Start selling on eBay today
Four steps from creating your account to shipping your first order.
Create your eBay account
Choose a Personal or a Business account and register as a seller.
List your items
Create a listing with an informative title, quality photos, and relevant item specifics.
Get paid
Link a bank account or a Payoneer account to receive your proceeds.
Ship orders
Set your shipping options, pack securely, and upload tracking information.
Step 1. Create your eBay account
When registering as an eBay seller, you can choose to create a Personal or a Business account.
Personal account is meant for casual sellers, hobbyists, and novice entrepreneurs. If you are a sole proprietor or have a registered company, please choose Business account. It’s possible to switch from a personal account to a business account, but not vice versa.
Personal account
Best suited for individuals who are not selling through a registered business.
Choose it if you are a casual seller, a hobbyist, or a novice entrepreneur.
Business account
Best suited for registered business entities or sole proprietors.
You’ll need to provide your business name, type, address, the names of beneficial owners, directors, etc.
Want a detailed text instruction with screenshots?
You’ll find it here: How to register as a seller on eBay: step-by-step guide.
Step 2. List your items
What format is right for your listing?
Fixed price listing
There is no bidding, only the Buy It Now price. Anyone can purchase your item right away.
If you add a Best Offer option, buyers can send price offers to you, and you decide whether to accept.
Auction listings
Auctions are great for rare and unique items. You set a starting price, and interested buyers compete for your lot. When the auction is over, the lot goes to the highest bidder.
It’s also possible to add a Buy It Now price to an auction.
Checklist for an effective listing
An effective listing is more visible in the search results. It attracts buyers’ attention and motivates them to make the purchase decision. Here’s what it looks like:
✓ A clear, concise, and informative listing title
✓ A correct item category
✓ Quality photos from all angles
✓ An item video to showcase benefits and unique features
✓ A complete and accurate description
✓ Relevant product identifiers (GTIN, UPC/EAN, ISBN, MPN)
✓ Correct item specifics (brand, size, type, color, etc.)
✓ Competitive price
Get more listing optimization tips.
Pricing tips
If you aren’t sure what your item is worth, here’s what you can do:
- Use eBay’s Advanced Search to find completed listings with similar items
- Go to the Research tab in Seller Hub and use the Product Research feature for pricing insights
- Use eBay app image search — a camera icon in the search bar
- Do the general web search to see the prices across the Internet
- Read about the best practices for Auction-style listings.
✓ Check our comprehensive guide on how to create a listing.
Some goods aren’t allowed on eBay. Please check the list of prohibited and restricted items.
Step 3. Get paid
To get paid for items sold on eBay, you need to link a bank account or a Payoneer account to eBay. You’ll also be asked to add a credit or debit card, which will be used to cover your selling costs when the proceeds from your sales are insufficient.
You can find more details on Payoneer in the seller registration guide.
Selling costs
On eBay, there are two basic types of fees:
- Insertion fees (pre-sale)
You have a monthly allowance of Zero insertion fee listings — usually 250 items per month or more if you have a Store subscription. If you exceed that limit, a $0.35 insertion fee* applies to each listing. There are category exclusions.
- Final value fees (post-sale)
When your item sells, eBay deducts a portion of the sale as a final value fee*. It ranges from 2.5% to 15.3% depending on the category plus a per order fee ($0.30 or $0.40 depending on the order cost).
Other fees are deducted only if you activate paid features. For example, optional listing upgrades require extra fees but can boost your sales.
Learn more: Selling fees for eBay sellers
*The fees on this page only apply to listings on ebay.com. If you list an item on another eBay site (for example, ebay.com.au or ebay.co.uk), the fees for that site will apply. Please check the article for more information.Step 4. Ship orders
For more detailed information on shipping, please read the article Setting up your shipping options: the step-by-step guide.
Manage your business with Seller Hub
Seller Hub offers a variety of tools for you to track your listings and orders, analyze your business performance, and identify opportunities for growth.
There are several tabs that keep all the relevant information close at hand: Orders, Listings, Marketing, Advertising, Store, Performance, Payment, Research, and Reports. Start using Seller Hub and manage your eBay business with ease!
Create clear and accurate listings with quality photos
Respond to queries promptly and politely
Set up transparent policies to prevent misunderstanding
Observe your handling time and upload tracking information
Do your best to resolve customer issues
Describe item condition correctly and highlight flaws if there are any
Monitor your performance
eBay constantly evaluates your seller performance and service metrics. If your Item Not Received rate or Bad Buyer Experience rate are too high, your eBay account may be restricted.
There are three seller levels, and every month you’re assigned one of them:
Top Rated
Your seller performance is exceeding expectations and you are awarded with exclusive benefits.
Above Standard
You’re meeting eBay’s expectations. Everything’s OK!
Below Standard
Your performance is too low to meet the platform’s minimum standards. Your account may be restricted.
Grow your business on eBay
There are multiple opportunities for growth on eBay. Set your business goals and then develop a plan to meet them (7:41)
Promote your listings
The Promoted Listings tool helps you put your items in front of interested buyers. Reach a wider audience and drive more sales!
Put your items on social media
Seller Hub’s Social page allows you to link social media accounts to your eBay account and generate content for multiple social platforms right from eBay.
Go global with eBaymag
eBaymag is a free tool for reaching buyers on international eBay sites: ebay.co.uk, ebay.de, ebay.fr, and others. eBaymag can automatically translate your listings into the corresponding language and convert the price to the local currency
Open your own eBay Store
With an eBay Store subscription you’ll be able to build your own brand, save up to 50% on selling fees, boost your sales with exclusive tools, and more.
Legal requirements
When selling globally, you need to comply with legislation in both your country and those of your buyers. Check these regulations and policies if you want to ship orders to the European Union and the United Kingdom.
