EBAY! Whats the scene like nowadays?

[shortylickens]

I never got into ebay but my dad used it extensively for many years, ending in 2003 with his death. I never liked the idea cuz it always seemed to me you could get screwed over easily. I think PayPal will keep that from happening but I still wanna know what its like today.
Mostly when I dig around for stuff to buy it seems like they are regular stores, not individuals who actually wanna auction stuff off. Figured you guys would know better than I what ebay is like these days.

The reason I feel like getting into it now is I have a crapload of D&D 3rd edition books I want to sell off. Ideally as one big collection. 4th edition has been out just long enough that the older stuff is getting hard to find, and I figure this is a good time to sell. I wont be waiting 10 or 20 years for the books to be antiques. I never really did get that deeply into the game. In retrospect I'm sorry I spent so much money on the books. Would people be angry if I only offered to sell all 40 books at once? For a thousand dollar plus collection should I start at one dollar and leave it go for a whole month? Or start at 100 bucks at let it go for less time? I intend to make buyer pay full shipping. Will offer UPS, FedEx, and Mail.

Pleast note: I did not post this in the For Sale forums. I'm just asking general questions about how people feel. Am sure the ebay site has a noob guide, but I dont trust them to be 100% honest with me about how things are nowadays.

EDIT:

Bumped thread. New info down below.

 

[pontifex]

Ebay haters in 3...2...1...

It's obviously not perfect but there isn't anything else anywhere near it. Just be careful of who you buy from/sell to and you'll be fine. Read EVERYTHING in the auction if you're buying.

For selling, I recommend setting up some options that limit who can buy from you, like they have to have a certain amount of feedback, have to have good feedback, only from the US, etc. When selling make sure everything is explicitly noted, like no returns, as is, shipping info, etc.

 

[zerocool84]

Ebay haters in 3...2...1...

It's obviously not perfect but there isn't anything else anywhere near it. Just be careful of who you buy from/sell to and you'll be fine. Read EVERYTHING in the auction if you're buying.

For selling, I recommend setting up some options that limit who can buy from you, like they have to have a certain amount of feedback, have to have good feedback, only from the US, etc. When selling make sure everything is explicitly noted, like no returns, as is, shipping info, etc.

It's not eBay it's Paypal that sucks.

 

[shortylickens]

Good tips, thanks.
I intend to use a local Box Buddy for all ebay transactions. They can do all 3 carriers. I'll only offer to the lower 48 states and such. Will probably use Paypal unless anyone has extreme objections. I wont take returns but I will offer insurance on the shipper at my cost. BUT, they will definitely pay for the shipping itself. I have no problem letting all these things go for a mere 50 bucks, but I'll be damned if I get stuck with a hundred dollar bill at UPS. And for this kind of bulk I would not be surprised if thats what it costs in the end.
This is more for closet cleaning than profit-making.
And from the looks of it I have plenty of competition. Guys are letting new, thirty-dollar books go for 10 bucks or less.

 

[fantolay]

ebay sucks for sellers

 

[shortylickens]

ebay sucks for sellers

Extrapolate.

 

[KeithTalent]

Paging her209!

KT

 

[Ns1]

8% Bing CB for BIN

 

[SlickSnake]

Feebay's sales volume has dropped off precipitously in the last few years. Sellers have dumped them in droves and gone on to other sites like Amazon where the listing fees are far more reasonable, and you don't have to keep relisting unsold items and keep repaying Feebay for the privilege in a now failed "auction format".

In 5 years or less, virtually nobody will be paying to use Feebay, except the screw up seller noobs and the Nigerian scammer types. Most sellers just can't sell profitably there anymore. When you spend more time relisting items than selling them, you finally discover it's a failed internet business model, and move on. And no customers = no sales. But Feebay still makes money on your failed selling efforts. Which is the only reason they still exist.

I only buy on there now if it's from a known company I trust, or I'm looking for some hard to find item.

 

[dbk]

pretty laid back.. good for the super cheap stuff

 

[Ns1]

Feebay's sales volume has dropped off precipitously in the last few years. Sellers have dumped them in droves and gone on to other sites like Amazon where the listing fees are far more reasonable, and you don't have to keep relisting unsold items and keep repaying Feebay for the privilege in a now failed "auction format".

In 5 years or less, virtually nobody will be paying to use Feebay, except the screw up seller noobs and the Nigerian scammer types. Most sellers just can't sell profitably there anymore. When you spend more time relisting items than selling them, you finally discover it's a failed internet business model, and move on. And no customers = no sales. But Feebay still makes money on your failed selling efforts. Which is the only reason they still exist.

I only buy on there now if it's from a known company I trust, or I'm looking for some hard to find item.

Dude anyone who claims that Amazon is better for sellers than eBay must be freebasing fat rocks of crack from broken lightbulbs dipped in pcp

 

[shortylickens]

Hmmmm, I know nothing of ebay nowadays yet am not surprised this thread turned nasty.

 

[olds]

It's totally tubular.

 

[fatpat268]

You're overthinking it way too much.

First, put everything in a box and weigh the box. Check various shippers (USPS, UPS, Fedex) for their costs and use that as your shipping fee (I usually add an extra 10% on top of the cost and round it up).

