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I really prefer using a tablet over a laptop and it’s about time to get a new tablet, I have an older iPad now. I have an android cell phone, Samsung galaxy note ( whatever the newest one is) and I’m wondering what tablet would be the best to run an eBay store? I have a full time job so eBay is just something for fun on the side. What tablet does anyone list from? Any thoughts on what tablet to get? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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I found that an ipad just didn’t do as good of a job as a laptop. The mobile app is lacking and using the main ebay website on the tablet seemed considerably slower than a desktop/laptop.
You could always look at the windows 10 hybrids. We just got one here at work and it is pretty slick.
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I’ve got both an Android and iPad and only use them to manage my store – I use a laptop for listing.
I still find the laptop (Windows 10 for me) is easier to edit photos on, and to type with. I need a keyboard…
Both the Android app and iOS app have different appearances and different interfaces – but once you get use to it, it is easy to get around and for me to update listings. I think the big difference would be the camera specs. If you want to use the device as your camera, you may want to look into the cameras on Android devices as they vary from once model to another significantly.
I would take the savings on the Android device if you can – a few hundred dollars saved is still a good deal.
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So I can list from just using the browser on a tablet right? I actually prefer a tablets keyboard and I can also edit photos from my iPad very fast as well. Everyone I’ve asked says to use a laptop, I just don’t really get why??? Maybe a laptop has slightly faster processing speed compared to a tablet, but I’m not sure if that’s even true. Help! What am I missing???????
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Well all I can tell you is that at some point you WILL come across something you need to do on ebay that simply CANNOT be done on a tablet and requires a desktop. It happened enough that I abandoned using the ipad for ebay.
You aren’t the first person to want to run the whole business off a tablet.
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Can anyone tell me a couple specific things I can’t do using a browser on an iPad to list? Or specific downsides? What can I not do with a tablet? Sorry this might be obvious but I’m a super beginner.
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@Jordan – I’ve used my Windows Laptop, iPad, iPhone, and Android device to list items. The only difference I find is that the apps for both iOS and Android take longer to list as it opens up various screens to input information instead of on one form.
I’ve also found that setting up some of the dropdowns for shipping preferences/costs to be very hard on the tablets – however, once you have your shipping preferences setup (and re-use them) you really only need to set them up once. You can also set them up on a computer, and they will appear as options on any device going forward.
You can do everything on any device – I’ve just been use to filling out the eBay forms on a computer for over 20 years, and can do it quicker. As an older Gen X guy, I’m just use to a physical keyboard (I can type very fast – on a tablet I’m extremely slow) and when you get listing, you get use to a certain layout and fields. I’m sure if I was forced to use a tablet for 6 months, I would get very fast at it as well and become very efficient.
I also edit all my photos – which I can’t find an efficient way to do on a phone or tablet yet.
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I’m in the laptop camp too, not just for listing, but for researching prices and even when making purchases.
I use my phone for pictures and to keep an eye on questions, sales etc.
I don’t think the App is near as versatile.
The best advice I can give you is to try them both.
Good Luck.
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Not really suited to run an eBay business, but I use my Kindle Fire 10 to keep up with the needful when I’m away from home overnight or longer. I’m going to have it with me anyhow because I like to read in bed until drowsy. It does have a decent camera and probably could be used to run the eBay business, but I would want a bigger screen and more power.
If I were going to go exclusively with a tablet, I would make sure it has plenty of RAM and a fast enough processor. Tablets usually don’t have a lot of storage space; you might need to make use of an external drive or cloud storage. I have a Windows 10 tablet that I don’t use because it isn’t powerful enough and is cricket-chirping slow. I would probably go with an Android-based OS for what you are wanting to do. A Chromebook tablet isn’t going to cut it for this in my opinion. I don’t use Apple anything, personal preference.
I have a Bluetooth keyboard with a touchpad mouse and use that when I have much to do on the road. A stand is nice too when you just want to watch a video, etc..
Bill
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So everything I do is MAC based, either an iMac desktop, iPad with attached keyboard, or iPhone. I use the cloud for everything, so I take pics on my iPhone, wait about a minute, and they are then available on my iPad and MAC. Depending on where I am, I use my iPad with the eBay app for listing most of the time (for me it’s fast). Desktops are static, and my desktop is not right near where all my stuff is, so I do prefer the mobile listing when possible. On certain occasions when I need more information, I will use my iPad with the browser. It’s exactly the same as my desktop, just smaller. So on some very rare occasions when I need to really manage it all (look at my pictures, see what’s listed, etc…), I’ll bring my iPad to my desktop and have everything open (I even have an additional monitor on my desktop – so I have a war room going with multiple monitors letting me see the entire picture).
I do prefer the browser over the app, but for some fast listings I find the app is fine, it’s quicker once you get used to it and it’s mostly complete. I wish it were easier to send invoices via the app. That’s really the main feature I’ll go to a desktop or browser for.
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One note I forgot (sorry, first time post for me). Apple recently changed their picture types, so on my desktop I can no longer drag my photos from iPhoto to my browser with eBay (anybody do it that way?). So when I list from my desktop, I first have to open an empty folder on my desktop, drag my photos from iPhoto to the folder (that makes them into jpegs instead of whatever format live photos are), then drag them from the folder to the browser. On the iPad, I can just take them directly from my photo album with no worries. So it’s a little faster for me (I don’t edit pictures, beyond just rotating them often for whatever weird reason).
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