eBay Tutorial Part 1: All About eBay

Part 1: All About eBay

eBay is a great way to make money online. You can make a little extra money by selling items you have around the house or make a lot of money by having your own business on eBay. I signed up on eBay in 2004 and I've been selling on and off on eBay ever since then. This tutorial will share with you some tips I have learned from selling on eBay and similar sites. There are six parts. Look for a new part every Tuesday.

About eBay



eBay is the largest auction site on web. It allows people and businesses to buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. If you're not already registered, you can sign up here. Consider your user ID when you sign up. You might want to have a company name if you're serious about selling on eBay or your Etsy user name.

If you've never used eBay before, I'd recommend bidding or purchasing a few items before selling to get the feel of how it works. Set up your About Me page. You might want to include some basic info about yourself like who you are and where you live, your hobbies/things you collect and whether you run your eBay business full time or part time.

You can also choose to run an eBay store which costs more money. I wouldn't recommend signing up for an eBay store right away. An eBay store is good to open if you're already making money on eBay, know exactly what items you are selling and know you're making enough to cover the costs of running a shop.

Other Websites



There are other websites besides eBay you might want to check out.

Amazon - Amazon is good for selling media items such as books, CDs and DVDs. I did a tutorial on selling on Amazon here.

Craigslist - Craigslist is good for selling big items you want people to come in person to pick up.

BluJay - BluJay is an online marketplace that is completely free to open. It's not an auction website, but you can open a store there.

uBid - UBid is similar to eBay, but you have to apply to become a seller and it costs some money to sign up. 

This tutorial is mostly specific to eBay, but you can use the tips for other websites. Check back for part 2 of this tutorial next week to learn what items you should sell.