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Any Ebay sellers?? or Etsy? or Bonanza?

2K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  Crikket 
#1 ·
Does anyone still sell on Ebay?

Except for a few things last year, I hadn't sold on Ebay for years. When I decided to try again, I realized it had changed so drastically.

I'm having a really hard time getting back to working smoothly on it.

I've never had a store, so what are the benefits or drawbacks of a store versus auctions?

Do you sell full time - as in having listings up all the time - or just list once in a while?

Also, I used to use Turbolister. It was nice as I could create auctions and store them until I decided to list. Is there an alternative to Turbolister for a long term 'storage' of listings?

My daughter sells a lot and seems to do well, and she says part of her secret, she thinks is that she lists something everyday - almost.

This might be too much for me as I liked the concept of a 7 day auction. When the auctions ended - all on one day - you could upload new ones or relist - package and mail the sold items and you kinda have a breather. If you are selling everyday, that means packing everyday - I'd have to get used to that.

Does anyone sell on the other venues? Or maybe on more than one venue.

I guess in other words - could we discuss auctions, etc?

I hope this isn't the wrong place to post this.

Thanks.
 
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#4 ·
My SO is selling some of his accumulated goods on eBay. Mostly Oakland Raiders memorabilia and some of his massive record collection. He generally uses the "buy it now" rather than the auction. They do have a "make an offer" feature, but you need to set those parameters or you get way too many stupid lowball offers. He did remarkably well with his Christmas Ornaments. I guess it depends on what you are selling.

I had an Etsy shop for a while, but as I make soaps and such - which is really a supersaturated market on Etsy - I frankly found it too much trouble to keep my stuff near the top of the heap. Again - I think it depends what you are selling. If it is something rare/unusual/hard to make or find you may have a much better chance in that marketplace.
 
#5 ·
I have never tried the make an offer option. What do you mean by setting parameters? Do you actually state a lowest figure or what?

I used to sell quite a bit or often on Ebay, but having been away, I feel I'm starting all over again.

Does your SO have a store - or auctions?

I'm toying with setting up a store, but I really would like, as I said, to be able to have auctions up for a week, do all my mailing at one time, but I've heard that is no longer the best way.
 
#6 ·
I sell items I've bought for resale, or are cleaning out, on EBay. I don't have a store. I just list them.

I use the Buy it Now and Make Offer functionality. I don't mess with auctions. You can set the Make Offer functionality to auto accept and auto reject certain dollar amounts. I use both - it helps week out the lowballers, and I just set the auto-accept for what I'll take. It makes it all pretty easy to manage. I've actually been surprised how many people use the Buy It Now option, and don't even offer.

I hear horror stories about people claiming to never receive things and forcing chargebacks on sellers. It hasn't happened to me - yet - but I'm sure my day may be coming. I don't sell much that's high value so that may help.

In a sort of related story, I ordered an OEM circuit board for my furnace off eBay back in December. It came in an OEM box, but was clearly a homemade board. The seller had a no returns policy, but eBay was good about making the seller refund the money. There are definitely good and bad eggs for both buyers and sellers.
 
#7 ·
I'm going to have to check out the make offer function - don't know how to do it exactly
Ebay used to be very different, though. I used to take a lot of personal checks, and money orders - not sure I would now.

I try not to sweat the small stuff , but Ebay is different it seems and I'll admit it makes me a little uneasy.

I do think denying sellers the ability to leave negative feedback for buyers was a very bad idea.

Now to check out the make offer function.
 
#8 ·
I'm not a tech/retail/interweb guru but my thoughts-
We sell on ebay and we also have an etsy store. The two biggest differences to us are
#1 Return policy
#2 Costs
From a seller's standpoint, ebay is notoriously pro buyer. It is very difficult in our experience to come out ahead in disputes. There are also a lot of folks who buy on ebay with the sole purpose to defraud the seller.
Etsy tends to be a little more hands off. We have never had a forced returned from Etsy. Of course language and wording are important in your listings.
Ebay just takes too much of a cut imo. They even take a percentage of your shipping, which leads some to overcharge on postage.
We sell items on ebay that are low risk and interest for the scammer. Specialty and larger ticket items go onto Etsy.
Granted ebay has a huge market but Etsy is growing and folks are differentiating the big onliners. Ebay has trended for resellers, amazon is new items and etsy is niche and moreso organic/mom pop.
Etsy supplants having your own online store and you can still publicize easily on social media.
 
