Need info on maybe selling on ebay

watcher · #1 06/17/13, 08:03 PM

First some info. . .I have just a few things which I want to sell and I was thinking I could get buyers from ebay where I can't locally. I don't have tons of stuff nor do I have a steady supply of stuff. I have some Harley stuff (a helmet and lady's boots), a leather jacket (maybe 2), some OLD cameras (one looks like an original Polaroid with some extras) and some WWII military items.

Now the questions. Foremost is, is it worth the effort to set up an ebay and paypal account to sell just a few things?

After that how difficult and/or expensive is it?

It you think it would pay off I might need my hand held

bluemoonluck · #2 06/18/13, 10:38 AM

First off, go to ebay and use the search function to look up items like the ones you want to sell (no account required!). That will give you an idea as to how much you could potentially get for your stuff, and if it's worth your time.

Keep in mind that ebay and paypal both take a cut, so plan on at least 15% of your money going there.

JLMissouri · #3 06/24/13, 12:41 PM

I don't think either account costs any money to open. Once you have an account you can always sell stuff you don't need. I started by selling items I had around that I no longer needed and now I make about 1/4 of my income off Ebay and have an Ebay store.

If I were you I would give it a try. If you have an Ebay account you can do a completed listing search to see exactly what items you are considering selling went for on Ebay. You might also try craigslist, another great way to sell items.

If I were you I would get some feedback before selling anything on Ebay. People will be leery of buying from someone with no feedback and your items will not bring as much in an auction. Buy some low cost items from to get some feedback and start by selling your least valuable items first so that you have more feedback when you get to the more valuable items.

Of course I sold stuff with no feedback when I opened my Ebay account over ten years ago. Items usually sell for more on Ebay than locally, plus they sell faster, at least in my area. As bluemoonluck stated Ebay and Paypal take a cut of your sell of around 15% or more, but I sell stuff on Ebay all the time that would never sell locally. It is a nice market because there are so many people looking for items that are hard to find locally, or they don't want to drive all over looking for that item.

Most people have tons of items that can sell on Ebay. When my wife broke our LCD TV I sold some parts from it and recouped over $70 of the initial price of $300 from something I couldn't use anyway. When our baby swing died I sold the good parts for over $60 and we only paid $30 for it. I could provide hundreds of similar examples.

simi-steading · #4 06/24/13, 12:46 PM

Ebay has gotten so bad.. .I wouldn't even consider it... It no longer protects the seller, and it's so easy to a buyer to rip you off.. Not to mention how much of a cut they take any more...

I'd use Craigslist and sell local... You're not selling some hard to find item with a small following, so it's not like you have that small of a limited audience.

wottahuzzee · #5 06/24/13, 01:44 PM

ETsy allows one to sell vintage items (20+ years is their definition). You might look into that. It sure cannot be any more trouble and aggravation than ebay has become for the casual seller.

You set your price and it stays on until someone buys it or the listing expires (four months I believe). Listing fee is 20 cents and there is a percentage of the selling price, 3.5%, and if it goes through PayPal I believe there are more fees. Again, most likely cannot get any worse than ebay.

One big drawback I see is that the items might not sell right away and just sit there, but the same thing can happen on ebay and you would have to relist.

simi-steading · #6 06/24/13, 01:49 PM

My wife sells a lot on Etsy.. if it's old, I'd put it there.. She's never really had any problems with buyers, and I've never had any issues with sellers..

It's much cheaper than ebay, and the people seem to be a lot better crowd..

wottahuzzee · #7 06/24/13, 03:15 PM

Hey, Watcher, I just did some quick searches on Etsy. There are categories for all the items you mentioned. In fact, there are a pair of ladies HD boots for $375. http://www.etsy.com/listing/15049717...h_type=vintage

MichaelZ · #8 06/24/13, 07:33 PM

I can tell you one thing: I sure would hate to sell on ebay. There are some buyers that will give you a lot of grief. If you have only a few things, Craigslist (free) might be a better option - just demand cash payment. Some friends of mine use Etsy as well and like it a lot.

simi-steading · #9 06/24/13, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wottahuzzee

Hey, Watcher, I just did some quick searches on Etsy. There are categories for all the items you mentioned. In fact, there are a pair of ladies HD boots for $375. http://www.etsy.com/listing/15049717...h_type=vintage

Those really should be reported... They aren't 20 years old, and to be on Etsy they are supposed to be.

CathyGo · #10 06/25/13, 03:17 AM

I have an ebay and paypal account and have sold maybe 7 items. I sold a few collectors items and some event tickets that there just wasn't a local market for. The ebay/paypal cut wasn't too bad considering that I'd been listing them on my local very active Craigslist with no takers.

Something to be aware of is that PayPal can keep your money from stuff sold on Ebay for up to 21 days. I had both items delivered and good feedback left but PayPal still held my money.

simi-steading · #11 06/25/13, 05:14 AM

That's another good point about Etsy... They allow several ways to pay, where as Ebay only allows paypal (since it is their baby what would you expect)

**clovis** · #12 06/25/13, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by watcher

First some info. . .I have just a few things which I want to sell and I was thinking I could get buyers from ebay where I can't locally. I don't have tons of stuff nor do I have a steady supply of stuff. I have some Harley stuff (a helmet and lady's boots), a leather jacket (maybe 2), some OLD cameras (one looks like an original Polaroid with some extras) and some WWII military items.

Now the questions. Foremost is, is it worth the effort to set up an ebay and paypal account to sell just a few things?

After that how difficult and/or expensive is it?

It you think it would pay off I might need my hand held

I would think that it would be worth it, depending on what you have.

I agree, it might behoove you to work up some feedback first.

Can you get ripped off by a buyer on ebay? Sure. Does it happen much? Not really. Most of the buyers are honest. Just realize that there is some risk any time you sell something, whether it is ebay, etsy, CL, or at a yard sale.

Take great pictures, describe the item well, use the ebay shipping labels with tracking, and since you don't have a FB rating, don't start any auctions at 99 cents with no reserve (it is just too risky, IMO).

wottahuzzee · #13 06/25/13, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simi-steading

Those really should be reported... They aren't 20 years old, and to be on Etsy they are supposed to be.

Be my guest.

JLMissouri · #14 06/28/13, 10:02 AM

The advantage of Ebay is the traffic. Ebay has more buyers and gets more traffic that any other similar site. There are some annoyances when using Ebay but your item will sell faster there. I have sold on other sites and Ebay is the best. If there was a better site I would gladly go there as Ebay has really done some stupid things.

Jeffery · #15 07/01/13, 12:44 AM

Just be aware of the high selling fees on ebay.... there are listing fees based on the asking price, final value fees for both the selling price and the shipping price, Paypal fees of about 3% of the selling price and the shipping price, and many many optional listing upgrades of various cost. All together, on average, ebay gets about 20% of the selling price. Which in many cases, is 100% of your profit.

GoldenCityMuse · #16 07/03/13, 05:21 PM

It's easy to lose money as a seller on ebay, [and as a seller on Amazon for that matter].

Know the fee's in detail. make sure you set your S&H high enough to cover not just postage, but also your materials, and your driving to the PO. And the ebay and paypal fees that are charged on the postage the buyer pays.

Use online delivery confirmation ALL THE TIME. Buy your postage online thru ebay, not at the PO.

I have been selling about 20-30 items a month, so am happy with it.

And as mentioned, don't start bids at 99¢, instead start at 1/3 to 1/2 what yiu want to get out of the item.