<p>Rainy here for another of many days. I’ve decided to clean some closets and listed five items on ebay this morning. Any other amateur ebay sellers out there? Tips to share?
DH says I could buy stuff and sell it on ebay as a part time business. I feel like it could take months to sell what I already want to get rid of!</p>
<p>Good luck, eb.</p>
<p>DH and I have been ebayers since the wild west days. We mostly buy though.
I LOVE being able to find replacement parts for my old Miele vacuum or an old piece of china of a certain pattern. I’ve bought a bunch of Longaberger pieces and some furniture.</p>
<p>DH has been successful selling our old Nikons when we went digital and some of his old music ‘black boxes’. He searches completed items that sold to gauge what to price a piece at.</p>
<p>I search furniture by setting distance limit of 10 miles and save the search in my favorites. Mostly because I am too cheap to pay for shipping and I usually want to visit the pieces locally before I commit. Found old Ethan Allen for my bedroom.</p>
<p>best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks. My SIL used to sell Longaberger. Time to go hunt for the pieces I don’t use…</p>
<p>S sells a lot on Amazon, but has also sold on eBay. He prefers Amazon for new, repeated merchandise. EBay tries to get everyone to use PayPal, which also takes its percentage of the sale. It can be a convenient way to sell (or buy), I have only bought on eBay and donate things to the neighborhood church thrift shop that we don’t need.</p>
<p>I sell stuff on Ebay.</p>
<p>If there is one thing I can advise you:
You have to be dogged and tough.
There are many, many lovely buyers out there, but some are not nice to deal with.
Just stay calm and friendly, even I they threaten you with lawyers and call you all kinds lovely names.
Don’t ever take that serious, the people at eBay customer service ate very reasonable. As soon as a problem occurs, contact them and don’t make any ominous deals with anyone. Never give out your private data. And give the mail service ample time for packages to arrive :)</p>
<p>Thanks! Good advice. For now I won’t use Amazon only because I don’t have new items…just “vintage” things…</p>
<p>What I have found over the years is the best to list something for sale is after dinner so your listing closes at night when folks are home and more likely to bid. If something doesn’t sell at first, relist but revise your listing, highlight something new about the item.</p>
<p>This past fall, I cleaned out lilD’s closets and put her Halloween costumes on eBay. I was pleasantly surprised with the response. One tip, take the time to accurately price shipping. Many of my buyers were on the opposite coast and fortunately, I charged enough for shipping. </p>
<p>I’m ready to go out there and sell old snow pants and jackets!</p>
<p>Edit to add to mamom’s post: I heard listing on Saturday or Sunday works well, too!</p>
<p>If you are selling clothes it’s easier and more successful to sell in lots, say a lot of size 6 women’s skirts. I have sold lots of DS and DD’s clothes that way. I group things by sizes and style/brand (size 28 waist AE, Aero and Hollister shorts, for example) and have had great luck that way.</p>
<p>How do you figure out shipping costs?? </p>
<p>And do most people mail out thru USPS or UPS or what??</p>
<p>How quick do you get things in the mail once someone buys something ???</p>
<p>Finally, where do you eat all the boxes etc. to mail things out!!?</p>
<p>I would really like to give this a try for a thing or two!</p>
<p>If you can fit the item in a flat rate USPS box, you can get free boxes at the US Post Office or Office Depots that offer mail service. You can also calculate shipping based on USPS rates, plus $.75 or so for delivery confirmation. In your shipping terms, you can specify that will only mail within the US. If you are using other means of shipping, you would have to check their rates. Some eBay sellers only ship to the contiguous 48 states, thereby excluding Alaska and HI because UPS and FedEx rates may be different.</p>
<p>If you print your own postage on-line, you get a FREE confirmation code. There is an additional charge for insurance, that sellers sometimes allow the buyers to purchase as well, which would add to the overall price of the item. It is amazing what can be fit into flat rate boxes!</p>
<p>As a buyer, I generally get items within a week or less after I purchase. I personally prefer NOT to use PayPal unless absolutely necessary, as PayPal takes a % and the seller has to include this in the markup of the item, but some find it easier to work with them.</p>
<p>Do a search for completed listings of the items you want to sell, so you have a realistic idea of the price you can expect. Then go to a website that calculates ebay and paypal fees (new life auctions) to determine what your costs will be. Box the item and weigh it before listing it, and then use the calculated shipping option so that each buyer is paying the shipping to their zipcode, not the inflated cost necessary to cover all possible locations. Ebay expects sellers to ship within 24 hours. </p>
<p>Some categories are flooded and very difficult to sell in. When my parents were downsizing, they thought they could make big bucks on ebay, but when they researched the going rate for their items, they were very disappointed. Taking into account the work to photograph, take accurate measurements, and then write the listing, it just wasn’t worth it.</p>
<p>I find a similar item that is already listed and click “sell one like this” then edit away.</p>
<p>I have my own ebay account for purchasing.</p>
<p>But when I ocassionally want to sell something, I conveniently snuggle up to DH who has the whole photograph and list thing down pat. The proceeds of any sale ends up in our communal pot anyway.</p>
<p>I am always surprised to see listings with NO size dimensions, even for furniture.
Can’t see that someone will buy a chair or chest without knowing how big it is!
It is annoying to have to request such basic info and sometimes I just don’t bother and that item is off my possible purchase list.</p>
<p>Ebay will calculate shipping for you based on where it is being shipped. I always ship priority mail because I get free boxes and free delivery confirmation and ebay will calculate the shipping cost based on the buyers location.</p>
<p>Yup. I don’t really expect to make a lot doing this. I have a PO box for work so I go to the PO every day. I have a business UPS account so it isn’t hard to get online and print the labels. Boxes are pretty easy to come by. Mostly I’m just starting the downsizing, decluttering. In the next five to ten years I think we may move to a smaller place and it will take me that long to get rid of the excess. Everything I have listed so far is something I will never miss and/or forgot I owned. The extra money will come in handy. Saving for DD’s graduation gift.</p>
<p>Expect to pay a fee of 9 - 10% between eBay listing fees, eBay selling fees and Paypal fees (less if you get a free eBay listing).</p>
<p>If you are selling a collectible item of any type, be aware that eBay has totally changed the collectibles market. If you used to haunt garage sales, estate sales, flea markets, and antique shops for a certain rare item, you may find four or five sellers of the exact item on eBay. Similarly, if you have an item for sale, you may find multiple buyers. You may find it sells for an outrageously (except to you) high price.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if a rare item is on sale on eBay you may find yourself in a bidding war with buyers from all over the globe, so it may be tough to get an item at a bargain price. Or you might be lucky and see the item in a week where there don’t happen to be any other bidders and get it for a real bargain (happened to me last week).</p>
<p>By the same token, if you are selling an item that ought to be valuable but many other collectors have, it might go unsold no matter how good you think it is - and you’ll have lots of other uncompensated sellers to commiserate with (has happened to me also).</p>
<p>Just expect the unexpected</p>