Selling on eBay Part 4: Gmail

This article is a little off topic, however it is worthwhile reading.

Gmail is Google’s email service. It allows emails to be searched and sorted easily, and offers over 6GB of storage space.

I recommend using Gmail when selling on eBay for the reasons stated above. It is also easier not to mix personal email with emails about eBay or PayPal. You can also choose an email address that is related to your eBay User ID, for example if you’re registered on eBay as johnsebayshoeshop you could register with gmail as johnsebayshoeshop@gmail.com

To register on Gmail just go to www.gmail.com and click the ‘Pick my name’ button and fill in your details.

You should now have a Gmail account.

To add this to your eBay account go to www.ebay.co.uk and log in. Click on the ‘My eBay’ tab at the top of the page. Hover over ‘My Account’ and select the ‘Preferences’ link. Select the ‘Edit’ link next to ‘Registered email address’ and follow the instructions on that page.

All of your eBay emails will now go to this Gmail account!

Selling on eBay Part 3: PayPal

There are several ways of taking payments on eBay. The most common is to use PayPal, which is owned by eBay. PayPal allows buyers to pay immediatly for purchases, however PayPal do charge 20p + 3.4% comission on each sale.

This means that if you sell an item on eBay for £10 eBay will take its fees and PayPal will also charge 54p
( 20p + ( £10*3.4% ) ).

Registering on PayPal is simple. Go to www.paypal.co.uk and ‘Sign Up’. Choose the type of account you require personal, premier or business. Press ‘Next’ and fill in your details. The address, contact details and email address must be valid in order to be able to trade on eBay. It is worth noting that the email address you register with will be visible to anyone who pays you on eBay. Whenever I create a PayPal account I usually also create a GMail account so that all of my eBay and PayPal emails are stored in one place, tomorrows article will cover this.

You should now have a PayPal account.

Now you need to join your PayPal and eBay accounts.

Log into eBay and press the ‘My eBay’ tab at the top of the page. Hover over ‘My Account’ and then select the ‘PayPal Account’ link. Once the page has loaded follow the instructions on the page and your two accounts should now be joined together.

Well done, you’re now able to take payments on eBay!

Crumpled Newspaper

Some enterprising individual in America has listed a piece of Crumpled Newspaper on eBay, so far it has attracted two bids and is going for the price of $1.04. This guys motivations are clear, as he says in the questions at the bottom of the listing, he hopes to get in the news for it… I don’t think he’ll have much luck but at least he’s honest!

Selling on eBay Part 2: About Me

One of the most appealing aspects of selling on eBay is access to millions of buyers. These buyers are buying from your store and trusting that you will provide them with what they asked for, in the condition stated.

The more information buyers can see about you, the more likely they are to trust you. A very underused feature on eBay is the about me page. This page allows you to talk about who you are, what you’re selling and why you’re selling it.

The first step is to go to the about me page and log in. Once you’re logged in press the ‘Create Page’ button, next you’ll be given the option to go step-by-step or write your own page in HTML. Don’t worry if you don’t know HTML, use the step-by-step method. Fill in as much information as possible, in as much detail as possible and then press the ‘continue’ button. Select the about me page layout you desire and then submit it.

An ‘about me’ icon will now appear next to your name whenever you list an item on eBay.

eBay Free Listings Weekend!

eBay has just announced that on Saturday and Sunday (8th and 9th) of March auction items starting at less than 99p will have no insertion fee. This is the perfect opportunity to list your unwanted gifts at no cost! Of course, you will still have to pay the final value fee if the item sells. For more information go here.

Selling on eBay Part 1: Setting Up

This is the first in a series of posts about selling on eBay. I’ll start off with the basics and then move on the more complicated aspects of selling on eBay. Any comments on my articles would be great!

Setting up an eBay account is very easy.

Go to www.ebay.co.uk and click the ‘register’ link next to the eBay logo at the top of the page.

If you’re a business seller then click the link entitled ‘Want to open an account for your company?’, if you’re a private seller (an individual) you’re on the correct page.

Fill in the simple form.

Choosing an eBay user ID
Your eBay user ID should be relevant to what you’re selling on eBay, for example if you sell trainers you may call yourself ‘cheaptrainers’. With millions of users on eBay choosing a unique and relevant eBay user ID is hard, try to avoid adding numbers at the end of your username and ensure you keep it relevant. It sounds simple but buyers like to see users with names like this, remember it is your user ID that is one of the first things a buyer will see.

Read and accept the User Agreement and Privicy Policy.

Press the register button.

You’re now registered on eBay UK!

For Sale: Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson has listed herself on eBay. The 23-year-old actress is offering two tickets to the premier of her latest movie ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ and the opportunity to “meet and greet” her on the red carpet. All proceeds will go to Oxfam America. At the time of posting this listing has had just over 272,500 views and the current highest bid is $16,200!

eBay to Allow Resale of Charity Concert Tickets

On Wednesday eBay UK will force charity concert ticket touts to “donate” 20% of the sale price back to the charity.

Last year touts selling tickets for the Diana memorial concert with a face value of £45 were sold for up to £250!

This decision by eBay is controversial- eBay are legitimising the resale of charity concert tickets for an inflated price, it will be interesting to see how the charities react to this news.

Evil Pumkinhead

Another weird eBay auction ‘Evil Pumkinhead Face On Pillsbury Biscuit’. Some guy claims to have cooked hundreds of these biscuits, and his kid discovered one with an evil face on it. At the time of posting there’re currently no bidders…

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog, makecashwithebay.co.uk!

I’ve been selling on ebay for 2 years and have sold over 2,000 items. This blog will allow me to share tips, tricks and insights for how to make cash with eBay. I’ll also keep you informed with the latest eBay news, eBay tools (including my own) and weird eBay auctions.

Hope you enjoy reading,

Sam

« Previous Page