My first time selling on Ebay.. any tips?

sailorchrono

sailorchrono

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Well, as the title says.. it's my first time selling on Ebay. I've already read the sticky with the useful links and whatnot, but it doesn't have any advice for newbies on Ebay :(

So I want to sell some games off and some of my dad's various electrical items and paraphanellia (sp? :3). I have zip feedback... which will make people nervous. What do you people recommend I do to build up feedback and confidence in people? And also.. I have no idea how to begin even to start listing my dad's stuff.. as it's strange instruments with no boxes and stuff @_@;;; Anyways... any advice is greatly appreciated! =)
 
Well you could buy a bunch of cheap >$1.00 auctions to get some quick feedback. Or you can just try selling with no feedback, it doesn't guarantee that people won't buy from you.
 
I like to see pictures and detailed descriptions from those with low feedback.

Good luck with your selling!
 
Start you auction at the beginning of the week that way it will end on the weekend where there is a lot more people looking around because they have more free time.

Take a really good photo and let them know you can provide more pics as needed.

Make sure your description is acurate as possible.

I prefer buy it now with best offer option which isn't always great but better than the auction style sometimes.

Try not to sell large things because of shipping cost, leave those to Craiglist which is local.

Use Paypal.

Communicate with the winning buyer of the auction as much as possible.



Hope that helps and good luck.
 
start off with something cheap first, if possible. Also try searching for listing similar to what you are selling to have an idea on how to list them
 
Ah, I planned to do all of those things.. except.. well, I think my main problem is that I only have a cell phone camera. :( I will communicate as much as possible, of course.. but do you think it will really hurt me if I just use my cell cam? :/

And ooh, didn't think about starting the auctions at the beginning of the week.. GREAT tip! ^_^

And the things I plan on selling are a tad bit more.. like rareish RPGs and whatnot (like Chrono Trigger, SNES sytem..). The cheaper items I'm just dumping on Craigslist :/ Do you think it will hurt my ending price since I'm selling with zip feedback? :(
 
[quote name='sailorchrono']And the things I plan on selling are a tad bit more.. like rareish RPGs and whatnot (like Chrono Trigger, SNES sytem..). The cheaper items I'm just dumping on Craigslist :/ Do you think it will hurt my ending price since I'm selling with zip feedback? :([/quote]

It depends. Is it cart only?

I have seen members with good feedback sell items for more than average on a regular basis because people will tend to trust their descriptions more. That's why a phone picture (depending on your phone) is not ideal. With low feedback others will want to see what they are buying especially for expensive items.

If it is cart only it might not hurt you too much though, it's when you start getting into the collector's quality that good pictures and feedback can help.
 
Yeah, it's cart only. But I'm selling *LOTS* of stuff like sealed Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Sword of Mana.. and etc. I know my cell phone cam isn't ideal.. but it's the best I have :( If not Ebay, what's another avenue to try to get the most for these games? I have them listed on Amazon too and I plan to list on Half.com as well, but the fees on these are outrageous!

Also, finally... how am I best protected for selling? I plan to of course get delivery confirmation.. and I'm toying with the idea of forcing people to pay for insurance as well, because of all the horror stories I've heard of Paypal (and Amazon) siding with the buyer DESPITE DELIVERY CONFIMATION! That worries me a bit, to say the least...
 
Oh and another question.. >.> I also have a PSP memory card I think I'll put on Ebay as well (or any other outlet..) and I've heard of all those HK bootlegs on there.. however I bought mine at CC :eek: What should I do to convince people of authenticity? Or is it better not to put such a counterfeited item up at all?
 
Just described them very accurately, say your a collector selling off some of your collection and know what you are talking about. If a game has a horizontal seal state that and state that they are genuine games bought by you from a US retailer.

You may want to sell some lesser items using Buy it Nows. That way you can get some good feedback and hopefully it will back up your description of the items. Once you get some positive feedback others will trust you and be willing to put up more $$.

My main concern on Ebay is greedy deceitful sellers.

I used to get insurance on all my items I sent. But I don't think it will always protect you. If using Ebay ship through Paypal and it will force you to get DC for $.18. I bring all my items to the PO as I don't trust the carriers. I also try to send First class since the maximum weight is 13 ounces which I assume means my package will ship with other light items (don't want a 10lb box falling on my games).

