eBay noob needs tips - Need tips on doing lots.

[FriskyTanuki]

My questions here have been answered, so I don't really need more posts on these. Just check my latest post for my latest questions.


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I'm in need of money, so I've decided to sell some of the games in my tradelist on eBay to get money quicker, but I've never used eBay before, so I'm in need of some tips on how to maximize the return. Most of what I'm looking to sell is there in my tradelist, though I was looking at selling my copy of Lunar SSSC since I've never touched it and probably never will and maybe one or two other games that may sell well. I'd like this to go as smoothly and easily as possible.

I'm just a little confused on when to use the buy it now price, what to choose as the starting bid price, and maybe just how I should go about listing my games (any special order to list them? more expensive stuff first?) so that I don't end up selling them for cheaper than I'd like. Are there any other tips about how to lessen the chance of getting scammed or anything else I should be aware of?
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My latest listings:

Madden NFL 06 PS2 Complete (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250009344000)
Transformers PS2 Sealed (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250009345571)
Brute Force Xbox Sealed (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250009346739)
THUG GBA Complete (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250010422229)
Dark Cloud 2 PS2 Sealed (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250010425014)

[mr ryles]

I'm fairly new to ebay, and I have never used buy it now I think it is pointless, but say you have something you only want $20 for then set the BIN for $20.

Not sure what you mean by listing games in a certain order. And just use your basic trading instinct. If someone asks for something out the ordinary or has low feedback make sure they are legit or have them pay with paypal and make sure to use a DC# and keep your recipt when you ship out.

[briansraregames]

OP, you're picking a really bad time to sell games. Prices are down 20-30% on ebay pretty much across the board. My advice would be to hold off.

[pimpinc333]

Well here is what I do and seem to be pretty successful.

1.) Take picture of item. Make sure the potential buyer can see everything they are getting with the auction. Also, include your seller name on a piece of paper.

2.) If I think its a more RAREZ item I will put a starting price at about $9.99. If it's an item not worth too much or I could care less about how much I make on it I will start it at $0.99. ( NOTE: You'll pay more money to start it at a higher price )

3.) I usually use a BIN to pretty much bait a potential Must Buy Buyer. Some buyers are willing to pay a bit more so they can have the item ASAP instead of waiting til a regular auction is over. So pretty much use it as Bait to maximize your earnings. ( EX. Most auctions are ending at $35.00 put 36,37 insteador if you wanna sell fast do it vice versa and put a little lower BIN to stay competitive with the other seller. )

4.) Always do a 7-Day Auction. I for one see the most earnings when I start on Sunday Night ( 9-9:30ish PM EST ) So it will run 7 Days and end on a Lazy Sunday when Everyone is at there Computers and not out partying since its a Sunday and most people work or go to school on Monday.

5.) Only sell to the USA. I just found out the hard way yesterday when someone from Saudi Arabia won an Auction. He didn't respnd to any of my emails and sent me the wrong payment. No Canada also. Customs holds shit up. Also read what just happened to murc with a charge back issue.

6.) In your Auction's desciption keep it simple and too the point. State a little info about the game and state your basic guidelines. I use the same listing just about for each and every one of my auctions. Here are some of my most recent auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8274232267&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8277797369&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8274230800&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1

If you need any help or have any questions PM or IM me at pimpinc333.

Hope this helps. :)

[pimpinc333]

OP, you're picking a really bad time to sell games. Prices are down 20-30% on ebay pretty much across the board. My advice would be to hold off.

You Sir are very right take a look at some of those auctions I posted above. Metal Slug Advance and 4/5 sold for way less then I thought they would.

[zionoverfire]

buy it now is a great way to get rid of popular items quickly or to sell rare items for a bit more than the average auction price.

Let's say an item goes for around 30ish on average then you could post it as buy it now for 30 and it will probably sell within a day so you'll get your money a lot sooner than you will if you wait 5-7 days for a typical auction to end, or alternatively you can try listing games for a bit over the high end prices and see if anyone bites.

I think ebay might charge more for buy it now listings than regular auctions so the expense might not be worth it but I frequently use buy it now listings around the average auction price so my items sell quickly and I don't have to worry about getting stuck with the bargain listing of the day.

[62t]

however sometimes people from oversea are willing to overpay for your items. At the same time the risk is much higher. The best time to ebay would be around Xmas.

[io]

I'm fairly new to ebay, and I have never used buy it now I think it is pointless, but say you have something you only want $20 for then set the BIN for $20.


Generally I only use Buy It Now when eBay has one of their 10 cent listing days. They've had 3 in the last 4 months or so. When it is only 10 cents it is a great way to go fishing. I list things I have that are just sitting around waiting to be played, like my GH copy of FFX. I've sold 3 of those on the 10 cent listing days for $17 or so. I can always get another at GR with my credit (which costs me 50 cents on the dollar). Plus I will throw rare things up there at high prices and occasionally get bites. You can always lower the price throughout the week as well.

