How to Sell Your Collectibles and Other Items on eBay

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 1st, 2010

Copyright 2006 Monique Hawkins

You are one of those people who love collectibles such as Precious Moments, figurines, ballerina music boxes, wooden keepsake boxes, vintage jewelry, NASCAR collectibles, and the like. You also are interested in selling on eBay. You could be a person who does not have collectible items to sell, but still wants to do so something with eBay. You will find that selling on eBay is not a problem! Keep reading for tips on how to get started right.

All potential eBayers need some basic equipment: computer, Internet access, digital camera, and some space to store your things. That really is all you need to get going. Shipping and packaging supplies are also necessary, but that will be covered later.

Your next step will be to learn how to list auctions. There is an art to this. Visit the eBay seller's overview: http://pages.ebay.com/education/sellingtips/index.html. The types of information you will see are links to every thing you will need to know to start a successful listing with eBay. Take your time and learn all you can before you list an item. You can also take some eBay classes online that will teach you how to list, set up a store, how to write a good description, etc. You also can pay to have an eBay mentor. I believe there is consultation available as well.

After you have learned how to sell on eBay, you will need to figure out what you want to sell. Do you want to sell some of your collectible pieces such as vintage jewelry, a ballerina music box, or an old Beatles record? However, before you zero in on a particular niche you need some experience and some feedback. Potential buyers are typically leery of buying from someone who is brand new and has a feedback rating of less than 10 evaluations. So, while you are getting your feet wet, take a quick check around your house to see what other unique items you might have. One person's junk is another's treasure, so it''s highly likely you have something of value to somebody.

Experience is needed, but you also don't want to list something that won't sell. So, doing your research first is very important. Take some time to search on eBay by looking up "completed" items and sort by the highest price. For example, you will be able to see, if your ballerina music box is really worth listing, or you'll see that vintage jewelry had 23 listings and not one of them sold.

You will need to be careful about pricing. This can be challenging. Once more, research is important. See what items your collectible or other items you are interested in selling are going for. Don't have overly high expectations. Keep in mind that people come to eBay looking or a bargain. Consider how much you have into the item. If you bought a specific item with the specific intention to resell, you will, at the very minimum, want to break even, so take the price you paid for it and consider other costs, i.e. listing fees, final value fees (all explained in your eBay seller overview above). People are always more apt to bid if the bidding starts LOW. Sometimes though, you will have collectibles that are worth a chunk of money. Don't give away that vintage postcard that is worth $56! Do your homework.

The next question is how do you get paid? It is up to you what you would accept. Online payments such as PayPal (paypal.com) and Storm Pay are very convenient. You can also decide whether you'll accept money orders or personal checks. The more options you give your buyers, the more likely you'll get more bids.

Shipping consideration is also important. You will need to decide how you want to ship your items to the winners. Some sellers use USPS, while others prefer UPS. If you use USPS and ship via Priority Mail, you can get your envelopes and boxes free from USPS. If you ship First Class or Parcel Post or UPS, you'll need to shop around for deals on boxes or envelopes and bubble wrap or packing peanuts.

In summary, if you want to learn how to sell your collectibles and other items on eBay, you can do it! Overwhelmed yet? Yes there is a lot to learn, but it's not nuclear science. Just take it one step at a time. It's a learning process. If you need mentoring and support from others, those resources are available too. Use what works for you and become the newest eBay seller!