What Should I Sell on eBay? How Important Is eBay to the UK Market?
eBay was founded in 1995 and is the second most used marketplace in the UK. Millions of people use eBay every day to sell items, shop or bid at auctions.
eBay is the only marketplace in the UK that can compete with Amazon and survive. With around ⅔ of Amazon’s monthly visitors, eBay has a strong presence in the UK compared to the US.
The 10 most used marketplaces in the UK;
In the image below you can see eBay’s net annual revenue in the UK from 2013 to 2020.
Advantages of eBay?
- It has a large audience
- A wide variety of items can be sold on eBay
- When you make a sale, you can direct your customers to your website and encourage them to buy directly.
Disadvantages of eBay?
- There is no control over mandatory rules such as return policies.
- Customer service, refunds, etc. must follow eBay’s guidelines for
- Seller fees
- There is a lot of competition in certain niches.
What are eBay Fees(Commission)?
eBay fees usually start when you make a sale, and you pay 10% of the total sale price. And you can list up to 1,000 products for free.
How Much Tax Do You Pay in the UK When You Sell on eBay?
The tax you pay when you start selling on eBay depends on how much profit you make. If your profit on your eBay sale is £1,000 or less per year, you are exempt from tax because you do not have a full-time income.
You do not pay income tax if your personal income is £12,570 per year or less. If your annual income is less than £85.00, you do not pay VAT. (we will discuss detailed information about tax situations in my next article)
Top 10 Product Categories on eBay in 2021/22
In the image below, you can see the 10 best-selling product categories.
(Image courtesy of wholesaleclearance UK)
- In the fashion category, fabrics are at the forefront with a total of 11,601,301 products sold.
- DVDs with the total number of products sold in the media category
- In the fashion category, women’s clothing, watches, and men’s t-shirts are the best-selling products after fabrics.
- Bicycles in the Sports category, Tables in the Home and Garden category,
- The ranking continues as Coins, Phone Cases, and Hand Sanitizers.
Well, 6 Tips That Can Increase Your Sales On eBay
- List new products every day. The more products you list, the more your sales will increase.
- Use advertising campaigns on eBay.
- Use keywords.
- Send your products with fast and free shipping.
- Get Top Rated Seller status on eBay.
- Use the markdown manager tool on eBay to increase your sales. (I offer 6 suggestions for now. But I will share a special article for this later.)
If you want to get more information about eBay Consulting and the UK market, you can contact us.