As for regular auctions, people all have different opinions on days to start/end. On very popular or new items, there isn't too much use going 7 days. But for most games 7 days is the right choice. For really rare items not often listed on eBay you might even go 10 days. Jyst do a completed auction search to see how many of a game have sold in the last 30 days.

Someone above said Sunday is a good time. I disagree completely - I've had terrible luck with Sunday sales, and weekends in general. But I haven't even tried in a year or so. I think it is quite the opposite - people are NOT at their computers on the weekend as much and the best time to have them end is mid-week around close of business. You catch all those people ebaying at work :D. So I usually have my auctions start/end on Tuesday or Wednesday around 3-6 Pacific time. Friday night is usually bad. I think it is good to have the auctions go OVER a weekend though (either 7 days, or 5 days from Thurs - Tues for example) so that people who are doing more leisurely searches on the weekend can 'watch' your auction and then snipe it later in the week.

Also, if you have a rare and/or valuable item, you might as well start it off at $0.99 or $0.01. Cheaper games you should start off at the price you are willing to sell them for ($9.99, or $14.99 or whatever). This seems counterintuitive, but makes sense if you think about it. A mint complete copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2 is GOING to sell for $40+ (at a minimum) so you are safe starting at $0.99. You get alot of lookers that way and many people will bid. When this happens they buy into the "must win" mentality and get attached to your auction. It is quite astounding what two (or more) people in a bidding war will do :D. Most of this action will happen in the last 5 minutes by the way.

Hope this all helps. I've been selling on eBay on and off for 7+ years now. I've only recently gotten into games (as it is my current hobby and what I know the most about in terms of eBay potential). I've had some people pay some bizarre prices for games. I preorder games at GR and often get 2 copies so I can sell 1 to make up for the other (since they were preordered with the $30 deal). So these are brand new, available everywhere type games. I sold a Super Mario Strikers to someone for $55 PLUS SHIPPING. I couldn't believe it. I didn't, in fact, believe it until the period in which they could chargeback on PayPal had safely passed.

Then again I sold a sealed Marvel vs Capcom 2 (Xbox) with a picture and everything for like $30 something a year ago (they've gone up alot since then but even for then that sucked). So you never know.

[io]

however sometimes people from oversea are willing to overpay for your items. At the same time the risk is much higher. The best time to ebay would be around Xmas.

In fact it is often the overseas people who buy things like those new GH FFX's and such during the fixed price sales. One other tip is to offer a combined shipping deal (like a flat $6 for as many games as you buy or whatever). I had a buyer from Australia buy 3 of my regular every day type games from my last Buy It Now sale. I didn't offer a specific rate for overseas combined shipping (because it varies so much), but I said to ask about it - they did and I used the USPS rate calculator to come up with a price for them before they bid.

I've only every had 2 chargeback issues. One was a guy who said I sent no email out about mailing his game, which in fact I did (all my messages were being blocked by his damn hotmail spam filter). He filed a chargeback 3 days after the auction ended because he thought, after selling for 7 years with 100% positive feedback, that I would choose HIS auction for a Winning Eleven 8 for $20 to start ripping people off :D. Once he got the game (and figured out his email problem) he removed the chargeback.

The other time was more recently. I sent a game using the PayPal shipping (which I just started doing recently) so there was a DC number and everything. This was a confirmed buyer too, so I am covered under the PayPal protection policy. Well, I get an email a few weeks after the auction ends from PayPal saying they are investigating "fraudulent" charges and they put a hold on the money. I sent them the DC info (which of course they have in the transaction page but whatever) and asked if I'm covered by the protection policy. I noticed that his address was NO LONGER confirmed - but it was when I mailed. In any case, they wrote back the next day saying they determined the charge was NOT fraudulent and gave me my money back. That was very strange - I never had ANY contect with the buyer one way or another (they weren't claiming they never got it) - they simply paid with PayPal and that was it.

If you mail to confirmed buyers with a DC number you should be OK against any chargebacks. The problem is you can't mail overseas with a tracking number (at least not cheaply) so you are in some danger of chargebacks from overseas buyers. I've been lucky with that so far. What I've been doing more recently on some higher priced items is requiring buyers with UNCONFIRMED US addresses to pay for insurance, just as a bit of added protection.

[FriskyTanuki]

Cool. Thanks for all the tips, now I have some semblance of an idea about what I'll be doing. I'll probably throw a few things up by Thursday or Friday after doing a little research and I might hold onto Lunar for the time being.

[io]

Cool. Thanks for all the tips, now I have some semblance of an idea about what I'll be doing. I'll probably throw a few things up by Thursday or Friday after doing a little research and I might hold onto Lunar for the time being.

Yeah, another tip (sounds like you got this anyway) - if you are just starting out sell some cheap stuff first, maybe not even getting much for it. Just build up some game-related feedback. Then when you do decide to sell the more valuable stuff you are likely to get a whole lot more for it (people will trust you as a seller more, trust your description more if it is a used game, etc).

