Are you ready to sell your cards on eBay? Before listing anything, make sure to search your card on Mavin to get a price estimate based on cards similar to your own. Once you’re satisfied that you’ve found the best price, you can list your card knowing you have valued your card appropriately. If you’re ready to sell but not sure what to do, read on to see our beginner tips for selling items online.

Follow these tips to become a pro at selling cards on eBay:

1. Document your product
   • It is very important that you post pictures of your cards – both front and backside. While it is better to have higher quality images of the cards, just using an iPhone camera in decent lighting will suffice.
2. Be Descriptive (and honest)
   • There is no doubt that online shopping is incredibly convenient. However, the biggest drawback is that you can’t inspect the product in person. With cards, the difference between a folded corner and a pristine card can be hundreds of dollars. So when selling your cards online, it is important to be descriptive and detailed. Although your card may sell for less as a result, it is much better than deceiving a buyer who will give you negative feedback on eBay.
3. List like a pro
   • The quickest way to be pegged as an amateur on eBay is to overuse catch phrases or buzzwords in your listing. Unless it actually applies to your card, avoid describing your item as “hard to find,” “rare,” or “limited.” In a similar vein, don’t list your cards using all capital letters or take up space with special characters like “$$$$” or “***”. This is more likely to annoy potential buyers than actually attract attention. However, we do recommend using all the characters available in your eBay listing. Instead of using buzzwords, be more detailed. Try to include the team name, city name, card year, and manufacturer. eBay gives you 55 characters to work with and you want to get the most out of it.
4. Auction low
   • If you plan on auctioning your card as opposed to a direct sell, there are a few ways to get the best bang for your buck. If you don’t expect your card to sell for more than $5, set your starting price at 99¢. There are two advantages in doing this. The first is that eBay only charges an insertion or listing fee of 20¢ if an item is listed under a dollar. After that, it goes up to 35¢ for starting prices between $1 and $10. The second advantage is that a cheaper listing is more likely to attract multiple bidders – which will drive up the price of your item in the long run. If you expect your item to sell for more than $5, increase your listing price by $1 for every $5 increase in expected price.
5. Timing is key
   • The general rule of thumb is to stick with a 7-day auction for your items. However, it is important to choose an opportune day to start your auction. A popular way for buyers to find cards is to filter using the “Ending soon” category. Your card will most likely get the greatest number of hits in its final few hours of closing. While some people recommend different days for starting your auction, we suggest that you try out different days to find what works best for you.
6. Sell your cheaper cards first
   • If this is your first time selling on eBay, you might want to practice with some lower-value items first. This is important for two reasons. First, you’ll want to make sure you work out the kinks when it comes to listing the item correctly, shipping the item, and working with customers. The second reason is that you want to build up a reputation on eBay. The more positive feedback you get from customers, the more likely people are to buy bigger ticket items from you in the future.
7. Be fair with shipping and handling
   • Don’t overcharge for shipping and handling. Not only will it discourage buyers from doing business with you, but it will likely lead to negative feedback on eBay. However, you don’t want to incur extra costs because you underestimated the cost of S&H. As mentioned above, selling your cheaper cards first will help you determine how much you spend on average for shipping and handling. This includes, postage, bubble wrap, envelopes, sleeves, top loaders, etc. This can fall anywhere between $1-$3 depending on how much you protect the card and the size and weight. If you plan on selling mass quantities of cards, we recommend you buy some of these items in bulk to cut down on your costs. On a similar note, we suggest you pay extra for delivery confirmation just so you can have some insurance in case of any issues with the buyer.
8. Ship with speed
   • Perhaps the quickest and easiest way to get positive feedback on eBay is to ship your cards to the seller as fast as possible. This is especially true as cards go up in value. We suggest you try to ship within 48 hours of receiving payment confirmation. If you run into any delays or issues, make sure you keep the buyer notified at all times.

This list was compiled based on feedback we received from eBay power sellers. If you have tips that we missed, please say so in the comments and we’ll add them to this article!