Selling Stuff on Ebay

[Topaz]

Picking up on a few comments from the thread on the credit crunch, can anyone tell me how easy/difficult it is to sell things on Ebay? I've bought a couple of things in the past but never sold anything. I get the impression that it could be quite time consuming. I assume you have to photograph everything you want to sell and then upload it (I'm challenged already)! Then if anyone buys it there would be the endless trips to the PO to mail it on. Do you make enough money from it to make it worthwhile?

 

[Snoopy]

You may have more luck in the Ebay section Topaz.

 

[Fraggle]

I would move this thread to the eBay section but Topaz won't then be able to see it as they aren't a VIP member.

What I would say is in my experience it can work well but I would:

1) Only sell items that are worth a decent return - say above £10 - for me as an occasional seller it's not worth the hassle of photographing, packaging, trips to the PO etc without a decent return.

2) Fees for eBay and Paypal will eat into any profit you make so consider start prices for your items carefully, they need to be low enough to attract bids but high enough to cover your fees and the effort of selling.

3) Always use recorded delivery - now the new rules are in where sellers can't leave negs, buyers seem to be getting pretty savvy that they can claim 'item not received' via Paypal, Paypal will always find in their favour and return their cash unless a seller can prove the item was received (ie recorded delivery) and the seller can't even -ve feedback in return even if they know they have been duped. Just wrong IMO

4) Unless you have oodles of time, don't sell too much in one go because the admin time spent in organising, packing and posting is more than you would think.

Other people who sell more can probably give you better advice but I stick to these things when I use eBay.

I hope I haven't put you off - eBay can be a great tool and a useful way to make some money

 

[Topaz]

I would move this thread to the eBay section but Topaz won't then be able to see it as they aren't a VIP member.

What I would say is in my experience it can work well but I would:

1) Only sell items that are worth a decent return - say above £10 - for me as an occasional seller it's not worth the hassle of photographing, packaging, trips to the PO etc without a decent return.

2) Fees for eBay and Paypal will eat into any profit you make so consider start prices for your items carefully, they need to be low enough to attract bids but high enough to cover your fees and the effort of selling.

3) Always use recorded delivery - now the new rules are in where sellers can't leave negs, buyers seem to be getting pretty savvy that they can claim 'item not received' via Paypal, Paypal will always find in their favour and return their cash unless a seller can prove the item was received (ie recorded delivery) and the seller can't even -ve feedback in return even if they know they have been duped. Just wrong IMO

4) Unless you have oodles of time, don't sell too much in one go because the admin time spent in organising, packing and posting is more than you would think.

Other people who sell more can probably give you better advice but I stick to these things when I use eBay.

I hope I haven't put you off - eBay can be a great tool and a useful way to make some money

Thanks Fraggle, you have really just confirmed my own thoughts. I don't think I'd ever make any money selling what I might have to offer so I'll just continue to give whatever I want to dispose of to charity shops. Sorry if I placed this message in the wrong place, but your advice is very helpful.

 

[rosey]

I agree with Fraggle - if the item is worth a bit it is worthwhile. You can always use a stock photo from ebay (if there is one) or if someone has the same item for sale we just copy theirs - this saves the photo problem.

When my son bought a new mobile phone and decided after a couple of days that he didn't like it we put it on ebay and we actually got more for it than we paid (??). We also put his phone which had a broken screen on (we therefore couldnt tell if any more damage) and listed it as 'damaged but unable to tell' and we sold this for £20.00. We would have just binned it.

But or small items (under a tenner) it is probably not worth all the trouble.

 

[Snoopy]

I think they get mardy about copying pics on there.Could be wrong but i'm sure i have heard about it.

 

[lawrenson]

Hi,
you don't have to send stuff Recorded all the time.

If you get a Certificate of Posting from the Post Office (which is free), then if the item goes missing in the post you can claim up to about £38 compensation from the PO.
Very handy.

Ebay/Paypal fees are horrendous tho - up to as much as 30% on cheaper items.

On the other hand, if you sell a few cheaper items, it starts to build up your Ebay feedback and seller rankings, in case you ever want to sell something more valuable.

Cheers,
Karen

 

[LipstickCherry]

I agree with Fraggle - if the item is worth a bit it is worthwhile. You can always use a stock photo from ebay (if there is one) or if someone has the same item for sale we just copy theirs - this saves the photo problem.

When my son bought a new mobile phone and decided after a couple of days that he didn't like it we put it on ebay and we actually got more for it than we paid (??). We also put his phone which had a broken screen on (we therefore couldnt tell if any more damage) and listed it as 'damaged but unable to tell' and we sold this for £20.00. We would have just binned it.