[FriskyTanuki]

Quick question: Does it matter if I keep the price stickers on my sealed games or should I remove those before taking the picture and listing?

[io]

Quick question: Does it matter if I keep the price stickers on my sealed games or should I remove those before taking the picture and listing?

I would remove them unless it means mangling the shrinkwrap. If it is a fairly cheap game the it's not worth the trouble - especially if it is one of those NASTY Circuit City security price tags (that have metal foil in them). Those are a pain to get off cleanly. When I sold some of the cheapo Buy 2 Get 1 free games a few weeks back I didn't bother taking the tags off those. Plus, in that case, it looked like the buyer was getting a great deal (game tagged $39.99, sold for $6).

I've seen auctions where people have left Gamerush stickers on the games and that is just pathetic though - they peel off easily. I think it looks more professional if you take them off. And definitely remove EB/GS stickers from used games.

[iazybandit]

You Sir are very right take a look at some of those auctions I posted above. Metal Slug Advance and 4/5 sold for way less then I thought they would.
But there is a problem with yours. Instead of putting "Playstation" in the title, you put "$3 ship" and "BRAND NEW". With placing Playstation, you could maximize the search filed. No one searches for "$3 ship" and rarely "BRAND NEW". People type in "playstation" and whatever keywords such as title of game to find what they want. I suggest putting the word "NEW" instead of "SEALED" or remove the "BRAND" and leave the "NEW". Same meaning but less letters.

I would of done this for your auction title - NEW Metal Slug Advance GameBoy Game Boy GBA

This way, if someone types in "game" or "gameboy" they can find it. You can add "Advance" or "Nintendo" if there was room. Inside the auction, they can read more information regarding condition and shipping. Hell, when you do a search for games, shipping is shown next to the current auction price so no need to put this in auction title. Just a waste of space and is pointless.

Always, always, think of keywords that peoplel will use to type. Use ever keyword you can think of. DO NOT REPEAT as it will just waste space and potential words.


To all you eBay noobs...

Click my eBay link in my signature. I have some items up for sale. This will give you alot of ideas on how to sell

- be descriptive in your auction (pretty much look at it from a buyers view. what do you want to see if you were bidding/trading?)
- put keywords into auction title to maximize search field
- dont repeat words in auction title
- include actual picture of item
- give buyer the confidence and let them what they are bidding on
- accept multiple forms of payment
- if there are any disclaimers, let it be known (by bidding, it is a contract after all)
- i usually ship 1-3 days after I receive payment. why? sometimes payments are paid with stolen credit card and payment is reversed within 1-2 days. if payment is confirmed, i wont way as long.
- if shipping overseas, be careful.
- ship items with tracking
- offer insurance or include it
- start auction prices low. If you know price will go up, why pay extra in fees? I usually start them at $0.01 or $0.99.
- if you use BUY IT NOW, see what others are putting it for. when i use this, i offer FREE shipping
- do not use reserves. this is a death trap and scares buyers away. only use this if it is a definite must. if you use this, i suggest listing the reserve price to let people know and also mention that its to keep the BUY IT NOW price up longer (if it is being used as well)

[pimpinc333]

But there is a problem with yours. Instead of putting "Playstation" in the title, you put "$3 ship" and "BRAND NEW". With placing Playstation, you could maximize the search filed. No one searches for "$3 ship" and rarely "BRAND NEW". People type in "playstation" and whatever keywords such as title of game to find what they want. I suggest putting the word "NEW" instead of "SEALED" or remove the "BRAND" and leave the "NEW". Same meaning but less letters.

I would of done this for your auction title - NEW Metal Slug Advance GameBoy Game Boy GBA

This way, if someone types in "game" or "gameboy" they can find it. You can add "Advance" or "Nintendo" if there was room. Inside the auction, they can read more information regarding condition and shipping. Hell, when you do a search for games, shipping is shown next to the current auction price so no need to put this in auction title. Just a waste of space and is pointless.

Always, always, think of keywords that peoplel will use to type. Use ever keyword you can think of. DO NOT REPEAT as it will just waste space and potential words.

Click my eBay link in my signature. I have some items up for sale. This will give you alot of ideas on how to sell

- be descriptive in your auction (pretty much look at it from a buyers view. what do you want to see if you were bidding/trading?)
- put keywords into auction title to maximize search field
- dont repeat words in auction title
- include actual picture of item
- give buyer the confidence and let them what they are bidding on
- accept multiple forms of payment
- if there are any disclaimers, let it be known (by bidding, it is a contract after all)
- i usually ship 1-3 days after I receive payment. why? sometimes payments are paid with stolen credit card and payment is reversed within 1-2 days. if payment is confirmed, i wont way as long.
- if shipping overseas, be careful.
- ship items with tracking
- offer insurance or include it
- start auction prices low. If you know price will go up, why pay extra in fees? I usually start them at $0.01 or $0.99.
- if you use BUY IT NOW, see what others are putting it for. when i use this, i offer FREE shipping.

