10 Tips to Help New eBay Sellers Succeed

Marketplaces are a great way to get your products in front of shoppers, and with 162 million active users*, eBay offers you a huge new audience of potential buyers. If you’re new to selling on the platform here are some key ways to kick-start your route to eBay success.

Keep on top of listings updates – eBay are constantly updating seller requirements. For example, it’s now mandatory to add product identifiers to many listings (since they will help make your items more visible on eBay – as well as on external search engines).
List your items in the right categories using the most relevant item specifics to help buyers find them.
Optimise your listings by creating short snappy titles for them and include key details. Use relevant keywords to ensure they get picked up.
Don’t practice keyword spamming or have duplicate listings or you’ll sink down the rankings.
eBay note that listings with better picture quality are 5% more likely to sell**. Use your full quota of pictures. And make them good quality: The minimum pixel requirements are 1600 on the longest side. Optimise for mobile and crop images to fit the frame.
Provide fast and free delivery if you can – 62% of consumers*** will abandon an online purchase if they discover this isn’t an option.
Be clear on returns. You’ll annoy customers further down the line if there’s any confusion so include this information on listings and invoices.
Analyse your performance. Make use of eBay’s key metrics to show you how well your listings are performing, then use this information to make any necessary changes.
Reply to customers quickly to make a good impression. And that means be available at weekends.
Take note of seller standards. There’s now less emphasis on subjective feedback and more focus on objective metrics, so concentrate on keeping defect rates low. Seller cancellations and cases closed without resolution should be kept to a minimum too- and always meet on-time shipping requirements.

We hope you found these tips useful and best of luck building your presence on eBay.

* Number of eBay's total active buyers from 1st quarter 2010 to 1st quarter 2016 (in millions); Statista, 2016

** New picture standards; Seller Centre

*** Fiona Briggs: MetaPack unveils Delivering Consumer Choice: 2015 State of eCommerce Delivery consumer survey; Retail Times, 29 December 2015