Anybody ever sell stuff on EBAY? Questions????
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Gadzooks

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 11:31 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi,

Last week I was watching 60 minutes and they had a story about EBAY and how it will someday beat out Walmart as the largest corporation.

I've never used EBay because I'm very weary about getting screwed out of my money, but lately I've been thinking of selling my tole paintings on it. Are there folks out there who have sold stuff on EBay?

I'm confused about the shipping stuff. If you want to ship something out, but you want the buyer to pay how does that work? Do you bring it to the post office and just tell them that the receiver will pay for it? Anyone have any tips?

Twinkie

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 12:35 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I have the same question. I've never dealt with Ebay and don't know the ins and outs of it. But I do have a few things that I think I could sell for a much higher price in another part of the country. I would also like some advice on how Ebay works.

Alegria

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 02:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I like ebay a lot (but am no expert of these type of transactions).

When the conditions of sale are 'buyer will pay' it means that the purchaser will bear the shipping costs. The seller lets the buyer know what amount to add on to the final bid and then (once payment is received) sends the loot forth.

You can browse their site and check out things like feedback in order to learn more about the way the place works. My experiences as a purchaser have only been positive.

Mygetaway

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 02:45 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Gadzooks and Twinkie..

Since I'm up and browsing, I can sort of answer this question for you. We have done both things on Ebay, bought and sold.

For shipping you add the price into your remarks area, and check the box that says buyer pays shipping costs. It helps if you know ahead of time how much something is going to cost to ship. Priority mail is more, etc. Plus if they want it insured make sure and add that amount. Book rate and media are cheaper than 1st class (or something like that, DH usually does this) You may also want to add something for "handling", but if you ask too much they might decide against it.

On Ebay everyone has a thing that tells how many times they have bought/sold and what kind of buyer/seller they were. People leave feedback so you can check someone out before you decide to bid.

My MIL has bought something at Value Village for .25 and turned around and sold it for $6 on Ebay before.

If you decide to accept personal checks, make sure and post in your description that you will hold off shipping the item until the check clears, which is usually about 10 days. You can ask for money orders or even do pay-pal and stuff like that there. (check it out at the sight)

For the most part we've had all positive experiences. I've sold alot of paperbacks there. Chances are if you are looking for something that may be out of stock/print/whatever, someone on Ebay will be selling it..LOL

Good Luck!!

Nimtu

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 06:21 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I buy and sell on ebay weekly. I have had maybe one difficult transaction ever. The important thing, as a seller, is to totally disclose everything about an item and to be extremely clear in your payment and shipping terms. It is better (MUCH) if you can include a fixed shipping cost in the auction - if not you will have people email requesting the estimated shipping anyway. Just check with USPS or UPS for shipping costs to the city furthest from you. (VA-CA) Add in a couple bucks for insurance and use that as your quote. You can do it online if you have weight and size of box. Take GOOD pictures - I use auction watch for my imaging service and have found them to be reliable and fair in terms of payment. It is really a lot of fun. If you want to set a lower end limit for how much you will be willing to sell the item for, set a reserve. If it is an item that you want under say 50.00 for just have a higher opening bid. If you can start it off rather low, however, it generates interest that a higher opening bid would not. Here's the item number of one of my auctions this week to give you an idea:
731434667
Just go to search and click on item number and paste it in. Good luck!

Twinkie

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 07:48 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I have a 200 year old butcher block table that weighs about 300 lbs. We know that shipping would be very high but we also know that something like that would probably be very sought after in someplace like San Fransico and not here on the east coast. How would I go about pricing the shipping costs? Also, is a credit card required to sell something on Ebay? Our's are slightly extended at the moment. <blush> I'm just trying to get some revenue coming our way.

Heyltslori

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 09:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Twinkie... My best advice would be to call a couple of places that might be able to ship that for you and give them the weight and description of the table and ask for a shipping estimate. Then in your auction you could say "Buyer to pay actual shipping which will be somewhere between (blank) and (blank) depending on where you live" That at least gives the bidder an idea of what the shipping costs will be.

As far as the credit card I believe you DO need one to start an eBay account, but they just keep it on hand as a back up and I believe that you can choose to send in a check for any fees you might incur. There are listing fees (depending on the price of the item) and final value fees (ebay gets a percentage of what you sold it for) and a few other fees that are for optional services that they provide. (such as more than one picture, a BOLD listing etc.)

Hope this helps! :)

Heyltslori

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 09:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I found this on the eBay site... :)

Paying Your eBay Seller Fees

There are three ways to pay eBay fees:
eBay Direct Pay: The easiest and most convenient way to make payment on your eBay account. Simply provide eBay with your checking account number and bank routing number, and eBay will automatically deduct your monthly invoice amount from your account. Once you sign for eBay Direct Pay, your bank account will be debited on a fixed day of the month dependent on your billing cycle. To sign up for eBay Direct Pay or update your checking account information, just complete this safe and easy form. This option is only available to users billed in U.S. dollars with bank accounts in the United States.

