i've never sold a single thing on ebayare their tips that are helpful, like i know to set a reserve price but i've noticed a lot of times items with a buy it now option(even if you could still bid a penny) never have any bidsthanks, i have some things i'd like to sell on ebay
12/3/2005 3:31:04 AM
my weiner will go on
12/3/2005 3:32:33 AM
There are some auctions that only offer something for "buy-it-now". You can't bid in those. You just simply click on "purchase item". There are others where there is a buy it now, but you can still bid. If the bidding gets close to the buy-it-now, the BIN disappears, and I've seen many auctions where bidding actually went in excess of the original BIN price (in other words, the bidders would've been better off taking it for the BIN price).Reserves are great, I always set one in my auctions.Also, be wary of seller fees. They (eBay) charge you a certain percentage based on what the starting price was, and they also charge you another based on what the final price of the item was. If your item doesn't sell and you didnt have a reserve price set, you'll have to pay for listing fees. However, if you had a reserve price set in your auction, and the auction ends and the reserve isn't met, you can relist the auction for free.
12/3/2005 3:39:50 AM
so ok, in your expert opinionsay i had something thats probably worth 80(2.66ghz pent 4 processor with heatsink and fan)if it was your item, what would you doi wanna set the reserve at like 65 but start bidding at a dollar or something, how much is that ebay fee thing
12/3/2005 3:53:44 AM
^ Basically set the reserve at the lowest acceptable amount for you (although i believe is costs a bit for having a reserve). then yes, set the initial amount at like $.99 to get the least possible initial listing fees. For an item of that value, the ebay fees shouldnt be more than a few dollars but make sure you factor that in when determining your reserve.
12/3/2005 4:06:32 AM
^ok thanks, thats what i was wondering...like if ebay is gonna get a few bucks i'll make it a few bucks higheror should i set the reserve like 5 dollars lower and up shipping by 5?so many dicisions i dont wanan put something on ebay and have nobody wanna buy it or something
12/3/2005 4:08:39 AM
A lot of your questions can be answered in their simple FAQ, but one thing they can't stress enough is that if you don't have any user feedbacks, nobody trusts you, and they will NOT fork over anything close to retail value. If you've got the feedback you need, go ahead, but I warn you, Ebay is AN ELECTRONIC GARAGE SALE. Yes, I'm pissed at Ebay.
12/3/2005 4:53:59 AM
wtf, ok so if i got like 32 feedback but its all positive people aint gonna buy my shit?
12/3/2005 5:58:19 AM
Even worse. If it's under 200 and all positive, they're suspicious because they think you're a shill-bidder (get other accounts to buy your own stuff and give yourself positive feedback). I'm not saying that's always the case, but that's the story.I got the suggestion from someone on here to just buy a lot of cheap stuff to rack up the feedbacks, then try selling. I tried selling a $360 item and... I don't want to describe the results.Oh, and DO NOT inflate shipping costs, or they'll know. If you're dealing with an experienced bidder and they figure out what you're up to, they won't even bid, they're a lot of other stuff to buy on Ebay. Just be honest with that part of it, and they'll respect you.There's so much to talk about in way of suggestions, but Ebay has it pretty clearly spelled out here.http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/index.htmlYou've got your FAQ at the top and a detailed index of helpful info underneath.[Edited on December 3, 2005 at 6:06 AM. Reason : .]
