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Thinking of selling on Ebay

Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
I know Ebay has a horrible reputation among sellers these days, but I need the money so I'm thinking of selling off my game collection. I promised myself I never would, but with Conker alone fetching for the $100 range I can't ignore it any longer. The question is, where to begin? I've paid via paypal as a buyer, but do I have to setup something more sophisticated to get selling going? What kinds of hiccups and issues to look out for should I be aware of? What hard lessons did you learn the hard way that I should bear in mind?

Thanks.
 
Specifically state the exact condition and cancel all low feedback buyer's bids (put that in your ad as well). Always only ship to PayPal verified address and get signature confirmation required (no leave at door BS). It also is worth it to ask for a phone number on expensive items and require a phone call before buying. Never do any contact (except phone) outside of the eBay messaging system.

I've yet to be scammed when I resell the odd pair of sneakers. I've heard some real horror stories though (selling a pair for a few thousand, only to have the buyer claim they are fake and send you back fakes rather than the real things AND get a full refund plus keeping the real pair).
 
Adding to above post, I also always put where I am willing to ship to ie, lower 48 states, canada, whatever. If someone from Tawain wins the bid, I'm not shipping it.

As far as setting something up - no.

Edit: Also I try to make auctions end during evening hours/weekends.
 
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don't

/thread

(if you do my one piece of advice is sell a lot of cheaper stuff early, people bid more on expensive items if you have a good reputation. Also be sure to print your username on a piece of paper and put it in pictures of things you sell. I get higher than average bids for an item because I do that)
 
Maybe you already know this, but just to reiterate, you will actually be getting no more than 80% of then selling price after ebay fess, paypal fees and shipping, so that's that.

I do sell on ebay every now and then, one thing I learned from experience is to sell stuff "as is", never say that it works perfectly fine.
 
Thanks for the tips all. Keep them coming.

smackababy said:
Specifically state the exact condition and cancel all low feedback buyer's bids (put that in your ad as well). Always only ship to PayPal verified address and get signature confirmation required (no leave at door BS). It also is worth it to ask for a phone number on expensive items and require a phone call before buying. Never do any contact (except phone) outside of the eBay messaging system.

I've yet to be scammed when I resell the odd pair of sneakers. I've heard some real horror stories though (selling a pair for a few thousand, only to have the buyer claim they are fake and send you back fakes rather than the real things AND get a full refund plus keeping the real pair).
Click to expand...

I actually have to cancel low bids? You can't just toggle an option to lock out bidders with 0 or x amount of feedback? That seems lame.
poofyhairguy said:
don't

/thread

(if you do my one piece of advice is sell a lot of cheaper stuff early, people bid more on expensive items if you have a good reputation. Also be sure to print your username on a piece of paper and put it in pictures of things you sell. I get higher than average bids for an item because I do that)
Click to expand...

That bad huh? Well I really need an outlet to sell stuff and craigslist probably won't pan out in my area. I will be sure to post my handle next to the item however.

DesiPower said:
Maybe you already know this, but just to reiterate, you will actually be getting no more than 80% of then selling price after ebay fess, paypal fees and shipping, so that's that.

I do sell on ebay every now and then, one thing I learned from experience is to sell stuff "as is", never say that it works perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

I heard there is a thing Ebay has that will print out a label for you and even save you a little money compared to what USPS might charge you. Is it true?
 
Was this inspired by CZroe selling our sealed copy of Conker earlier this year?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/cyberzer0/m.html?_sop=3&LH_Complete=1

...that list only shows the second sealed copy (that one was in bad shape). The first closed for $238.85

I almost regret selling our stuff because there was soooo much hassle involved. Despite doing everything perfectly, I still got some notice from eBay that I was protected from 2 buyer claims. I can't find any information about the claims or which items they were.

The first buyer of the sealed Zelda OoT never paid. The second buyer took a really long time.

I never got payment for the sealed Super Mario 64, so I still have that.
 
