HOW TO BECOME A
SUCCESSFUL EBAY SELLER

eBay is one of the most popular marketplaces in the world – at any given time there’s 168 million people active on the site. However, with over 1.2 billion eBay listings, there’s some tough competition to get yours to the top of potential customers’ search results.

If you are struggling to get your eBay listings noticed, we can help! In our eBay selling guide, we have compiled some of the most effective ways you can get your listing noticed, improve your seller rating and get items out the door quicker. Follow our 8 simple steps below to increase sales and boost profits on eBay.

1. Make sure the price is right

Firstly, you’ll want to make sure your item is competitively priced. Do your research to see what other people have charged for similar products. This can also help you decide whether to use an ‘auction’ or ‘buy it now’ listing, as well as set shipping costs.

Instead of looking at live listings, we recommend looking at eBay listings which have completed. You can do this by entering a term in the search bar and hitting enter. On the preference menu (found on the left hand side of the results page), tick ‘Completed items only’.

If the price is shown in green this means the item sold, whereas listings with the price in red didn’t sell – look at both and use this information to gauge the right price to charge for your item.

2. Use seo optimised descriptions

A perfect description should answer any questions the customer may have about the product so make sure you include the brand, colour, condition, dimensions and what it is made from.

Always ensure your eBay product description is SEO optimised – this may sound complicated, but it basically means your description should include any words a potential customer may enter when searching for your product.

Start by jotting down all the words you can think of which relate to your product. Remember, some people may be searching for a specific product, for example ‘Apple iPad Series 4 32GB’ whereas others may just search ‘tablet’ so try to use a mix of specific and broader search terms.

Next, identify the search terms which you think are the most relevant to your item and make sure your descriptions start with these words. Most people will only read the first couple of lines of the description so all of the important information needs to be given upfront.

3. Take good photography

Gone are the days when you needed to splash out on a professional camera to take good product photography for eBay. Most smartphones now come with high-quality cameras built-in so you can take professional looking photos on your phone.

We recommend taking photos in a well-lit room and try to avoid having anything in the background of your image as this will detract from your product. Instead, take the photo of your item in front of a white wall or lay a white sheet over a table and place your product on top.

Your buyer wants to see the product from every angle so take a few different shots. It can also be a good idea to show how big the item is in one of your photos. To do this, simply lay a tape measure or ruler next to the item.

Avoid using stock photography – sellers will trust your listing more if they can see what condition the product is in. If there is any damage, be upfront about it and show this in your photos. It is better to mention it in your listing than get caught out when the seller receives your item.

eBay states photos should be 1600 pixels x 1600 pixels. In order to maintain the image quality, make sure you resize the photo to these dimensions before uploading to eBay.

4. List Strategically

To increase visibility of your products, it is better to list one item a day rather than upload them all at once due to the way the eBay algorithm works. This also has the added benefit of keeping your store feeling fresh as visitors will see new products every time they visit.

If you have opted to sell your items by eBay auction, the time it finishes is crucial. You want to pick a time when most people are on the site. Friday and Saturday nights should be avoided as people tend to go out and aren’t on eBay picking up bargains. Research shows that Sunday evening (between 7pm and 9pm) is the best time to end an auction as this is when buyers are most engaged on the site.

5. Share listings on social media

Once you’ve published your listing, you can increase its reach by sharing on your social media channels. If you’ve taken the time to take good product photography, you can do this whilst still maintaining the professional look and feel of your feed.

You don’t necessarily need a large social following for this to be effective. Your followers are already engaged with your brand and trust you as a seller so you don’t need to overcome these initial hurdles in order to secure a purchase.

6. Establish trust

As a seller, it’s important to establish a relationship of trust with your buyers. We recommend filling in the description section with a little bit of information about your shop. You want the buyer to feel a connection with your shop so don’t be afraid to make this personal.

Another way of creating trust is through providing excellent customer service – always make sure you reply to customer queries promptly and in a professional and friendly manner.

If you choose to use DHL eCommerce UK as your delivery partner, we will ensure your buyer continues to receive excellent customer service throughout the parcel’s journey. We’ll keep your buyer informed with regular email notifications and if they aren’t going to be home at the time of the delivery, they can reschedule to another day or arrange for the parcel to be delivered to a safe place, neighbour’s house or local DHL eCommerce UK ServicePoint.

7. Offer returns

Offering 30-day free returns will not only improve conversion rates but will also make your listing more visible in search results. Buyers have more confidence in sellers who offer returns as they know they can send the item back if it’s not right. As a result, many people will be willing to spend more on an item when there is a returns option available or will choose you over a buyer selling a similar product without returns.

Another advantage of offering returns is this will make you eligible to join eBay’s Top Rated program. As a member of the program, a ‘Top rated’ badge will show against all of your listings and you’ll be given exclusive benefits.

It’s quick and easy to create a return on the DHL eCommerce UK website. Simply login to your account and navigate to the My Orders page. Click on the order you want returned and select ‘Generate reverse label’. Once you’ve paid for the return, we’ll provide a PDF of the shipping label which you can email to your buyer.

8. Save time by linking your account to DHL eCommerce UK

If you regularly sell items on eBay, you can save precious admin time by linking your eBay account with DHL eCommerce UK. When you sell an item on eBay, we’ll automatically input all of the recipient’s details into our booking form. All you need to do is login to your DHL eCommerce UK account and review the booking. If you are happy, click ‘Send’ and pay for the delivery.