How to sell on the Internet

After thinking about it for a long time, you have decided to change your smartphone to a newer model. Initially, you thought that your old phone might be useful around the house, but as the weeks went by, you realized that it has never been used, constantly staying off. Still being a good phone and having always maintained it impeccably, you thought it might be of interest to someone if you put it up for sale on the Web. Having never sold online, however, you don’t know how to do it and would like to know some services that allow you to sell your items. Did I guess? So I don’t see where the problem is: if you want, I’m here ready to give you a hand and explain how to succeed in your intent.

If you give me a few minutes of your free time, I can tell you how to sell new and used items of all kinds on the Internet, including products made by hand specifically for sale. In fact, you should know that there are so many sites dedicated to online shopping and sales that you will be spoiled for choice: some services allow you to publish free sales announcements, without commission costs and, in some cases, without registration, with the negotiation that is carried out in private between buyer and seller; others instead allow you to create advertisements in a professional way, with the possibility of creating your own online store and managing orders, budgets and much more.

If you agree, let’s not waste any more time chatting and let’s get to work right away! Take five minutes of free time, dedicate to reading the next paragraphs and identify the solution that best suits your needs. Follow the directions I am about to give you carefully, try to put them into practice and I assure you that selling your items on the Internet will really be a breeze. Happy reading and, above all, good sales!

Index

• Ad sites
  • it
  • Kijiji
• eBay
• Facebook Marketplace
• AutoScout24
• Other sites to sell on the Internet
• Create an e-commerce

Ad sites

The first solution to sell on the Internet in a non-professional way that I would recommend are the ad sites, with which it is possible to publish advertisements for free and sell without commissions on the final price. Users interested in purchasing can contact the seller and start a private negotiation, either by telephone or using the tools made available by the same services.

Subito.it

Subito.it is among the most popular classifieds sites in Italy. By creating an account, you can publish sales advertisements of any kind and completely free of charge, even from smartphones and tablets by downloading the application for Android, iOS and Windows 10 Mobile devices.

To sell your items on Subito.it, connect to the service website and click on the Register button at the top right, then enter your details in the fields  Your email, Password, Birthday, Gender and Municipality, affix the checkmark to accept the terms and conditions of the service and presses the Register button. Within a few moments you will receive an email containing an activation link: click on Confirm to activate your account.

Now, log in to Subito.it with the data you just created and press the Insert ad button located at the top right. In the new open page, select the category of the product you want to sell by choosing from Motors ( Cars, Car accessories, Nautical, etc.), Real Estate ( Apartments, Rustic land, Holiday homes, etc.), Electronics ( IT, Telephone, Photography, etc.) , Sport & Hobby ( Animals, Bicycles, Music and movies etc.) and For the home and the person ( Everything for children, Furniture and household items etc.). In addition, you should know that on Subito.it you can also offer services and jobs by selecting the Job offers and Services categories.

Then continue by entering the  Ad Title and  Ad Text and click on the Image item to upload one or more photos of the article. Then indicate your details in the Name and  Telephone fields and put the checkmark next to the item  Hide the number if you do not want to show it publicly, then click on the Continue button to access the next step.

Finally, choose whether to take advantage of paid features, such as Put back on top  (starting from 1 euro) which allows you to reposition the advertisement at the top of the sales ads and In the showcase (starting from 0.50 euro) to publish the ad in a dedicated location and labeled Vetrina. Once the ad creation is complete, press the Continue button to send it to the Subito.it staff who will approve and publish it.

Kijiji

One of the classifieds sites to consider for selling on the Internet is eBay’s Kijiji. It allows you to create free listings and no registration is required. It is also available as an application for Android and iOS devices.

To create your sales announcement, connect to the Kijiji website and click on the Insert item in the top right, then specify the category of your product to sell ( Clothing and accessories, Tickets, Homes, Electronics, Gastronomy, Work, Motors, Sports, etc.) and the Municipality in which it is located. In the  Enter the Title, Description and Images section, put the checkmark next to the item I offer to indicate that you are publishing a sale ad, enter the title and description and, if you wish, click on the item Images to add up to 8 photos.

You must know that to increase your sales opportunities, you can take advantage of some paid services by placing the check mark next to the options of your interest:  Ad Plus (€ 28.90) which for six months reports the ad at the top of the ads weekly; Highlights (€ 3.90) to give greater visibility to the ad; Always return to the top (12.90 euros) to bring the ad back to the top of the ads every day for 10 times or every week for 7 times and Top Ads (12.90 euros for 7 days or 28.90 euros for 30 days) to show the ad in a privileged position, always at the top of the list.

Finally, enter your details in the Email, Name and Telephone fields (optional) and press the Publish your ad button. Within seconds you will receive an email from Kijiji: press the Confirm the ad button to put your item on sale for free.

eBay

eBay is among the most popular online shopping sites in the world. Users can publish ads or create their own virtual shop and publish both free and paid ads, even from smartphones and tablets by downloading the application for Android and iOS devices.

