OnSaleToday Help | How To Sell Online OnSaleToday

Step 2: Before You Sell on OnSaleToday

Naturally you want to create your listing right away, but there are a few key things to consider before doing so. Looking at these 5 steps first can save you time and money.

Establish a Good Reputation on OnSaleToday

Buyers are less likely to buy from sellers with no OnSaleToday history.

You will get positive or negative feedback on your OnSaleToday transactions, both buying and selling.

Having a higher member level (A or B) makes you eligible for listing discounts and better listing placements, both of which can make a big difference to your bottom line.

You can start creating a positive OnSaleToday history by purchasing items from other sellers and paying promptly and selling small items that you describe accurately and ship promptly.

Buyers often pay higher prices to sellers with more positive feedback.

Establish a reputation as a reliable OnSaleToday seller before offering a high-value item. Most OnSaleToday members will be reluctant to offer a high bid to an untested seller.

Check What Can't You Sell on OnSaleToday

Review OnSaleToday's list of prohibited and restricted items to learn what you cannot sell on OnSaleToday. You don't want to set up an OnSaleToday listing only to learn that your item is prohibited or restricted.

Research the Price of Your Item

Before you go to list your item, you should check what similar items have sold for. You may not want to sell your prized Spider-Man action figure if others have only sold for R40.

To find sale prices for earlier auctions on OnSaleToday, enter the name of the item you're planning to sell in OnSaleToday's search box and sort by "Closed Items"

You can also Sort the results by lowest price. This lets you approximate the going rate on OnSaleToday for similar items.

Also check other South African online auction sites to see what their prices are. If the prices you see are lower than what you want to accept, perhaps because there are multiple similar products selling, consider holding off on selling the item or reducing your price.

If your item is seasonal, you may want to create a listing when it is most in demand. For example, baseball merchandise sells for more during the season and coats fetch higher prices during cold weather.

Also consider what it will cost to post your item. A large item, like a chair may cost so much in shipping that you get fewer auction bids.

Take Photos of your Item

Take clear, well-lit photos:

Every item you list on OnSaleToday should have photos to attract, and inform, potential buyers.

Basic items, like CDs and DVDs, may only need one photo.

Most of the time you should take multiple shots of your item, from different angles and showing different sides.

Show any flaws, dings, or dents in your items; do not angle your photos to hide them.

Make your photos as clear and well-lit as you possibly can.

Clean your item before photographing it.

Only have one item in your photograph, unless the items are all selling together.
You do not want to confuse potential buyers.

Try to shoot your photos in a bright area, preferably in natural light.
A blurry, shadowy photo takes time for you to upload, but does not help any potential buyer with useful information.

If you are unsure how to stage the photos, look at similar items already listed on OnSaleToday. Emulate the style and framing of the photos that are most appealing to you.

OnSaleToday recommends uploading photos that are 1024 x 768 pixels (27 x 20.3cm). Your photos will be re-sized to the standard 400 x 300 pixels (10.5 x 8cm), so you can re-size them yourself before uploading them to see how well your item is represented.
You can re-size a photo with the program Photoshop, with an online service like Snipshot, or with any other image re-sizing tool.
It's also good to sharpen your photo. This can be done with the adjust menu on Snipshot, or by accessing the sharpen submenu of the filter menu in Photoshop.

Save your photo as a JPEG (.jpg). This will maintain photo quality after it's on OnSaleToday.
Photos uploaded may not exceed 100KB, however, you can add unlimited photos, unlimited sizes to your Long Item Description by copying and pasting, or linking a photo. Read more about How to Add Images into your Full Item Description.

Duration of Your Listing

You also want to think about the best time for your auction to start (and therefore end). You can choose the number of days your listing will be on OnSaleToday.

The highest bids often come in during an auction's final moments, so you do not want your auction to end when most people are asleep.

People disagree over the best time to end an auction. Some feel weekend mornings are the best end times, but remember that many people go out during the day and leave their computers.

Sometimes ending an auction during peak hours is less likely to result in a sale, because the market is crowded with too many auctions.

To pick an optimal end time, consider what you are selling:

Laptop, Computers: end the auction at night, when most people are not at work.

Video Games, PC Games, Movies: end the auction in the afternoon, when kids are out of school.