You may also make a one-time eBay Direct Pay payment.
Credit Card on File: You can place your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card) on your eBay account for regular monthly payments. Each month eBay will automatically charge your invoice amount directly to your credit card on file. Your credit card will normally be charged 7 to 10 days after receipt of your invoice. Place your credit card on file for automatic monthly billing or update your current credit card information.

You may also make a one-time credit card payment.

Check and Money Order Payment: When making payment by check and/or money order you must submit a payment coupon along with your check/money order and mail it to the address on the form.

You may request and print a payment coupon here.

eBay requires payment in full each month on accounts with a balance of $1.00 or greater.

Draheid

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 09:55 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Twinkie: Here is a link to a product similar to what you are looking to sell. Mind you, this is a new product so you might be able to 'reference' the value of your item against this one. Note the 'Additional Postage' indicates $140 for shipping.

The Link to a similar item at chefscatalog.com

Hope this helps! :)

Juju2bigdog

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 10:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Nimtu, please explain what this terminology means: "I use auction watch for my imaging service "

What service does auction watch perform for you?

Thanks. I have never bought or sold anything on ebay, but I used to have to spend a good deal of time there investigating scams before I retired.

Juju2bigdog

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 10:57 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Twinkie, here is a link to one that sold on ebay for $330. It had 15 bids.

Vintage Butcher Block

You can do your own search to see what similar items have sold for by clicking on the Search tab at the top of the screen. Then at the next screen, choose Completed Items and when the new screen comes up, enter your search item in there.

Nimtu

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 11:01 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Juju, Auction Watch is an image hosting and auction management service. You still pay ebay fees and you also pay Auction Watch. I have found it to do a better job than hosting straight through ebay. I pay a flat rate for as many pics as I want and they tend to load faster and with fewer problems than ebay's image hosting which seems to frequently go down.

Nimtu

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 11:09 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hey Juju, what did you do before you retired? Any ebay scams you found?

Juju2bigdog

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 11:11 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks, Nimtu. Interesting. Can you post a link?

(In case you don't know how to do that, you can just open the site, click in the address until it turns color, then right click in the address box, and choose Copy. Then come back here and click in the Add a Message box and hold down your Control key and press v. That will paste it in here. Or you can right click and choose Paste.)

But of course, if you are doing things on Ebay, you already know how to do that and a lot more.

Nimtu

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 11:16 am EditMoveDeleteIP
http://www.auctionwatch.com/
It's been a good site for me Juju

Twinkie

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 11:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow! Thank you dra and Juju for your help! Mine is much bigger and in better shape than those 2! Thank you guys so much for helping me out. I guess I better get busy learning about Ebay and get pics taken of this thing! I think our's must weigh more than 300 lbs now. Woohoo! You guys are the best!!

Twinkie

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 03:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oops! Lori, I meant to thank you also for all your help! I was in bad need of a nap and just woke up and reread this thread. So thank you very much!!!

Scorpiomoon

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 04:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
As someone who is a total eBay addict, I have bought and sold stuff on eBay. I agree with everything experienced eBay users have said.

I've been using eBay for three years and have never had a bad experience. It's kind of cool how, really, at the basis of every transaction is a trust between buyer and seller.

If you want to start selling, you have got to get yourself a PayPal account. It's so much easier for buyers to pay you via PayPal.

Also, if you have an expensive item you want to sell, you can use an escrow service (escrow.com) to protect yourself. There is a fee, of course, but I found it gave me a great deal of peace of mind when I used it when I bought some expensive camera equipment.

And take good photos of your items! I won't bid on an item that doesn't have a photo.

Gadzooks

Thursday, November 07, 2002 - 07:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi All,

Thanks for the above info. I think I might give it a try. I was trying to find a category for my paintings. Any suggestions? I paint on wood and canvas, it might be considered folk art or tole painting. I tried finding something similar on EBay, but was unsuccessful. Or should I list them under crafts. Hmmmmm....

Halfunit

Friday, November 08, 2002 - 04:28 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Gadzooks,

At the top of the E-bay pages, you will see "SITE MAP". This gives you all of the headings that E-bay offers. If you click on it then click on "ART", it gives you a listing of all the sub-catagories:

Click here for E-bay Art

Hope this helps!

Hippyt

Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 06:26 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
OKay,dumb question coming up..... What the heck is tole painting??? I see a sign everyday I pass for tole-painting classes,I have always wondered what it means?

Wargod

Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 06:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Painting wood. Or wooden boxes, signs, characters...something like that.

Hippyt

Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 06:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL,okay. I actually do have an E-bay question. What about reserve prices? I have something that is a limited edition thingy,which is selling on e-bay for anywhere from around $75-158. I don't want to put it on there and lose it to someone for a lot less. What does putting a reserve price on something involve?

Lancecrossfire

Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 07:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
By what does it involve, do you mean how do you set it up as a reserve auction, or are you asking what a reserve auction is?

I can't address the first (I have never sold anything), although I can the second. There are two ways to assure yourself of getting a minimum price--start the bidding at the lowest price you are willing to take (i.e. the bidding starts at $100), or let the bidding start low, and place a reserve price--meaning if the bids don't hit that price, you are not obligated to sell the item.

