by Rebecca Dyson

Created on: November 28, 2007

One of the most important things to do when selling items on eBay is to maintain impeccable records. I have tried many different kinds of record keeping, but I have found that using an Excel spreadsheet is by far the most efficient and easy to manage. Using Excel is possible for even a beginner computer user.

There are several things to keep track of when selling on eBay, as follows:

1. Date item was listed
2. Item description
3. Opening minimum bid
4. eBay listing fee
5. Date item re-listed (if necessary)
6. Winning bid amount
7. Name of winning bidder
8. Shipping and Handling fees
9. Total amount received
10. Date item shipped to winning bidder
11. Amount of money made or lost on the sale

I also add three extra columns to my spreadsheet for each item listed; current bid, number of bidders, and number of watchers. By updating my spreadsheet twice a day I find I maintain a good idea of what is selling and what is not. You might also consider adding a column for the ending auction date if you don't want to keep track of it in your mind based on the date listed. This is especially handy if you deviate from the standard seven day auctions.

If you sell a lot of items on eBay, it is more efficient to keep a different spreadsheet for each month. Items that don't sell the previous month and are re-listed should be transferred to the current month for easy management.

Excel is very user-friendly and it is definitely my favorite spreadsheet program. Before I started using Excel I would find myself getting very frustrated on keeping track of what I had listed and what the status was; with Excel the updates are simple and I can see at a glance what my current status is.

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