Ok cool I'l give that a try. Thanks for the extra info.

[FriskyTanuki]

I would remove them unless it means mangling the shrinkwrap. If it is a fairly cheap game the it's not worth the trouble - especially if it is one of those NASTY Circuit City security price tags (that have metal foil in them). Those are a pain to get off cleanly. When I sold some of the cheapo Buy 2 Get 1 free games a few weeks back I didn't bother taking the tags off those. Plus, in that case, it looked like the buyer was getting a great deal (game tagged $39.99, sold for $6).

I've seen auctions where people have left Gamerush stickers on the games and that is just pathetic though - they peel off easily. I think it looks more professional if you take them off. And definitely remove EB/GS stickers from used games.
That's my dilemma. I've got four sealed games from CC and those tags do not come off easily and I don't think a pic with the remains of a ripped tag would be a pretty sight. Should I just leave those on?

Otherwise with EB/GS sticker residue, I'm just going to put those games into clean cases so that I can clean those later. I was looking prices and not many of these games that I'm looking to sell go for over $10, which I'm wondering if doing a lot would be ideal for these cheap games?

[guinaevere]

That's my dilemma. I've got four sealed games from CC and those tags do not come off easily and I don't think a pic with the remains of a ripped tag would be a pretty sight. Should I just leave those on?
I don't recall ever selling anything new/sealed, so I don't know how buyers react to price stickers being on there...

I've eBayed some used games, but I always remove all stickers from games anyway, as I like things to look nice. I don't buy to resell, I generally buy to keep... it's only stuff I'm sick of playing or just stunk to begin with and will never want to play again.

My gut reaction would be to either leave the stickers on completely, or go to the store, buy De-Solv-it or whatever else is designed to remove sticky residue, and make sure the sticker is completely gone before taking a picture for listing.

[io]

That's my dilemma. I've got four sealed games from CC and those tags do not come off easily and I don't think a pic with the remains of a ripped tag would be a pretty sight. Should I just leave those on?

Otherwise with EB/GS sticker residue, I'm just going to put those games into clean cases so that I can clean those later. I was looking prices and not many of these games that I'm looking to sell go for over $10, which I'm wondering if doing a lot would be ideal for these cheap games?

Yeah, on those I'd just leave them on. I think it looks worse to see partially torn stickers. You CAN get those CC ones off - I've done it. But I only bothered on games that might sell for more than $20 or so (which has not been many). Most of the CC games I sold were extras I picked up for the Buy 2 Get 1 free on $19.99 or less games.

As for the EB/GS thing - I do the same. I have several new cases that I put all my EB/GS stuff in, whether to keep or not. Then I take the crappy cases and use those for trade-in games (keeping the nice ones in return).

I think I might be in for my first non-US chargeback :cry:. I sold a cheapo game to someone in Mexico, and mailed it March 6th. Just got an email asking where the game is :roll:. We'll see... Of course, if he files a chargeback there's nothing I can do since there's no tracking info. What sucks is that this was a cheap game I bought at Target for trading purposes, and was just about to return it (since no one wanted it) when eBay had their 10 cent listing day so I thought I'd give it a shot. He bought it on the last day of that auction.

Oh well, it was cheap and I made enough off the ebay listing day on other games to cover it.

[FriskyTanuki]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see about getting some goo gone or a similar product before listing the CC-tagged games. My first listing is about to end and I've listen another game (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8281091216).

I managed to grab a used copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Xbox for $20, which I see goes for at least twice as much most of the time so I'm definitely interested in selling this. I'm wondering if I should list it to reap the rewards since I've heard that this version of the game isn't that good and my chances of playing it are pretty slim. What do you think?

[io]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see about getting some goo gone or a similar product before listing the CC-tagged games. My first listing is about to end and I've listen another game (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8281091216).

I managed to grab a used copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Xbox for $20, which I see goes for at least twice as much most of the time so I'm definitely interested in selling this. I'm wondering if I should list it to reap the rewards since I've heard that this version of the game isn't that good and my chances of playing it are pretty slim. What do you think?

Sell it. I've seen this around quite a bit used (at GC usually). You can always get it again if you really want it.

Also, I would suggest starting/ending your auctions in the day or early evening. You really will get a lot of last minute bidders (especially on something like MvsC 2) and it helps if the auction ends in the afternoon/evening time frame. This is especially true since you only ship to the US - you'll only have people in Europe/Asia and night owls like me looking at auctions like your Ribbit King that ends at 4am Pacific :D.

[FriskyTanuki]

Sell it. I've seen this around quite a bit used (at GC usually). You can always get it again if you really want it.

