How to successfully sell your iPhone on eBay

Being a great eBay seller covers lots of different criteria. From making sure you create and post great informative listings to keeping in contact with your customers, you need to be attentive and pay attention from the moment you list the item you have for sale, all the way up until you receive positive feedback saying your buyer received the item on time.

We’ll use the iPhone in this article as our example sale item. To start, you need to get all of your information ready for your listing. Make sure you have the specifications ready, as phones vary greatly from model to model. The box that iPhone came in should list all the crucial information and you need to make sure you copy that into your listing accurately. You need to be specific in your title especially as that is the initial point of sale for your prospective buyers. For example; iPhone 5 16GB White, Unlocked with all accessories.

You need to ensure you prepare your phone to be sold; you don’t want someone turning on your old phone and having access to your contacts as well as being automatically logged in to any apps, such as Facebook or even your banking account!

Before you go ahead and reset your iPhone to factory settings, you should make sure that you have transferred any files, including photos and music onto your computer. You can read up on how to backup your phone if you’re unsure. It is a simple process and will mean you can go ahead and wipe your phone once your files are all stored safely on your computer.

Before you set an asking price on your listing, whether that is a ‘Reserve’ price or a ‘Buy It Now’ price, you should have a look on eBay and see what other people are listing their items at. Aim to set the starting prices as low as possible to attract more interest and to set your listing apart.

Lets say you choose to list your phone as a weeklong Auction, you may think you can just leave it to do its thing and check back in 4 or 5 days, however this isn’t the case. You may be messaged directly through eBay by people interested in buying your item, and if you don’t respond quickly enough you may lose out on someone who could bump up the bid. Keep an eye on your auction and ‘Messages’ section within eBay and aim to be checking active listings at least twice a day. Leaving a question or query unanswered for over 24 hours doesn’t give the right impression of a dedicated and trustworthy seller. If you’re on the move all day, or can’t access your computer – think about getting the mobile application.

Sending your item is also another thing you need to make sure you don’t scrimp on. iPhones are expensive and due to the nature of their screens are also easily broken (speaking from personal experience). The worst thing that could happen is you send your phone to your buyer in the wrong kind of packaging and you don’t insure it. Then it’s your word against theirs that it ever got there. Make sure you consider some protective packaging and send the item Recorded so you know that your item arrives where it should and there is record of that. Recorded types of delivery also offer insurance in case there is any damage done to the item in transit.

Following these basic tips will not only protect you as a seller, but make sure you have a satisfied buyer and build up your positive feedback score. For further help on eBay and how it works you can check out its policies on the sites community pages.

This article was written by Ericka Bergeson. In between being a busy mum of two baby boys and managing her blogging, Erica loves all things marketing, hot chocolates with marshmallows and evening walks with her slightly overweight pug, Max. She can be found blogging at Business Winners.