Insurance may be a good idea for you to start with as it may give the buyer some assurance.
 
Ah.. I guess I will force insurance upon buyers then..

And as for lesser items.. well.. I kinda want to get rid of my collection (I'm moving in January) and most of my items are along the lines of the games I just listed.. :<

Oh and I plan on going to the PO personally as well. I don't have the money to buy a postage scale to make my own labels at home, so that isn't really an option :< Also, any recommedations on cheap packing supplies? I don't plan to make this Ebay thing a side business or anything, so I don't really want to buy wholesale. I'm pretty much done selling on Ebay once I get my game collection light enough to travel with.
 
When you ship your products make sure you use Delivery and Signiture Convermation, especially for your higher priced things! It costs a little more for shipping (the buyer is paying for that anyway), but that's the only way your protected under Paypal. If you don't use Delivery and Signiture Convermation then the seller could say they never got the item and Paypal will ALWAYS go with the buyer 100% of the time. So Paypal will refund the money back to buyer and they get to keep the product. Unless you have Delivery and Signiture Convermation to prove to Paypal that they did recieve it and sign for it.

I learned the hard way when Doom 3 LE came out for the Xbox and I sold it for about $50. The buyer said they never got it about 4 months after I sold it and Paypal refunded his money back. And that's after they left me postive feedback saying they recieved it (Paypal still refunded the money back to him). But they said the guidelines say I should have used DC and SC.

Also if you plan on selling a lot on ebay a good investment is a shipping scale so you can just print the labels from ebay and tape them onto the envolope. I think it's cheaper that way and icludes Delivery Convermation. If it's something small like a game you can just leave it at the door and let the mail man pick it up.
 
A good place to get envolopes for games is at Sam's Club, if you have an account there. Size 0 is perfect for games and CD's. That's where I get mine at, but other than that, I'm not sure where.... maybe online?
 
If you want to get a good price for those sealed GBA games, you really need a good picture. Bootleg GBA games are very common on eBay, so some people avoid auctions if they can't see the actual item.

I'm not sure if insurance will help protect you with Paypal disputes. While I don't have any experience with them myself, I know it didn't help this guy.

Be sure to set up your Buyer Requirements. You change them by clicking on the preferences link under the My account column on the my eBay page. There you can block bidders with overall negative feedback and recent unpaid item strikes (there are a few other options there as well).
 
Rather than dump the cheaper stuff on Craigslist, I'd start them off on eBay to build some feedback. That way you can build trust before you sell off more expensive items. Rare games will sell for a decent amount regardless of feedback but you'll get less if you have low feedback. I like starting my auctions on Thursday nights so they end on Sunday nights rather than ending on a workday.
 
1) Research your item first and make it known to your bidders. Make sure you take good pictures and provide good detail.

2) Set your terms within your auction, there's lots to cover like forms of payment accepted, if/how you handle refunds, no unconfirmed shipping addys (for PayPal), etc.

3) Don't list everything at once. Having a lot of auctions end at or around the same time is a hassle IMO.

4) Make sure you know how PayPal works if you plan to use it. PayPal is very nice and convenient to have but once false move and an dishonest buyer will have his money back in no time.
 
Some tips:
1) Sell low items to build up feedback then list the higher value items.

2) When shipping always make sure to purchase delivery confirmation when applicable if you accept payment through Paypal.

3) Depending on your risks, higher price items should be insured by you even if they don't pay it. This is to protect you not them.

4) Description is key.

Good luck
 
Make sure to have a nice layout to your auction. Don't type everything in a block paragraph. Make sure to use line breaks along with proper grammar, spelling, punctuation. Basically, make the auction look professional. I can't tell you how many auctions I have passed on because they are just one paragraph of information. It shows the seller didn't put any care into this at all, and that is not somebody I want to buy from.

What I would suggest is to just start with a basic form for what you want your auctions to look like and the information you want to include. Things like shipping terms and prices, your return policies, and a brief description about you. Write out ALL of the terms of your auction and anything you think might be helpful. Save this as a text file and just copy and past it into ebay. You can mess around with HTML or other options in ebay if you want, but at the very least do this.
 
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