Are YOU a First-Time Ebay Seller? Sell Items Now And Score a FREE $50 Ebay.com Coupon!

Hip2Save may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you via trusted partners and affiliate links in this post. Prices and availability are accurate as of time posted. Read our full disclosure policy here.


Calling all first-time Ebay sellers! Head over here, click on the activate offer button, create a qualifying listing(s) on Ebay by June 30th AND complete one or more sales totaling at least $25 by July 7th and you will be eligible to earn a $50 eBay coupon! Use this coupon to purchase whatever you’d like on Ebay.com!

Join The Discussion

Comments 29

  1. Kristen

    I’ve been selling on eBay for over 10 years. I do NOT recommend it. Ebay takes a lot in fees but more than that there is NO seller protection. Buyers can make up anything to steal from you. If they don’t like the item simply because they changed their mind, they can say you lied and PayPal puts your money on hold. I quit using ebay and went to Mercari. No fees plus buyers can’t take advantage of sellers like on eBay!!

    • Jennifer

      I agree, Kristen. I used to love eBay back in the day, but it’s definitely gotten pretty shady in the recent years. I will buy on occasion, but I no longer sell.

      • Kristen

        I sold a vera Bradley lot and said it was used and worn out, selling as is with no returns. Buyer sends me a lonnnngg message about how they should be burned. I called ebay to explain how she just didn’t like them and they agreed so released the money. Next day I see her reselling it saying “like new, great condition.” Simply just trying to lie and steal from me.

        • Carla

          eeewww! That’s so bad! Taking advantage of someone is a no no! That buyer would sure get Much deserved karma!

    • SK

      I agree! When I was in college I sold a gift card on eBay and the buyer filed a claim against me but because at the time I didn’t get a tracking number (my fault) but I had a receipt of me sending the gift card to her zip code. And they refunded her back. All her stores are all VS items and my gift card was a vs card. Well I hope karma will get her for scamming inexperience sellers. So biggest tip always get tracking number! (I even shipper priority mail with free tracking but for something the mail person didn’t give me the tracking smh cost me $400)

    • sky

      Purchasing can be fun but selling an item is challenging especially when you have to work with “not so good buyers”.

    • Nandry

      I’ve been selling on eBay since I was 12. Yes it is VERY difficult with all the new changes, but it is doable. Fees total around 10% off your sales. But, I have come to love selling there as my only source of income. I even have a blog all about selling on eBay. If you watch your P’s and Q’s everything will go smoothly. I’ve never had a problem that hasn’t been quickly resolved on eBay! 🙂

      • LaShawn

        Nandry,

        I am interested in selling on Ebay. Can you email me your blog information? Thanks!

        deja1913@hotmail.com

        LaShawn

    • sangi

      Lol. I sold shipping labels. And the buyer disputed it with Ebay saying its not as described. I questioned it since I’ve been selling them for a long time, and never had any complaints.. This guy went on to say its getting in stuck in the printer & threatened he would ask his friends to buy from me and leave negative feedback.. I eventually agreed and asked him to return the item, which he did’nt claiming that all of them crumbled in the printer and so the case closed in my favor.

      All along I tried raising the issue with Ebay, and they sided with the buyer in the guise of buyer protection plan

    • dustingoodson

      I have found that the best way to make money on eBay is to upgrade to a storefront. Even the most basic store allows up to 150 fee-free listings per month. It’s only $19.95 per month, at the monthly rate, with a discount if you buy the year up front.

  2. Heatherr

    I sell on ebay and have been feeling like they are taking too many fees. I have never heard of Mercari. I will have to check it out. And I agree with you on the disputes. I had sold a bunch of things the past month and I had three people try to tell me that things were missing/damaged which I know was not true. But what did I have to do? I had to refund part of their money so that I was not screwed out of it all and/or negative feedback.

    • 😉

      I know my husband sold our brand new ps4 and as soon as it was received the person was complaining about it being messed up when we had just used it fine days before!! Luckily we had purchased a warranty when we bought the ps so we told them to take it up with the warranty and they didn’t do anything else but it definitely left a sour taste in mouth for eBay as well

  3. michelle

    The reviews for Mercari don’t sound so hot. Sounds like they have poor customer service.

    • Kristen

      I just started using it, and Poshmark. Both are fairly new to me but I’ve had excellent experiences. 100x better than ebay!

  4. Ashley57

    Wonder why they are looking for new sellers – I want a $50 GC for all the items I sell with them!

    • Laura

      Me too!!

    • iamoved22

      Probably because so many sellers have left due to all their policy changes. I still sell (and yea it would be nice to get a “you’ve been selling here for 14 years” GC) but I am very careful and have learned how to get a successful outcome. I’ve had buyers purchase things, break them and then return and get their money back. It can be really frustrating.

