What advice would you give to someone considering selling on eBay for the first time?
Cost effective shipping supplies/shipping methods for raw vs graded cards?
Turn off international shipping?
Do it and figure it out yourself?
Other?
All suggestions are appreciated 
I did a comprehensive video on packaging and shipping options recently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtZCibkn4kw
If selling raw, make sure to take detailed photos (or scans) and to accurately describe condition. Generally, I critique and label cards in slightly lower condition than eBay’s guidelines for condition in an effort to avoid any disappointed buyers.
Consider using the eBay International Shipping Program. You can check a box for it while creating a listing. If an international buyer purchases an item, you simply print out a shipping label to eBay’s receiving warehouse. They handle the rest including customs, insurance, and liabilities thereafter. It’s not as speedy for the buyer, but the best way to stay protected as a seller.
Dont worry, chatgpt said it was gem mint. Cards are supposed to have jagged edges. Guaranteed 10.
Don’t use BS AI auto-descriptions. They tell nothing, and aren’t worth the minimal effort. Better to leave it blank and add more pictures. and…
I second opting into the Ebay Global Shipping Program for your listings. This is different from handling international shipping yourself (which I wouldn’t do). In the GSP, you are only responsible for getting the item to a domestic address, and then all responsibility of the sale after that falls on Ebay. So even if the buyer raises some issue after the fact (e.g. they disagree with the condition or something), it becomes a them vs Ebay issue and not a them vs you-as-a-seller issue. Some international buyers don’t like it because it is expensive, but that’s up to them if they want the item for the additional cost (and time) trade off. There really is no downside to opting into the GSP.
Also, just generally know how you are protected as a seller. E.g. what kind of returns or issues you’re protected under if the buyer seems to be pulling a fast one on you or has buyer’s remorse. I don’t know how expensive the items you’ll be selling are, but signature on delivery for items >$750 is required for Ebay seller protection, for example. Also, any threats of leaving negative feedback by a buyer pretty much negates any compromising you’ll have to do, as it’s against Ebay policy to leverage negative feedback like that, so Ebay will always side with the seller to remove the feedback in those cases. Things like this are good to know/keep in mind (or ask about on the forum) if and when you run into them.
I hardly sell graded cards, but some people swear by boxes to prevent damage as much as possible. I just ship in a bubble mailer with extra cardboard + bubble wrap to protect it a bit more. But again, I’ve hardly sold any slabs.
Another small thing that could come into handy in some situations is that Ebay Standard Envelope is only available for items $20 or below (you can’t select that option even if you’d be willing to risk a little less insurance coverage for a $30 sale). But if a buyer wants multiple semi-cheap cards from you, I think the standard envelope covers combined carts up to $50 (i.e. allows you to select that label even if the sale exceeds $20 if there are multiple items in the transaction).
To add on for GSP, my fees are actually lower when I make a sale through it as the fee is only based on the sales price while in the US they charge the fee on the total after sales tax.
you guys read the description?
I’ve always found that them more you consistently list cards the more sales you get. Anytime I list 20-30 cards I’ll get sales on some of those and sales on some of my older listings.
@wisewailmer I typically don’t. I don’t think the description is that important unless you have difficult-to-photograph flaws.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that promoted sales are not really worth it now, given a very recent change (made another thread about it), unless you just consider that percent fee lost and you’re fine with the net gain after factoring that in.
Pick up a DYMO 4XL label printer. It’s made packaging on tcgplayer and ebay significantly quicker for me. Ive had it for a few years now, best decision I’ve ever made.
for pokemangs specifically make sure u have it titled correctly to get the auth guareentee to avoid the scamerinos
I’m going to offer a different kind of advice here. The other posters have been offering some very sound, foundational, nuts-and-bolts advice that I agree with - which is great, since this is what the OP asked for! Also, see the end for other “traditional” advice that I haven’t seen mentioned. But, here’s my off-kilter advice:
If you are based in the United States and ship with USPS, get to know your post office.
Actually drop all mail at the physical post office, don’t just drop them in one of the blue post boxes. The people who work at the post office are, uh, how can I put it delicately: they’re not sending their best. I have had packages and mail returned by the post office for inane reasons that, after going in person, have been resolvable. Many of them can barely think and breathe at the same time, or just simply don’t know the rules.
For example, I was shipping a card in a toploader folded in a piece of paper using the ebay standard envelope program. I’ve done this hundreds of times. It got returned for me as “postage not sufficient”. At the post office, the mouthbreather behind the desk claimed that it wasn’t “machineable” and that it had to be flexible to go through the machines. This is patently incorrect. They were ass-backwards wrong - credit cards, trading cards, and other things of that nature get shipped all the time. It ultimately took a conversation with the post office manager to get things resolved.
Also, mail theft. It’s an issue in the major city I live in. The word is out about the goodies contained in a standard envelope. Dropping is at the actual post office can prevent what they call in the industry “shrinkage”.
Misc. ebay selling tips:
Offer free shipping. Post lots of pictures. Include a description that’s decent. Describe how the item was stored, and what kind of home it comes from (smoke free? pet free?). The more details the better.
cant believe how much ai slop is everywhere. reading this hurts my brain
for me the decription just needs to have
a) nothing at all
or
b) any flaws that aren’t in the title and/or hard to see in the photos
or
c) where/when dat taysig was obtained for any inpersons (not really necessary, but helpful)
I mean more than 1, blurry-ass, postage-stamp-resolution picture, dammit!