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How does shipping and handling work as the seller on Ebay?

When you pay the fee for putting up a listing, do you pay with a credit card or something? And when do you pay it? For the shipping cost, do you pay for it? Or does the buyer pay for the shipping cost? Does ebay provide you with a package to put the item in or do you go and get one yourself? And if you have any tips as a seller, they'll greatly appreciated.

Public Comments

1. Pay with Credit Card if you like, when listing is over - i use Paypal... You put a shipping cost on your auction - what u put is what buyer pays...if you short change yourself it's on you, if you overcharge you will make people mad. You supply your own box, etc (that's the HANDLING of shipping and handling...) - Ebay is not gonna come to your house.
2. It is quite possible to make a decent income off eBay, but you have to know what you're doing. There are no quick and easy shortcuts, or everyone would be making a fortune on eBay. But it is easy to get started. Ebay offers a rather complete Seller’s Tutorial that explains how to get started, what it costs, and the mechanics of using the site. You can find it here: http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/index.html Determining what to sell is much more complicated than merely listing an item. You need to (1) chose a product that is in demand, (2) know your product extremely well, (3) have a source to purchase that product at a very good price, (4) know the marketplace for your product, (5) know where you can fit into that market, and (6) be able to sell your product at a competitive price on eBay, yet (7) still assure yourself of an adequate profit for your effort. It's not easy to get started, as you can see, but if you get all the pieces to fit properly, it can be very lucrative.
3. When you start selling on ebay, there always are a lot of questions!! But what it comes down to is ebay charges you to list and item and to sell an item. Paypal, if you use this service charges you to accept money from a buyer! As far as shipping goes, the buyer should pay for all the S&H charges to get the item to them. Some people completely price gouge and charge too much for shipping things. I would try and stay as reasonable as possible. And depending on what you are shipping, there are free supplies with the United States Postal Service for like priority or flat rate priority boxes & envelopes. The plus to this, is the materials are free, minus - it is a little more to ship, but it also should get to the person faster. A HUGE TIP for YOU -- use delivery confirmation ( if using USPS) or some sort of real tracking number. People in this world are not HONEST! And can say they never received an item. This way you have proof. If someone files a claim through Paypal saying they did not get an item, they immediately want a tracking number from you, which proves you did what you were suppose to do. Without that tracking number Paypal would just take that money from you, and you would be out the money and the item you shipped. Thanks for reading!