  5. Jen

    Yea I try to sell only low value things now that I don’t really care if someone tries to scam me out of ( kids clothing, etc) I’ve had a few people claim they received damaged goods, etc but since most if my items are only a few dollars it only happens once in a blue moon

  6. jen

    if you start selling on ebay, use common sense and treat everyone like they’re out to get you! i hate being negative like that but ebay has turned from a fun thing to do, to a nightmare. the fees are absolutely crazy now. there’s basically no way for you to help yourself if someone claims you were late or made a mistake. i sold for 14 years and then had someone claim and item didn’t show yet and bam! selling rights are gone. I have lost my right to sell on ebay. I had 100% feedback for almost 15 years, around 8000 feedback!!! even buying sucks. i ordered some sheet protectors last week and just recived them today. both 50 packs. i went to open them and though, hmm this ones really light. here there was only 10 in the pack!! i went to figure out what happened. here’s the title Avery Multi Page Top Loading Sheet Protector – 50 Sheet Capacity – Letter 8.50
    I thought I was getting a 50 pack! So I thought it was my bad. But it was kinda crooked to leave the quality out but add the 50 sheet capacity. If you look on ebay, alot of these are sold in lots of 50. Then it caught my eye on the package that it doesn’t say 50 sheet capacity, its 75 sheet capacity. That made me think even more that the 50 sheet capacity was put there in hopes of misleading people. I messaged them to see how we can work this out but i have a feeling it won’t go well. so be careful!! dont give people the benefit of the doubt bc i guarantee you they won’t do it for you!

  7. Brianna

    My experience is mixed. I have been selling and buying since 2006. I have paid for items that I never received and the seller closes their account right after “shipping” the item. I have sold items, but on average for every 10 items I list and sell I get 2 non-paying buyers and find myself going through loopholes to get my fees credited back. So, 80% of the time things go smoothly. The number of non-paying bidders has increased over the years and they have changed a lot of policies, so items I use to sell are no longer allowed to be sold. The bids don’t go as high on items like they use to either, I don’t know if it is because people are going to other marketplaces for them (like Threadup, Moxie Jean, or Schoola for used kids clothes). We are a single-income household and it use to supplement us nicely every month, but now not so much. I still sell and buy on eBay, but I consign at stores and auction houses now too with similar fees and less hassle.

  8. deb

    I have sold & bought on ebay for 9 years and have not been happy with them for the last 2 years they hold my money now when I sell because they say I’ve had three people complain. this is the second time they have done this to me last time made me wait 8 months before they changed it to no hold on my money. To me they are all for the buyers not the sellers ! I’ve gotten a email saying ebay and pay pal will not longer be together so I’m just waiting to see how that’s going to work out, if they can’t hold my pay pal money I might keep selling on there. For now I just sell few things on ebay and a lot of my other things on my local face book yard sale pages and no fees or shipping and get money right then which is great for me using those yard sale pages. I will also check out Mercari that another person mentioned.

  9. Brenda

    Have things gotten that bad on EBay? I sold items several years ago and received excellent feedback from the buyers and had repeat customers. I was thinking this morning of giving it a try again but maybe not after reading these comments.

    • Kristen

      It’s all luck of the draw but people have found out how to scam the system and unfortunately it happens a lot now. And ebay doesn’t do anything about it.

      • iamoved22

        With all the new policy changes it is even easier for buyers to pull scams, they are allowed to return (regardless if you accept returns eBay now forces all sellers to take returns) and there is no recourse for sellers with bad buyers. eBay’s opinion on any issue is that the buyer fulfills their commitment to the transaction by paying, if they don’t pay do they get a “strike” (and it seems buyers can get MANY before any action is taken against their account or they just close the account and open a new one), any other issue is held against the seller as their responsibility and with the new “defect” policy some sellers are having major issues since things that were not held against a sellers account (like cancelling a transaction) are now hurting us. I have a few issues a year generally around the holidays when emotions are high. I don’t care for the messages coming through with name calling or people being unnecessarily upset, I’m here to help but I can’t if a person can’t be reasonable or even calm. A lot of times I think people in general forget that there is a person not a computer on the other end of their message.

  10. Gail

    I have been selling on eBay for many years as well, and while it may not be the eBay it once was, this is a great deal for a new seller. Even if you only sell the one item, you have made a great “profit” with the $50 gift card! The biggest thing is, if you are a new seller, PayPal will more than likely hold the funds from your sale, until tracking shows that the item you shipped was received by the buyer. Make sure to not sell anything you can’t afford to lose, and don’t forget to upload that tracking number into eBay! There are so many more things that I could get into, but I won’t. Check out the forums, and read Read READ! Good luck to those of you who decide to try it! 🙂

  11. sarah

    I agree selling has became a nightname. People are out to get you. They will lie and cheat and pick on the tiniest of things. EBay has set it up not in the favor of the seller with the fees and hassle of disputing claims. The little low value things are just as bad cause with shipping and low costs and all the fees it’s hard to make much. And you can’t have too much in your stuff if you’re looking to make some money.

  12. Serena

    I like selling on eBay. You don’t make tons but it’s better than trashing it or getting pennies taking it elsewhere.

  13. sarah

    I sold make up one time. They opened it used it and blamed me and said I opened the seal. It was clearly less powder in the container after I got it back. It was a no win for me. How you dispute that…even though I had pictures before and after…her word against mine. Ha.

  14. Lindsay

    I have been selling/buying things on eBay since 2001, and have never had a problem with them. I’ve sold to many things to count, and out of a couple thousand things I’ve sold I’ve had one negative feedback.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

It's not your Grandma's coupon site!

Sign up for a Hip2Save account (it's free) to access all of the awesome features!

Forgot Password?

Don't have an account? Register

Forgot Password

Don't have an account? Register

Become a Hip2Save Insider

Don't Miss Out! Join our large community of insiders - it's totally free! Once you join, you'll be able to save & share your favorite deals, rate posts and recipes and add items to your HipList and Cookbook! What are ya waiting for?!



Already have an account? Login

Thank you for rating!

Would you also like to leave us a comment?