If you are new to eBay, then you need to know that customer service and shipping are both important parts in being successful on eBay.
We are going to show you what to do once you have uploaded your items to eBay.
In our eBay series, we have covered what to sell on eBay, how to set up your account, and how to upload your items. If you missed any of these posts, you can click on the following links:
Part 1: Beginner’s Guide to Start Selling on eBay
Part 2: How to Start Selling Items on eBay
Part 3: eBay Selling Tips: How to Sell Your Items
Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links. This just means that we make a little money if you buy something through one of our links. It does not cost you any more to purchase an item through our links. It just helps support this blog so we can continue to bring you more content like this.
So, you might be wondering what to do once you’ve uploaded your items to eBay.
There are a few things that you should do once you upload your items.
eBay Selling Tips: Proof Your Auctions
Although you should really read through your auctions before you upload them, mistakes happen.
After you upload your auctions, it is a good ideas to look at each auction and make sure the pictures and text look good.
If you happen to find a mistake, you can still edit the item.
Find the auction with a mistake under your active selling items. Click the arrow next to “more actions” and choose the edit option.
Make your changes to the auction, and then make sure you save it.
eBay Selling Tips: Customer Service
One of the big things that matters once you have auctions online is that you have good customer service.
Messages
This means that when people send you messages and ask questions about your items, you respond in a timely manner and respond politely.
If you have the eBay app on your phone, you can quickly message potential customers back!
It is a good idea to have your message policy written on each of your auctions. For example, we tell our customers that messages sent within 3 hours of an auction ending might not be answered.
To learn more about writing your eBay policy in your description, check out part 3 in our eBay series.
Even if you have all of your policies listed on your auction, there will always be people who will ask questions about something you have already answered in your policy. It is important to still answer their questions kindly.
Any person that messages you is interested in your items, so think of them as a potential customer!
Feedback
Every user on eBay, has a feedback number next to their username.
This number indicates how many feedback the seller has received. If you click on the number, you can see what kinds of feedback a seller has.
As a seller, you can receive positive, neutral, and negative feedback. You definitely want to get as much positive feedback as possible.
Any buyer can click on the feedback number and see how many positive, neutral, and negative feedbacks you have received in the last year. They can also see exactly what other buyers have said about you.
If you want people to buy from you, you will want to make sure you have good customer service. Your good customer service will show through in your feedback!
eBay Selling Tips: Shipping
We already talked about packaging in part 2 of our eBay series, so we are just going to talk about how to ship your items in this post.
After an item has sold AND the seller has paid, you can print off a shipping label and mail the package.
To print a shipping label, you need to go to your sold items under my eBay.
On the right side of the auction, there should be a blue button that says “print shipping label.” You need to click on that button and print the label.
Next, you need to cut out the label.
Once you have taped your package shut with packing tape, you can tape the label onto the package.
It is best to use clear packing tape and to cover up the label completely, so that it is protected from water.
You can then take your package to either a post office or shipping place.
Note: make sure you ask for a receipt when you mail your package that way you have proof that you mailed it.
eBay Selling Tips: After You Ship Your Items
After you have shipped an item, you have the option to give the buyer feedback.
We always wait until the buyer has left us feedback before leaving them feedback, but you can choose to do it however you’d like.
To leave a person feedback, go to your sold auctions page and click the gray button on the right side of the auction that says, “leave feedback.”
You can also keep track of how much you sold your items for. If you didn’t already get it, you can download our FREE eBay binder to keep track of your eBay auctions.
If you already signed up, you can go ahead and download the binder from our resource library!
eBay Selling Tips: What to do if your auctions don’t sell
It is unlikely that all the auctions you list at once will sell unless you are just uploading a couple. We typically put 10-20 items to sell on eBay at a time, but sometimes only half of them sell. It really depends on what people want at the time and how much they are willing to pay.
If an item doesn’t sell, you have the option to relist the item for free!
You can only relist an item for free one time. After that, you have to pay to relist your item again.
All you have to do is go to your unsold items page and click the blue button that says “relist” on the right side of each auction. You can then change anything you would like about the auction on this page. Usually we just lower the price by a few dollars.
What are your questions or comments about selling on eBay? Leave a comment below, and we will answer it!