12/3/2005 6:02:52 AM
no offense but i figured like tips people had that ebay didnt give away would be better[Edited on December 3, 2005 at 6:29 AM. Reason : thanks for your help though]
12/3/2005 6:29:08 AM
i sell quite a bit of stuff on ebay, over 600 transactions so far...1) do a search of whatever it is you're selling. then, on the left side of the screen (under search options) check the "completed listings" box, then hit the "show items" button. this will show you all the auctions for that type of item that have ended in the previous week or two. this is how i get a feel for about how much i'd like to get for my item. say i'm selling a pair of mj shoes. if they've been going for anywhere between $225-$350, i'm going to probably set mine at about $325-$350 buy-it-now to try to get the high end of the going rate. i normally do a 7-day auction. if the item hasn't been sold after 3 days, i'll "revise" the listing and lower the price. i usually continue to lower it in small increments every 12 hours after that until it either sells or gets to the lowest price i'm willing to take for it. this has worked very well for me.2) maintain your feedback at all costs. if you are selling something like a cd, don't say it's "in mint condition" if it has scratches on it. make sure you describe your item accurately. if someone feels like you screwed them over, they will leave you negative feedback. once you have negative feedback for misrepresenting your item, a lot less people will be willing to bid on your items in the future and others won't be willing to bid as high as if you had 100% feedback. i had my feedback up to 230 with all positives, and someone left me a negative over something stupid, so i had to start all over with a brand new user name. 3) take good pictures of your item. the pictures are what really sells your item, not your description. i use a backdrop w/ a white background to make it look as professional as possible. if you have a lot of clutter in the background, it takes the focus off the item. which of these items looks more appealing to you if you are looking at buying a used ipod?a) or b) 4) lastly, make sure you have a good item title. when someone goes to search for your item, think of the words they are most likely to type in the search. make sure you include alternate spellings to keep the search as broad as possible. for example, i just sold a sopranos season 5 dvd set. instead of just putting "sopranos season 5" i put "sopranos season five 5 fifth dvd box set." if someone typed in anything other than "sopranos season 5" with the first option, my item would not have even come up in the search. with the second option, pretty much any possible combination they use will bring up my item into the search. hope that gets you started...good luck.
12/3/2005 10:24:48 AM
12/3/2005 10:26:21 AM
I sell items $300 to $1k every once in a while and I only have 40fb. I've never had anyproblemswhen making an auction take your time and describe the item, it being a processor there is most likely a premade ebay page for it and you won't have to do anything but list it and then mention that its never been installed...starting an auction at $0.99 will get you a LOT more views/bids than if you start it at what you want for it, I've had MUCH better success starting at $.99 with a reserve. On one particular item I had 5, the first 2 I priced at what I wanted for them and it took two auctions to sell them each. Next time around I started them at $.99 with a reserve pretty close to what I wanted for them and made almost twice as much on them b/c more people were "watching" themone really important note: it doesn't matter what they sell for on the rest of the internet... your going to get Ebay price for them, kinda like TWW but more people.
12/3/2005 12:20:04 PM
also how do you guestimate how much shipping is gonna costi dont think it would be like more than 5 bucks if i weighed it out, but could i jew it out like a buck and just put 6?
12/3/2005 1:13:05 PM
I'm going to be pretty clear on this, so state "PRICE PRICE PRICE"Nothing insane, something you'd buy it for.
12/3/2005 1:16:31 PM
out in california they have 'sell your stuff on ebay' stores all over the place i dunno about in nc though
12/3/2005 1:45:39 PM
yeah there used to be one of those right next to the Raleigh Grande movie theatre, but the guy went under. his prices were outrageous so it was no surprise why nobody wanted him to sell their stuff.
12/3/2005 2:31:23 PM
12/3/2005 5:07:42 PM
yeah honestly if you read the persons feedback even if they got like a 95% half the time its over stupid shit and they reply to explain, i think lowest i've ever even seen was 94 percent and i bought something from the guy and it was greatmost of the people that leave bad feedback are prolly jewish bastards that wanna get a dollar out of a pennywith 1 out of 230 thats like 99.5
12/4/2005 6:40:20 PM
12/4/2005 7:11:35 PM
12/4/2005 8:22:24 PM
i've never had any problems buying or sellingnobodys ever questioned my feedbackand ive bought/sold some bigass expensive shit
12/4/2005 8:24:40 PM
never use reserves, use the completed auctions to gauge how much your shit will sell for. reserves suck, they dont workm and your item will prob not sell. sell most things at 0.99 no reserve or make it a buy-it-now.i would plan on having a 20 feedback or so or higher (all positives) before trying to sell high priced stuff. if you have negatives, your bids will suffer.if you have low feedback follow the following instructions, 1 cent ebooks are your friend.
