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Selling on eBay is quick and easy, and you'll soon get the hang of it. We've listed some top tips below, as well as the main Selling dos and don'ts, to help you sell safely.
Before you sell
Listing
Offering Payment Methods
During the Auction
Closing the Sale
And Finally
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BEFORE YOU SELL
Submitting your credit card details
There are two places where eBay may ask you for your credit card details, and one where PayPal may ask for them. The first place on eBay is when you register for a seller's account. Here you may be asked to enter your credit card details for verification purposes. Please rest assured that we use very secure technology to transmit your details, that we use them in this instance for verification purposes only, and that we will never share your credit card details with anybody else.
The other place on eBay is if you choose to pay your seller's fees by credit card. Once again, we use very secure technology to transmit your details, we use them in this instance only for collecting your seller fees, and we will never share your credit card details with anybody else.
PayPal will ask you to enter credit card details if you choose credit card as one of the ways to transfer money to your PayPal account. As with eBay, PayPal uses the latest technology to keep your details safe, uses them only when you say so and will not share your details with anybody else.
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LISTING
Make Sure You are Allowed to Sell the Item on eBay
eBay is an open marketplace, but we are bound by the law and by eBay's policies. We therefore restrict the sale of certain items on the site. These include, but are not limited to:
Guns & Weapons
Airline Tickets
Alcohol
Animals and wildlife products
Credit Cards
Drugs
Fireworks
Football tickets
Lockpicking devices
Lottery tickets
Items that potentially infringe copyright or trademark
It is your responsibility to make sure the item you are selling is not illegal and does not breach eBay policy, so please make sure you are familiar with our full list of prohibited and restricted items before listing. We take prohibited and restricted items very seriously. If we find sellers who do sell items on this list, we may remove the listing or even suspend the seller.
Counterfeits are not allowed on eBay, and may be reported to us by rights owners through our VeRO programme. If that is the case, we will remove the listings, so make sure you are not selling a fake, even if you say it is a fake.
Find out more about the eBay Policy: Replica, Counterfeit and Unauthorised Copies
Don't Misuse Brand Names
You cannot use brand names for items that are not of that brand. For example, you could not say a purse was made of "Burberry-type material" or that a shoe was "in the Jimmy Choo style".
Companies spend a lot of time and money building up their brand loyalty, and take this kind of use of their brand name very seriously. They are able, through our VeRO programme, to report sellers who misuse their brand names, and we will investigate all such reports. This may result in a listing being ended, or a seller being suspended.
Find out more.
Don't Keyword Spam
Keyword spamming is when sellers use words that don't describe an item correctly, but are put in the title or description so the item will attract attention or rank higher in search results. Some sellers use keyword spamming to fool buyers by misrepresenting what they are selling.
Keyword Spamming results in a poor experience for buyers, who are often angry and disappointed when they learn the truth. It also creates an un-level playing field for honest sellers, who do not take part in Keyword Spamming. For those reasons, we take Keyword Spamming seriously, and if we find items that are using this technique, we may end the items or suspend the seller.
Find out more.
Describe the Item Clearly and Carefully
Inspect the item carefully; take a clear and representative photo, or more than one if the item is large or complex; be honest about condition or defects; and write a comprehensive, clear and honest description in your listing. If you do your best to be detailed, clear and open from the beginning, you can avoid misunderstandings with buyers further down the line.
Find out more.
Check Postage and Packaging Costs Before You List
Pack and weigh your items first, so the P&P cost you ask for is enough to cover the item and materials. Handling can also be covered in this cost, but bear in mind that charging unreasonable P&P costs when you sell on eBay does breach our policies, and we will take action when we find sellers who do this.
Find out more.
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OFFERING PAYMENT METHODS
Offer PayPal
PayPal is the preferred payment method on eBay for most buyers and sellers. It offers buyers an easy, secure and free way to transfer money with the minimum risk.
For sellers, PayPal offers a quick, easy and secure way to collect money for fees that are far lower than those offered by most credit card companies.
Find out more about Payment Methods: Benefits and Risks or sign up now for PayPal
What to Consider When You Offer Other Payment Methods
If you do offer other payment methods, such as personal cheque or postal order, make sure the cheque clears or cash the postal order before you dispatch the items. Make it clear when you list an item that there will be such a delay if buyers choose these payment methods, then nobody will be disappointed.
