by Laura Mullins

Created on: April 18, 2009

If you are considering going in to business do your homework. View many listings to get an average price for things, calculate the listing, final value and Paypal fees. Factor in postage costs and cost of buying packing materials. And double, no, triple check that you are getting things for the best price. It can take a few months of searching to find a great wholesaler.

Now the most important thing when selling an item is the picture. Seriously, the pictures are what people look at first, if your pic is blurry or the item is shot at a bad angle, then people will simply move on and scan through the other 10,000 or so listings. There is so much choice now that if the pic isn't good then the buyer won't even bother to look at the listing to find out what you have said about it.

This is especially true of womens clothing. If an item doesn't look flattering then they cannot picture it on themselves and will not be interested. Arrange the item, maybe emphasise the waist on tops, take pics from different angles or in different lights. It will be worth it.

If you are planning on selling a lot of clothes, a mannequin may help. I still have one left over from the business and it really does make clothes look better. If the clothes are over a size 10 though they will need pinning back or they will look terrible and just hang.

For the actual listing.
Type the title in capitals - no, it is not rude and you are not shouting at people! Those rules don't apply on ebay. Don't type the listing in caps though. It stands out in a title but makes a listing hard to read.

You don't get many letters in a title so be careful what you say. Think about what people would type in a search.

If you are selling a skirt, for example, do not write 'ladies skirt'.

I see this a lot, and yes it is a ladies skirt but this is obvious so it is a waste of your space.

ALWAYS LIST THE SIZE!
If you don't list the size of your item it will halve or even quarter the amount of people that will see it. Most people will type 'black top, 12' or something similar. You may have exactly what they are looking for but if you don't have every word of the search in your title then your item will not come up.

Be as specific as you can in your listing. Two sentences are not enough. Be as thorough with your listings as you are with your reviews. The reviews pay a set amount but a good listing could double/triple your profits. Aim for at least 3 paragraphs. More if it is a detailed or unique item.

Always have a pic but unless it

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