As a brand owner, you’ll have heard of eBay for sure. With approximately 18 million buyers worldwide, eBay is one of the biggest global commerce platforms. It follows that eBay is the ideal platform for brand owners that aim to sell their products, whether in their own country or abroad.
Do you already sell on platforms like Amazon and want to start selling on eBay? Or are you already selling on eBay and would like to improve your sales? In this blog, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about selling and advertising on eBay.
- Selling and advertising on eBay
- Registering VAT for EU sellers
- eBay’s responsibility for VAT on goods for EU and UK buyers
- How to successfully sell on eBay abroad
- How to make the most out of your listing stage
- Basic/passive international selling
- Advanced/active international selling
To register your business on eBay, whatever you sell, go to the eBay homepage. Click the “register” link, followed by the “start a business account” link on the “Get started with eBay” page. It is recommended to use the eBay website of your own country. If no local eBay website is available, use the nearest website. In any case, during the registration process, it is important to use your company details as mentioned on your company registration documents.
Follow the steps that eBay guides you through to complete your registration. Good to know: to be a seller on eBay, an automatic payment method is required. Select the method you prefer to use to pay all fees that you incur as a seller. Many payment methods are available. eBay consolidates payments from your buyers into your eBay account. After selecting the payout setting for your account, the proceeds from your sales will automatically be transferred to your bank account. The currency in which you receive your proceeds is based on your locality. One exception is that if you are registered in Switzerland, you can choose to receive payouts in Euros or Swiss Francs.
If you already sell products in your own country, and you want to extend your business abroad, you can use your current eBay account. In other words: it is not necessary to open accounts on multiple eBay websites.
As a seller, you can choose between several different shop subscriptions eBay offers. By paying a monthly subscription fee, as a brand owner you receive bundles of free insertions. Next to that, you get access to a range of seller tools that help you manage your business. You can choose between different levels of shop subscriptions, which also vary by registration website. Are you going to sell abroad? Check the store packages on the site you registered on and choose one of the relevant store tiers that include an allowance of international insertions. Of course, the level you select is dependent on the volume of listings that you are planning.
Wherever you sell your products, it is important to be conscious of the possible impact of laws, regulations and policies and how they vary from country to country. You must be informed about these rules when selling to a market and be sure that you comply with them. Don’t hesitate to consult a legal and/or tax advisor if you’re not certain.
If not otherwise indicated sellers are responsible for paying taxes associated with using eBay in accordance with all applicable laws. Click here to read more about eBay’s tax policy, including taxes on fees and bought and sold items. If you sell goods in any EU country or in the UK, you might be obliged to register for Value Added Tax (VAT), as well as to collect VAT on your sales. Sellers who are not VAT registered are not allowed to collect VAT from their buyers. As with any laws or regulations, the rules about VAT vary for each country. Again, seek the support of a professional if you need guidance.
Are you an EU-established seller that delivers within the EU and to Northern Ireland? If you sell on eBay and other platforms for an amount that exceeds a total of € 10,000 per year, cross-border and within the EU, you may either register and declare VAT using the One Stop Shop Scheme or register for VAT in each country to which you ship goods. Domestic sales are excluded.
Sometimes, eBay is responsible for the VAT on goods that are delivered to EU or UK buyers. In these cases, you as a seller do not need to collect VAT from your buyers, as eBay will do that itself. The following conditions should be fulfilled: (i) the buyer is a consumer buyer, and (ii) goods are imported into the EU with a parcel value of up to € 150, or goods of any value sold by a non-EU seller and shipped from inventory stored in the EU. Goods shipped between the EU and Northern Ireland are not considered imports and exports for VAT purposes.
If you want to sell products abroad, we advise you to do your own research on demand conditions in the markets you are aiming for. By doing so, you’ll select the right market for your inventory and improve your return on investment for your exports, whether you sell consumer electronics, beauty products, sports items, consumable products or anything else. To support you in making the right choices, eBay provides a useful tool called “Terapeak product research”. This tool helps you to find the best opportunities in international markets. Would you like to know more? Check this video or immediately access Terapeak product research here. Please note that the Terapeak is only available on Ebay's larger platforms such as the UK en DE marketplaces.
If you use eBay’s listing tools you can increase the visibility of your domestic listings for international buyers by adding international shipping options (basic listing). Alternatively, you can go directly to the preferred international eBay website and use your existing eBay credentials to log in (active listing). The advantage of an active listing is that you can list your items directly on the local eBay website, both in the local language and currency.
If you choose a basic listing for international selling, your existing listing in international markets may be sufficient. With advanced international selling, you can generate fully localised new listings for target markets.
Signing up for a shipping intermediation program like the Global Shipping Program (available in the UK and the US only) or eBay international Shipping program helps you spend the least effort when selling internationally. These programs effectively generate automatic passive listings for you as a seller. As a consequence, exporting is very easy.
If you choose basic international selling (using Shipping rate tables), your items will be shown on eBay’s international website. eBay will automatically localise the content for the buyer in their specific market. eBay translates the title and description of your item into supported languages on regional websites, for example, translation into German on the German website.
eBay will also provide estimated local currency prices for buyers. Furthermore, eBay will sometimes offer the buyer the option to pay in their local currency, without any cost for the seller. Note: eBay keeps expanding the number of countries where translated localised versions of your listings are provided.
If you’re aiming to generate fully localised items with high visibility, you may choose advanced international selling options. Advanced international selling is the most professional way to sell your products in any local language. Moreover, your items are sold directly on eBay’s fifteen biggest websites.
The most important advantages of advanced international selling are (i) the opportunity to create separate listings for each eBay website; (ii) the possibility to tailor your pricing in order to suit it to each market; (iii) higher visibility and ranking in search results on each local website; (iv) the translation opportunities, which will attract more buyers; and (v) the fact that you only pay the applicable selling fees that apply to that particular country.
Are you interested in this active listing method? The three main options are the European Sales Booster program with Webinterpret, eBaymag, and seller-generated content. Each has its own pros and cons.
Webinterpret is a free program that uses a proprietary algorithm to select the fifty percent of your items that have the best chance of selling. As long as you provide shipping to a few countries, your items will be localised, optimised and listed on those particular websites (US, UK, AU, DE, FR, IT, and ES). Also, the program translates categories, item specifics, descriptions and titles. As well as that, when you make a sale in any market, stock levels are synchronised automatically across all websites to avoid overselling.
eBaymag is a free eBay platform that is built to help you create and manage your items on international eBay websites. It imports your existing listings and uses mainstream translation engines like Google Translate to generate and list international versions. As with Webinterpret, when you make a sale on your item in any market, stock levels are adjusted automatically to avoid overselling.
Of course, you can also use your existing account information to log in to the international eBay websites and generate listings that are tailored to the needs of your target markets. You can also use seller marketing tools like free shipping to increase your chances of selling.
…or just give it a try. Selling on eBay can be as simple or as complex as you like. Make sure to check the eBay website, where you’ll find more information about selling opportunities and tips and tricks for increasing your sales. You can also visit our marketplace page or reach out to us directly if you want to learn more about how you can succeed on eBay.