12/4/2005 8:57:22 PM
^ohhhhhh shit your the man, i never thought of looking up arbies and hardees coupons before
12/4/2005 8:59:48 PM
oh and don't get ripped off. if youre take a paypal payment, and the item is say > $20, make sure you're shipping to a confirmed address. If its more than $20 but less than...say $80 or whatever, and they don't have a confirmed address, then make sure they have glowing feedback, email to confirm their shipping address.always get a delivery confirmation, USPS priority is your best bet for things that only weight a few pounds, ship heavy stuff via fedex. print all your shipping labels at home and drop off the packages.if you really want to learn how to do it, check out a book from teh library...or buy a used one off amazon. those books have alot of info. i would recommend one by Scott Wingo.[Edited on December 4, 2005 at 9:01 PM. Reason : ]
12/4/2005 8:59:56 PM
Im pretty smart on eBay stuff, in my 5+ years I have done well over $15k worth of sales. If you want some tips or want me to sell something for you PM me.
12/4/2005 9:38:55 PM
As I understand it Google will soon offer a community/classified service and an alternative to PayPal(yes, there are plenty of alternatives already, but this one will really catch on because Google pushes it) Microsoft also has an online classified service in the works.Ebay's days are numbered.By the way, Ebay owns about a third of Craigslist's stock. Ever wondered why craigslist still looks like a shitty webpage from 1997 and has a "local community" focus? (ie, no "Search Other Cities" function) For that matter, Ebay has a pretty shitty website too. Sure, it handles a lot of traffic, but it has glaring faults. Lack of competition is a bitch for the consumer.
12/4/2005 10:06:19 PM
^^if $15k in 5 years makes you smart then i'm an Ebay demi-god, i've done at least $50K in the last 5 years, these are my sales in the last 60 days. at least half of that is profit. Sold Totals Quantity: 55 Amount: $7,713.08[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 12:21 AM. Reason : .]
12/5/2005 12:20:47 AM
^have you made it your job now?see i wanna do something like that, i mean i'm on a computer all the time i figure i could get good at it
12/5/2005 12:52:47 AM
DONT SET A RESERVER PRICE. RESERVE PRICES ARE GAY.I always start mine at a penny. If you are selling the thing anyway there is no point deciding up front how much its worth. The market will decide for you. I have also found that it incites bidding wars because more people bid and some of those ebayers have big egos and hate losing. Every cell phone I have ever sold on there was started at a penny and closed for top dollar.[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 9:31 AM. Reason : ]
12/5/2005 9:29:19 AM
^ yep.Low starting prices bring on the bidding wars.
12/5/2005 11:04:35 AM
no, it's not my job, just a little side income while i'm in school and working another job. it would be very hard to make it a full time job simply because there is a lot of runaround work and you don't have a steady income. some weeks i'll only make like $50-100 profit, and other weeks i can pull like $400-$800 like recently. it all just depends on what kind of deals i can find. between the time it takes to find stuff for cheap enough to make a good profit and the time it takes to package everything up and bring it to the post office, it takes a good 5-10 hours a week. sometimes it's just not worth the hastle. i usually look for at least a minimum profit margin of $20 or more per item after fees and shipping for it to be worth my time.
12/5/2005 12:40:06 PM
I've never sold anything, so this is just an educated guess, but I would limit the sale to the US. I personally wouldn't want to deal with international shipping, language barriers when trying to answer questions, etc. Just seems easier.PS: I tried to buy something from a dude in Canada, and it was a big mistake so I now never buy from anyone outside the US.[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 12:55 PM. Reason : PS]
12/5/2005 12:54:26 PM
I only do ebay sales on the side, kind of a hobby. I am very business like in my methods though and take it seriously, thats the only way to really be sucessful at it. There are some good tips being given here but there are too many variables for each type of item to make a blanket statement like "never set a reserve prive" or something like that. Im at work now, but tonight I will try to give some good tips for beginners in this thread.
