A Step by Step Guide to Selling on eBay, From an Expert

Justin Novello is a member of the VaynerX family, operating on Team Gary as the Community and Relationships Manager. He also happens to be an expert eBay flipper, having joined Gary for years on his yard sale tromps. Here, he shares with ONE37pm his six steps to selling for profit.

The internet has created so many ridiculous arbitrage opportunities. Selling on eBay is just one of them. If you pick stuff up for free on Craigslist, list on a site like eBay and sell it, you can make an extra few hundred bucks a week.

If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on Instagram at @JustinNovello.

I get a ton of emails, DMs and questions from people asking what specific products they should flip. People want to know what stuff sells, what stuff doesn’t and how they can make the most money possible by selecting the right products. 

My honest answer is that almost everything sells. You can make money selling mugs, tee shirts or just about anything else. The only caveat is that you need to do your homework and research. There are always nuances—for example, a specific style of Matchbox cars might sell more quickly and for a higher price than others. A specific type of action figure might sell for two to three times the price of the others.

Navigate to the “free” section on Craigslist on the homepage. The free things you get there are usually big items that people want to get rid of, so you can either list it for local pick up only or charge extra for shipping.

If you want to see what a product is currently worth on the internet market, start by searching the name of the item in a simple eBay search. For example, you could search something like “Hulk Hogan action figure.” Once the results are displaying, scroll down and click on the “Sold Items” section. 

Insider tip: When you select “Sold Items”, eBay will sometimes automatically check the “Completed Items” box—meaning the auctions that have already ended for that search. To only see items that have actually been purchased, uncheck the box. You can also investigate previous purchase patterns here. 

In the “Sold Listings” results, you can sort by price to see what products are selling for. In our example, if you had searched for Hulk Hogan action figures, you’ll see there are a bunch of vintage ones that are selling for nearly $1,000. You can apply this method to products you find at thrift stores, garage sales or sites like Alibaba.

When you’re listing your item, start by describing what you’re selling, choosing whether to use the “auction” or fixed price format. Then, pick your shipping preferences, a return policy, and how you want to get paid. 

Once it’s sold, you have to give it to the person who bought it. You can either ship it to them if they paid extra for shipping, drop it off or have them come pick it up from you. 

If you do these steps, you have the potential to make extra money every week by flipping on eBay.