how to sell on ebay - Trustthelink.com

This post was originally published in [2025] and has been fully updated for 2026 with new data and tools. Look around your room. That old gaming console, the designer jacket you rarely wear, or even that vintage kitchen gadget, are more than just clutter—they are untapped capital. In today’s economy, learning how to make extra cash by listing on eBay is one of the most accessible ways to build a financial buffer. You don't need to be a retail expert to start; you just need a smartphone and a strategy. Here are 10 proven tips. Start with high-demand categories Check to see if it's worth it Clean the item and take a picture Write compelling titles Honest Descriptions Price the Item correctly Shipping tips Communication Avoid Scams Relist Reinvest Keep reading, and I'll share the biggest mistake to avoid, plus all these steps in more detail. 📦 eBay Profit Calculator Calculate your take-home pay instantly. Item Sold For ($): Shipping Charged to Buyer ($): Your Total Costs (Item + Shipping Labels) ($): Calculate Profit eBay Fees (13.25% + $0.30): -$0.00 Net Profit: $0.00 Start with high-demand categories Go around your home and look for things you don't think you will ever use again. For example, I have an old leather jacket. Someone gave it to me as a present, but I'm probably never going to wear it again. It's just sitting around the house, taking up space. Plus, stuff that I'm never going to use makes it harder to find the stuff I am going to use. It's best to start with the high-value categories, such as old clothes, electronics, household goods, and collectibles are all top categories. The hardest decision is to let it go and list it for sale. (It's VERY hard). Just making the decision to let it go is half of the battle. Make sure the item has value Before you clean it up and list it, first make sure it's actually worth money. Just because we own something, we sometimes think it's worth WAY more money than it actually may be worth. To determine how much something is "actually" worth, you want to describe the item in detail in eBay search. Then, right next to the search button is the "advanced" button, which you want to click on. This will bring up an advanced search where you can see more items such as... You just want to make sure the "sold items" box is checked, and then you will see if the item you are thinking of selling "has sold" and for how much. The item I was thinking of selling has sold between $20-$40, so that is the range that I can expect to get from it. This is a great trick. The next time you are at a secondhand store and you think an item is very expensive, you can see how much it has sold. Then, if the price is "super" low, you can buy it and even resell it if you want. Clean the item and take a picture As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. You want to clean the item you're going to list. In my case, the leather jacket actually had some mold on it. So, I did some research and found out that spraying half vinegar and half water can remove the mold. So that is what I did, and it did a fairly good job. Apart from cleaning it, make sure there is no dust or wrinkles. Make the item look as good as possible. After it was cleaned, I went out and used natural sunlight to take a picture of the jacket. When it comes to taking good photos, here are some good tips... Have lots of lighting. Natural is better (in the sun). Use a plain background (no clutter). Take multiple shots from different angles. Include up close shots of details and of any damage. Avoid blur, and avoid using flash. Include some lifestyle shots, like someone using the image (so the buyer can imagine themselves using it). You don't have to use a face in the image. Make your item the focus of the photo by centering it. Write Compelling Titles The key to titles is to be as descriptive as possible. The most important stuff you want in the beginning. Also, using the full 80-character limit to include as many important terms as possible is another great idea. Oh, and who can forget you can always use ChatGPT, Gemini, or your favorite AI buddy to help write the perfect one. Lastly, it's a good idea to keep your titles free of irrelevant words, excessive punctuation, symbols, or all-caps text. Again, just try to be as helpful as possible. Honest Descriptions People buy from people. Be as honest as you can with the description. Any damage, make sure to point it out and be as helpful as possible. A great tip I got from Reddit is... Describe the item like you don't have pictures. Take pictures like you don't have a description. Basically, be as descriptive and helpful as possible. As the saying goes, treat others as you want to be treated. Price the item correctly For common items, "buy it now" is great. If you are selling a rare collectible, then an auction can be another great idea. Comparable sales are a great benchmark for where to price the item. You can also use eBay's Pricing Suggestions. This can give you a range. If you're just starting out, you "could" price it at the low end of the scale to get some confidence, positive reviews, and some action. It's your call! Another great idea is to use Free Shipping when possible. You can always price the shipping into the product. Now, "free shipping" is an advanced feature because if you get this wrong, you could lose money on the transaction. Plus, the shipping costs vary depending on so many things. Not knowing what you're doing and making the shipping free might be the biggest mistake you could make. When you first start out "maybe" don't have free shipping. Plus, if something happens, and you include free shipping, you also have to refund that. If something goes wrong and the buyer pays for the shipping, then they would pay for that. Shipping Tips Shipping is one of the largest hurdles to selling items on eBay. There are 3 types Free shipping Calculated Fixed