#9 ·
Thank you, GTX63, for the information.

Most of what I hope to sell could sell on Etsy, patterns, fabric, some vintage things - so I may give it a try.

I used to sell books on Ebay - I absolutely enjoyed that - but that market seems to have cooled considerably. That happens -
 
#10 ·
Between the flea markets, auctions, garage sales, resale shops, I would say that the market for a lot of items, ie primitives, antiques, fabrics, etc are saturated. The good news is that just means most of the competition is short lived.
Lots of listings, social media and patience and determination will allow you to succeed.
Godspeed.
 
#11 ·
I have never tried the make an offer option. What do you mean by setting parameters? Do you actually state a lowest figure or what?

When you go to the section where you would normally set the start price for an auction, uncheck that and check the 'buy it now' box. Add your price, then you should see a box that asks if you want to allow the make an offer option. If you say yes (I am telling this from memory, so it may just take you there) you can set the lowest price that they can send you for consideration and also a price that they can automatically accept on your behalf. As an example:
You are offering a widget for $50. You set that as the buy it now price. In the 'make an offer' section you can set (say) $37.50 as the lowest offer for them to send to you. Anything at or above that will come as an email offer, and you can either accept it, refuse it or make a counter offer. If you had entered a sum for an automatic acceptance (say $45) then any offer of that or greater will be automatically accepted.


I used to sell quite a bit or often on Ebay, but having been away, I feel I'm starting all over again.

Does your SO have a store - or auctions?

He has neither. During the week he sorts out a few things he wants to sell, makes notes about them and decides on a price. When I get there on the weekend I generally photograph everything and list them. With some of the older albums that are neither rare nor of any personal interest he is thinking he may list them as auction items to test the waters. I think he is still deciding on the more valuable ones as they are all in near mint condition. Auction for a week has the possibility of a higher price. But the regular listing will stay up till sold with little maintenance required.

I'm toying with setting up a store, but I really would like, as I said, to be able to have auctions up for a week, do all my mailing at one time, but I've heard that is no longer the best way.
I can see the advantage of a weekly post office run. We are both retired. Once something is on eBay he parcels it up so all that is needed is the label, and his post office is very close to his home, so it is very convenient for him to drop off there.
 
#13 ·
Thank you

I want to sell things and any money is always good. Mostly, though I want to move things out of the house and I am thinking of getting my husband involved in Ebaying. He really misses work since he retired and it will be something to keep us both interested. We don't live far from the PO, and he has always made the PO run for me.

Thanks again, that explains it.
 
#15 ·
Trixie, were you selling back when eBay still belonged to Pierre? Back when they awarded jackets to the biggest sellers?

If so, remember that "revolt" when they DEMANDED the jacket back from one of the sellers and banned him from eBay? I participated in the "protest auctions" that the sellers held...painted a picture of a 1,000 pound gorilla holding a whip and snapping it while standing on the backs of people down on their hands and knees. I am NOT an artist, but it pseudo-sold....in other words, no money changed hands, but the price DID get up there!

Like you, I've been thinking of selling again, but just to get rid of stuff that's too good to throw into a dumpster. Plus side is, since it is ALL stuff bought for personal use, no taxes owed and NO (well, not much) record keeping! Yay!

Mon
 
#16 ·
I don't remember the 'revolt' you speak about - and I'm not sure if he, Pierre, was still running it. Most of the time, I think the lady, Meg something was head.

I just liked the person to person aspect more, and the ability to leave negative feedback for buyers. I never have, but I certainly think it would help a seller to know. There may have been abuses, but there are on both sides..

The discussion boards were such a treasury of good help and information. It is just mind boggling why they destroyed them. There are some left, but not many.

When I started on Ebay, I thought I knew about books. I certainly didn't know about selling them, that's a whole different world. Some old time sellers and others who were big time sellers practically held my hand and helped me get started. There were people who very patiently showed others how to wrap packages, how to use postage economically, take pictures, etc. They still have some discussion boards, but not like the past. I was never a big time bookseller or a seller of expensive books, or anything else, but I enjoyed it.

But it must still be working, as my daughter does very well, she even got her husband interested in doing a little selling.

I'm going to give it a try and also Etsy. It just a matter of jumping back in - the older I get, the less sure I am of things.
 
#17 ·
I've not sold for a long, long time. Just tried to find out when I quit selling...the credit card I used at that time expired in 2001!!!! So, a while ago, probably around 2000, as I remember that I'd gotten a puppy in 1999 that learned to watch what was happening overhead, as things I'd bought for sale or were packing kept falling down on him!