Also, I would suggest starting/ending your auctions in the day or early evening. You really will get a lot of last minute bidders (especially on something like MvsC 2) and it helps if the auction ends in the afternoon/evening time frame. This is especially true since you only ship to the US - you'll only have people in Europe/Asia and night owls like me looking at auctions like your Ribbit King that ends at 4am Pacific :D.
Yeah, that's what I noticed. I'll try to throw stuff on at least a few hours before midnight, though that's usually when I've been able to sit down and do the whole listing process. I know I'll make sure to do that on the stuff that's more likely to sell for more. I'll have to see about listing MvC2 in between picks during the draft tomorrow. :)

[iazybandit]

To remove normal price tag stickers, you can use a hair dryer or heat gun and lightly heat the sticker. This will soften the sticky residue and will be easy to lift off. I have done this many times on my own and when I worked at EB/GS. I have had customers come to me and ask me to either take off the price since it is a gift, or to place them on for whatever reason.

Just make sure you dont put the heat too close or for too long or you'll melt/warp the plastic

[pimpinc333]

To remove normal price tag stickers, you can use a hair dryer or heat gun and lightly heat the sticker. This will soften the sticky residue and will be easy to lift off. I have done this many times on my own and when I worked at EB/GS. I have had customers come to me and ask me to either take off the price since it is a gift, or to place them on for whatever reason.

Just make sure you dont put the heat too close or for too long or you'll melt/warp the plastic

I just pull what I can off in a quick stroke then goo gone what ever is left on it. Just like new.

[FriskyTanuki]

Okay, my MvC2 auction went fine by how it ended, but I haven't seen anything from the winner since it ended May 6th and I'm wondering what my options are. I notice the mention of "second chance offers" that I apparently have the option to do. Any advice?

[io]

Okay, my MvC2 auction went fine by how it ended, but I haven't seen anything from the winner since it ended May 6th and I'm wondering what my options are. I notice the mention of "second chance offers" that I apparently have the option to do. Any advice?

That sucks. It hasn't been 7 days yet but as soon as it is, file a non-paying bidder alert. If they don't respond to that in a week you can get your closing fees back. I hate it when buyers do this crap. It is probably too late to offer the second chance as most buyers will have moved on and purchased elsewhere or lost the impulse to buy. Plus there's the possibility your original buyer will pay, though that is slim at this point.

I assume they just aren't responding to your emails? If you are emailing them directly (instead of using the ebay contact page) that could be a problem. I found out that many hotmal and yahoo accounts block my personal emails as spam! Very annoying. So buyers would claim I never contacted them when, in fact, I had 3 or 4 emails out to them.

I'm having bad luck with this last 10 cent listing day. I've got 3 auctions where the buyers aren't responding/paying (out of about 7 completed). It really pisses me off to have to spend the time to chase them down and file NPB alerts and all that crap, only to have to resell the thing (and without the cheap listing fee!).

I had someone buy a cheapy game using Buy It Now and then make a lowball offer on another game. Since I offer combined shipping on multiple items which nets me less 'slop' money from the shipping, I would have lost money on the second game (they wanted my $13 game for $8). I rejected the offer and now they aren't paying for the first one. They didn't contact me beforehand and say anything about buying the one if they could get the other cheap.

[FriskyTanuki]

That sucks. It hasn't been 7 days yet but as soon as it is, file a non-paying bidder alert. If they don't respond to that in a week you can get your closing fees back. I hate it when buyers do this crap. It is probably too late to offer the second chance as most buyers will have moved on and purchased elsewhere or lost the impulse to buy. Plus there's the possibility your original buyer will pay, though that is slim at this point.

I assume they just aren't responding to your emails? If you are emailing them directly (instead of using the ebay contact page) that could be a problem. I found out that many hotmal and yahoo accounts block my personal emails as spam! Very annoying. So buyers would claim I never contacted them when, in fact, I had 3 or 4 emails out to them.

I'm having bad luck with this last 10 cent listing day. I've got 3 auctions where the buyers aren't responding/paying (out of about 7 completed). It really pisses me off to have to spend the time to chase them down and file NPB alerts and all that crap, only to have to resell the thing (and without the cheap listing fee!).

I had someone buy a cheapy game using Buy It Now and then make a lowball offer on another game. Since I offer combined shipping on multiple items which nets me less 'slop' money from the shipping, I would have lost money on the second game (they wanted my $13 game for $8). I rejected the offer and now they aren't paying for the first one. They didn't contact me beforehand and say anything about buying the one if they could get the other cheap.
I waited until today to see if he had sent an MO and got nothing, so I filed a non-paying bidder alert. I sent him an invoice, which went to his email and mine, so I know that was sent. He just hasn't responded at all if he had intended to pay.

For that Buy It Now bailer, he should've contacted you to let you know his intentions before jumping the gun and assuming you would approve of it. BS move on his part.

[wubb]

I waited until today to see if he had sent an MO and got nothing, so I filed a non-paying bidder alert. I sent him an invoice, which went to his email and mine, so I know that was sent. He just hasn't responded at all if he had intended to pay.