12/5/2005 2:45:45 PM
preciate it man
12/5/2005 2:59:33 PM
note: if im not mistaken whether you start your auction at $100 or start at 99 cents and a reserve of $100 your listing fees are the same. if you do both, you're gonna get double charged (not that you ever would). correct me if i am wrong there.personally i hardly ever buy from a person with a reserve, because nothing is gayer than winning but not meeting the reserve. i would just start low and put a reasonable buy it now.buy it now is cheap (is it 35 cents flat fee?) but helps a bunch in my experience whne ppl like me want to avoid bid wars. i made about $500 in a month just buy buying low buy-it-now packages and parting the items out. that said, the feedback issue is not as harsh as some ppl would have you beleive. i have about 38 feedback and have sold about 10 paintball guns in the past few months (guns i've sold range from $400-$700 so it is obvious ppl must trust me). half were on ebay, half were on a forum. i got at least an extra 25-30% each time i sold similar items on ebay (not always possible b/c competition). i've since been accused of selling a broken item (not true, i won paypal dispute), but have still been able to sell things relatively normally.that said DO NOT buy a bunch of coupons. it might be good to bolster some of your numbers, but many ppl will see that as sketchy. im worried when i see a person who has only bought things, especially if they are cheap.best things to do are common:-end at a high traffic time, weekends and evenings.-set reasonable buy-it-nows and reserves-low starting price-you can easily make a little extra on shipping (i usually make a buck or 2 extra), but dont go all out or no one will buy from you. you can calculate postage online if you know the weight.-make quality and thorough auction titles-ALWAYS have a pic and make it decent, clear, and close up-use subtitles or other features if really necessary (i did it for my WOW account)that said, if you do get a negative, restart unless you have enough feedback to counteract it. i have a lot of buys and sales so i didnt bother. most of my sales were in related items and i explained that i won the paypal claim which gives at least some credibility. if you get ripped off buying something DO NOT leave neg feedback unless they have already left you feedback. better to have no feedback and file a claim or whatever than to get negatives. it seems assumed that buyers always leave positive feedback first as well. if you sell dont leave feedback to avoid them giving you an ultimatum (free shipping or neg feedback for you). theres a lot of controversy about it, but better safe than sorry.[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 6:33 PM. Reason : .]
12/5/2005 6:29:55 PM
12/5/2005 7:05:30 PM
12/5/2005 7:08:14 PM
12/5/2005 7:18:32 PM
12/5/2005 7:18:37 PM
also if you get a negative, for god's sake, dont type in all caps. it makes you look crazy.
12/5/2005 7:56:19 PM
has anyone ever had to sell something that didnt have a upc code on iti mean i havent even taken off the shrink wrap except this one little rectangle where the upc is missingTECHNICALLY its still new in the box and i havent taken it out the boxthnx[Edited on December 13, 2005 at 4:24 AM. Reason : its late]
12/13/2005 4:24:25 AM
^ list the item as brand new in the box, put sealed if you want to. then, towards the midde , put note: UPC label has been removed, box has not been opened.[Edited on December 13, 2005 at 9:21 AM. Reason : ]
12/13/2005 9:21:02 AM
^haha thats what i was prolly gonna do, i figure if people can get a 1000 for an aim sn that they think is an xbox 360 then i can just put it in the middle
12/13/2005 4:31:21 PM
so like what day of the 7 do they start bidding
12/14/2005 1:24:45 PM
most of the bids come in the last day because that is when the auction gets most visibility on searches.
12/14/2005 1:27:11 PM
ohwell shit i shoulda made it 3 days, i got one person watching it now
12/14/2005 1:40:32 PM
i did a ten day auction for a sprint phone that i got drunk and lit on fire. (even labeled it as having fire damage) it was beat all to shit but it worked fine though. this kid (probably a state student cuz his zip was 27606) bought it for 80something bucks when brand new ones were selling for 120.I started it at a penny as I do almost all of my auctions and once people got in to it bidding they paid top dollar.
12/14/2005 1:49:33 PM
see i'm gonna test out different things kinda like ncsu and figure out what works best [Edited on December 14, 2005 at 1:52 PM. Reason : ^seriously gg dude, i wanna figure shit like that out and make millions]
12/14/2005 1:52:39 PM
Has anyone had any problems taking credit cards on paypal and then having a chargeback? Ive been selling since '99 but I think it is starting to become a real problem. Ive heard enough horror stories to stop accepting credit cards through paypal for most items unless they have very high feedback.
12/14/2005 2:54:21 PM