Ebay - tips etc ??

**fe_man2000** · 15th March 2005

Hi,

I am clearingt my loft out and I have come around some stuff I want to shift on Ebay. Having never used it before I was wondering if there are any tips or advise that would be useful - I am going to be selling some stuff so I am mainly interesting in good methods of doing this - is paypal the best thing to use etc etc - I may also be buying the odd item or two as well though.

Now I am not completely daft and I wont be buying any plamsa TV's from Nigeria of anything like that I just want to avoid being ripped off or mucking people who are buying from me around.

Thanks

Ironman

**BertRoot** · 15th March 2005

List things at around 7pm at night so they finish when everyone is looking at ebay.

List things cheap so that people start bidding. It seems to get more interest if things start cheap. It also reduces your listing fees.

Post things quickly and don't overcharge for postage and packing so you get good feedback quickly.

I always use Paypal for sales and for buying as it is quick. The fees aren't brilliant but it can be used to claw money back if people don't send stuff that you have paid for. Can take a while to set up though if you want to make large payments.

**fe_man2000** · 15th March 2005

thanks - who do you use for P&P - Royal mail ? The items I am going to be selling are pretty big - yamaha keyboard - Home cinema amp etc and they weight a fair amount.

**BertRoot** · 15th March 2005

I never sell anything particularly big so use Royal Mail.

Have a look here , here and here. That should give you a start.

**Welsh Pete** · 15th March 2005

...Also, make sure you have packaging for everything before you start as it can be a cnut finding empty boxes.

Oh yeh, best ebay tip is......"use plenty of common sense", especially with things like cheque payment (ie, dont despatch until cheque has cleared)

Also, have used TNT, Parcelforce and Royal Mail: post offices accept all parcels (especially when the old bird at the counter has to struggle with a massive parcel) and work out to be always cheaper. The downside being that you have to cart your stuff to the PO but most couriers offer collection from the house.

Hope this helps a little...

**Mule** · 15th March 2005

Originally Posted by bertroot

List things at around 7pm at night so they finish when everyone is looking at ebay.

Just to add to that, if you list items on a 10 day auction starting on either Wednesday or Thursday then the auctions will finish on saturday or sunday, prime selling times.

Check if people have auctioned similar items before and use their auctions as guidance for yours.

**fe_man2000** · 15th March 2005

good advice fellas - thanks.

**whatnow** · 15th March 2005

RM postage calculator http://sg.royalmail.com/servlet/aced...ageId=frameset

if selling you'll want to probably buy a few things first as a seller with 0 feedback will never be deemed as fully trustworthy. Or you could be varified with squaretrade, but that's costly and not worth it really, might as well spend the cash on buying a few things instead...

also set up a VERIFIED premier (sounds expensive!) paypal account so u can accept payments from CC too, this is nearly essential for a seller to do becuase if u dont people have to load their paypal caccounts up and then send the money, most people don't get this and just say 'uhh I can't pay by paypal it wont let me'...well that's how it used to be for me, I got one ages ago and I rarely notice the fee's TBH, it's just a part of the sale, just like the ebay invioces that appear at bad times

**-AMO-** · 15th March 2005

Also you can add hidden keywords to the html of your ebay listening, doing this will get more people visiting your item even if they are searching for something else.

**MikeyJ25** · 15th March 2005

I'd try ending things a little later than 7pm. I find between 8 and 9.30pm are the best times for an auction to end. Most of the tips have already been given. Bascially, it aint what you sell, its how you choose to sell it. Pick your words carefully, be precise and accurate yet highly complimentary towards your product so the buyer thinks they are getting the good deal.
As someone said, start off with a low start price, 99p is probably the best as it will fall into the lowest listing charge category. If your product is of some value then dont forget to put a reserve price on.
If your feedback is currently zero then you may be wise to buy a couple of things first to increase your feedback rating, as some people like myself are unwilling to but off people with a relatively low feedback profile.
With regards to paypal, from my experiences its an easy and quick way of recieving payment, but it does charge you a fair bit. Perhaps you could charge an extra 5% to cover your paypal fees.

One last tip....i sometimes insert a 'buy it now' option way above the price that i'm expecting to get for the product. This is a psychological tool in helping make the buyer think he is gettin a bargain when the price he is bidding is considerably lower than the price that you want to charge through the 'buy it now' option.

Hope this helps

**hxbro** · 15th March 2005

look at other auctions that are selling the same or similar thing, look for the ones you hope to get high value on and see what they are going for, see what info they've included, copy the information if its suitable (saves you typing it in).

I put buy it now on all my auctions, if someone really wants something they'll want it straight away (I know I hate waiting for auctions to finish) so giving them the buy it now option will mean you might make more money.

postage I aways look at other auctions for the same thing and see what they are charging, I tend to make money on postage and packing as I recycle stuff like jiffy bags, boxes, I just cover up the existing address.

You can't make the person pay your paypal fees, but some people just add a bit into postage then offer a discount on postage if the person pays by cheque. If something is going to go for a lot of money then it's probably worth not using paypal as you'll lose more, take a cheque wait for it to clear then send it, or do a bank transfer.

**BertRoot** · 15th March 2005

Originally Posted by hxbro

look at other auctions that are selling the same or similar thing, look for the ones you hope to get high value on and see what they are going for, see what info they've included, copy the information if its suitable (saves you typing it in).

Be a bit careful with copying info as some sellers get a bit uppity if they see their blurb repeated. In addition to searching for the item do an advanced search for sold items which will give you a good idea of finished item prices.