I have had a couple of questions about Ebay lately, so I thought that I would post some tips and tricks that I have learned from selling and buying on Ebay for the past four years.  I consign items for friends and family, and I also have a few clients that I work with to sell their personal property.  People simply do not have the time to sell things on Ebay, because it is a tedious process.  You must take pictures, list the item, answer customer questions, and ship the item. You can make some extra cash simply by asking your friends and family if they want you to do the dirty work of selling their stuff on Ebay for a percentage of the sale.  I bet you’ll get some takers!  I had people begging me to sell their stuff at one point.  Today’s tips and tricks will focus on listing the item. 

• The title is the most important part of your listing.  Make sure the title is descriptive and concise.
• Automate your listings.  You will save time and money if you make all of your listings look the same.  Ebay’s listing generator will save a template for you if you create one in the description box.
• Do not go crazy with pictures!  The average item only needs 2 or 3 pictures to do the job, unless you are selling a car or something else with great detail.
• Use a bulleted format to describe items.  Bullet points are easier to read than one long paragraph describing something. 
• Use only one category to categorize items.  It is very expensive to put items in multiple categories.  If you are selling an item that will bring you more than $500, then you may want to consider multiple categories. 
• Start a listing at night.  Statistics show that more users are on buying on Ebay at night.  Make sure that you either list the item at night, or schedule it for 7pm or 8pm, so that it ends on that time.  Scheduling an item is only 10 or 15 cents.  I have heard that Sunday night is the best time to start an auction. 
• The more descriptive you are with your listings, the less questions you will have to answer!  I hate answering ebay questions, it takes time, and it is annoying. 
• Always pay for a gallery image. 
• Try to minimize your costs for the listing wherever you can.  You could end up with $30 in fees on one listing if you opted for every feature that Ebay offered.  The key is identifying what things are most beneficial for your particular item.  If it’s a high end item, then you may want to spend a litlte more to give it more exposure. 

Hope these tips help!  Contact me with any questions you may have about selling on Ebay.  Next post:  Pricing Ebay Listings.