The Ultimate Guide to Selling a Website on eBay

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Selling websites on eBay can be very profitable but you need to stand out from the crowd to be successful. The key is to market your product as a “website business” and not just a “website” and the tips in this article can be the difference in you selling a few websites a month at £30 a go to you selling several “website business packages” per week at £1,000 or higher.

I give customers the opportunity to buy websites on eBay UK, although the 56 techniques here can be applied to any of eBay’s websites, especially eBay.com.

1. Use an Appropriate Username

Let’s start right at the beginning. If you want to be taken seriously as a professional website business seller then you need to use an appropriate username. I use the handle fulltimeonline, which suggests I work online for a living (or just spend all my time on there, haha!) and it’s more professional than calling yourself something like kewldude69. If you don’t want to be treated like a 14-year-old muppet then don’t give the impression you are one.

2. What Type of Website to Sell

There is no reall right or wrong answer on what to sell. You have the freedom to create a website around any subject you want and list it on eBay. For the best results, create a website in a general niche, such as dvds, fashion, gadgets, soccer, tickets etc. to appeal to a wide audience. You can break this down further, such as childrens fashion or horror dvds but you are then relying on somebody really interested in this sub-niche to spot your listing and want to buy it. Broader is better on eBay.

This is perhaps down to the mentality of the eBay customer, who is more often than not new to web business. Having more ‘options’ on their website means they can sell to more people and therefore make more money. This may not necessarily be factually correct but it’s what they want. So give it to them

3. Include a Domain Name

This sounds obvious but you would not believe the number of “websites” which are being sold on eBay without a domain name. The sellers just link to a “temporary location” where the website can be viewed by prospective customers. This looks highly unprofessional and for the sake of a few pounds extra, you can register a domain name and subsequently branded website which the customers can visualise themselves owning. You don’t even need to spend money on registering a specific domain name if you have some old ones you are not going to use - just build a website around them to sell!

4. Link to the Website

Whereas you are not allowed to link to website from within your eBay listing, due to the risk of you conducting business away from the auction website, you are still able to link directly to the website you are selling.

This may sound obvious, but do not pass on this opportunity to link to your website so customers can have a good look at it and visualise themselves owning it.

5. Show Screenshots

Even though you are linking to your website, do not forget to add some screenshots of it to your listing. I was surprised at the number of people who emailed me asking to see the website, despite me linking to it. They obviously scanned the listing quickly and missed the link.

By adding some screenshots of some of the more important pages, e.g. homepage, eBay listings page, Amazon store page, the customer can see what the website looks like and the chances are will spot the link when they take another look at your listing more closely.

6. Include Hosting

This is an area which causes eBay customers some stress because they are new to web business and don’t know how or where to arrange their own hosting. Take the stress away from them by offering them hosting. If you plan to sell websites on an ongoing basis then purchases a reseller account (I have one with Heart Internet and cannot recommend it enough) and host your customers websites for them. You can either offer them free web hosting for life, which is adopted by some sellers, or you can charge them a nominal fee every year.

7. Price Your Website High

Pricing your website at a higher amount, e.g. around the £1,000 mark rather than the £30 mark will give your product a much higher perceived value to your customer. Plus, you will have to sell at a higher price if you want to make any money on eBay when their new pricing structure comes into play at the end of September.

You can justify selling your website at this level because you are selling a “web business” and not just a “website”. You are offering your customer much more than a bunch of files linked to a domain name and stuck on a server somewhere. You are actually going to help them succeed with their new business!

8. Provide Support

If you want to justify asking for a price a lot higher than the turnkey merchants who are lucky to sell a website for £30 before listing and final value fees then you need to instill confidence in your customers that you know what you are talking about and are there to help, nay, mentor them.

Starting a web business is scary for eBay customers and is entirely new territory. With the financial climate the way it is at the moment they want reassurance they are not buying into a scam and have some to help them achieve their goals of making money online.

9. Enable Skype Contact

eBay bought Skype some three years ago but has only recently made more of an effort to integrate it into listings across all categories. If you haven’t got one already, sign up for a Skype account and when listing a website for sale, allow customers to contact you via speech or the text chat facility. Your listing will now have active Skype buttons embedded enabling customers to contact you for further information.