Hippyt

Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 07:40 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
That's what I was trying to ask Lance,lol,thanks!

Nimtu

Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 12:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hippyt, I STRONGLY suggest reserve rather than a high opening bid. Many people discard something immediately because they think it's too expensive, however, will eventually end up spending it anyhow because they begin to fall in love with it. It only costs $2.00 to put a reserve on an item and I have found it to be well worth it. JMHO

Gadzooks

Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 09:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks for the link halfunit...it was very helpful.

hippyt....if you want to see some examples of tole painting click on the following link.

http://www.folkartkits.com/

Let me tell ya, I started painting 2 years ago and it is the best stress reliever around. Try it...you won't regret it. Not only will you be able to decorate your home, but you'll be able to make unique gifts for people instead of shelling out big bucks in stores.

Tabbyking

Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 10:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
twinkie, and others, i have been selling and buying on ebay for 4+ years now. i am banos on there. my husband is banos2. i have had one bad transaction with a spoiled rotten canadian male, who couldn't be bothered to deal with the insurance aspect of the deal when the item was broken by the customs officials. i had to reimburse him so he wouldn't leave me a negative feedback!! i got nothing on the deal... other than that, i have never had a bad check (you wait for them to clear if you want to, anyway). i sold a tell city corner coffee table for an elderly woman friend. it was a b---- to ship to wisconsin from california. the high bidder paid $250 or something for the table and a shipping line wanted 1,300 dollars to drop it off on their route to chicago! no one else would even take it because it was one item. the guy almost had to fly out and rent a car to get it home. what happened was my husband had to take an entire day off work, build a crate out of particle board (the particle board cost us 15 bucks or so) take the table apart and put masking taped A, B, and C's so the guy would know what part went where when he got it, screw the crate together with about 40 screws, take the table to an almond processing plant to have metal straps put around it...all to get it to a size fed-ex would take it. we made it by 1/4 inch and the damn thing weighed about 90 pounds, mostly from the crate! it took up the entire back of my suburban. it cost us 46 bucks to mail. another 1/4 inch and it would have cost over 200 bucks! and the lady we helped out by selling it gave us a can of peanuts for our trouble. i did laugh though when the guy got the table. he emailed, "$hit! if tom hanks had had this crate he would have gotten off the island a long time sooner!"
don't be deceived by saying "buyer must make arrangements for shipping"...because chances are YOU as the seller will be working your buttocks off trying to find a way to ship the darn thing if it's big, furniture or heavy. there are alternatives such as 'regional' listing, where you have the auction cover a certain state or area so that it's feasable to have the bidder pick it up. we sold a go-cart to a man in los angeles, who drove up starting at 5:00 a.m. the day after the auction ended, arrived here about 9:30, paid me 500 cash, loaded the go-cart into his van and was gone. all to get it for his son's surprise birthday party that night!


mostly, though, we have had great experiences on eBay. i once sold a candy dish (i had gotten at an auction at the fairgrounds for $5) for $176.77 and the back up offer was $175.
i sold the kids used (but cleaned, pressed and not worn out) clothes and made 900 dollars in one week. i sold my son's nikes for about 45 bucks, whereas if you put them in a garage sale, you might get $5 for them!
so, over-all? eBay gets about a 90% from me! i almost bought my son a lap top about an hour ago, as a matter-of-fact!

oh, and sometimes i list for habitat for humanity and when i sell for them, a good portion of what someone bids can be written off! i do that when they have their annual rummage sale and have something like a toby mug or silver coffee pot...etc. once i sold 3 boomerangs from australia for 106 for them. i eat the listing and closing fees as part of my donation to habitat. i will say that when i first started, things seemed to go for more. rare sometimes meant 'rare'. now there are sometimes dozens of the same item out there! i keep seeing the remco little red spinning wheel which was what i got for christmas when i was 7, and the original mary poppins doll, or cinderella watch, all of which i lost when our house burned down when i was 9...and i almost bid on them!! you can find anything on eBay, although thank heaven the used underwear had to be listed in private access auctions after the first year or two!!

Sadiesmom

Monday, November 18, 2002 - 06:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
1. Shipping large items. If an item is too large, you can state the user must pick it up, and insist they live near by. I sold a used washer/dryer for that. I did not make a lot of money, but the people were there with a truck in a trice to get their good deal.

2. Be cautious as you must be with everything today. There is currently a fraudulent e-mail with a hyper link to an e-bay look a-like page. There they request you enter your personal data. When I get something that looks like it is from e-bay, I type in the e-bay address myself and look for announcements. You can also forward the e-mail to their customer service.

3. Be very protective of your ID and change your password often. Their is a lot of identity (login) theft where the theif can use your good feedback to scam people and try and ruin your reputation. E-bay is not very good about straightening this out. Hang out in sellers rooms and you hear this a lot.

I sell small collectables myself. I have sold an entire dinnerware set and that was expensive to ship! But the buyer paid it.