I'm considering trying to get organized, to unload a lot of crap that I've accumulated over the last 20 years. The stuff I have ranges from books, to collectibles, to lots and lots of computer parts and video games.
Has anyone ever taken the leap and sold a lot of stuff on Ebay? How did you do? What would you not do if you did it now? What would you definitely do again?
OK, now a serious answer to rebalance my karma after my non-answer in your "blog" thread.
eBay is very seller-unfriendly in 2012. You can use it to clear your space of stuff just fine, so long as you're not terribly worried about getting any significant moneys for it or worried that your buyers will jerk you around later making a play for refunds they don't deserve, complaining about item condition, claiming items you mailed out never arrived, and so on. If you are lucky enough to sell to any of these folks, expect eBay to take their side and presume you guilty until you can prove yourself innocent - and even then, they may just go ahead and give them the refund anyway (and dock it from your PayPal - because I'm sure you're forced into PayPal at this point.)
DISCLAIMER: I don't actually know what I'm talking about. I say all this not having SOLD an item on eBay for years (except for my fake TwitChange auctions, which barely count) but I bet that even now you don't have to spend any amount of time on eBay's seller forums to hear about the nightmares I was hearing about years ago. The same things that make eBay so seller-unfriendly are a lot of things which make me happy to be a BUYER on eBay - I always feel like my butt is covered because they're so buyer-friendly. I heartily recommend eBay for buying stuff - just... not so much for selling stuff. I can't recommend an alternative, either, so if you REALLY wanna sell stuff...hell, just sell it here. ;-)
Originally posted by CRZOK, now a serious answer to rebalance my karma after my non-answer in your "blog" thread.
eBay is very seller-unfriendly in 2012. You can use it to clear your space of stuff just fine, so long as you're not terribly worried about getting any significant moneys for it or worried that your buyers will jerk you around later making a play for refunds they don't deserve, complaining about item condition, claiming items you mailed out never arrived, and so on. If you are lucky enough to sell to any of these folks, expect eBay to take their side and presume you guilty until you can prove yourself innocent - and even then, they may just go ahead and give them the refund anyway (and dock it from your PayPal - because I'm sure you're forced into PayPal at this point.)
DISCLAIMER: I don't actually know what I'm talking about. I say all this not having SOLD an item on eBay for years (except for my fake TwitChange auctions, which barely count) but I bet that even now you don't have to spend any amount of time on eBay's seller forums to hear about the nightmares I was hearing about years ago. The same things that make eBay so seller-unfriendly are a lot of things which make me happy to be a BUYER on eBay - I always feel like my butt is covered because they're so buyer-friendly. I heartily recommend eBay for buying stuff - just... not so much for selling stuff. I can't recommend an alternative, either, so if you REALLY wanna sell stuff...hell, just sell it here. ;-)
(edited by CRZ on 28.10.12 2231)
This is about what I expect... I'm hoping someone has personal experience opposite of this, and can tell me what they know about it. I expect it's a terrible idea, I'm hoping to learn how it isn't.
I'm dumping all my silver age comics on my ebay store and it really is a buyers market. People want everything next to nothing. That being said, I've sold 99% of what I've put up for auction since August of this year.
I have a postal scale and I charge exact shipping + $1 handling fee + what I think insurance will end up costing. I charge it no matter what.
If you use priority shipping, it costs about a buck or two more than 1st class more or less, you can get free boxes from the post office. The flat rate boxes will cost more in postage than the standard non-flat rate "mailing box".
If you print your postage label from your "my eBay" page, you get free delivery conformation, but not insurance. Take that into account if you want to offer and charge insurance. Before you finalize your invoice, you can add extra charges if you like, for adding insurance for instance.
Log in to eBay and check out the completed listings for what you're thinking of selling. If what they've sold for (listed in green) is about what you're looking for or more, go for it. It is what I am basing the value of my comics on. Quite a few have gone for more because of fierce bidding, but that is the exception to the rule. Most of my auctions had less than 5 bids, most in the final hour. No one wants to give the impression to others that there is interest in the item. I'll have 40 watchers, 100 views, and no bids.
-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year -- -- July 2009 Ordained Reverend --
I've just started selling stuff again in the past two weeks. I've got collectibles that I don't need/want any longer, so whatever I get for them I'll take. In my time selling, I've never had to deal with the issues CRZ describes. Not saying I won't at some point, but...
There's ways to game the system from a seller's perspective. If you want to figure that out, send me a non-private private message.