Ebay tips/tricks, got any to share?

[Pakrat 1,043]

About 10 years or so ago when my car got totaled I opened an e-bay account and never ended up buying or selling a thing. As I start to clean out the house over the next few weeks I have a lot of stuff I would like to get rid of as does my wife, she has lots of very expensive shoes, purses and such from her professional career that she will never use again being disabled now. I would really like some useful info if anyone cares to share. Treat me like I'm 5 as I honestly am clueless what to do, the only thing I know is people don't like newbies with 0 feedback but how the heck do you get it if you don't start somewhere.

[jholmes217 65]

Pak;

 

I have bought or sold about 60 things on Ebay now.  Best advise I can give is look and see what similar items are selling for, then price your item about 10 to 20 percent below that in the hope that the bidding will climb to that price.  To get your feedback up, I'd buy some things from Ebay first.  Back to selling, when someone ask a question, respond as fast as you can because communication is a big part of it.  Also, when an item is sold, confirm with the buyer that they want the item shipped a certain way.  ALWAYS USE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION TO PROTECT YOURSELF AS A SELLER!  If you can't confirm that something was delivered, they can say they never received it, get their money back, and give you bad feedback!  Ship it out fast when they confirm how they want it shipped and insured.  PM me your phone number if you want to talk about it.  I'm by no means an expert, but I feel comfortable buying and selling on Ebay now.

[Pakrat 1,043]

OK good advice thanks.

 

How about Reserves, yeah or nay?

 

No one else has any tips eh? Have I under estimated how many e-bay users we have here or is everyone guarding their secrets tightly?

[jholmes217 65]

Reserves piss me off Pak.  For example, I saw a Cobra oval air cleaner assembly on eBay for I think $12.  I made a bid of $100 dollars, and was told I was high bidder, but reserve was not met!  A reserve of at least $88?  In my opinion, don't do a reserve, just put your starting bid for the bottom line dollar amount you will accept.  If it doesn't sell, bring it down some and try again, then keep bringing it down until it sells.

[coz 108]

Hey Pak - I buy/sell frequently.  I've never really had any bad experiences.  I price things fairly and do not use reserves, etc...  Pictures go along ways in helping you sell.  Good descriptions with a bolded title works.  Can't stand the multi-color/font entries.  Too hard to read.  Make sure you price in (or list separately shipping costs).  Don't take a hit because you have to ship across the country and only charged $5.  Also agree on tracked delivery.  Make it part of your listing.  I'm torn on insurance and as a buyer never pay for it if offered separately.  I figure my CC / Paypal will protect me if the product doesn't show or is damaged and IMO the product is the sellers until it arrives.  As a  seller I add insurance and make it part of the price.  That way I'm protected as a seller.

[Pakrat 1,043]

Good stuff, thanks. So I should probably open a pay pal account too then.

[jholmes217 65]

PayPal is the way most folks on Ebay prefer to handle money transfers Pak.  Can also come in handy for other things like sending money to relatives for birthdays, or buying things off Craigslist if they are willing to mail the item if it is too far away to drive.

[69RavenConv 286]

+1 on PayPal. Greatly simplifies things.

 

In addition to all the good advice already given, I try to time my auctions so they end at a reasonable time, like, say, 10 pm EST. Lots of folks like to bid at the end of an auction, and if that time is 5am EST (2 am PST) it limits your audience.

[Pakrat 1,043]

OK, thanks. I had PayPal like 20 years ago when it first came around but I never used it and I got constant spam emails claiming to be them and having concerns about my account so I dumped it and never looked back. Guess it's time to look into it again.

[indianfiremach 170]

Pak,

 

I've been selling on eBay pretty consistently for the past 13 years, and am currently a Top Rated Seller on there. A few things before you list anything:

 

• What you paid for something and what it's worth now are two drastically different things, so price your items based on what others have been selling for
• If you are selling an item, be sure to search sold/completed auctions to get an idea of the value. If you can't find the item on there or something close, it's possible buyers aren't really looking for your item. Popularity trumps rarity here
• People need to be able to find your items, so use keywords in your title to try and attract buyers, as long as they relate to the item.
• If you are selling multiple related items, mention that in your listing. When I sell Mustang stuff on there, I look at the bidders and its the same ones across multiple auctions, even if they don't end up winning it - they drive up the price.

