuff for your friends and family. Have fun!
