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>> Hey. I'm Josh Lowensohn for CNET, and today I'm going to show you how to sell things on eBay. EBay is a great place to pawn off potentially high value items, like cell phones or game consoles, especially if you don't feel like doing the whole face to face thing on Craig's List. As an example, I'm going to use a mobile phone. To get started, you need an account on eBay, which is free. After signing up, click on the sell link at the top of the screen, then the big blue "start selling" button. EBay will then ask you some keywords about your phone or device. All you have to do here is type in "phone" or whatever you're selling, and then hit the big "search" button. On this next screen, I'm going to pick "cell phones" and "smartphones" and hit the big blue "continue" button again. Then I'm going to type in the brand or model of my phone to see if it's in eBay's database. Once you've found the model of your phone or gadget, just select it, and you'll be taken to the most important page of all, the one where you tell buyers about your item and how much you're selling it for. To get a good idea of what kind of price to set, do a search to see what other similar items have sold for. It's also worth setting a reserve price at or a little bit below the number so you can make sure it won't sell for less than you're willing to part with. Choosing this option will cost you anywhere from $2 to 1% of your reserve price if it's over $200. A few things that help in the way of attracting prospective buyers is to take some photos of your item. In all likelihood, eBay already has a stock photo from the manufacturer, but a picture of your device or whatever accessories you're selling with can go a long way towards making your buyers more confident. Just keep in mind eBay charges 15 cents for each additional photo beyond the first one, so use them sparingly. You'll also ant to be dead honest about your item's description if there are any problems with the device. Things like scratches, cracks, water damage, or a dying battery should be stated up front. Otherwise, you could end up with negative feedback and an angry buyer. Another thing to keep in mind is that you'll need a PayPal account if you intend to do electronic payment. This is the best route if you want to get paid immediately. Signing up for PayPal is free, but they do take a cut of a payment if you're on a premiere or business account which you're required to take credit card transactions, though if your buyer is also a PayPal user, it will be free on both ends. As for when to set your auction end time, the longer you have it on the site, the better the chances are that someone will see it and add it to their watch list. You'd also be wise to time it to end in the late afternoon or early evening on a weekday since that's when the most bidding activity happens. Once it's up, you just have to sit there and wait it out. Don't be scared if nobody bids on it in the first few days as most of the action happens in the last few hours, and when it's all said and done, be sure to ship it out in a timely manner. You can use these instructions to sell just about anything on the site, though the one down side is that eBay can charge some pretty steep fees on top of what you paid to list your item. If your item doesn't sell in an auction, you don't pay a thing, but if it does, eBay takes 9% of the final value up to $50. I'm Josh Lowensohn, and this has been a "how to" on how to sell your stuff on eBay. Good luck selling those old gadgets.
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