Second, it doesn't really matter what you start the auction at. Lower starting priced auctions usually are more popular and encourage bidding wars, whereas higher starting priced auctions do not.

As far as length, basically you can do 1, 3, 5, 7, or 10 days. Three days is all you should need because 80% of all bidding will occur in the last few hours. Longer days are to get your watch count up and get more people interested in the auction. With popular items, this isn't needed, but with more obscure items, you may benefit from a 7 day auction.

 

[fatpat268]

Also, don't be one of those jerks and say you'll only ship to the lower 48 if you use USPS.

Why? Because the post office doesn't charge out of the ass to deliver to alaska and hawaii. Fedex and UPS, on the other hand, does.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Before you put everything into a single auction, take some time to do some research to see if any individual items are particularly valuable. Put those items in separate auctions and then sell the rest in a lot. If you are an eBay member, search for each item and check Completed Listings to see what others have sold for. If not, you could end up shorting yourself.

Sometimes you'd be surprised to see what some things will sell for. A few years ago I had a collection of surfing magazines from the 90s called "Surfers Journal." It was a quarterly publication and I had them all from the first 5 years. My wife and I were either going to give them away or throw them out. On a whim we listed the first magazine (Vol. 1) on eBay. That single magazine sold for $375.00 to a person in Australia. All told we made about $900 from mags we were going to toss out.

 

[JS80]

I hadn't used it in a couple years...just bought an HTC Hero from it bc of the lack of supply on craigslist. Luckily the guy lived like a mile away and we exchanged right after I won the auction. And no paypal fees.

 

[nick1985]

Sellers cant leave negative feedback on buyers.

Sounds fair right?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It's totally tubular.

I was thinking the same thing. Is OP stuck in some 80's movie? Narly dude! Radical!

 

[Ns1]

Sellers cant leave negative feedback on buyers.

Sounds fair right?

Sounds like real life.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

It really does suck to sell shit on ebay.

I sold an SSD that was returned for bullshit reasons. I tested that sucker and it was 100% perfect condition.

Turned around and sold it here -- lower price but peace of mind.

 

[xrax]

I've recently won 2 auctions with an opening bid of $0.01 plus shipping. Shipping was reasonable for both items.($10 for ups box and $2 for envelope).

 

[shortylickens]

BUMP! Read the date!


OK, I got pics of some of my D&D books.
Per your recommendations I will not sell the entire collection all at once. I do this against my will but knowing you guys are probably right. I just dont wanna get stuck with a handful of useless books at the end of my selling spree. The main objective here isnt to make lots of cash but to get these damn books out of my house.

http://picasaweb.google.com/shortylickens/EBayDD#

Obviously I will use smaller pics on Ebay, but I think these are good enough quality considering what I typically see there. If this selling shit works out for me I will buy one of those cute little white tents for photography.
Based on what I have heard and read, I should sell these books individually and use media mailers for 4 bucks each to ship them anywhere in America. I will make the buyer pay shipping. So it doesnt matter if he buys it for a buck, I will still not lose money in the process. I guess Paypal is still the best option since it protects the seller and the buyer (correct me if I'm wrong) and I dont have to ship a damn thing until I see the money. I think maybe one whole week is enough time, again with the understanding the first 6 days are just to let people know that its for sale and the 7th day will see all the bids (if any). I will start it at one dollar and really dont give a damn if it sells for that.

My blurb should be something like this:

-----------------
For sale: Wizards of the Coast D&D 3.5 edition Dungeon Master Guide hardcover. Book is in excellent condition as I rarely used it and it spend most of its time sitting on a bookshelf untouched.
Willing to take more pics to prove its quality.
Buyer will use Paypal and must pay for shipping. Item will be sent out from a Box Buddy in Northern Virginia the first business day after I receive payment through Paypal. Book will be shipped in a standard USPS media mailer for 4 dollars. Buyer will pay this fee or else the sale is not complete.
-------------------------

Tell me if that sucks, grammatically or otherwise. I dont want to come across as an ignorant asshole especially when I have no buyer or seller ratings.
Should I allow more than one payment service? I need to know all this well in advance cuz I'd have to set up accounts. Apparently I can enter the ISBN for the book so I dont need to copy all the info about what it is and whats in it. Ebay does that for me. Anyone think I should go ahead and sell the whole set of 50 books in one giant collection? Or is that too much to ask people looking at a beginning seller?

Any other suggestions or tips? I welcome criticism, provided its constructive.

 

[waggy]

I used ot love ebay. i would buy and sale a lot. but after the rule changes i haven't sold anything and only won 3 items.

 

[Garet Jax]

Extrapolate.

Sellers can no longer give negative feedback to a buyer. So a buyer could be absolutely unreasonable and there is nothing you can do about it.

Depending on Paypal and ebay standing as well as value of the auction, Paypal could hold the funds until the Buyer gives the seller a positive feedback.

Ebay charges fees to sellers based on the feedback they get from the buyers. The worse your feedback, the higher the fees.

I have largely stopped selling on ebay and am now using specialty sites and craigslist.

When I have no luck there, I post to ebay to finally get rid of it.