? for eBay experts

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've never sold anything before. Is it pretty easy? Do you get charged by eBay? If so, how much? Any other advice?

[lawdog]

They are just starting a new fee structure, but the basics are the same I think. You get charged a listing price which is based on your starting bid amount. Then you also pay a percentage if it sells.

Your pictures need to be hosted on a seperate website just like if you were going to post them here by the way. That's the only other real "trick" to it.

Its not at all hard to list something.

[83walleye]

Pretty easy, and a unique way to get a few more $'s for your stuff. Security is a big issue, which is good for users. You'll need to register and all, but the price you pay to list and sell is usually pretty low - 1% to 2% of total purchase price, or something like that. PayPal is also a pretty good idea if you plan on selling/buying. Again secure and convenient.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Its pretty easy. There are fees one is an "Insertion Fee", which is the cost of the listing. It can be anywhere from $.20 to $500, Depending on what your opening value for the item is.

The second fee is a percentage of the final price paid for the item. It ranges from %5.25 to %1.5. This is only applied if the item is sold.

Just remeber to set your reserve at a price you expect with a little more to cover the fees.

[Norsk Fisker]

So posting photos on ebay is as tricky as here? Does a person need a little one and a bigger one or does ebay do that automatically? The linking, techy stuff is not what I am good at, especially with a dial up internet connection.

[huntingislife]

You can just upload the pics to ebay directly from your own computer. You dont need to load them to a host site first. Its real simple.

[blakjack23]

A long time ago you had to link your pics, but huntingislife is right, now you just download a small application off Ebay and then you can browse to the pictures on your PC and upload them. Very simple. I have sold and bought alot of stuff on ebay, including my current boat. As long as you buy and sell to people who have a large positive feedback number you shouldn't have any problems.

[Wayne Ek]

Ralph, if your selling sporting goods try the FM site. I've sold on it twice now, and had both items go in less than a day. And best of all, if they don't sell Rick will personally buy them from you at double the price just kidding. Try FM for sporting goods I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

[HaywardBound]

If you are selling a big ticket item, it might be a little harder if you have zero feedback. People like to buy from people with lots of positive feedback.

There are a bunch of forums on e-bay you could check out also.

[Big D 1]

I have bought and sold on ebay for about 6 years. I have probably 2000 purchases, and 1500 sales on ebay. I don't do it much anymore for a couple reasons. 1. The fees are nuts. One year, I paid over $4000 in ebay and paypal fees...yes I sold a lot, BUT $4000 in fees is too much for what they do. 2. It can be a lot of work if you want to succeed at it.

I would stay away from paypal if I was a seller...they offer little or NO protection to the seller (and the seller is the one who pays paypal fees...i don't get it) and they take a good cut of your money not to protect you.

thats my humble opinion

[harvey lee]

I would also try the F.M. for sale.You might be suprised at what you will sell on there and the price is right.Ive used it twice and both times it worked.

[Valv]

Quote:

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I have bought and sold on ebay for about 6 years. I have probably 2000 purchases, and 1500 sales on ebay.

I would stay away from paypal if I was a seller...they offer little or NO protection to the seller

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I've been an Ebay user/seller since 1996 when there was probably just 1000 items of everything and they were using just 1 server, called Ebay AuctionWeb.

Anyway, the fees are certainly an expense, but considering the exposure (worldwide) and the savings from having any "overhead" expenses, it is not that expensive, considering alternative routes.

PayPal is not the greatest but beats having a Merchants account to accept credit cards, their fees are comparable or better (after you figure how much it cost your CC account). Controversy about protection, they actually have not much to do with Credit Card new policies and chargebacks, Paypal is just a gateway, and if Visa says "give money back" they have to do it. It's your credit card company that dictates the rules, they just follow.

All this not to say I've been going smooth for all these years, I've had my good share of "battles" with Ebay/Paypal but I have to admit....there's nothing like it, if you can show me another way similar with same success I'll be glad to try it.

[caseymcq]

If you want to save on the fees from ebay don't set a reserve price. Just have your starting bid set at what you want as a minimum price for your item.

[delcecchi]

The fee to list is only a buck or so, and another small fee based on selling price. I have sold some stuff and never use a reserve. Set the initial price fairly low to get the bidding started. Usually nothing happens much until near the end, but people have time to find the item.

Paypal is nice because it keeps you from getting stiffed by a bad check, although folks I have talked to say that is not a problem much. I would worry about valuable items that are easily sold but that's just me.

I have gotten way more for my stuff than I could have any other way.

How else would you sell it? ad in paper? notes on bulletin board? If it is bulky you could do craigslist (free on line want ads) that has pretty good distribution.

[Down Deep]

Ebay has a "How do you sell on Ebay" section on their front page.

[huntingislife]

Craigslist is good too. I have sold(and bought) a few things on there.

[ZapBranigan]

Hopefully we are not carring this to an extreme that it has to be moved to the discussions section. But I have had my share of buying and selling on Ebay. Great for small ticket items. But sell upwards of $500 and the fees get pretty hefty. Not just because it's more money but the % actually climbs too. Paypal for the seller don't even get me started. I sold an Xbox before Xmas as a favor to a buddy of mine. Payment was fine all was good then all of a sudden they had a hold on all my funds. I proved that the shipment was sent. But that is not the rules, you need to prove that the delivery was made. The party purchasing later (in Feb)found it was delivered before Xmas to an address they listed with in paypal but not where they expected it. Paypal had paid them back already now I was out the Xbox and the money. Then it got real dicey. Paypal will not protect the seller at all that is a fact. know this going in. Even after you have been paid and the deal is closed your funds can be called back.

Enough venting just beware.

Keep your sales to smaller items. Less exposure. PS it finally did get resolved 6 mos later the party buying sent me a payment through paypal which charged me again for winning my sale. They collected twice for their error.

[Bigbartguy]

I sold my Porsche 993 and other much smaller items on there. To actually make a biz out of it would be challenging, although I've heard people can make it work. Best of luck! ps - watch out for deadbeat bidders !

[Chubby]

If you are going to sell an item online only do it where you can have the pictures of the item in the listing be that eBay or anywhere else.

Of course if you enjoy spending lots of time emailing pictures to every person in the world who likes to look at pictures then go ahead and list without them.

[carlcmc]

what do you mean (care to elaborate) on "dead beat bidders"?

[ZapBranigan]

Carl, I don't want to step on anyones toes here but since your not getting a quick reply I'll toss this up.

You can get a bidder who wins the auction but because you have no real leverage to make them pay its only an intention to buy. So they could bid and then just never pay. Some are nice enough to let you know they have no intent on really buying your item. Others just fade away with you waiting to figure out what is going on. Ebay condiders this a completed deal so additional charges are applied. The best you can do is relist the item. E bay will allow you to relist for no additional charges but you have to go through a grieveince process. So bidders who don't buy do cost you time and money.

Just a warning if you file the grievence the party who did not buy can still give you a ding right back. Since your ability to get top bids from buyers revolves around your ebay score it isn't always worth it to go through that process.

[Bigbartguy]

Zap - yep and thanks! deadbeat bidders just screw up your auctions