10. Offer a Contact Number

Some customers will not be aware of what Skype is so it is also worthwhile listing some contact numbers in your listings so they will be able to speak to you directly about the website they are interested in. I have set up a freephone number with this company, allowing customers to call me at no cost to them.

There are lots of companies which offer freephone services, or you could set up a local rate number (beginning 0845), all of which can be forwarded to your existing landline so you do not need to get an additional phoneline put in. Alternatively you could invite customers to contact you on a mobile phone number or landline.

This is an important step to consider because being able to speak to you directly will really instill confidence in the customer to do business with you rather than an anoymous eBay user who is not as forthcoming.

11. Include an Email Link

One of the few clickable links you are allowed to include in an eBay listing is an email link for customers to contact you directly. There are two advantages of putting in an email link:

a) You can set up the email address to forward to an autoresponder account and increase your mailing list.

b) If you use an email address associated with your business website’s domain name, more savvy eBay users will type in your website address to find out more about you.

12. You Do Have a Business Website, Don’t You?

If you are a serious internet marketing professional, then you must have a website! While you cannot link to your website directly from your eBay listings, you are able to guide customers to it via an email link. If customers see your website which gives details of your services and your success, your credibility factor will go up a notch and people will be more open to doing business with you.

13. State You Are a Business Seller

eBay have clamped down on “private” sellers who are in fact trading as a business and selling online for profit. From May 2008, it is illegal to trade as a business and mislead customers by pretending you are a private individual.

By law you have to register as a business if you are indeed behaving like one, but most eBay users, especially those new to eBay, will not know this so there is no harm in stating the obvious. Tell them in your listing you are a registered business seller for some instant credibility and professionalism.

14. Join Squaretrade

I considered for a long time whether to pay the money for the privelige of displaying a “Square Trade Seal” on my eBay listings. Essentially, it means nothing. By displaying the seal you “agree” to abide by seal member “standards” and “guidelines” but Squaretrade themselves do not guarantee the performance or practices of any seller who displays their seal.

However, several competitors were proudly displaying the seal which confidently tells eBay customers to “bid with confidence”. Even though the seal is meaningless, it is a third-party service telling customers you are a trustworthy seller. That in itself is worth the extra expense.

15. Offer Paypal

Not so much “offer” Paypal because those sneaky so-and-so’s at eBay now demand you offer their payment provider on pretty much all their categories. However, this does not mean you cannot advertise the fact you offer Paypal to please the newbies who have been brought up to believe it is the most water-tight method of paying for goods and services online (poor souls!) A “Paypal Verified” logo on your listing also gives the impression you have been approved by Paypal and thus increases your credibility and trustworthiness.

16. Become a Powerseller

This step takes a little more work and you need to be doing enough turnover across a three month period and have an overall positive feedback rating of at least 100 before you are invited to accept an invitation of Powerseller status. While achieving this status does not affect how you conduct your business, it is thought of highly among eBay customers. By seeing you are a powerseller, you will be perceived as more trustworthy than “regular” sellers and of course including a large powerseller graphic proclaiming your superiority will not harm your chances of making a sale either.

17. Tell Your Customers Who You Are

If you want your customers to trust you enough to part with over £1,000 for a website, then you have to tell them who you are. This is no time to be shy or try to hide behind an anonymous eBay ID. Plenty of sellers do this, but they are the ones who sell turnkey junk for peanuts.

If you are doing this part-time, and are “afraid” someone from work will see your listing, then tough. You either want to do this properly or you don’t. If you want to be successful on eBay at the top end of the scale then you have to give your customers an opportunity to connect with you and that means revealing your true identity. They need to know who you are, what you do and why you are the best option for them to spend their hard-earned money.

18. Show Customers Your Face

If you were unhappy at revealing your name to your customers then you are going to hate this point, but again it needs to be done to build trust. You can upload a photograph of yourself to your eBay account which will be displayed on your MyWorld page and also your Feedback page.

You need to convince your customers you are a trustworthy person and not a scammer who hides behind an eBay ID - what better way to achieve this than by showing your face?

19. Display Photos of You in Action

You can give your customers more reasons to believe in you by displaying some photographs of you “in action”. Have you trained a client on a one-to-one basis? Have you given a talk at your local Chamber of Commerce meeting? Have you attended a networking event? If not, why not? You are a legitimate professional in the internet marketing field aren’t you?