Have you contacted him through eBay besides filing the NPB? At this point I wouldn't do any further contacting outside of that process, but my system leading up to the NPB is:

3 days after auction - Contact buyer to congratulate them on winning (again as my automated end of auction invoice also congratulates them) and ask them to please let me know how they intend to pay.
6-7 days after auction - Contact buyer and firmly let them know they need to pay me by the next day or I will have to seek a refund of my seller fees from eBay. (i.e. I'm going to file a NPB.)
next day - File NPB.

I have my standard contact e-mails saved to files and just send the same thing to all buyers. Obviously if I hear from the buyer or they claim to be sending a MO I have to adjust or stretch out my time frame. I'm pretty flexible with a buyer that bothers to contact me. Had one guy ask how long I could give him to pay since he needed time to get the money. And we're talking for a $10 game or something :roll:, but I figure it's in my best interest to give people extra time and possibly get paid vs. be a hard ass and definitely not be paid. So I gave him a deadline of 2 weeks and I think he paid within 1. I figured he was going to be a NPB, but was pleasantly surprised.

Typically for a real NPB I never hear a peep. Sometimes I get some contact which turns into the run around, but that's the minority of these cases. Often I get paid promptly after the first friendly contact. This works out much better as it avoids potentially pissing off a serious buyer because they merely 'forgot' to pay.

But, it's good to do the NPB. Deadbeats need to get their strikes.

Oh, and late to the party here but I really like BINs or just straight fixed price listings. I probably would have gone for $60 on the MvC2. With my luck I'd have gotten something like $38 for it if I did a straight auction. One bonus for BIN and fixed price listings is that it really cuts down on the number of NPBs. NPBs really suck, especially when you are just starting to sell and for a fairly high value item like that.

[io]

Had one guy ask how long I could give him to pay since he needed time to get the money. And we're talking for a $10 game or something :roll:, but I figure it's in my best interest to give people extra time and possibly get paid vs. be a hard ass and definitely not be paid. So I gave him a deadline of 2 weeks and I think he paid within 1. I figured he was going to be a NPB, but was pleasantly surprised.

Typically for a real NPB I never hear a peep. Sometimes I get some contact which turns into the run around, but that's the minority of these cases. Often I get paid promptly after the first friendly contact. This works out much better as it avoids potentially pissing off a serious buyer because they merely 'forgot' to pay.

But, it's good to do the NPB. Deadbeats need to get their strikes.

Oh, and late to the party here but I really like BINs or just straight fixed price listings. I probably would have gone for $60 on the MvC2. With my luck I'd have gotten something like $38 for it if I did a straight auction. One bonus for BIN and fixed price listings is that it really cuts down on the number of NPBs. NPBs really suck, especially when you are just starting to sell and for a fairly high value item like that.

Hehe - I had a guy once win an auction on the 25th of a month and then not respond for 4 or 5 days. Finally he said he gets paid the 23rd (of the next month!) and can he pay then. Well, I didn't have much choice so I said OK, and he did. Very wierd. It was for a $20 game I think. I did suggest to him that he should have asked first before bidding though.

I agree with you in general, Wubb, about the BIN having less deadbeats. But I'm having some crappy luck with the last 10 cent sale day. I've got the one guy who still hasn't paid or responded in any way. And now, get this, I've got 2 people who MADE BEST OFFERS which I accepted and they aren't paying. Unfuckingbelievable. And they were pretty low-ball offers too!

What sucks is that I'm going out of town for a week and a half tomorrow - if I file NPB alerts and then they actually pay, I won't be able to ship for a while. But in my experience there is very little chance for payment once you get to filing. I haven't kept track, but I'd say 1 in 10 to 15 results in payment.

[wubb]

What sucks is that I'm going out of town for a week and a half tomorrow - if I file NPB alerts and then they actually pay, I won't be able to ship for a while. But in my experience there is very little chance for payment once you get to filing. I haven't kept track, but I'd say 1 in 10 to 15 results in payment.

I actually have never had a single buyer pay after going to the NPB process. I've only had one even reply to it at all. (Which sucked because that made it take longer to play out.)

Oh man I feel you on going out of town and not being able to ship. Just watch one of them pay tomorrow night and then throw a shit fit when you don't ship to them immediately. I'm such a ninny that I'd probably take the things with me so I could ship on the road from a PO if needed.

[io]

I actually have never had a single buyer pay after going to the NPB process. I've only had one even reply to it at all. (Which sucked because that made it take longer to play out.)

Oh man I feel you on going out of town and not being able to ship. Just watch one of them pay tomorrow night and then throw a shit fit when you don't ship to them immediately. I'm such a ninny that I'd probably take the things with me so I could ship on the road from a PO if needed.

Well, if needs be I can instruct my wife on what to mail, though she is clueless about the games. I'll just put those ones aside. I doubt very much it will come down to that though :D.