[TheRktmn 15]

Don't annoy the buyers. I haven't sold anything in a while, but I do browse for parts and to get an idea of what parts are going for. Some of the things that turn me off from a seller are (in no particular order):

 

* Not all Mustang parts are RARE or from a SHELBY.

* Spell check your page. I am no Rhodes Scholar and I do plenty of typos, but poor spelling and improper usage looks very unprofessional (their, there,they're, etc).

* DON'T DESCRIBE YOUR ITEMS IN UPPERCASE, BOLD, OR CRAZY COLORS.

* Include lots of pictures, show everything from every angle.

* If you're aware of any defect or wear, describe it. An honest description is better than a vague one.

* If you can, include shipping. eBay takes a piece of it anyway so it's not like it's profit. When I was in NH I figured postage to

100 Main St in Julian, CA 92036 and added that to my starting price (Julian CA is a small town near San Diego). Exorbitant shipping will kill bids. I would include shipping in the lower 48 and list actual shipping to other locales TBD after the auction.

* As mentioned earlier, answer any questions ASAP.

 

[prayers1 153]

As indianfiremach said, to get an ideal what an item is selling for look up Completed listings.  Green colored figures show an item has sold.  As an example the item may be listed by 20 sellers but only 2 were sold, meaning it's not a hot item.

 

The most important lesson I learned was figuring the cost of shipping, if you don't get it right you can lose a lot of money because you can't go back and ask the buyer for more on what you miscalculated.

 

Either buy a scale or see what that Item would cost if you were buying it from sellers at different points of the country.

 

To make it easy, most of the time, I do a Buy it Now, which has the shipping cost already calculated in the price.

 

Ebay can be a lot of fun if you do it right.  Yes, and feedback is vital as well as communications.  Good Luck!

[Pakrat 1,043]

Thanks Everyone, great stuff, keep it coming.

 

Estimating shipping is one of my biggest concerns but I guess I can always go to the local shipping store or post office with weight and package size and use an address like Rktmn suggested to find the maximum cost across the whole country. Do you guys always just figure on the cheapest USPS way or do you offer 2-3day as well?

[jholmes217 65]

Thanks Everyone, great stuff, keep it coming.

 

Estimating shipping is one of my biggest concerns but I guess I can always go to the local shipping store or post office with weight and package size and use an address like Rktmn suggested to find the maximum cost across the whole country. Do you guys always just figure on the cheapest USPS way or do you offer 2-3day as well?

You can pack it up after taking pictures exactly like you would mail it Pak, just don't completely seal it.  You can then take all the measurements and weigh it at the Post Office, and plug that information into the Ebay shipping computation function.  Or, I try to use the USPS flat rate boxes as much as possible.

[jwscarab 20]

Hi Pak,

 

I too sell mustang parts on eBay.  User name is staggered_shock.  Probably almost 500 sales now.  I hobby I stumbled into.  Most of the tips have already been mentioned here.  Here are my tips

 

1) buy a scale (I bought a 75lbs scale) and weigh/measure all packages

2) buy a used Zebra postage printer.  You will save about 35% on shipping and cover the printer cost in no time!  After that, its a little profit for your shipping time tracking down boxes etc.

3) order the USPS Priority mail boxes online for FREE - delivered to your door!!

4) Sign up for UPS or Fedex online and get FREE 4x6 shipping labels (that you can also use on USPS shipping) 

5) price the shipping as its going cross country - I use 90210 cause I'm old and I can remember that show....lol.  Add 12% to that postage to cover eBay and Paypal fees on shipping cost

6) Be VERY honest and take LOTS of pics

7) get refrigerator boxes from appliance store to cut down to custom make big boxes

8) use Paypal definitely

9) offer a 14 day refund - but only refund purchase price - not shipping or return shipping

10)  Feedback is utmost important - please the buyer - every once in a while you get a jerk who rips you off.

 

Lastly - and I don't understand this at all - but be prepared for nobody on the forums to like you anymore.  Nobody likes the "ebay parts seller".  Its like you are evil and only on the forum to rip everybody off - even tho you are an honest person who enjoys the hobby like everybody else does.  You are supposed to give everything away, even tho you paid good money and time to acquire those parts.

[Pakrat 1,043]

LOL, OK, more good stuff, thanks JW! If anyone on here doesn't like me for selling Women's accessories for my wife on e-bay then I won't think twice for banning them in return. ;)