Anything you do on a day-to-day basis in your internet marketing business can provide a great photo opportunity and really crank up the trust factor in your eBay listings. Here are a few of mine below:

20. Add a Video

eBay allows you to embed videos into your listings as long as their are hosted on certain websites. Several of the more recognised video sites such as Youtube, Dailymotion, Myspace and Google are permitted.

You can add a webcam-recorded video introducing yourself and the website you are selling and discuss the benefits of doing business with you rather than another eBay seller. This is such a powerful way to communicate with your customers but hardly anyone is doing it.

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21. Add Audio

If you are a little camera shy then the least you can do is let your customers hear your voice to accompany the photographs of you they have already seen. Use a cheap software product such as Impact Web Audio to record an introduction to your auctions. It’s nowhere near as effective as using video but it will do as a stop-gap until you get more confidence in front of the camera.

22. Display Feedback

I know visitors to your eBay listing can just click on your feedback score to take a look at the latest positive comments left by your customers, but why not make it even easier for them? Take a screenshot of your feedback page and perhaps edit together some of the most relevant ratings to the website you are selling. Why risk potential customers not looking at your feedback when you can create a simple image which portrays you in such a positive light?

23. Use Testimonials

The staple of any good sales pitch is the use of testimonials from delighted customers. Of course, your feedback page is a list of mini testimonials but encourage your customers to write a couple of paragraphs for you explaining to visitors to your listing just why you are better than all the alternatives.

Unfortunately, people are lazy by nature so you may have to offer your customers a “bribe” to produce the testimonial even if your product was top notch. This could be something as simple as a few months worth of free hosting, some eBooks or a little extra training. Testimonials are vital to your success on eBay as they add more depth to your listings and again, boost the trust factor.

If your customers are particularly confident, try and persuade them to record an audio testimonial, or better still, a video one.

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24. Explain the Benefits of a Website Busines

You are not just selling your customers a “website”, but an “online business” which has benefits that outweigh the conventional method of working “9 to 5″ for an employer. You need to point out these benefits in your listings and I usually do this via a bullet list. Make sure you include benefits such as:

• Easy to learn - no experience necessary
• You can start work on the new web business on the day of purchase
• Highly lucrative
• Flexible hours allowing the customer to work on it around their current job
• You can work on a web business anywhere in the world with a laptop and internet connection

25. Ease Your Customer’s Fears

As I have pointed out several times in this article, the majority of eBay customers are new to web business and they will have a lot of concerns and apprehensions you need to overcome if you have any chance of making a sale.

Some of these can be eliminated when you reveal your identity, talk to them in person and explain the benefits of running a web business, but there are other fears which play on their minds:

• They may be concerned whether they need to set themselves up as a limited company
• They may be concerned about tax implications when making extra income
• They may even be fearful of success - what happens if the business gets too big?
• What can they do if they realise the web business isn’t for them after a few months?

I have answered a few questions one-to-one regarding tax issues but do not include them in my listings because I don’t want to send the customers fleeing to the hills as soon as they read that dreaded three letter word.

However, I do mention the business is scalable, so it can be grown as big (or left as small) as the customer wants it to become and that they can also sell it on quite easily if they are ready to try something different.

26. Play on Their Fears

Just as you should ease your customer’s fears, in some cases you should also play on them to increase your chances of making a sale. You should not play on their fears regarding the business, but more on what could happen if they do not buy a website business from you.

The obvious fear at the moment is the recession and a struggling economy. Mention the recession and also Christmas is coming to get their minds thinking about whether they could do with some extra money in these uncertain times or not.

27. Be Honest

I have found honesty is the best policy with eBay customers. A number I speak to are interested in running a web business, but are focused more on the idea of making money rather than maintaining a website on a topic they are genuinely interested in.

If they are enquiring about a football website business, for example, but are not interested in the beautiful game, then I suggest they do something differently. If they are not interested in the niche, they are less likely to put the work in and a couple of months down the line they will give you hassle because they are not making any money. The fact they have done no work since buying it will not deter them from insisting it is all your fault.

Find out what they are interested in and build them a website based around they passions. Of course, you should sell them the website via eBay so not to break any rules of soliciting any business away from it!

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