Can you believe that? I just did a search on Google for ‘ebay secrets’ and I got 3,090,000 (!) results back. Amazing isn’t it? The search term ‘ebay tips’ resulted in 11,700,000 (!) sites and ‘ebay help’ even in 53,000,000 (!) web pages and so on and so on. I just cannot believe how many web pages exist in the internet offering these eBay ‘tips’ or ‘help’. Certainly, there are damn good eBay tutorials out there, but I think it’s incredibly important for an eBay beginner not to get lost in the jungle. 

How can an eBay beginner select the best possible information to become a successful seller and not to get lost? Well, it took me virtually more than 12 month to get through a lot of information ‘how to survive as a seller on eBay’. I am going to talk about some of the most important factors for a beginner to focus on. 

Factor #1 
First, get a good “How-to” instruction. There are a lot of guides out there but believe me - the ‘No-frills’ versions deliver the best, since they do not overwhelm people with information. I have studied a number of ‘eBay helping’ ebooks, but many of them basically have a flood on information, an eBay beginner can’t put into practice. 

Factor #2 
Learn some HTML! Well, I don’t mean to study endless tutorials on programming HTML source codes. No, just get familiar with some HTML basics: How to modify text and links, add colour and how to add pictures to your site and so on. You auction listings will be like your business cards! If they look impressive – you’ll certainly get some good reputation, feedback and many bids. 

Factor #3 
Study some books on sales language. You’ll be surprised how these little things can convert your sales copy dramatically. Learn from yourself! Study your buying/bidding behaviour. I am almost surprised every time when I realised what I have just purchased or where I have just put a bid into. 

Factor #4 
Learn to make high quality pictures. Buy a digital camera and start practicing. Without a picture in the eBay gallery, your eBay business won’t grow. But you have to be careful not to upload item pictures for your listing which are to big, because people are not patient to wait. So if it takes more than a couple of seconds to download the picture of your item your potential customers/bidders will leave immediately. You have to test and find out what works best. 

Factor #5 
Don’t be afraid to get started. Try to sell some old things you don’t need anymore. If you are still not confident selling – start to buy first. Study the sellers and make notes. You can learn a lot from other successful sellers. Get familiar with the eBay rules and policy and online payment system. Get yourself a paypal or stormpay account to pay for items and to receive money when you have sold your item. 

Yes, that’s it. If you follow these simple factors, you can be sure not to get lost in the jungle called eBay.

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