Last year, my daughter and I taught a class on “Buying and Selling on eBay” at the local seniors’ center. The class was six weeks long and hands-on. Each person brought an item in to sell and we took them through the whole process, from signing up with eBay and Paypal, to writing a description and taking a photo, to actual sale of the item. One of the ladies has earned almost $3,000 on eBay since taking the course.
In the past I was doing eBay workshops and having a hard time filling them. Since that student’s success and the resulting local publicity, I have four workshops to present, all filled to capacity. It’s amazing what the power of social proof can do.
For those of you who would like to start buying and/or selling on eBay, here is some help:
Glossary of Terms:
Bid: telling eBay’s system the maximum price you are prepared to pay for an item.
Dutch: an auction where more than one of an item is available.
Feedback: positive or negative comments left about other users on eBay.
Mint: in perfect condition.
Non-paying bidder: a bidder who wins an auction but does not then go on to buy the item.
PayPal: an electronic payment method accepted by most sellers.
Rare: once meant hard to find, but used so often on eBay, it’s now meaningless.
Reserve: the minimum price the seller will accept for the item.
Shill bid: a fake bid placed by a seller trying to drive up their auction’s price (not allowed).
Snail Mail: the post, which is obviously very slow compared to email.
Sniping: bidding at the last second to win the item before anyone else can outbid you.
eBay Abbreviations
Although some people will tell you that eBay is no longer popular, my local computer store is now selling software to help you learn to sell on eBay. If you’ve seen it and are wondering if you should buy, don’t. Between the free tutorials available on eBay and the ease of using their system, it isn’t really necessary.
When buying on eBay, you will come across a number of abbreviations, some of which are listed here. As a seller, using these abbreviations will sometimes be necessary, especially when you want to describe something in the title of your item, which has very limited space for text.
BIN: Buy it Now. A fixed price auction.
BNWT: Brand New With Tags. An item that has never been used and still has its original tags.
BW: Black and White. Used for films, photos etc.
EUR: Euro Currency.
FC: First Class. Type of postage.
GBP: Great British Pounds Currency.
HTF: Hard To Find. Not quite as misused as ‘rare’, but getting there.
NIB: New in Box. Never opened, still in its original box.
NR: No Reserve. An item where the seller has not set a reserve price.
OB: Original Box. An item that has its original box (but might have been opened).
PM: Priority Mail.
PP: Parcel Post.
SH: Shipping and Handling. The fees the buyer will pay for postage.
USD: United States Dollars Currency.
VGC: Very Good Condition. Not mint, but close.
Although I have been teaching about using eBay, I was never very interested in doing it myself. But it seems every time I turn around, someone is recommending eBay, not just to make money, but as a learning tool for Internet Marketing.
I finally decided to get off the fence and be more serious about doing, not just knowing about eBay. One of my students sold a small soapstone bear for over $300 and the enthusiasm was contagious. So I listed my first item last week (a small plastic toy) and it actually sold!! Not for much more than the price of a cup of coffee, but it was still enough to encourage me to try again.
The tutorials and help at eBay are fantastic, and I have a lot of stuff lying around that I would love to find a new home for, so I may be spending a lot of time at eBay. If you’re an eBay seller, or a buyer, I would love to hear about your experiences – good and bad.
