If you’re thinking about exporting your product to overseas markets, you might want a low risk, low maintenance way of testing the waters. For that, eBay is particularly helpful. It comes complete with a ready-made ecommerce infrastructure you can jump right onto and a large audience looking to try out new products. It’s a great way to reach new markets without the investment in your own sales platform.
You might not know this, but around 20% of eBay sales cross international border. Although you may perceive eBay as an online car-boot sale, in fact over 70% of eBay sales are of brand new items!
If you’re considering this as a serious possibility, make the most of the opportunity and take some time to learn how to sell on eBay successfully. We’ve bought together a few nuggets of advice here to help you in the right direction.
How much does eBay charge?
The great part about marketing on eBay is, at least to start with, you don’t pay a penny up front. For those looking at eBay as a chance to dip their toe in the water, this is a notable benefit.
The first 20 items you sell each month can be listed for free. After that, each listing costs you a flat rate of 35p per listing. If you’re successful in selling your product on eBay, you’ll then be charged 10 per cent of the final transaction cost, up to £250. Any products sold over £2,500 are liable to the same £250 flat rate upon sale.
There are also a range of ‘optional extras’ you can purchase to help your product get noticed, including such features as a ‘buy it now’ price on the bid, larger pictures and a minimum price auction. These extras range from £0.35 to £2.50 per product.
The Global Shipping Programme
One of the main hurdles for any business looking to sell their goods across borders is often the complexity of logistics. eBay have this covered with their innovative Global Shipping Programme (GSP.)
All you need to do is post the item to the UK Shipping Centre and eBay take care of customs clearance, tracking and all the rest. You don’t have to pay anything extra – just the cost of posting the item to the UK Shipping Centre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoBjgAYSK44
How do I guarantee my products sell on eBay?
Unfortunately, there’s no definite way of guaranteeing your products sell on eBay. If there was, everyone would do it. Decentralised trading platforms like eBay are subject to fierce competition, and those looking to get ahead have to work hard to make sure they stand out.
We wrote recently about how to sell to your international market on Amazon. The first thing that buyers are looking for on both online marketplaces is some assurance of reliability. The downside to online shopping is of course the need to rely on the faith of the seller for the product to both turn up, and do so in the condition that was promised.
There’s a good chance a customer will pay a little bit extra for a product from a sleekly presented, more professional manufacturer because of the inherent trust factor. For that reason, it’s important to make sure your product information, profile, seller information and general online branding is completed to a high, professional standard. In a competitive marketplace, this is the first step to standing out.
The rest is down to the strength of your product and the competitiveness of your prices. A good quality camera for product pictures won’t hurt, either.
If you want to test international sales with eBay, you’re going to need to achieve this level of professional branding in a language you’re probably not familiar with. For that, you can look to the native-level expert language translation services on offer here at Bubbles.
