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I'm sharing 17 reasons selling on eBay is worth it and how you can maximize your profit as an online seller.
Selling on eBay could earn you much more money than you realize. I've used eBay for 15+ years as well as several other selling platforms. Hands down, eBay makes me the most money on the items I sell and (ironically enough) saves me the most money on the items I buy. In today's article, I'm teaching 17 reasons selling on eBay will maximize your selling profit.
I've been a seller on Ebay for over 15 years, believe it or not! I started as a little girl selling stuffed animals and now I sell pretty much anything, but I prefer to stick to clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics. The earning potential is endless when selling on EBay and it is a great side hustle that doesn't take much work each month. In fact, I'd say I spend less than 5 minutes a month using the platform and I make an average of $500 every month for years now.
I've tried several other selling platforms (Poshmark, Mercari, etc), but the earning potential just doesn't compare. As a result, I was losing out on profit. Who wants to spend the same amount of time to earn less money? Not this girl! I stick to what works and it has always paid off!
I genuinely love eBay as a side hustle and truly think everyone should be using it to sell their items.
For ideas on what to sell, visit my ebay selling tips here.
Related Articles:
- How I Make $500 a Month on a Selling Platform
- 26 Tips to Make More Money on Ebay
- Poshmark vs EBay: Which Makes You More Money?
17 Reasons You Need EBay as Your Selling Platform NOW
1.) eBay is SUPER easy to set up.
An eBay account takes just a few minutes to set up! To do so, just go online to their website here or download the eBay mobile app!
I helped a friend set up her account on the platform the other day and it took us less than 3 minutes to get her first listing up and running! No joke. Super easy.
2.) The eBay user interface is extremely easy to use on both a computer and the mobile app.
The option of using the app and the website is very convenient. Both are extremely easy to use once you get the hang of it.
The app and website are very well designed. As a result, I don't experience any glitches, which is a huge plus for me!
3.) eBay customer service is quick.
EBay has wonderful customer service. In fact, I’ve never had a bad experience. They always resolve any issues for both the seller and the buyer without either side having a poor experience.
In my 15+ years using eBay, I've only had a small handful of things I needed to call customer service for. They have a full customer service team so they can resolve issues quickly and efficiently!
Unfortunately, I am unable to say the same for other platforms where I had bad experiences 90% of the time. The sellers on other selling platforms are not held to the same standard that they are on eBay so I often received product that didn’t match the description. This gives buyers a poor experience and creates distrust not only with the seller, but with the platform itself.
4.) You can scope out the competition easily.
Having easy access to filtering and searching allows you to see what competitive items are being sold. This will help you figure out how a similar item is selling so that you can choose a competitive price for your item.
In addition, eBay will suggest recommended prices based on the algorithm for your product. They make it quick and easy to price your items competitively!
Time is money to me so things that save time make me happy.
5.) eBay has SO MANY filtering options.
The filtering options on eBay make searching for items to both buy and sell extremely quick and easy.
This feature makes it easy for my buyers to find exactly what they're looking for. Plus, I love that I can find products I want to purchase quickly and easily!
I've spent hours and hours searching on other selling platforms for items, but on eBay it takes a few seconds to enter my criteria.
6.) You can charge MORE for your items on eBay and SAVE MORE on your purchases!
Yes, you heard me right!
You gotta love this one. Ebay reaches 200 million people and is a global platform, meaning there are SO many more buyers than any other selling platform. This means you can often get a buyer to pay more for your item than on other selling platforms since there are so many eyes on it!
In fact, this goes both ways! Since there are so many users, there are also so many more products that are sold!
As a result, this actually helps me get the best deals on items I want to buy!
It's a win-win. I make the most money on my items and save the most money on items I'm buying. (The key strategy is marketing your item correctly to make the most money. See my tips to make the most money on eBay here.)
7.) Ebay requires many descriptive fields on an item.
EBay offers many “optional” fields that describe your item.
I absolutely love this for two reasons:
As a buyer, I KNOW what I’m getting. The seller had to fill in all of the information about the item so I know exactly what I’m getting.
As a seller, I like this feature because it gives my item more visibility by requiring more information about my items. This instills trust in my products and in me as a seller since my buyers are getting exactly what they expected!
For example, if someone entered a search for a purple cotton t-shirt and my listing was only for a purple t-shirt, my item wouldn’t show up in their search.
However, since eBay requires me to list what my item is made of (something I may not have thought of), I have to input the word “cotton” and now the buyer knows more about my item.