Don't Accept Payment by Western Union or other Instant Cash Wire Transfer Services
The use of instant money transfers as a method of receiving payment, via companies such as Western Union or Moneygram, is not allowed on eBay. We have banned the use of instant money transfers as a payment method on eBay to protect members. In the past some sellers have exploited Instant Money Transfers in order to defraud buyers. If you notice a listing offering instant money transfers as a payment option, please don't bid on it, and report the seller to eBay.
Instant Money Transfers are risky because they aren't traceable, and it's difficult to identify the recipient of the money.
Find out more.
Don't Accept Payment by Cash
eBay recommends that you never accept payment for an item by cash because of the risks involved. While buyers may offer to pay with cash, they cannot require you to accept this.
Cash isn't traceable, there is no way to prove payment was or wasn't made and it can get lost or stolen in the post.
Find out more. |
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DURING THE AUCTION
Know Your Buyer
We want to help you make all your sales safe and successful. One of the best ways of ensuring things go smoothly is to get to know your buyer well. Before bidders bid, there are certain limitations you can set to try and make sure your sale goes well. For example, you can block all buyers that have a negative feedback score.
Find out more.
While bidders are bidding on your auction, you can review their feedback and user information in their member profile.
Find out more.
You can also use the "Contact Member" feature to send them an email via eBay's My Messages system. You will find this by clicking on a member's user id, then clicking the Contact Member button in the top right-hand corner of the page.
Once the auction is over, you will be able to request a buyer's contact information, including their telephone number. This may be useful if you are having problems making contact via email, and it can make communication faster and easier, particularly if there is a dispute.
Find out more.
Working Out How Long It Will Take To Sell an Item.
You set the length of your auction (one, three, five, seven or 10 days), but when in that time an auction receives a bid, or a Buy It Now commitment, varies widely across items and categories.
The time it takes to sell an item varies, and sometimes depends on the supply and demand of an item at a particular time. If an item doesn't sell the first time you list it, don't despair - you can relist most items for free.
Find out more. |
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CLOSING THE SALE
Making Sure a Buyer Pays
Most buyers are honest, and only a very small percentage of sales on eBay end with an item not being paid for. Unpaid Item disputes can usually be resolved by direct communication between buyers and sellers. In such cases, eBay provides an online process through which the buyer and seller can communicate with each other to resolve the situation. Please note that eBay's Unpaid Item policy and eBay's User Agreement both make clear that buyers must pay for the items that they commit to purchase.
Find out more about the Unpaid Item Process
Make it easy for your buyers to pay you quickly. Offer PayPal and send an invoice by email as soon as the auction has finished or the buyer has committed to a Buy It Now purchase. Or if you do agree to take a personal cheque or postal order, send your buyer your address as soon as the auction is finished so there is no delay.
Selling to Oversees Buyers
The main thing to consider if you offer to sell to buyers overseas is which payment methods you offer. PayPal is the safest option if you are selling overseas, as the transaction is traceable and you can deal in different currencies without having to convert or wire money - do not accept Instant Cash Wire Transfers or cash, and do not agree to send money to different names, addresses or bank accounts than those of the buyer. (See below for more details).
You must make sure that your item complies with the import laws in the countries you are posting to, as well as making sure it is legal to export it from the UK.
eBay does not permit its users to do business with persons from certain countries - since eBay is a U.S. company, all eBay users must respect the U.S. rules in this area when doing business over eBay.
Find out more about International Trading
Otherwise, selling to eBayers overseas is no different to selling to buyers at home, except that you post the item to a different country! You can check your buyer's reputation just the same, and you can communicate with them in exactly the same way. eBay has hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers around the world, and the fact that you are advertising your item to buyers in so many different countries is one of the things that makes eBay such a vibrant marketplace.
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AND FINALLY
If it doesn't Ring True, Ask Questions
In the past, some of our sellers have been defrauded by unscrupulous buyers who have asked if they can send payment for additional amounts, and have then requested the change in a foreign bank account, or the name of somebody else. If this happens to you, do not agree. Trust your instincts, and if the buyer is asking you to do something which makes you feel uncomfortable or suspicious, don't do it. You might want to consider reporting them to eBay, or to your local police.
If Things Go Wrong
Millions of people buy and sell every day on eBay and very few have problems. Our first advice would always be to contact your buyer. Most buyers and sellers are honest and reliable, and in most cases the cause is a simple misunderstanding or lack of communication. Request your trading partner's contact information and send them an email, or even better, ask if you can give them a call.
However, if you do come across and issue that can't be resolved, help is at hand. Check out our help pages below for more advice:
More Help:
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