Just bought a non-returnable Max Mara dress off Saks’ 70% clearance. It is nice to take the risk when you have an identical dress hanging in your closet (it will go back to the store where I bought it a week ago). 
On another note… Is anyone else getting bombarded by emails from Ebay soliciting business?
I have NEVER gotten an e-mail from e-bay soliciting business. In fact, I suggested that they start sending them, as etsy sends them frequently.
Are you sure it’s from e-bay?
Absolutely sure they are from eBay - I checked. There are specifics that indicate so. Asking if I want to clear out my closets and jumpstart my New Year resolutions by listing for free for several days. 
I’ve never sold any crap there, just bought a couple of things. So there you go, they listened to your suggestion!
I’m getting EBay emails as well…woth $10 off coupons and lists of things I might want to buy. Started rather recently.
Nope. On there today. Also the ones from Rosewholesale.
I just ordered from Zulilly about a week and a half ago. Too tempting for the price but probably won’t again. Still not here. Too spoiled by Amazon’s speed.
I’m sorry if you’re feeling bombarded, but it really is an excellent way to get rid of things or find those rare items. I love e-bay and buy and sell there all the time, which may be the reason I haven’t gotten any e-mail promotions. They are really struggling right now, so a few months ago I started a thread on their board with suggestions on improving. They followed another suggestion, which was to promote gift cards. I think it is now at the top of the main page.
e-Bay has just announced they are laying off 7% of their workforce. They are likely becoming more aggressive to improve their bottom line. Sounds like they need to put @toledo on their payroll as a consultant
Look at you @toledo! Ebay exec!!!
My H has started some selling on Ebay - primarily to start keeping me quiet about too much junk in our house and now because he is seeing this as a great little side income for extra things. I have a luscious new leather couch in our living room thanks to this ebay selling and am now getting him to list some things for me to earn some travel $$$ for a hopeful upcoming trip - once you get the basics, it’s great!
Well. If I continue to get this daily crap from EBay, I’m good to block them. I don’t need to be solicited by them. When I need something, I’m smart enough to look there all by myself.
I’m also getting junk email from Ebay and have already blocked them. Sending out solicitations by email is a good way for them to lose my business.
It took me a month to get my Zulilly orders that were guaranteed delivery by Christmas which did not happen. I got apologies and a $10 certificate, but I don’t think I’ll order again. I did order name brand things that I knew I wanted. NOt something that I felt had a high chance of being returned unless damaged or defective. They were not high cost items, but the discounts were good, and I could not find the items elsewhere, so I gave it a go. But I’m staying away from that site after this experience.
@toledo, @abasket, if you don’t mind, can you share the kind of items that you are selling on ebay and how successful with the sale? Did it take a long time? I have only sold my kid’s college textbooks on Half.com, which is part of ebay I think.
I have glanced at ebay site once in a while and find it overwhelming, e.g. I was checking out a particular brand of purse, and there are so many for sale, so my question is how does one compete with the bountiful of similar items that are listed? Also, is shipping a hassle?
What kind of items that you recommend to sell at ebay that may have a decent successful rate? I have "stuff’ at home I try to get rid off, brand new clothing with tags, some brand new kids’ toys, decorative items etc.
Thanks.
Toledo is a better expert than me - and my husband is a better expert than me!
I think the key is a routine. He makes time daily to check to see if he has sold anything, has a wrapping/shipping area in the basement for all his supplies (this was a major beef of mine!!!) and has a schedule where he can get to the post office several times a week if needed. I had bought him a food scale from Costco when he started Weight Watchers - the scale didn’t get used for that but he somehow uses it to weigh his packages and knows what to charge for shipping!
Kinds of things he/we have sold:
tools
“parts” - he has ALL kinds of spare parts to machines, tools, fix-it type stuff
books
name brand clothing in very good to excellent condition
purses/wallets
electronics (I recently put up my old ipod I never used, Nook, digital camera, etc. - make a quick $125!
Old collectibles including pieces from a baby dish collection I didn’t want anymore (not my kids dishes!)
He says the key is to find a similar item already on eBay and to see if there are any bids on it. You can download an app that will let you scan the UPC on your item and it will bring up any items the same already listed on ebay.