As I mentioned, the eBay algorithm loves free shipping; shoppers also love it, but if you get it wrong, you could lose money. via GIPHY So it's an advanced feature. For beginners, calculated might be the best choice because you can almost eliminate the mistake factor. As long as you have the package dimensions and weight correct! The downfall is that you have to know the dimensions and weight. Another downfall is that you could lose deals, so if you're doing lots of volume, it might be better to pick another shipping method. Fixed shipping is good when you know how much it's going to cost to ship something. This is another advanced shipping strategy. If you get this wrong, you can end up losing money. The advantage is fixed shipping looks better than calculated, but NOT as good as free shipping. I hope this helps "a little" on what to choose. A great way to save money on shipping is to keep the boxes that you have received from buying items online. If you’re reusing a box, cover any previous labels and cross out any previous addresses with a black marker. Pack the item as nicely as possible. Surround your item with bubble wrap, packing peanuts, foam, or paper (so there’s no room for things to move around). If you're tempted to use old newspaper, it's not the best idea because the ink can run off on the item you're shipping. Also, ship the item as quickly as possible, and even let the buyer know the item has been shipped. Communication If you are listing an item, it's good to answer questions as quickly as possible. Even better, check the eBay website daily to ensure you have no questions. Also, make sure you don't have any items that need to be shipped! Normally, I'm not a fan of notifications on a phone, but it might be a good idea to get the eBay app and enable notifications of messages, and if an item has sold. It is money, I like notifications of money! Relist If an item hasn't sold, just relist it. The great thing is eBay has 250 free "zero insertion fee" listings each month for standard sellers. You don't have anything to lose by trying. Plus, you already did the work on creating the listing, taking the photos, so why not? An easy way to do this is to click on the "Use good till canceled listing." The million-dollar question is when to stop listing an item, drop the price, or just donate the item. This depends on many things. As long as you think you priced the item correctly, and you have the time, you could wait. Another idea is to slowly, gently lower the price in small amounts until it sells. There is no perfect answer. You could also donate it, it's quick, but you get 0$ for it. I would lean towards if you have the time, just keep relisting it until it sells because it's FREE to list. However, if you "need" the cash quickly, then maybe do another strategy. Avoid scams when listing items Most people in the world are "good" people, but some people are scammers, assholes, and not good to do business with. The main advice is to go with your gut instinct. If something is telling you something is not right, I recommend listening to your inner voice. Generally, you can tell when something is NOT right. For example, if a buyer wants to pay outside of eBay. Wants to send a prepaid label, wants to communicate outside of eBay, are all red flags. Another scam is when the buyer wants you to ship to a different address. If you do that, then you lose eBay's protection. To protect yourself, only communicate on the eBay platform. Also, you could document the process. Take detailed photos and videos of the item, its condition, and the packaging process before shipping. This way, if a dispute happens, you are covered. Reinvest A great tip is that after you have gotten paid, reinvest some of your profits. You can look for items to buy at garage sales, second-hand stores to sell. Another idea is dropshipping. Dropshipping is when you list an item on 1 website and then ship it from another. The difference in price you keep. I will say this is WAY advanced and takes WAY more education! You sell an item for $10 and then ship it for $5. The best part is that another company takes care of the shipping. All you do is list it and do the communication. Even better, eBay is a great platform for doing this. I wrote a post on how to do this HERE. An even easier way to earn some extra cash is affiliate marketing. All you have to do is post a link, and if someone clicks on it and does something like purchase an item or fill out a form, you get paid. It's super easy, SUPER low risk, and can be done anywhere with an internet connection at any time. Plus, there are many different business models within affiliate marketing! Oh, and you don't have to worry about shipping, packaging, returns, customer service, and disputes! I've done "ok" with affiliate marketing. I have a free guide on how to do it HERE. Conclusion Listing unused items around your home is NOT easy because it "mentally" takes a lot to get rid of an item. It reminds me of a wonderful book called "Quit" by Annie Duke where removing an item means quitting on it. The best part is that not only will removing unused items help simplify your life, but you can earn some extra cash doing it. Plus, when we lose something, it makes space for items we really need. Another place to post items is Poshmark. I also created a post that shares how to know if a seller is legit and many ways to spot scams that can be applied to eBay HERE. Lastly, an EVEN easier place to sell items is this place HERE. Not only do you get paid instantly, but the shipping is also easier, plus they help the environment. It's also FREE to create an account and see how much you will get for your items. Give it a whirl, it's free! With eBay, it took 3 months for me to sell an item, plus I had to keep dropping the price, and the shipping was a hassle. I hope this post on listing items around your home for eBay was helpful. Bye for now.