This information requirement lessens the risk of returns and makes the buyer more confident in their purchase.
8.) You set the shipping price and shipping method.
Setting the shipping price and method is one of my favorite things for a couple of reasons. As a buyer, I hated paying $7.11 for shipping on every single item at Poshmark, even though I knew it would only cost $3.50 at retail USPS price for them to ship the item. Unfortunately, that $7.11 goes straight to Poshmark and not the seller.
When using eBay, you actually get to choose the shipping cost that you charge and the method you will use to ship the item. I like it this way because I can choose to charge a lot for shipping and then keep the extra profit or I can choose to offer free shipping to my buyers, but increase the cost of my item to make up for it.
It's strategic and it’s marketing at it’s best.
You can read more about this in my article26 Tricks to Make More Money on Ebay.
9.) You get to title your item!
Ladies, this means you can write a catchy title!! This is important because a good title will sell an item quickly.
Things to Include in Your title:
- Condition of the item
- Size
- Gender
- Color
- Fit
- Any flaws
I'd also recommend using acronyms and phrases in your eBay title:
- NWT (new with tags)
- NWOT (new without tags)
- EUC (excellent used condition)
- GUC (good used condition)
- NIB (new in box)
- NEW (or just simply use the word new!)
- HTF (hard to find)
- Smoke free home!
- Pet free home!
10.) You can promote your listing for a small advertising fee that YOU choose.
I actually do this quite a bit now! In fact, I find it to be a game changer!
To promote your listing, click on “Promote Your Item” in your listing.
When you activate the promotion, you will get to choose the percentage you’ll pay for the advertising that eBay will do for your item if (and only if) your item sells.
For example, I typically choose about 2.5%. This means that on a $100 item, they will advertise it for me, and if it sells through their advertisem*nt, I’ll pay them $2.50 plus the final value fee. This is so worth it to me since the item may not have been seen if I didn't promote it!
11.) You can make your own search lists and get notifications.
I ALWAYS have lists set! I love these search lists! There are items I'd like to buy if they hit a certain price so I create a search list so that I can either be notified when something is added that meets my criteria OR I can just simply check the search anytime I'd like.
eBay search lists keep me organized and make it much easier to search for items I want to buy.
12.) You can use Paypal.
I LOVE Paypal. It’s extremely secure and you should use Paypal instead of your credit card online any time you can. It basically stores your credit card for you so that your credit card number isn't on other retail sites individually.
The online websites can never see your credit card number so it's an additional layer of protection for you against fraud. Another post on that coming soon!
Bottom line. You need Paypal.
13.) You can speak directly to your buyers.
Buyers can easily ask questions or you can verify shipments before you send the item. I love this feature as I talk to my buyers all the time and make sure they were happy and enjoy their items!
In fact, I've saved a lot of headaches by confirming with buyers that they read the listing and know of any flaws I may have mentioned. I'd prefer to take a minute to send a note to confirm before shipping out the item, making them unhappy and then returning the item (even though it was their fault for not reading the listing).
14.) You get reviewed and can review both buyers and sellers.
I LOVE this feature because it keeps everyone accountable and when you have good reviews, it gives your buyer confidence in your listings.
I’ve never once been ripped off by any seller on EBay. This is due to the accountability and reviews.
15.) You can “watch” items and buyers can “watch” yours.
This is basically like them favoriting your item so that they get notified if you make revisions to your listing.
In addition, you can send offers to them to buy it at a discounted price. I sell A LOT of items with this “watch” feature!
16.) EBay has buyer-protection programs.
This buyer protection program means that the buyer always gets what was sold to them.
This has never been something that was used against me. In fact, in 15 years, I’ve only had one buyer want to return something. I just gladly accepted the return.
In my listings, I encourage the buyer to read the description carefully.
This way, I can avoid any disgruntled buyers and keep my reviews high!
17.) You can list your item up for Auction or Buy It Now or both!
Having the flexibility to determine the best strategy for your product enables you to not only have fun, but make money quickly and effectively!
You can see some of my tips on eBay pricing strategies here, but I use a combination of both strategies to get my listings sold!
Reasons to Love eBay Summary
The list is endless on reasons to love eBay. As a matter of fact, it is by far the best selling platform, even with the newly changed fee structure!
If you have any other reasons or have selling tips to share with our community of women, please let me know in the comments below! I'd love for us to all collaborate with what works best for everyone!
Related Articles:
- How I Make $500 a Month on a Selling Platform
- 26 Tips to Make More Money on Ebay
- Poshmark vs EBay: Which Makes You More Money?
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