Millions of people are making money on eBay every day, and if you've been thinking about joining their ranks, follow the five steps below to get started.

First of all, you need to find something to sell.

Lisa McWilliams started selling on the online auction site five years ago as her children began growing out of some of their toys. She listed toys and clothing and had some success, not only getting money for her items but opening up storage space in house.

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The success got McWilliams interested in becoming a regular eBay seller, so she hit garage sales.

"I bought a Mr. Potato Head and Katie Carrot for nostalgia," McWilliams said.

She paid $2. A few months later, she decided she wasn't really going to use the items herself, so she listed them on eBay and made $28.

"Talk to family and friends and see if they have items they will let you sell," said Ty Kinsey, who is an eBay University-trained education specialist in Omaha. "Some sellers even buy their inventory off of eBay to resell."

Get Acquainted With eBay

Kinsey and another eBay University graduate, Dave Coover, tell their students to become an eBay buyer before they venture out as a seller. Buying a few items is instructive. You can see how pages are set up, read sellers' description, peruse pricing and shipping methods and generally get acquainted with the site.

"I usually suggest that new eBayers spend five or 10 auctions being a buyer," Kinsey said. "Learn what other sellers do that you like or dislike -- take notes on those traits."

Coover said the all-important feedback tool is another reason to buy first. Feedback on eBay allows both the buyer and the seller to leave comments on the transaction that other buyers and sellers can buy before deciding whether to do business with an individual.

"When Pierre Omidyar set up eBay in 1995, he had to have a way for the system to work and for people to make decisions about how good buyers and sellers are. The feedback system is a reflection of the Golden Rule," Coover said.

Since most auction experts recommend doing business with people who have 95 percent positive feedback or better, getting a few good buyer transactions under your belt can help boost your average before you start selling, Coover said.

Set Up Your Accounts

Before you shop, you'll need an eBay account. Initially, you'll just need your name and e-mail address, plus a password and date of birth. If you're going to buy, you'll have to provide bank information.

When you're ready to sell, you'll need to provide both bank and credit card information. Coover said the bank account helps eBay with security, noting that scammers are less likely to have a checking account in a real bank in their city than a legitimate seller.

In addition to an eBay account, a seller has to fill out entirely separate information for PayPal -- an eBay company that provides an alternative to buying and selling online.

"PayPal provides a certain amount of buyer and seller protection in case there are fraudulent transactions," Coover said.

PayPal offers three levels -- personal accounts, which does not allow a seller to accept credit cards; premier accounts, which allow a seller to send and receive money on credit cards; and business accounts that broaden the options for a regular seller and offer accounting tools, but also charge a fee for every transaction.

Another account to consider is one with the U.S. Postal Service, UPS or another shipper.

"You can set up an account with the USPS to have packages picked up from your front door," McWilliams said. "You can also order packaging from the USPS and they wills end you a bunch of boxes."

Having shipping on hand prevents delays when someone buys.

Avoid Problems

First, control the things you can control, eBay trainers said.

Plenty of beginners start up an eBay sale with the wrong idea, Coover said.

"(The No. 1 problem is) the notion that you're going to get rich quick. It's probably not going to happen," Coover said.

Adjust your expectations and sharpen your descriptions and photography. Plenty of buyers will cruise right by an item listed with no photograph. Write clear descriptions and don't try to cover up problems -- it will only sink your all-important feedback when the buyer receives the item. Coover said that a seller needs to show any product defects in pictures.

Also, don't spend too much on all of eBay's bells and whistles. Listings can have bold print, photo galleries and more, but each upgrade takes a bite out of your profit. Coover said the only extra he finds necessary is the gallery photo.

Security can be an issue anywhere online, and the top three online auction scams to avoid are phishing, fake foreign bidders and phony money orders, according to Coover.

• Most phishing scams won't actually mention your eBay user name, which is a dead giveaway the e-mail is fake.
• Limiting sales to parties within the U.S. can help guard against Nigerian schemers.
• Coover said he only accepts U.S. Postal Service money orders, because you can take them to any post office in the country and collect the cash -- then a fake become the problem of the USPS.

Don't send an item until you receive the payment in full. But don't wait too long to ship, as that is one of the top feedback complaints, Kinsey said.

Maximize Your Sales

There is plenty of competition for virtually every item on the auction site. Research similar items and then price accordingly.

A seller has to cross t's and dot i's for maximum results -- don't leave the buyer guessing or they may move on to someone else's sale, Kinsey said.

"Your buyer doesn't get to hold the item and look closely. They are counting on the seller to show it to them," Kinsey said.

Explain your shipping and handling policy so that a buyer doesn't have to guess.

Exploit regional trends. McWilliams said she heard on the news that Tickle Me Elmo dolls were so hot in some parts of the country that stores couldn't keep them on the shelves.

"They were selling on eBay for about $10 more than the store. So I went to Wal-Mart that evening and there were tons of them. I bought 10 or 20," McWilliams said.

Elmo spiked at $300 above store prices, and McWilliams said she never hit one of those peaks, but she did make a tidy profit.

Don't forget that eBay can level the playing field against superstores, too. Coover tells the story of an independent hardware store owner in Kentucky who sold Weber gas grills for $250 less than Home Depot and Lowe's prices and made a killing.