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Sonikku said:
That bad huh?
Click to expand...

Just build up your reputation first. Like even buy a bunch of cheap crap on there to boost it as sales and purchase rep are mixed. For rare things if you don't have a rep over 100 the bids will be low.

I heard there is a thing Ebay has that will print out a label for you and even save you a little money compared to what USPS might charge you. Is it true?
Click to expand...

Yeah they will do that if you chose to do it when creating the auction. I use it unless its a big item (where USPS sucks).
 
poofyhairguy said:
Just build up your reputation first. Like even buy a bunch of cheap crap on there to boost it as sales and purchase rep are mixed. For rare things if you don't have a rep over 100 the bids will be low.
Click to expand...
If you're not an active eBay user, this can help. But, it looks like you're selling off a bunch of smaller items, so it might not be worth it.

Yeah they will do that if you chose to do it when creating the auction. I use it unless its a big item (where USPS sucks).
Click to expand...

I never do it, but I generally only sell valuable items and want to ensure complete insurance and the recipient has to sign for it.
 
poofyhairguy said:
Just build up your reputation first. Like even buy a bunch of cheap crap on there to boost it as sales and purchase rep are mixed. For rare things if you don't have a rep over 100 the bids will be low.



Yeah they will do that if you chose to do it when creating the auction. I use it unless its a big item (where USPS sucks).
Click to expand...

I already have 50 or so feedback from the ten years I've been a member as a buyer, all positive. Does that help?

Ichinisan said:
Was this inspired by CZroe selling our sealed copy of Conker earlier this year?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/cyberzer0/m.html?_sop=3&LH_Complete=1

...that list only shows the second sealed copy (that one was in bad shape). The first closed for $238.85

I almost regret selling our stuff because there was soooo much hassle involved. Despite doing everything perfectly, I still got some notice from eBay that I was protected from 2 buyer claims. I can't find any information about the claims or which items they were.

The first buyer of the sealed Zelda OoT never paid. The second buyer took a really long time.

I never got payment for the sealed Super Mario 64, so I still have that.
Click to expand...

No, not inspired by anything, other than a need for cash and a quick search on some of the rarer games in my collection.
 
eBay really isn't that bad. Over the past few weeks, I finally got off my lazy ass and put up a few items that I had been meaning to sell for a few months (I've still got some left too). The only thing that eBay screwed me over on was shipping costs on a mixer. They charged the buyer $26 for shipping, and it ended up costing me $46. Don't forget that eBay doesn't even give a buyer the option of paying for insurance, but you'd be a fool to not take it.

Anyway, here are some thoughts:

  1. PHOTOS! Make sure you take good photographs of exactly what you're selling. The photographs should show every item in your auction, and if it's a functioning item, show that it still works. Also, if your photographs have to include something that isn't in your auction (e.g. a TV to show the game works), be clear that the other items are for display purposes and aren't included.
  2. Description! You need to also make sure everything is accurately described. I usually include bullet lists that clearly state each item that's included.
  3. Packaging! If you don't do free shipping (I rarely ever do), make sure to get everything boxed up, weighed and measured so you can enter that information into the auction. I usually use a kitchen scale for weighing small boxes and a bathroom scale for weighing large boxes. I usually look at the screen when the shipping company is weighing in the box at drop-off, and I've never been more than a couple ounces off if any at all.
  4. Consider blocking 0-feedback users. eBay actually has an option to block people with no feedback, but keep in mind that everyone starts off somewhere. Since you're planning on selling a collectable, I would probably consider turning the block on.
  5. International Shipping! You can turn this off pretty easily, but eBay is pretty weird about it. In your seller options, you want to adjust the countries that you're willing to sell to. Also, you want to disable the international shipping option that is in the shipping section of each auction.
  6. Ignore Message Offers! You'll probably get message offers for your item. Ignore these... they're against eBay's ToS. If you want to be willing to accept offers, just use a Buy It Now and allow people to make offers. However, in my experience, you will receive some laughably bad offers. One time, I received an offer for $100 for a video card that was going for about $400. The guy stated, "I can get these for $70 elsewhere!" Frankly, I told him, "Go buy them there then."
 
