Want to Make Some Cash?

If you’re a seller, creating a listing page on eBay is as simple as filling out an online form. You type the name of your item and a short description, add a crisp digital picture, set your price, and voilà — it’s selling time. (Okay, it’s a tad more involved than that, but not much.) eBay charges a small fee for the privilege — $0.05 (during promotions) to $2.00 — but currently allows sellers (who don’t have stores) 50 auction listings per month without an insertion fee.

When you list your item, millions of people (eBay has over 100 million registered users) from all over the world can take a gander at it and place bids. With a little luck, a bidding war may break out in your auction and drive the bids up high enough for you to turn a nice profit. After the auction, you deal directly with the buyer, who sends you the payment either through a payment service or PayPal. Then you ship the item. Abracadabra! You just turned your item (everyday clutter, no doubt) into cash. You can run as many auctions as you want, all at the same time. To get info on deciding what to sell and when, leaf through Chapter 9; to find out how to set up an auction, jump to Chapter 10 — and to get the lowdown on advanced selling te....