[FriskyTanuki]

Have you contacted him through eBay besides filing the NPB? At this point I wouldn't do any further contacting outside of that process, but my system leading up to the NPB is:

3 days after auction - Contact buyer to congratulate them on winning (again as my automated end of auction invoice also congratulates them) and ask them to please let me know how they intend to pay.
6-7 days after auction - Contact buyer and firmly let them know they need to pay me by the next day or I will have to seek a refund of my seller fees from eBay. (i.e. I'm going to file a NPB.)
next day - File NPB.

I have my standard contact e-mails saved to files and just send the same thing to all buyers. Obviously if I hear from the buyer or they claim to be sending a MO I have to adjust or stretch out my time frame. I'm pretty flexible with a buyer that bothers to contact me. Had one guy ask how long I could give him to pay since he needed time to get the money. And we're talking for a $10 game or something :roll:, but I figure it's in my best interest to give people extra time and possibly get paid vs. be a hard ass and definitely not be paid. So I gave him a deadline of 2 weeks and I think he paid within 1. I figured he was going to be a NPB, but was pleasantly surprised.

Typically for a real NPB I never hear a peep. Sometimes I get some contact which turns into the run around, but that's the minority of these cases. Often I get paid promptly after the first friendly contact. This works out much better as it avoids potentially pissing off a serious buyer because they merely 'forgot' to pay.

But, it's good to do the NPB. Deadbeats need to get their strikes.

Oh, and late to the party here but I really like BINs or just straight fixed price listings. I probably would have gone for $60 on the MvC2. With my luck I'd have gotten something like $38 for it if I did a straight auction. One bonus for BIN and fixed price listings is that it really cuts down on the number of NPBs. NPBs really suck, especially when you are just starting to sell and for a fairly high value item like that.
I sent him an invoice and attached a message to it about letting me know if he's going to be paying with a money order and all that stuff and got no response. Then again, I haven't gotten responses on any previous eBay messages I've sent about DC#'s and such to let them know it's been shipped.

[Yusuke-Urameshi-]

You should start using BIN + Required Immediate Payment. In my experience, BINs sell for more, (excluding the rare bidding war) since people want the item quickly and don't want to go through the work and time of bidding. And if you put Immediate payment then there's no chance for a NPB

[FriskyTanuki]

He finally paid this morning, so now I can ship it to him and close this dispute.

[io]

He finally paid this morning, so now I can ship it to him and close this dispute.

That's cool. Now I need to start getting on a couple of deadbeats myself :D.

[Mojimbo]

Sorry to bump an old thread but it has lots of great tips and as an ebay newbie I was wondering about some things.

I want to place my auction for Baldur's Gate 2 tomorrow so it gets weekened exposure but I'm not sure when I should end it(both the day and the hour). I was thinking about setting it up as a five day auction on Friday at 3PM PST so it finishes at the same time on wednesday, what do you guys think?

Also, what about watermarks?

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v299/mojimbo_xl/ebay/th_bgate1.jpg

Too intrusive? Should I just use the original? I was thinking since my feedback is only +1 maybe it would add a little credibility, if that makes any sense.

Thanks!

[Roufuss]

Sorry to bump an old thread but it has lots of great tips and as an ebay newbie I was wondering about some things.

I want to place my auction for Baldur's Gate 2 tomorrow so it gets weekened exposure but I'm not sure when I should end it(both the day and the hour). I was thinking about setting it up as a five day auction on Friday at 3PM PST so it finishes at the same time on wednesday, what do you guys think?

Also, what about watermarks?

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v299/mojimbo_xl/ebay/th_bgate1.jpg

Too intrusive? Should I just use the original? I was thinking since my feedback is only +1 maybe it would add a little credibility, if that makes any sense.

Thanks!

Wednesday generally isn't a good day to end, espically when you are only doing a 5 day auction. Friday through Saturday are good days, and I've found Sunday and Monday to be the fastest selling days for me. Basacially the weekend is your best bet, and have it end around 10 pm... that way you get maximum exposure from EST timezone people all the way to PST. Definitely do 7 day though so you get the maximum exposure.

Can't help you on pics though, since I just use Ebay ones.

You also might want to try a fixed price auction... just set a Buy It Now and the right person will come along and grab it. 99% of my auctions are BIN and I usually get close to top dollar everytime on them.

[judyjudyjudy]

I think having your own pix definitely helps your auction. As a buyer, I'm personally inclined to buy from auctions that provide their own pix, since it shows the expected condition I should receive it in. In terms of credibility, you could have taken someone else's photo and watermarked it yourself. But it's a good idea, since it should prevent other people from taking your picture and using it for their own auction.

[FriskyTanuki]

Okay, I've got my first question from a potential buyer. The only problem is he's asking about making an exception to my shipping guidelines and shipping to Canada should he win. I'm pretty much ready to tell him that I'm not willing to make an exception, though more politely, but thought I'd get some feedback on the whole shipping to Canada thing.

