Here are some tips to help you make your selling on eBay efficient and effective.

Listing your item

• Make sure the item is legal and allowed. If you are not sure that your item is allowed, check eBay's policies on prohibited, questionable and infringing items (see Knowing eBays Rules for Sellers).

• Take one or more pictures of your item in a well-lit area. Effective pictures that are sharp and bright will help sell your item. Evenly distributed artificial or natural light is better than a cameras flash for most items. A tripod or studies your camera and ensures your picture will be in focused.

• Choose the most specific category available. This will help buyers find your item. Use the Suggested Categories feature to have eBay suggest categories for you. For an additional fee, you can list your item in a second category to maximize your item's visibility.

• Imagine you were the buyer when you prepare the title and description for your listing. What would you want to know about the item? What are its most appealing characteristics? What words might buyers use to search for your item? Keep the item close by in case you need to add information to your description. (see Writing a Good Title and Description).

• Save time by composing your item description in a word authoring program first, and then pasting it into the item description area in the Sell Your Item form. Be clear and complete, but use short sentences that are easy to read. Including specific details about the item, such as dimensions, shipping, and payment etc. may help reduce the number of email questions you receive about your item. Use of Advanced Selling Tools will also save you time creating and managing your listings.

• Plan your pricing strategy. Look at similar completed eBay listings using the completed listings search. You can also visit online stores that sell similar items and ask friends to help determine what the item is worth. This will help you set your starting price or your Buy It Now price. Also, decide whether you would like to set a reserve price.

• Consider registering for selling-related services before you begin the Sell Your Item form. If you want to open your own eBay Store, see eBay Stores Overview.

Communicating with buyers

• Ensure that you attract the ideal buyer for your item by selecting buyer requirements and buyer management tools including the blocking buyers feature.

• Know about your buyer by checking the bidders or buyers member profile, including feedback comments from other sellers (see Knowing Your Buyer.)

• Be sure that your contact information and email address are correct and up-to-date. Check your personal information to make sure it is correct. Also, check that any "spam" blocking software you have installed does not limit a buyer from communicating with you.

• Plan for alternate computer access. If you have computer or connection problems, or need to be away from your computer, you can access your eBay account using any computer with internet access. For example, you can monitor your items through the "My eBay" page using the computer at your friends house or your local library (See Managing Selling with My eBay).

Expand your selling options

• Explore listing upgrade features to distinguish, promote and enhance your listing. Listing upgrades include bolding your title, adding photos, and ranking your items at the top of the listings page (see Selecting Listing Upgrades).

• Manage your Market. eBay is a global community and you will need to decide where you want to sell your item and if you want to add buyer requirements to your listing. Learn more about the benefits and processes of Selling Internationally.

• Offer PayPal as a payment method. eBay recommends offering PayPal as a fast, easy, and secure way to accept credit card or bank account payments on eBay (see Selling with PayPal). If you offer PayPal as a payment method for eligible items, your buyers may be protected on eligible items for up to AU$20,000 PayPal Buyer Protection. Conditions apply.*

• To keep eBay a safe place for both buyers and sellers, from 21 May 2008, sellers are required to offer PayPal as an accepted payment method. You can sign up for PayPal before you list your first item for sale, or when you list your first item.

• Use Selling Tools to list more items and automate seller tasks. If you want an easy way to manage your growing eBay business, or just need to list a lot of items at once, check out eBays Advanced Selling Tools.

A message from our lawyers

The PayPal service is provided by PayPal Australia Pty Limited (ABN 93 111 195 389) which holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, number 304962.  eBay International A.G. and eBay CS Vancouver Inc. are authorised representatives (numbers 308318 and 326597) of PayPal for the purpose of providing information about PayPal.  eBay and PayPal are not acting as your agents, are not providing personal financial advice to you and do not take your individual circumstances into account in providing information about PayPal.  You should consider the Product Disclosure Statement and Financial Services Guide before deciding to sign-up for or use the PayPal online payment service at https://www.PayPal.com.au

*PayPal Buyer Protection and PayPal Seller Protection are also subject to the terms and conditions in PayPal's User Agreement, incorporating the Buyer Protection policy and Seller Protection policy which include details on eligibility criteria and the discretionary nature of the policies.