Ebay question

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything Offends Me
Anyone know if selling stuff on ebay is worth the hassle? I decided finally to sell off my wrestling equipment because I know I should never use it again, but there's a small part of me that is trying to drag me back in. No equipment, no way I'll rebuy it. The draw will always be there.

I don't want to list it to find out that no one will buy it and I'm out the listing fees or whatever.

***In case anyone desires to buy wrestling equipment (I doubt it, but you never know), I'm selling my boots, my singlet, my kneepads and elbow pads, my Nike "metallic blue" skinshirt, and some other stuff I have in my old wrestling bag. Let me know if you want it, because I'd rather not just sell it to anyone, but rather someone I know (kind of).

edit: I should point out that the singlets and the Nike skinshirt are both Lycra.
 
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Nick, just make sure you place it in the correct or most relevant catagory on ebay. check for similar items first, then note where they are placed. If placed correctly you could sell used chewing gum to someone.
 
eBay can be really good or really bad. I've bought & sold lots of stuff, and tried to sell some that I still have. If that happens, the listing fees won't kill you. They make their money on a piece of the action.

First, look at "completed items" in your description [always include title & description in your search parameters] to see what items similar to yours are selling for. Listing prices, while somewhat of a guide, don't really tell you what you are likely to get for your stuff. Decide whether to group or sell individually. Take a really good picture. [It costs you to put up more than 1 photo, although I have put more photos on my server and put a directing URL in the description]. Write a thorough and most importantly accurate description. [Again, see others for similar items to help with this.] Be sure any ambiguities in spelling of key words are both included, one in the title and the other in the description. Buyers may use either in their search parameters, and you want to get them all. Example: Rosepoint & Rose Point. Watch the listings and try not to compete with others selling exactly the same thing [possible only with less common items]. Use "calculate" in the shipping costs. List at the minimum price you're willing to take. Never use the "reserve" or "buy it now" options.

I'll quit here before the fine points, but try it with an item or two most likely to sell and see how it goes. And I think the best time to start/end is Sunday evening, 11pm or so EST.
 
I have bougt and sold on eBay. In regards to selling I have cheap stuff and things that ran several hundred dollars, I never had a problem. A couple of items that you should consider. First list it in the right catagory, second start the bidding at your minimum price, this way you will be assured that if someone buys you will not get burned for selling too low. Third add the buy it now option. Most of the stuff I sell is through that feature, the price I pick is a fair price that would make me happy and not be a rip off to the buyer. I see people often pay for the buy it now option and then put a price in that is more than retail for a new item.

Describe the item acurately and get a good picture of it on the page. Then watch who bids. Be cautious of first time bidders and only accept paypal and do not ship to anywhere but the 48 states. Shipping to Alaska, Hawaii is expensive and overseas (even Canada) can be a pain. I sold a headset on there to a guy in Italy. I normally will not sell to Europe but he asked and was the only bidder. I told him ok but the shipping would be high and he would be responsible for duty. He was upset that in the end he paid more for what a new headset would have cost, but whose fault was that?

As for bidders I have only had issues with one. I watch their feedback and they need 100% or if they have less it should be because they had a lot of transactions and had just one or two negatives. The one person I had trouble with had three transactions with two that were negative. I ended up just refunding her money and not completing the sale.

It is an easy way to sell stuff and worth it IMHO.
 
Ok - would it affect anyone's suggestion if I explained that this gear is very expensive and, I fear, would be prey to kids trying to buy it because it'd be cool, then backing out later?

Boots, for example, cost me around $600 new. I don't expect to get that, but they are near brand new condition.
 
SkyHog said:
Ok - would it affect anyone's suggestion if I explained that this gear is very expensive and, I fear, would be prey to kids trying to buy it because it'd be cool, then backing out later?

Boots, for example, cost me around $600 new. I don't expect to get that, but they are near brand new condition.
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I have sold stuff that was over a thousand dollars. Never had anyone back out. USe PayPal!
 
I have only bought things on ebay, and think it's great. not sure about selling.

make sure you spell everything correctly or you might get a lot less than it's worth. there was an article a year or two ago about folks who troll for misspelled items and get them at great discounts because no one else thinks to search using that particular spelling.

for example, vuitton is sometimes misspelled vuiton. then again that's a common misspelling that it may not matter.

on the other hand, you could use it to your advantage and purposely add in some misspelled keywords for people who might want your stuff, but cannot spell! haha
 
A quick note here... people on eBay love it when they don't have to outbid someone on an item. Every last item I've sold on eBay that I've placed a "Buy It Now" option on has sold within 48 hours of listing. Just make sure the Buy it now is a reasonable price and you're bound to see the same result. If you haven't gotten much of a reputation on eBay you may need to spend 5$ and get ID Verified, but it's worth it considering the options that become open to you.
 
