Operating an eBay Business
A lot of people use eBay as a quick and efficient way of selling stuff that they no longer want and many others will set themselves up as a small business on the site to sell things on a more regular basis. This may be the only way that their business operates or they may use eBay to supplement their income from a bricks and mortar or home based business.
If you are going to sell items on eBay as a private individual - i.e. every now and then when you find something worth selling - then you simply need to:
1. Open a seller's account.
2. Decide what you are going to sell and how much you will charge for postage and packing.
3. Post up the item(s) you want to sell and set up your auction.
4. Take payment from the buyer when the auction ends or a Buy It Now sale is made and then despatch the item to the buyer.
5. Leave feedback on the buyer and encourage them to leave feedback for you.
eBay will charge a small fee for every listing that you make and will also charge a percentage of the final payment made for the sale when somebody buys something from you.
If you want to take things a step further and you have a regular inventory of stuff to sell then you may want to think about opening an eBay shop where all your auctions can be showcased at once. You can also use the dedicated web address that a shop will give you here to encourage people outside of eBay to visit your shop and to make a purchase or place a bid. Most of the eBay shops on offer here will come with a monthly fee and a range of other payments you can choose to make to further market your shop within the eBay community.
Bear in mind, if you are selling items on eBay, that it is your responsibility to notify the Inland Revenue and to complete appropriate tax returns.