A few questions as a seller-to-be...

E

Ecthelion

PURSEBAN Club Member
O.G.
Aug 8, 2006
416
0
#1
I've never sold anything on ebay before but now I feel the need of unloading some of my previous possessions that make my closet pretty impossible to hold anything more. After reading so many negative experiences and unfortunate incidents I'm really a little freaked out, :sad: It seems that being a buyer is completely different from being a seller, although I don't intend to make any profit I don't want to be scammed either... It'll be really nice if you ladies can help me answer a few questions: (1) Can I block bidders that have less than zero feedback scores? (2) Can I accept credit card payments through PayPal even though my PayPal account is not a seller account? (3) When I do the listing, what's the duration of the auction should I choose? It seems that people tend to think short-time auctions are more unreliable?

Thank you very much, and I'll wish myself good luck when I decide to start...
 
#2
I do know that you can block bids from people with a 0 or less feedback. If you are worried about international shipping, you can block people who aren't in the states.

As for accepting cards through paypal, you can do it, its just an upgrade and paypal takes a small percentage from the total you receive (so lets say john doe pays you 5.00 through paypal with american express, you really only get 4.50)

I like auctions that end on a weekday, because chances are I will get my items sent out that week. As a seller I make sure I end autions in mid week to hopefully get the item to the winning bidder by the end of the week with USPS priority mail. I usually do a 3 day listing, unless its a highly unusal product. As a buyer I tend to only look at things ending within a day or so, but I do watch occassionally
 
#3
A trading assistant who helped me sell a couple bags, said she prefers 7-day listings ending on Sunday evening around 10-10:30pm EST, when eBay is busiest. You get all time zones that way. She swears it produces the highest bids, but other sellers may disagree.

Best of luck!
 
#4
the thing about blocking buyers is that you have to block individuals, you can't just block all members w/ a 0 feedback.
plus, we all have to start somewhere! ;)

Just make sure you have a 'Business Account' w/ Paypal and if you don't, don't worry about, the first time someone pays w/ a credit card it'll aks you to upgrade and you can just say YES at that point. Just know, they'll skim from EVERY payment made through Paypal after that point though, they're thieves and it sucks and we have NO choice :sad:

Some people swear by this eBay Calendar:
calendar

I personally sell often and don't tend to over analyze things. . . I just list on whatever day I can get enough time to make the listing and I usually go for 5 or 7 days.
Also, you may want to download Turbo Lister {free} it makes listing much easier and faster than using the regular "SELL" program on eBay.
 
#5
I'm a big fan of auctions ending on Sunday evenings. I swear that's when the most things sell, and for the most money. I'm a fan of 7-day listings. That way you get in a full weekend of traffic and 2 Sundays.
 
#6
I have only been a seller a few times, but the one thing I would suggest is that you research shipping costs very carefully, including the cost of the packaging you will use. There is another thread where the overwhelming consensus appears to be that it is better marketing practice to make the item look nice in addition to packing it to withstand the slings and arrows of all the tossing and smushing it will be subject to once it leaves your hands, so if you plan to do tissue and ribbon, with a little thank you note, and/or business card, you will want to be sure that you plan for those costs, those would be your "handling" charges that you would add to the actual cost of shipping.

And I would research the cost of shipping USPS as well as UPS, but you will also need to decide whether you want to just stick to UPS for the tracking number, and just generally better service.

This advice is born out of my own negligence, I did not do the homework, and set a shipping cost for my items that actually worked out to be LESS than it actually cost me, and did not include anything for either materials, or my time to pack the item up.

And just to confess how stupid I was, the items I was selling were paintings, which require considerably more packaging than a sweater you bought two years ago but only wore one time!
 
#7
Thank you all for the advice and tips! I feel better now and I'll try to do my part as nicely and carefully as possible. I'll probably start this weekend...3 bags. Just hope there won't be any drama.
 
#8
It is too late now as they take forever arrive from the post office but Priority boxes are free. You can only ship Priority if you use them though. They ought to be at the post office but I never see them there!

I love printing postage online. No lines at the post office. If you don't have a scale, my PO has a scale/postage printer that might be nice to use outside PO hours.

I don't care how pretty my purchases are, I want them safely packaged. No voids in the box, no rattling around! Tape, lots of tape.

Shimma, I sold a lighting fixture for $15 that originally cost me $10+$30 for shades and charged $15 for shipping when it ended up costing $20 to ship. I AM a good business person, huh? A labor of love, it is going to be reused and loved again.

Good luck Ecthilion!
 
#9
Thanks to all!

One last question: Is the Thanksgiving weekend considered ok for ending the auctions? Personally I really want to get this unloading closet business done asap...but if I choose 5-day or 7-day listings most likely I will end up with the Thanksgiving weekend. Any experience? Thanks again!
 
#11
I have to say there are many useful tips in your previous post, ShimmaPuff! :P

And I just found that as a seller-to-be I have far from the "last" question to ask here - how do you put high quality pictures in your auction? I really don't like the ebay tiny pics too much...they just don't allow you to see things clearly even though the seller might have every good will to let the bidders see. Any suggestions?
 
#12
Just want to follow up - finally, I got all three bags I wanted to sell sold! Yay!!

Thank you so much for the tips and advice! Feel like just getting through a major project, :smile:
 
#13
You are going to do great Ecthelion.
I learned through trial and error.

I like to make up my auction templates in Word or Notepad so I can list an auction in seconds just using c/c/p. I make up auctions months ahead sometimes.

I do barebone listings. No themes or paid backgrounds. If it is a purse I definitely use a Gallery pic (35 cents) and show 6 or more pics usually. Those extra fees (IMO) don't sell items but add up to big bucks.

I try to put my expectations into my auction without the 12 paragraph rule book as some sellers have (Ya know.....a one line description and 12 paragraphs of rules to follow).

And it's cost containment to know all the fees (listing fee, final fee, gallery & extra pic fees, Paypal initial fee and paypal % fee). I have gotten burnt a few times selling an item that cost me more to sell than to keep. Like listing a book at 99 cents. You make absolutely no profit.

My numbe one rule? Try to keep Ebay fun and never do it as a main source of income if at all possible. Then it becomes an anxious stressful situation. I use it as a means to recoup some money I spent on Books or Bags I haven't used. I am lucky enough to have all my paypal money be fun money for me, to buy things on ebay or put into my bank account. So after 8 years of selling I still get a little thrill listing something and watching it.

Good luck!
 
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