I don’t have the patience for the whole process but he is having fun with it and honestly, I"m loving the extra cash and the less stuff in the house! Now if we could unload the attic of all the extra old furniture…
Would anyone care to be more specific about their e-mail from e-bay? How often are you getting it? If people start blocking, it could really cause problems when you try to use it… I can’t promise anything, but I would be happy to post about it over there.
I’ve primarily sell china, so have the wrapping and boxes down to a science. I have also sold textbooks, cake decorating books, cake pans, an antique lamp, a holiday blouse, a Bath and Bodyworks bag, a scarf, my son’s electric train and tracks (piece by piece), a Dooney & Bourke wristlet, men’s boots, men’s shoes, men’s coats, men’s t-shirts (men’s things were all for my brother).
I believe the best sellers are dresses, shoes, and cell phones. Don’t start with anything expensive.
If you have an eBay account, you go to the “My eBay” area, click on the “Account” tab, then select “Communication Preferences” on the left side.
At the bottom of that page, you can opt out from the promotional emails.
My S prefers to sell brand new things on Amazon over selling used things on eBay. I think eBay is best with gently used or unused things. Because shipping from HI is expensive, it would only make sense for us to sell lightweight, smaller things that wouldn’t cost a fortune in shipping. Since S sells on Amazon, he can get them to warehouse a lot of the goods he sells at low charge and gets discounted rates to ship to and from the warehouse, making shipping less of an expense.
I have had several bad experiences on eBay with counterfeit merchandise–one was a Nintendo game that was claimed to be authentic but didn’t work and was obviously counterfeit. EBay banned the seller and FTC claimed to open an investigation. Another was ink stick that was obviously a VERY different shade from the genuine ink from Xerox (I had some on hand & had been buying it for many years). The seller was very belligerent and claimed it was ordinary variation in color. I was firm in requesting a refund and sending the merchandise back.
I haven’t been interested in wandering back to eBay much since… They seem to have more scammers and sketchy sellers than Amazon.
I’be brought many, many boxes of goodies back from my moms and am now researching them to sell (mostly ebay, as there are validated sales prices. I’m finding etsy has unrealistic prices on most vintage items). I’m thinking of having a garage sale in the spring, plus getting a table at a few of the better indoor flea markets in the area. However there is Soooo much, I guess I will need to turn to ebay especially for a few of the pricier (over $50) items.
I have purchased things on ebay, but have never sold. Can anyone point me to an articles that give tips on how to make your item stand out. What about setting starting or minimum prices? How long should an auction last? I want to unload all of this stuff, along w some of my own, but don’t want to give it away.
Anyone have any luck w selling vintage items (mostly China & figurines) on etsy?
My #1 tip would be to take good pictures, with good lighting. #2 tip is to have a good title with all keywords. #3 tip is to fill in all the item specifics or at least as many as you know. Seven day auctions work best, ending on a Sunday or Monday night. Start the auction at the very minimum you will accept for the item. Add a “buy-it-now” price that is 30% higher. Never pay fees to list. eBay will give you several free listings. Be patient. My average item might take (10) 7 day listings before it sells.
So you can get multiple listing for the same item free? How does that work? (complete novice on listing w ebay)
I think you get 50 listings per month free.
I have purchased name brand items on eBay. I bought a laptop 15-20 years ago on eBay, it was not functional and obviously the seller should known, I filed the buyer protection claim and got my money back. I have had a couple of purchases of low cost men’s shirt which I discovered to be women’s shirts based on fit and closer inspection of the tag. They were instantly refunded, I think people just did not read the fine print on the label.
Take lots of good photos from many angles, put in measurements, lots of measurements.
I recently sold half a dozen items- a watch my DH did not care for, a couple of old Lululemons, some other very specific clothing.
I did find the postage to be painful at first, as I explored listing an item the first time, I did not also want to fully learn the postage thing, so I went with eBay’s suggested postage, one was dramatically off when I tried to actually ship, but luckily the USPS price was covered, the UPS was vastly higher.
You can print postage via PayPal and arrange a pick up at your front door, I like that
You get a discount using PayPal on postage, but before you think you are getting sneaky profits, it really just covers the eBay & Paypal charges, eBay charges about 10% final value fee, including on your shipping.