Selling on eBay is easy if you know just a few simple things.

If you have no experience with eBay it is a good idea to get a little experience before you jump of the deep end and post 100 different items up for sale. Get online and search eBay. See what is selling and, more importantly, see what is not selling. Get the lay of the land. It might not be a bad idea to participate in a few auctions as a buyer to see how things go but remember, a bid is a contract. If you win an auction pay promptly and make sure you leave feedback.You will likely find people will bid more for an item when the seller has a good feedback score

When you are ready, run an auction or two to see how things work from the sellers end.

Buyers and sellers on eBay won't know you from Adam. The only things they can look at are your feedback score, the feedback that has been left for you and  your id history to find out about you

Feedback Score and why it is important:  The feedback score is an immediate indication of your reputation as an eBayer. When I bid I look for 100% feedback score as a way of qualifying the seller. If the seller has anything less than a 100 score I think twice about bidding on the item and I examine the seller a little further. You can click on the feedback score and see what has caused the lower feedback score. If the seller has been in a lot of auctions it can take quite awhile to find the negative scores.

Feedback can sometimes be hard to decipher. Some people are simply never happy and will leave negative scores when they shouldn't because they didn't read the terms of the auction. If someone has less than a 100% score I look at the way they respond to negative feedback. If they are well spoken and take the time to leave details I am not so concerned. If they are abusive, "Buyer can't read" or "Buyer lied and was stupid", I stay away from that eBayer. We're all busy people and feedback takes time to write but it is an important window into the soul of the eBayer and it is all you have to get to know a stranger when you are bidding or selling. If they are abusive with others they will be abusive with you.

It is also a good idea to look at the ID History of the eBayer. You'll find the ID History on the "My eBay" page. Click on the person feddback score then click on "View more options" under Member Quick Links then click on "view ID History". Now you know who that person has been on eBay. If they have maintained the same ID at eBay and have lots of auctions under their belt that eBayer is comfortable with and proud of who they are. Some one with a string of different ID's may have something to hide so be careful.

So now you are ready to start taking advantage of the opportunity eBay presents. Let's talk a little about how to get started.

Getting Started - Finding a product to sell on eBay: Once you've got the lay of the land you need to find a product you want to sell. It could be one product or a group of products if you specialize, like  Star Wars toys or Britney Spears jokes, or it could be a collection of everything if you like to cruise local garage and estate sales to find your inventory. There are even companies that will drop ship items for you so you never actually have to buy the inventory or even ship it. Be careful with these and make sure you use a reputable one because if they screw up the negative feedback will come back to you, not the.

Earlier I suggested checking out eBay to see what kind of things sell and what don't. The last thing you want to do is lsit a bunch of items that don't sell. You are going to pay a lsiting fee for every item you put up for auction, that's one way eBay makes money, so you don't want to lsit a bunch of items that historically don't sell on eBay.

Finding a quality product that is desired by eBayers is probably the key to success.

Building your reputation on eBay: Once you get started using eBay you should immediately be concerned about your reputation. Selling and buying, treating people right, being honest and forthright are only a few of the ways to build and enhance your reputation on eBay. You can become a contributor of articles and reviews. That is one real good way for people to get to know you. Make certain you do a good job with your writing, use proper grammer, spelling and punctuation and provide good information. If you are specialing in a product area share your special knowledge and this may encourage people to bid on your items.

Stay Tuned......more to come shortly.