He mentions that he has perfect feedback, confirmed and verified paypal address, and that others have made exceptions before with positive outcomes, which I'm sure it could be fine. I'm just not familiar or comfortable with the process to send it, as I know that it has to go through customs, which can delay the delivery time, right? He mentions not being in a rush to receive it, but I prefer getting things done in a quick manner and this seems like it'd be more of a hassle. What do you guys think?

[Supreme]

Okay, I've got my first question from a potential buyer. The only problem is he's asking about making an exception to my shipping guidelines and shipping to Canada should he win. I'm pretty much ready to tell him that I'm not willing to make an exception, though more politely, but thought I'd get some feedback on the whole shipping to Canada thing.

He mentions that he has perfect feedback, confirmed and verified paypal address, and that others have made exceptions before with positive outcomes, which I'm sure it could be fine. I'm just not familiar or comfortable with the process to send it, as I know that it has to go through customs, which can delay the delivery time, right? He mentions not being in a rush to receive it, but I prefer getting things done in a quick manner and this seems like it'd be more of a hassle. What do you guys think?

if you really want to sell whatever he wants, then i'd say let him bid on it. there could be a good chance that he doesn't win anyway, he'd just provide you with a nice bump. i once shipped a record to Canada via Global Priority Mail and it got there in a timely manner, so i wouldnt worry too much as long as you send it Priority.

[io]

Okay, I've got my first question from a potential buyer. The only problem is he's asking about making an exception to my shipping guidelines and shipping to Canada should he win. I'm pretty much ready to tell him that I'm not willing to make an exception, though more politely, but thought I'd get some feedback on the whole shipping to Canada thing.

He mentions that he has perfect feedback, confirmed and verified paypal address, and that others have made exceptions before with positive outcomes, which I'm sure it could be fine. I'm just not familiar or comfortable with the process to send it, as I know that it has to go through customs, which can delay the delivery time, right? He mentions not being in a rush to receive it, but I prefer getting things done in a quick manner and this seems like it'd be more of a hassle. What do you guys think?

If the guy has good feedback and buys alot from US sellers I would go for it.

I have always allowed international bidders and haven't had a problem yet. I get quite a few actually - mostly from Canada, but a few from Europe, Australia, and other places. Just had one from Brazil a few weeks ago, but haven't heard whether they got the game or not yet. I had one from Mexico who contacted me a month after I mailed and asked when and where I sent it because he never got it - but he seemed to accept that it must have gotten lost. He was just making sure I sent to the right address, which it seems I did.

There are many games that are easy to obtain in the U.S. but not in other places, so international bidders can really help you out. They have bailed me out of many auctions that, otherwise, probably wouldn't have sold (for Buy It Nows, or gone as high for regular auctions). The problem, of course, is that you can't send with tracking info even if they have confirmed addresses. I've just been lucky so far I guess with no chargebacks. I figure, at this point though, allowing foreign buyers has made me more than enough to cover a loss or two should it ever happen. Plus I usually overcharge a bit more on the shipping internationally as "insurance" for future chargebacks.

I have always allowed international buyers to send International Money Orders in US$. I figure that is better than PayPal because they can't chargeback. However, a few days ago I deposited one at my bank from Canada - and after being assured there were no fees, I now see a $1.50 "Canadian item deposit" fee on my online statement :roll:. No biggie, that is only a bit more than what PayPal would have charged anyway - and, like I said, no fear of chargeback.

[FriskyTanuki]

Thanks for the advice. I'll make an exception for him, can I add the difference in shipping cost to the invoice if he were to win? I can't recall if that's doable or if I'll have to try something to accompany for the difference in shipping cost.

[FriskyTanuki]

Okay, one of the people that won my auctions said that they'd be sending a money order and I got just got it, except that it was a $10 bill for the $8.58 auction that they won. I'm not sure what to do next since cash wasn't exactly an option and of course the fact that it wasn't exact change.

[zionoverfire]

Okay, one of the people that won my auctions said that they'd be sending a money order and I got just got it, except that it was a $10 bill for the $8.58 auction that they won. I'm not sure what to do next since cash wasn't exactly an option and of course the fact that it wasn't exact change.

Just keep the extra and ship out the item.

[FriskyTanuki]

Just keep the extra and ship out the item.
That's pretty much what I was thinking about doing. Thanks for the quick suggestion.

[io]

That's pretty much what I was thinking about doing. Thanks for the quick suggestion.

Yeah, no doubt, you should keep it. It was probably easier and maybe even cheaper for him to send the cash (since MO's cost money).

[FriskyTanuki]

Okay, I've got a small wave of stuff to list on eBay this weekend and amongst them are PS1 and DC titles that are really just not anything that would sell well enough alone to be worth it, so I'm wondering if doing lots for these titles would be best. Also, any tips on doing lots would be great so I can know what to expect.

From what I'm eBaying, there's 10 DC games (1 sealed) and 4 PS1 games amongst the stack of games I have here. I can list the games if that can make a difference in it.

I'm also looking to eBay some DVD's that I don't want anymore and I'd like to know if there's really anything all that different in listing those vs. games.