I've bought and sold stuff on Ebay for a few years now.

Not all the time, but every couple of months.

I've never had a problem finding a buyer for anything except a truck I was selling (and my asking price was pretty high.) I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Only once in all that time have I been burned, and it was actually a somewhat-minor hassle, I did get my money back after a couple of weeks. And frankly I should have known better, reading the seller's feedback in advance.

Occasionally there is a minor hassle over shipping arrangements.

I think you can't go wrong with selling the stuff, just cover - in excruciating detail - shipping arrangements when writing your listing.

If it doesn't sell, you will be out pocket change if anything.
 
I tend to look at eBay as a "get rid of it" service. I've sold anything from a door spring to a pickup truck and only used the "minimum bid" feature on the vehicle (which matched the offer for trade-in at a local car dealer). The item has no value to me, only to the person bidding by the time I put it on eBay. It's just taking up space where it sits. You'll usually get more bids with no minimum. Just be sure to cover your shipping costs.
 
SkyHog said:
Anyone know if selling stuff on ebay is worth the hassle?
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Yes. You'll get a lot more for it than if you sell it in the classifieds, because there's a much larger audience.

My strategy is to put in a very low starting bid (often $1.00) and no reserve. That way I get several people bidding on the item when it's a super-bargain, and there are enough folks with a competitive spirit that even when it's no longer a bargain they'll keep bidding so they can "win!" :rofl:

I've sold an original Apple II nameplate that I found in the trash (well, it was sitting in the hallway destined for the trash) of a former Apple service center for $35. I've sold a satellite dish that I got for $1 and is available new for $30-35 for $42.

If you do this, it is somewhat of a gamble. Try to be sure that there'll be some demand - Check finished listings and see how many bidders there are. It won't work if you don't get several people to bid.

You can make some crazy money on eBay if you get into it. There are quite a few people making their living off eBay now - A friend's father buys inop used laptops on there (several of the same model), cobbles the parts together into as many working machines as he can, and sells them. There are companies where you can drop off your junk and they'll take the pics, do the listings, ship the items, and take 20% off the top and give it to you. Nonprofits are fundraising by selling donated items (donated for this purpose). Somebody my mother knows has a son who was told to clean his room - He took all the junk he didn't want any more and sold it on eBay and came close to $10,000! One man's trash is truly another man's treasure.
 
Also, a little tip that I do occasionally--if shipping is not going to be such a big deal (like under $5), then I list an item as Free Shipping if you use Buy it Now. That often gives people the push they're looking for to make the purchase.
 
Good point Matt, which leads me to a follow up ebay question. How the heck do you decied what to charge for shipping. I guess if your selling a Vase or something you can take it to a local Fedex or UPS store and find out how much it cost to pack and ship. I am intend on selling a 54" diameter round patio table, still in the box. Its pretty big, how do I know what to charge to ship that?
 
AdamZ said:
Good point Matt, which leads me to a follow up ebay question. How the heck do you decied what to charge for shipping. I guess if your selling a Vase or something you can take it to a local Fedex or UPS store and find out how much it cost to pack and ship. I am intend on selling a 54" diameter round patio table, still in the box. Its pretty big, how do I know what to charge to ship that?
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UPS, FedEx ground, and the USPS have web APIs you can put in your ad that will calculate actual shipping based on the buyer's zip code. Look at one that has it. USPS Prority Mail has a $3.nn flar trate for a smal box they supply with. Offer insurance for the actual cost. It looks like you might insist on proof of delivery because there are plenty of buyers who are thieves who will claim they never got it.

Based on my direct observation of how they have too many pesky customers, I would NOT even offer UPS. I once watched the helpful UPS counter person SCREAM at top of her lungs at a customer who muttered about having to wait 2 hours for his package.
 
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I've bought a number of rugs on ebay - in some cases, they make their money on the rug, in shipping. I bought a runner rug for 99 cents. the shipping was 99 bucks. I got a nice rug for a hundred bucks and they got their money's worth.

had the price gone up much I wouldn't have bid.
 
woodstock said:
I've bought a number of rugs on ebay - in some cases, they make their money on the rug, in shipping. I bought a runner rug for 99 cents. the shipping was 99 bucks. I got a nice rug for a hundred bucks and they got their money's worth.

had the price gone up much I wouldn't have bid.
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Notice the TV infomercials that offer you an extra item for FREE!!! JUST PAY SHIPPING AND HANDLING like the Video Professor guy for whom I wish I had a [Torture] button on my remote.
 
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