Apparently I was actively selling in the mid to late 1990's. LOL! Do remember the first thing I sold. It was DH's second edition of the Necronomicon...I was on the phone with him (he was at work) in the closing minutes of the auction and we were both so excited! Sold for a few hundered and the seller sent me an email and asked if we could wait a week until his payday for payment.

That lit the fire. Went on to sell porcelain, then glass, then men's cufflinks and "stuff"...if I liked it, at least one other person would! Even bought a Mavica camera for my photos.

Anyway, the "revolt" was likely the early to mid 1990's.

Mon
 
#18 ·
I was reading on the Etsy site today to try to get an understanding of differences and I read a couple of items about how to be 'relevant' in searches, etc.

I do understand somewhat about titles, etc.

Is it possible, though, to sell with simply using some common sense about titles, etc.?

How important is it to 'promote' your listings or store on social media?
 
#19 ·
I haven't sold on E-Bay for several years, but when I did I had a note on the selling page that I shipped on Tuesdays and Fridays. That way I didn't have to ship every day. I still buy quite a bit on E-Bay and NEVER do the auctions. The "Buy it Now" is so easy for the buyer. And if there is an opportunity to make an offer, I do so, but only 10% less than the asking price. I usually get the lower price but not always.
And I REALLY miss half.com. Buying books or videos on E-Bay is a pain to find what I want. I think E-Bay made a big mistake when they deleted half.com.
 
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#20 ·
Trixie, I thought of one BIG thing this morning.....make SURE you spell the title/name of the item correctly, and if there's room, include alternate spellings in the first paragraph. No idea how many things I've bought for a song because the seller didn't spell the item correctly. I know people who purposely LOOK for those misspellings first.

mon
 
#22 ·
About 11 or 12 years ago, after my mother died and I'd straightened everything out, I sold a lot of her stuff on EBAY. Now, I'm selling a lot of my inlaws stuff on EBAY. It's not nearly as good a market as it used to be, but some categories are pretty active. Scrap gold, ancient Atari's, sewing equipment, ham radio stuff. However, some things that you'd think are of some value apparently aren't. Between EBAY and Paypal, you lose 13% which includes the shipping, more or less. So, if you sell something for $5, and the shipping is $5, then by the time you pay the shipping, and EBAY and Paypal are through with you, you'll lose 13% of the total of $10, so you'd only clear 3.70. Better than nothing.

Stuff that just won't sell can be boxed up, and sold in lots as "10 boxes of flea market and yard sale items" on Craigslist.
 
#23 ·
Thanks everyone, some good advice. I really do appreciate it. I listed some things for my Grandson this week and hopefully will get some other things up.

I'm also going to try Etsy and I may give Bonanza a try. Things don't seem to sell too well, on Bonanza, but maybe it can grow.

Not to whine, but I just wish Ebay would stick with the niche it had, and not try to be Amazon.

Again, I do appreciate everyone, it's what I needed.
 
#24 ·
I'm a bit late to the party here but after not getting on HT for quite a while I thought I'd pop in and check it out.
I loved this site way more than Facebook!
anyway, I homeschool our two teens 15&16 y/o's and i decided to turn ebay into a business class for us. They get research, math, spreadsheets, photography, negotiating, accounting, and patience. We were rolling along really well Nov. Dec. and into Jan. but it's dead now. We carry about 50 listings but I thought I'd try my hand at clothing and that's marginal at best. We do best with educational item, kid stuff, and just unusual things we find or just have laying around.
I've been burned twice on some pricey items and am wondering if etsy wouldn't be the way to go, for some vintage clothing we've got. We sold a pneumatic screw gun then the buyer said it didn't work, they finally returned it but all gouged the heck up. they wouldn't answer about that and from what I understand if they want all the money back ebay will just give it to them anyway so we had to bite it. I try not to think much about it but I relied on the fact the buyer had a 1500 100% feedback. Apparently you can't even leave negative feedback so it's really no indicator of they're reliability. Sorry for rambling, but it is fun to sell things that would normally be taking up space. So the best of luck to you!
 
#25 ·
I don't know what kind of items you're listing, but if you have clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, etc. Poshmark is a great place to sell those items. there is a flat rate for shipping, which buyer pays, and buyers "can" make offers, if you don't want offers on something, just state that price is firm! Shipping is so easy!! Just print the label, and drop package in the mailbox! I love it!
 
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