Sonikku said:
I heard there is a thing Ebay has that will print out a label for you and even save you a little money compared to what USPS might charge you. Is it true?
Click to expand...

Correct, that's a 20% discount, it actually helps and it's pretty good too. They will suggest a default size and weight based on the product, if you thing you will stay within that size and weight you can go with that OR you can customize, change size dimension weight etc, add signature, insurance, everything. Basically you get all the options that you get on USPS site, all with a 20% discount!

I have shopped around, with other carriers and even directly on USPS website and their post office and what I got on ebay was always cheapest. I am obviously talking about small packages shipped 1st class, nothing over $10 shipping cost.
 
DesiPower said:
Correct, that's a 20% discount, it actually helps and it's pretty good too. They will suggest a default size and weight based on the product, if you thing you will stay within that size and weight you can go with that OR you can customize, change size dimension weight etc, add signature, insurance, everything. Basically you get all the options that you get on USPS site, all with a 20% discount!

I have shopped around, with other carriers and even directly on USPS website and their post office and what I got on ebay was always cheapest. I am obviously talking about small packages shipped 1st class, nothing over $10 shipping cost.
Click to expand...

You actually get a discount from just going to USPS.com and creating your postage on there. I'm not 100% sure if it's the exact same discount, but I think it is. Although, if you want a UPS discount, you will have to go through a really simple application process. The worst part though is that I've found that it's really easy to have something strange happen and have the UPS label creation no longer work with PayPal. I had to remove my perfectly legit UPS account because it just refused to work with PayPal, and eBay, which worked fine with UPS, would no longer create UPS labels. That meant that I lost my discount, and that I had to reapply. :\

Also, keep in mind that if you do eBay-calculated shipping costs, they factor in the discounts when charging the buyer. This is pretty new to me, and I'm really not a fan of the change. The thing is... I'm not trying to rip my buyers off, but the difference from the discount actually helped pay for insurance and things like signature confirmation.
 
I like selling on Amazon better. Just make sure to completely comply with the rules as a volume seller.

For just one instance, don't even *think* of reselling items bought on Amazon as 'new.' It's very easy to get an indefinite ban; while eBay is lax in comparison even with sellers of counterfeit goods. Fraud is also way more rampant on eBay than Amazon, since it's difficult to create multiple accounts for the same household.
 
OP, consider trying an online vintage gaming forum before using ebay. I started selling on ebay 17 years ago but now most of my transactions are as a buyer. The good old days of selling on ebay have long past as the company has significantly changed the rules against sellers for the benefit and protection of the buyer.

Go ahead and put an item up for auction on ebay and see what happens. Most likely you will sell the item for a fair price. Now, try to get paid. After you pay your listing fee (sometimes free), the final valuation fee and the PP fee (and sometimes shipping ... let's see how you feel when you finally get your hands on whats left. Also remember to leave a minimal amount in your PP account to protect yourself.

Good luck ...
 
Paypal recently made a change where the buyer can state that they never got the item, and they get an instant refund from the seller's pockets. I would not chance it. Try selling to local classifieds or something.
 
bradley said:
I like selling on Amazon better. Just make sure to completely comply with the rules as a volume seller.

For just one instance, don't even *think* of reselling items bought on Amazon as 'new.' It's very easy to get an indefinite ban; while eBay is lax in comparison even with sellers of counterfeit goods. Fraud is also way more rampant on eBay than Amazon, since it's difficult to create multiple accounts for the same household.
Click to expand...

Eh, I don't know if that is particularly true. Quite a few products on Amazon are fake, just not big ticket items. Buying Nike socks or CK underwear for cheap and it's only shipped by Amazon? Fake.
 
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