Related: Beginner’s Guide to Start Selling on eBay
Hi! I haven’t sold on Ebay in a long time & it looks like things have changed. When choosing shipping, are there options based on ground vs expedited vs media mail & etc when setting up the listing? Also, you told someone above that the Buyer pays shipping & sellers don’t. I’m confused. Back in the day, yes, buyers paid via paying for their items & shipping via the invoice, but sellers still have to literally make payment with the post office when it goes out. Has that changed? Does the buyers shipping fee somehow make it directly to the usps now? Thanks for your patience & mercy for those of us who are WAY out of the loop these days.
Hi Leah,
Sorry to take so long to reply.
When you set up your listing or a listing template for future use, you can choose to offer different shipping services. For example, if I am selling a book, then I usually choose to have two shipping option. The first I choose is media mail, and then I also add the option for Priority Mail. There are lots of other options as well including FedEx and UPS.
When a buyer pays for their item, they also pay for their shipping and any tax they may owe. After your buyer has paid, you then purchase and print the shipping label directly from eBay. This means that when you go to the post office, your shipping label is pre-paid. They will scan your item and give you a receipt, but you do not need to pay anything at the post office. The money comes out of the money that the buyer paid you before it enters your bank account. So basically, eBay works with USPS so that you don’t have to physically pay in person. Does that make sense?
-Jessica
I have another question about shipping, I guess with all the variables with shipping my question is do you put in the size of box and weight and that goes into calculating the price? Is the label you print already paid for as in you just drop it in the mail? Sorry I know this is a dumb question!
This is totally not a dumb question! There are so many things to know when it comes to ebay. Feel free to ask more questions!
When you are preparing your item for ebay, you will measure the package and weigh it. Make sure that you have most of the packing material in the box as well because that will affect the weight. I usually use a tape measure to measure the package and then a kitchen scale to weigh the item.
When you are typing up your auction, it will ask you to enter the dimensions and weight of your package. When someone purchases the item, it will calculate the shipping based on where that person lives. People can also see how much shipping will be before they even buy the item.
After the person has paid for their item, ebay will show you that you can print the label for the package. On the selling page in “My Ebay” it will come up as a button after the item has been paid for. This label is already paid for by the buyer, so when you take the package to the post office or other shipping store, you will not have to pay anything. One thing that I would recommend is that you get a receipt from wherever you mail the package. Even though you aren’t paying anything, you can still ask for a receipt. This receipt is proof that you mailed the item. This can help you out if for some reason something happens to the package before it gets to the buyer.
Does that make sense? Let me know if any of this is unclear. I am happy to help! Once you get the hang of everything on ebay, it will be much easier for you to sell items on there.
Thank you so much for a detailed answer! I totally understand now! I’m just waiting on my scale to come and I’ll be ready to roll! Love your posts!
So glad to help! Feel free to ask any more questions if you think of something else.
I am confused about how the payment for shipping works. Does the seller initially pay for the shipping and become reimbursed once the customers payment clears or does the item not ship until the customer pays for the cost of the item and the shipping?
Hi Courtney, this is a great question! When a buyer pays for the item, they pay for the shipping as well. It does not come out of your pocket at all unless you choose a shipping option that makes you pay.
There are a few different shipping options you can choose to use. We always use “calculate price of shipping based on location.” This means that the shipping is calculated based on where the buyer lives, so it will be the exact cost of shipping. You will not make any money or lose any money on shipping with this option.
Another option is to offer a flat rate shipping price. For example, you could charge every customer the same price for shipping no matter where they live. This could make you money, but most likely you would lose money. You will definitely lose money if a lot of your customers live far away from you and have higher shipping costs.
The last option you could pick is to offer free shipping. With this option, you pay the shipping. Sometimes this could get you more customers, but you take the risk of someone living far away from you and buying the item. They will most likely have a high price for shipping (especially Hawaii and Alaska).
You also have the option to ship internationally if you choose to do so. We never ship internationally because we cannot guarantee that the item will get to the buyer once it leaves the United States.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Also, feel free to email us at jessica@nowthatsthrifty.com if you have any questions that you don’t want to discuss in the comments. 🙂