To start selling on eBay, connected to the main page of the site, click on the Login item at the top left, enter your login details in the Email or username and Password fields and press the Login button to connect to your account. If you do not have one yet, select the item Subscribe, enter your personal data in the fields  Name,  Surname,  Email address,  Password and press the Register button.

After logging into your account, click on your name at the top left, select Account Settings from the menu that appears and click on the PayPal Account option in the left sidebar. In the new open page, press the button  Connect the PayPal account, enter the required data in the fields  Address,  ZIP code,  City,  Province and mobile number and proceed with the verification of your phone number following the wizard, then enter the data of your PayPal account and click the Login button to complete the link and associate a valid payment method with your eBay account. If you don’t have a PayPal account yet, find out how to create one by reading my tutorial on it.

You are now ready to create your first sales ad. Then click on the Sell item at the top left, enter the title of the advertisement in the field  Enter a descriptive title for the advertisement and click on the Start button. In the new screen displayed, enter the title, subtitle, category and condition of the object in the appropriate fields and then specify the advertisement format by choosing from the available options.

• Online auction: the advertisement is created in auction mode (lasting from 1 to 10 days) specifying a starting price. The object is sold if at least one buyer submits an offer and, if indicated by the seller, the reserve price is reached. Additionally, the seller can offer the option to buy the product without waiting for the auction to expire via the Buy It Now feature.
• Buy it now: it is the sales format through which the seller sells an object by setting a fixed price or giving the possibility to bid through the Purchase proposal function.

After choosing the sales format you prefer, specify the price and possibly the duration, then indicate the shipping conditions and the accepted payment method. Finally, check the  Listing Fees in the box on the right and click the  Sell ​​at the rates shown button to post your ad. To learn more, I leave you to my guide on how to sell on eBay.

Facebook Marketplace

With Facebook Marketplace, the section of Facebook dedicated to sales announcements, it is possible to sell any type of product for free. Users interested in the products on sale, can contact the seller and take notice privately.

To create your first listing on the Marketplace, connect to the main Facebook page and log in to your account by entering your details in the Email or phone and  Password fields. If you don’t have an account yet, fill out the registration form with your personal details and click the Create Account button to complete the registration. For detailed steps, you can read my guide on how to sign up for Facebook.

Now, click on the Marketplace item in the left sidebar and, in the new open page, press the Sell ​​something button to create your sales announcement. Then type the title of the advertisement in the field  What do you sell? , enter the price in the appropriate field and specify where the object you are selling is located by entering the location in the Add place field.

To complete the advertisement, click on the item Select a category to indicate the category of the product to sell by choosing from the available options ( Clothing, Furniture, Household items, Bicycles, Electronics and computers, Garden, Video games etc.), describe the object in the Describe your item field and click on the Photo option to upload one or more photos of the product to sell, then press the Publish button and you’re done.

If you prefer to create a sales advertisement directly from your smartphone or tablet, you can do it using the Facebook application for  Android,  iOS and  Windows 10 Mobile devices. After downloading it from the store of your device, start it and log in to your account, then press the store icon in the bottom menu to access the Marketplace.

Now, tap on the item  What do you sell?  and select one of the options among  Items for sale,  Vehicles for sale,  Accommodation for rent/sale and  Job offers from the menu that appears depending on the product and service you are offering, then specify the details in the  What do you sell? , Price, Location and Description and indicates the product category via the Select a category item. Then specify where the object is in the Place field, add a description in the appropriate field and tap on the itemAdd photos to upload one or more photos of the item.

Finally, press the Next and Publish buttons to publish your ad. To learn more, I leave you to my guides on how to activate Marketplace on Facebook and how to use Facebook to sell.

AutoScout24

If your intention is to sell a car on the Internet, you can rely on AutoScout24. It is one of the best platforms for buying and selling cars, both new and used. It is also available as an application for Android and iOS devices.

To sell your car on AutoScout24, connected to the website of the service, click on the item My AutoScout24 present at the top right and select the option Register now from the menu that appears. In the new open page, enter your details in the Email and Password fields, put the checkmark required to accept the conditions of the service and press the Register button.

You are now ready to post your listing. Then click on the Insert now button, specify the data of your vehicle by selecting Brand, Registration date, Model, Fuel, Power and Equipment and press the Complete the announcement button. Then indicate Color, Mileage and Price, enter a description of the car in the appropriate field and click on the Add photo button to upload the photos of the vehicle.

Before posting your ad, check that the information in the Equipment and Driving & Environment sections is correct and add the information relating to  Conditions & Maintenance.

