Anyone sell stuff on eBay?: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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July 5, 2011 4:09 p.m. slefain SuperDork

So I have a corner of my basement piled high with stuff that belonged to my wife's grandmother. In her later years to took to collecting everything. The stuff pretty much was bought and just put in a closet, never even opened. Some of it is apparently worth money, so we were thinking of selling it off on eBay. I have a bunch of stuff that is eBay fodder as well (old toys). Any tips? I created car part catalogs for years, so I'm not worried about product description, nor handling the photos.

I already told my wife we would be setting up a separate bank account to handle the PayPal transactions. My thought was to just use the USPS flat rate boxes for shipping. She already has to check our P.O. box each day, so this won't be a huge burden to mail stuff. I know we won't get rich selling off the stuff, but at least it won't be in the way anymore.
July 5, 2011 4:10 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I gave up on ebay after they changed the rules on how sellers and buyers get rated.
July 5, 2011 4:20 p.m. slefain SuperDork

mad_machine wrote:

I gave up on ebay after they changed the rules on how sellers and buyers get rated.

Hmmm, I wonder if Amazon is an option then?
July 5, 2011 4:23 p.m. confuZion3 SuperDork

Make sure your listing ends on a Sunday night. This is when most people e-Bay. It doesn’t have to be on there for very long—most serious e-Bayers only e-Bay once a week (usually on Sunday).

Also, be honest with your listing. If something is slightly broken, mention it. E-Bayers appreciate honesty and will bid with greater confidence.

Start with a low opening bid price and be confident in the market—the market will select the best price for both you and your customer. You can make it $0.01 if you would like. People will set maximum bids and it will quickly jump higher. Also, keep in mind numero uno… not a lot will happen until Sunday when most e-Bayers are e-baying and your bid is closing.

Keep that reserve option off the auction or keep it as low as you can accept. People will become discouraged if they keep bidding higher and higher and still don’t meet the reserve price. If you set your reserve at the price you think the product will sell for, it may not sell at all.

Also, read and reread the rules on e-Bay. Don’t put terms or payment methods (ex. limiting payment methods to homemade clay Donald Rumsfeld figurines) in your listing that are against e-Bay rules.

Finally; if you take only one piece of my advice, then no matter what you do, do NOT end your listing on a Sunday! Ever! (…I kid! I kid!)

Got it? Good.
July 5, 2011 4:29 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork

I do occasionally sell stuff on there and am buying item - usually used car parts or computer stuff.

I've been very lucky in the sense that I haven't had an idiot buyer for quite a while. I think the last one I had was someone who bought a classic car off me, drove past it, decided he didn't want it after pestering me over the phone that I should leave work right there and then so he could pick up the car and suddenly went uncontactable.

Around that time I got an email from someone who hadn't managed to get his bid in who just said "always wanted one, let me know and I'll be there tomorrow with cash and trailer". They were as good as their word...

These days I make sure I've got plenty of photos and mention everything I'm aware of re an item. Seems to work pretty OK on both CL and eBay, but on ebay you always have to keep in mind that $DEITY made a surplus of idiots who are just there to try us.
July 5, 2011 4:34 p.m. SupraWes Dork

Take a look at Amazon as well, if its media like books movies etc.. Some items you can sell some you cannot, generally if it has a barcode or isbn number you can sell it. The comission they take is the same as ebay+paypal but you can set your own prices. However with a free account you can only sell 40 items a month. Whatever you do it's not going to be easy, its a part time job at least, dealing with questions packaging, shipping, the financials.
July 5, 2011 4:39 p.m. slefain SuperDork

SupraWes wrote:

Whatever you do it's not going to be easy, its a part time job at least, dealing with questions packaging, shipping, the financials.

That is pretty much the idea. She wants to contribute to the family income, but getting a part time job would incur childcare costs, thus wiping out the income idea. She made some extra coin selling Mary Kay for a while, so I know she can handle this. Packaging will be easy as almost everything is still in the box it shipped in.
July 5, 2011 6:41 p.m. pete240z SuperDork

I quit ebay when I was having to pay a 9% commission on the shipping charges I charged.

I found that small stuff (fishing lures, door handles, mirrors, Creative Memories crap) was best to package and ship, and big stuff (Datsun Roadster 5-speeds, 240Z rear hatches, rims) were a pain and not worth all that packaging for the small amount of money I made. The end-user paid all the shipping but it was just a lot of work on my end.
July 5, 2011 9:04 p.m. donalson SuperDork

with CL and forums I rarely ebay... when I have it's been high $$$ items that need lots of eyes... musical instruments and various electronics...
July 5, 2011 10:05 p.m. Javelin SuperDork

With the new FeeBay, you will lose money Net after they take their cuts and PayPal (owned by eBay) takes there's. Don't forget that you can't name your own shipping sometimes, which eats more.
July 5, 2011 10:13 p.m. fasted58 HalfDork

Used to sell a lot on ebay till cpl yrs ago, mostly Oct. - March... lot more ppl indoors then. Made some good $ too, was worth the effort.

Research your items, see what similar items are selling for and use your watch list to keep track of them. If there are tons of your item type you may not see top dollar. If it's rare, know it before listing and note it. Evaluate your items, maybe they are better sold on CL or the flea market... boxing $5 items wastes time. Be aware of all fees also.

More details the better. If your item is a current product, C&P description from website including pics, just using links gets less attention. Post more pics if you anticipate a higher $ sale like for an antique.... or maybe your old toys. Be honest on condition and list any defects.

I usually list in Continental US only but have opened it worldwide after emails from overseas... it was worth it, mainly for auto parts tho. I usually scheduled Mon. thru Thurs as ppl are busy on weekends. Make it accessible to the bidders time wise... nothing like a bidding war in the closing seconds. I'd shoot for an end time before 11 pm, but consider the E to W time zones. Ex: I scored a complete GM TPI for about half the going rate bc the auction closed at 3 am.

You'll need scales for posting boxed weight in calculating shipping rates. I use a 5 lb. digital for small stuff and 50 lb analog for larger... they will pay for themselves.

Good luck