Depending on what you are selling, you have a number of different options for sell on the Internet. The choices include placing online classified ads, joining the marketplace program of a known merchant site and starting your own website. The best way to sell on the Internet depends on what you are selling and how quickly you want to sell it.
Instructions
1. Place an ad for the item you want to sell on an online classified ad website specific to your area. Craigslist is an excellent option for most regions throughout the United States, given that the site receives a lot of visitors, and there is a metro-specific site for nearly any location throughout the country. This is probably the least expensive and least time-consuming method of selling on the Internet, and probably the most appropriate for any item is not easily shipped and must be picked up in person.
2. Work with an online auction site. The indisputable leader for Internet auctions within the U.S. is eBay. Online auction sites tend to charge a per-ad fee as well as a percentage of the final sale price, but this can be an efficient method for selling on the Internet if you want to reach a large general audience and if the item you are selling is easy to ship through the U.S. Postal Service or UPS.
3. Post an ad for the item on a merchant website such as Amazon, which allows users to sell new and used products in its marketplace. This can be a great way to sell used books or movies and recoup a significant percentage of the retail price. The Amazon marketplace also allows the sale of other consumer items, and it is thus used by many small Internet businesses. This method is not appropriate for specialty items or items that are not easily shipped.
4. Start your own website. If you are selling on the Internet as a business or as a major part of your profession, it makes sense to have your own website even if you do much of your business on eBay, because having a website will make you look more professional to prospective buyers. If you decide to sell exclusively through your own website, it is fairly easy to set up a merchant account with PayPal to accept credit card payments from your customers. A good way to drive traffic to your own website is to purchase Google ads on appropriate search keywords.
5. Set up a merchant account with a major online shopping site, such as Yahoo! Shopping, and post your products for sale on that site. These merchant accounts usually allow you to set up your own online storefront, potentially with your own domain name, through a setup wizard and with easy implementation of order-taking functionality. There is a fee for using these services, which can be a regular monthly fee by sale volume or a percentage of total sales proceeds.