Then enter your personal data in the Contact information box, put the checkmarks next to the item I have read  and accept the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy of AutoScout24 and click on the Publish ad online button to publish your sale advertisement. To find out more, you can read my in-depth guides on how to post an ad on AutoScout24  and how to edit an ad on AutoScout24.

Other sites to sell on the Internet

If the solutions I proposed to you in the previous paragraphs did not meet your needs or you simply want to know other sites to sell on the Internet to increase your sales chances, here is another list of websites dedicated to sales that you can consider. .

• Amazon: it is certainly the most famous online store in the world, where you can both buy and sell your items. Occasional sellers can create 40 monthly listings by paying a commission on the sales price and some management fees based on the type of product. Professional sellers, on the other hand, can subscribe to a subscription plan at a cost of 39 euros/month and take advantage of numerous features. To underline, then, the availability of the Amazon Recommerce second-hand collection service, to sell your used smartphones quickly and easily. You can also sell on Amazon from smartphones and tablets by downloading the Amazon Seller application for Android and iOS devices. To learn more, you can read my guides on how to sell on Amazon and how to see books on Amazon.
• Etsy: Those who make handmade products and want to sell them on the Internet can rely on Etsy. The service allows you to create your own online store, manage orders and balance sheets and much more. In addition to the cost of € 0.17 for each ad created, it applies a commission on the final value equal to 3.5% of the sale price. You can use Etsy and manage your sales also through the application for Android and iOS devices. To learn more, you can read my in-depth guide on how to sell on Etsy.
• Bakeca: is another classifieds site that not only allows you to sell items but also offer services such as room rentals or training courses. The publication of an announcement is free and registration is not required.

Create an e-commerce

If you intend to set up a real online business, I recommend that you open an e-commerce that you can manage in complete freedom, without the limitations given by proprietary platforms, such as eBay or Amazon.

Aruba Managed WooCommerce Hosting

There are various solutions available to create an online store: one of the most valid, in my humble opinion, is to use a CMS coupled with a plugin dedicated to e-commerce.

In this regard, I would like to talk to you about WooCommerce: a free and open-source plugin for WordPress (the most used CMS in the world for creating blogs and websites) that allows you to create a professional online store in a few simple clicks.

You have two solutions to create an e-commerce based on WordPress and WooCommerce: buy an online space, a domain and manually install CMS and plugins or turn to all-in-one solutions, much simpler, more immediate and complete with support and services additional.

Among the solutions in question, I would like to recommend the Aruba Managed WooCommerce Hosting which includes a ready-to-use WordPress installation with WooCommerce, the registration of a domain name with annual maintenance, unlimited space on SSD, a database from 2GB on SSD with support for 200 connections, traffic up to 500,000 monthly visitors, SSL DV certificate for secure connections in HTTPS, automatic monitoring and backup ‌, unlimited 1GB mailboxes, 10 PEC mailboxes on domain and much more.

Aruba Managed WooCommerce Hosting has a cost of 124.50 euros + VAT the 1st year and then 249.00 euros + VAT/year. For more information, read my tutorial on Aruba Managed WooCommerce Hosting and take a look at the official website of the service.

Shopify

Shopify is one of the best solutions for creating professional e-commerce for those without knowledge in programming or web design. It allows you to choose from hundreds of customizable templates and to take care of every aspect of the store, from the basics to the check-out. It offers unlimited secure hosting, free unlimited bandwidth, a free shopify.com domain name (with the option to purchase a custom one or use an existing one), free SSL certificate, unlimited products, and the ability to offer discount codes to your customers.

Through the control panel of the service it is possible to easily manage customers, orders, inventory, sales (with advanced statistics), shipments and marketing campaigns on Google, Facebook, email or SMS, even from smartphones and tablets (thanks to the app Shopify for Android and iOS / iPadOS ).

The service can be used for free for a limited trial period (without entering payment data or renewal obligation), after which you can choose one of the paid plans, suitable for all budgets and all needs, starting from $ 29 / month with blogs, unlimited products, 2 staff accounts, 24/7 support in English and more.

To create your e-commerce on Shopify, connected to the official website of the service, type your email address and click on the Start free trial button. Then type the password you want to use to access your account, enter the name you want to assign to it and press the Create your store button.

Then use the drop-down menus that appear on the screen to indicate if you have already started selling, what your current income is and if you are creating a shop for a customer, provide the rest of the information requested, click on the Next button (or on Skip, if you want to skip the step) and also fill out the address form to receive payments.

Once this is done, you will find yourself in front of the management panel of your e-commerce, which contains all the links to access the various sections of the service: Home, with the main dashboard; Orders, to manage orders; Products, to manage products; Customers, to manage customers; Analysis, to view advanced sales statistics; Marketing, to set up marketing campaigns; Discounts, to set up discount codes; App, to install apps and expand e-commerce functions, and Online Store, to customize the look of the store. To learn more, read my complete guide on how to create an e-commerce with Shopify.