Also think about where your primary market is. You can experiment with different auction end times and see what works best for you.

Step 3: Create a Listing

To sell your item on OnSaleToday, you need to create a listing. You're going to create a great listing that attracts potential buyers. Listings are absoultely free! Follow these 8 great tips on how to create attractive listings that sell:

Getting Started
On any OnSaleToday page, click on the "My Desk" icon

Click on "My Sale Items" to get started.

Hit the "Create Item" button

Enter Your Listing Title

Make sure to accurately and honestly describe what you're selling.
Type in the name or heading of your item and click "Create".

Enter a listing title that accurately describes what you are selling.

Put yourself in the buyer's position: what search term would you use to find this item? That's your title!

Stuck for ideas? Search the completed listings again for similar items. The keywords that appear in high-selling items are good ones to include in your own listing.

When you write the title for your listing, make sure it's spelled correctly: you don't want buyers to miss it!

Misspelled items receive lower sale prices because fewer people see the listing.

Choose Your Category
Think carefully about the category you place your listing in; buyers often shop by category, so if your listing is in the wrong category, fewer people will see it.
Check if there is a less-crowded category where your listing still fits but will stand out more.

When you find the proper category, click "Save and Continue."

Upload Photos of Your Item

Now it's time to upload the photo(s) of your item. Remember that the most important thing is to upload great, clear, well-lit photos
Photos are very important on OnSaleToday; buyers want to see what they might get!
Check the previous step for more tips on creating great photos.

The picture that you upload in Main Photo will be the picture that will appear in your listing thumbnail.
Click "Browse" to upload your photo(s) from your PC.
Photos that you upload may not exceed 100KB, however, you can add unlimited photos and unlimited sizes to your Long Item Description by copying and pasting a photo, or linking a photo.

Add photos and images to your Item Description:

All you need to do is firstly upload your item photos on an image hosting site - You can use a free image hosting service like ImageHosting.com, or TinyPic. Once you have your images uploaded, copy the "Direct URL Link" into the URL box (see picture below) in Full Item Description, and hit the "submit query" button.

You may even add animated *.gif files, *.png files, or *.bmp files to spice up your listing. See sample below.

Write Your Item Description

Take time to write a clear description of your item. Be honest in your description. You do not want to be penalized with negative feedback for faulty information.

"Excellent condition" can mean many things to different people. If there are problems or flaws with your item, be forthright about them. This will help you avoid any disputes after the sale.

If you have a rare item, give sources and background to explain how it is genuine; certificates of authenticity are too easily duplicated by unscrupulous sellers and therefore do not suffice.

Remember, you want the winning bidder to feel they got the exact item they were expecting from your description!

For Short Description - Enter brief summary of the item

You might want to add the key features of your item in the Short Description as this will appear in the search results as well.

For Long Description - Enter detail description of the item, as well as images.

Do not write an overlong description, however, as it is more likely to turn buyers off. Just write a clear and concise description, without typos. Here is a good example of a long item description:

Choose a Selling Format & Selling Price for Your Listing

Most OnSaleToday listings are auctions in which you accept bids for your item during a set length of time. The highest bidder when the auction ends wins the item.
You can vary the auction format, or bypass auctions altogether, with the following option:
Buy It Now - (Fixed Price Item)
A Buy It Now listing is a non-auction selling format, wherein your item shows up in categories and searches, but the only purchase option is the fixed Buy It Now price.

Buy It Now Format

Buy It Now sets a price at which the listing ends and the item is sold. You can create a Buy It Now price buy entering your price in the Selling or Reserved Box (and leave starting bid / bid increments blank).

Buy It Now can be a great option if you want to sell your item right away.

Some sellers feel that the Buy It Now price is often lower than what a bidding war can generate.

Auction Format

Set a low starting bid for your auction. It will attract more bids and buyers flock to auctions with more bids.

Set a low starting bid that is reasonable. You do not want to discourage buyers by making them think your item is of low quality or that the price is too good to be true.

Be prepared; either set a reserve price or be prepared to sell your item at the low initial price in case more bidders do not arrive.

The one exception for the low starting price rule is if you are selling an idiosyncratic item that will not generate much general interest.

If you have many of the same type of item to sell, spacing out auctions instead of selling the items right after each other will get you a higher price.

