lets assume we're starting completely from scratch. to make an ebay account (all you will need is personal, you don't need a business account), just navigate to this area

enter in your first and last name, email and your desired password obviously. apparently this will make an account for you. you will also need to enter a phone number.

go to Account settings once your account is made.

ebay will prompt you to enter in your home address. this is fine. ebay may also prompt for your social security number and date of birth, and perhaps even your ID like drivers license or something. this is ALSO fine. you vill give ze details...

then you should be spit out into the My eBay screen. you'll need to click on Payment Information / Payments, and link your bank account or card with ebay. i have both a bank account and a card linked to ebay for some reason.

this is fine i think

listing is pretty straightforward. you click on "sell" in the top right/center, it'll bring you to this screen where you type in the title of the thing you're selling.

just say what the thing is along with its manufacturer, year, etc. this ends up forming your title. ALWAYS click "continue without match", it just makes it so much easier. it'll ask you some questions, for militaria i always put "used", even if it's functionally unissued, because it's old lol

in the title, you don't have to list the exact flaws but you can write "used", "defect", etc. and then expand upon it in the description.

the main/cover photo should usually be everything you're selling, and then secondary photos can be other specific ones.

descriptions are similarly easy. you can form your own style on this. write about the item as it is, thank the user for viewing your listing instead of someone elses, etc. with this step, you can also take inspiration from other listings but make sure to keep your own style about it.

heres the basic writeup i made on the above item. not too much not too little basically. disclose flaws (if there are any), bring attention to things you took photos of, etc.

attenzione: ebay has a sort of bullshit "new seller rule" where new accounts cannot list a lot of stuff, nor expensive stuff. i believe the limit is 10 items or $500 in sales, whichever comes first? don't quote me on that. this limit supposedly goes away after a month, also don't quote me on that. ebay will ALSO hold your money for a while if you're a new seller.

now onto the shipping and pricing section

pricing!

see what similar things are currently listed for, see what they sold for in the past. you know the drill. for added deviousness, you can undercut other sellers' listed prices if you feel like starting violence. (its fun)

you can choose if you want to have best offers on. they're one of the most annoying parts of ebay (actually dealing with other people) but i have them on and sometimes take them.

now onto actually listing the shipping information. ebay does a lot of calculations automatically which is really nice, but you still need to add basic stuff like package size and weight. it'll guestimate a shipping price for you.

shipping isn't too bad of a hassle honestly. you find a box or padded envelope to stick your item in, and measure its dimensions (always round up, don't round down).

the padded envelope in question:

then use packing material to pack the item so that it's secure, and THEN get the weight (round up to the closest lb, then a particularly devious thing you can do is subtract 1 oz so it ends up being like "1lb 15oz" or "2lb 15oz"). i always use USPS Ground Advantage and i always charge buyers.

before you ship, always make sure your address is correct. you can update it in Account settings. when you're shipping, you gotta buy the shipping label. use the your funds option, because even though it takes an immediate chunk of your profit, it's just easier. make sure that everything checks out with how the buyer wants it.

once you're certain, buy the label. it'll give you the option to have a qr code or some bs, don't do that! instead, print the label!

taping guide: don't tape the big barcode. everywhere else is fair game.

slap it in the mailbox and you're done!

hopefully this is an adequate guide. a lot of information im using is just from the internet because even though i have over 100 stars on ebay i still am the sum of other people's parts. ebay answers a lot of questions that people have, plus there's also the ebay community area where sellers bitch and whinge about how hard it is to be them - i have done this before and it's great fun.