Reserve Prices:

A reserve price lets you set a minimum amount that you are willing to sell your item for.
For example, you want to sell a painting on OnSaleToday. You set the opening price at R1, and the reserve at R40. If the highest bid is R30, no one wins the auction.
Keep in mind that buyers avoid auctions with secret reserve prices, although auctions for higher-priced items (over the R250 - R500 range) may benefit from a reserve price.

Enter Duration of Your Listing
You can choose the number of days your listing will be available.
Research has shown that longer auctions generate higher prices. If you have the time to wait, 15-day auctions receive 42% higher prices on average.

Enter Your Postage/Courier Costs

It is not necessary to offer multiple means of transport or insurance, but it can be an easy way to attract more bidders.
For example, you can offer:
Speedservices/Overnight, Econo Parcel, or delivery via courier.

If you want to offer different methods, clearly describe how long each method will take. It can also help buyers if you explain how often you mail packages. For example, if you can realistically only get to the post office on Saturday, state that you despatch packages once a week.
Set Your Postage Price

Buyers are more attracted to low-cost items, higher-postage priced auctions than to higher-priced, free shipping ones.
OnSaleToday does prohibit excessive shipping fees, and may remove your listing or downgrade your status if members complain that your shipping charges are too high.

OnSaleToday allows you to charge:

Actual shipping cost

Handling charge

Don't have shipping fees that are much higher than your competitors or you risk losing bids.

Step 4: How to Behave on OnSaleToday

Now that your listing is on OnSaleToday, make sure to follow the rules and etiquette of the site, so you have a successful auction.

Be available if buyers have questions.

In addition to only listing items which are allowed by OnSaleToday, you want to follow OnSaleToday's policies and regulations.
An overview is available here. Key rules include:

Do not bid on your own items, or have friends or family bid for you.

Do not advertise items for sale outside of OnSaleToday.

Honor all sales contracts.

Be available to answer questions. You do not want a buyer to lose interest because you do not answer an email for two days.

Use OnSaleToday's internal email system. This way a record will be maintained of all exchanges.

Always treat buyers courteously and professionally.

If the buyer has an issue, try to resolve it amicably.

Step 5: After Your Sale

Congratulations for a successful sale! But don't stop yet; you need to send the buyer their new item. Remember, with OnSaleToday's detailed seller ratings, shipping on time is important to your feedback score!

Posting What You Sold on OnSaleToday
Pack with care!

Despatch items in a timely manner. If you laid out a posting schedule in your policies section, follow this! Buyers want to get their new purchase as soon as possible.

Pack carefully:

Sturdy boxes or crates can ensure the item isn't damaged during transit.

Use newspapers, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or other packing materials to protect the item inside its box.

You can get free boxes and shipping supplies from the Post Office.

Move the package to see if the item will shift around inside during transport. No matter how many times you write "Fragile" and "This End Up" on the outside, your package will probably get flipped and turned during its trip.

You must ship to the address listed on the transaction details page, should something go awry with your shipment.
Leave Feedback for Your OnSaleToday Buyer

You already know how important feedback is to the OnSaleToday community.

Make sure to leave feedback for your buyer once they have left feedback for you.

If your buyer does not leave feedback within a week of receiving her item, write the buyer feedback. This can remind the buyer to leave you feedback on a successful transaction.

Prohibited Items
llegal merchandise.
Prohibited items include, but are not limited to the following:

Drugs, liquors, prescription drugs and illegal substances.

Adult photos, videos and anything affiliated with pornography or pornographic paraphernalia.

Chemicals that may be explosive or harmful if ingested or used in any other way.

Counterfeit Currency, Counterfeit Stamps and Credit Cards

Prohitbited Services - Sellers are not permitted to offer or solicit services on the OnSaleToday site that are illegal, sexual in nature or that violate OnSaleToday ’s User Agreement.

It is ILLEGAL to list any of the above on OnSaleToday.co.za
You are legally prohibited from including links within your auctions to sites violating the above-mentioned rules. Items that are posted for bidding are subject to review by the staff of OnSaleToday.co.za, and may be removed without prior notice, if in violation with the agreement mentioned herein or if deemed offensive or libelous to OnSaleToday.co.za or it's users at OnSaleToday.co.za's sole discretion.

Goodluck & Happy Selling!