But or small items (under a tenner) it is probably not worth all the trouble.

That's actually against ebay rules. I've had it done to me before and it pees me off big time!

 

[Rentochops]

That's actually against ebay rules. I've had it done to me before and it pees me off big time!

I agree LC, it's not that hard to take a photo!

 

[Topaz]

Thanks for all your comments. Made my mind up not to bother!!

 

[Rentochops]

Thanks for all your comments. Made my mind up not to bother!!

I have done it before Topaz and found it a bit stressful, it's ok if you have a lot of time on your hands, but you really do have to be organised. I sell stuff on a Bulletin Board at work or in the local paper - much less hassle.

 

[Meemoo]

Hi Topaz,
It can be quite lucrative if you have good stuff to sell. When I started a couple of years ago, I started in April & by October I had made around £1200 (quite shameful really). I was a beauty TSV addict & I had lots of unused parts of kits from Gatineau, Decleor, Gayle Hayman, Molton Brown, Philosophy, etc.
I used to sell in batches of 10, to keep it manageable & usually, most people would pay when the listing ended, so not too many trips to the PO. It is fine to get a certificate of posting from the PO, as that can be used to claim for missing parcels.
You can buy packaging materials from your local £1 shop, or as I now do, just save any jiffy envelopes that I receive & re-use them.
I would say, that since the PO brought in large letters & packets, the postage went up considerably, & unfortunately, that can reflect in the price you get for your goods.
I was quite addicted to selling for a while, because the money was rolling in, but I wait for listing promotional fees before I sell anything now, as Ebay listing charges have gone up a lot, quite recently.
Hope this helps.
xx

 

[catzrcool]

Morning folks. No you can't copy anyone's pictures, it's a breach of policy compliance and it will affect your seller dashboard if it is reported. And if the person you have copied it from sees it, they will report it. Three of those and you're account gets suspended. I have had mine copied and I didn't like it one bit.

Ebay and paypal insist that the seller is responsible for the buyer receiving their goods, so you have to prove that the buyer has actually received them. With a proof of posting you can only prove you posted it, which is worthless on Paypal, but with recorded delivery you can prove they have received it. I have had people try it on but as long as you can give Paypal the tracking number, then they can see on RM website that the item has been received and you can see the signature of who signed for it.

A lot of buyers will buy specifically from sellers who don't offer recorded delivery, purely to get the item and then get their money back, very unfair on the seller.

I sell a lot on ebay and find it very profitable. Hope this helps.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/community/png-text-and-images.html

 

[Twinklette]

I've also heard that timing your listing end times can help to sell an item or not and/or get a higher price for you. As many people access ebay at lunchtimes and in the evenings, you may find that you can sell items for more as more people will be online at the time your listing ends, and so potentially more people will be bidding if your items end across these periods.

To help manage trips to the PO I've also noticed that some sellers put in their listings that they 'only post on Saturdays' or other timeframes like, 'will post within 5 days of receipt of payment' etc.

 

[Topaz]

Hi Topaz,
It can be quite lucrative if you have good stuff to sell. When I started a couple of years ago, I started in April & by October I had made around £1200 (quite shameful really). I was a beauty TSV addict & I had lots of unused parts of kits from Gatineau, Decleor, Gayle Hayman, Molton Brown, Philosophy, etc.
I used to sell in batches of 10, to keep it manageable & usually, most people would pay when the listing ended, so not too many trips to the PO. It is fine to get a certificate of posting from the PO, as that can be used to claim for missing parcels.
You can buy packaging materials from your local £1 shop, or as I now do, just save any jiffy envelopes that I receive & re-use them.
I would say, that since the PO brought in large letters & packets, the postage went up considerably, & unfortunately, that can reflect in the price you get for your goods.
I was quite addicted to selling for a while, because the money was rolling in, but I wait for listing promotional fees before I sell anything now, as Ebay listing charges have gone up a lot, quite recently.
Hope this helps.
xx

Thanks, it helps a lot in assuring me it's not the way to go for me. Don't think I could handle the pressure and stress for what would probably be a minor income.

 

[Andamooka]

Hi,
you don't have to send stuff Recorded all the time.

If you get a Certificate of Posting from the Post Office (which is free), then if the item goes missing in the post you can claim up to about £38 compensation from the PO.
Very handy.

Ebay/Paypal fees are horrendous tho - up to as much as 30% on cheaper items.

On the other hand, if you sell a few cheaper items, it starts to build up your Ebay feedback and seller rankings, in case you ever want to sell something more valuable.

Cheers,
Karen

A proof of postage isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Paypal don't accept it as proof that you sent it.
And seeing as recorded delivery protects you up to £36, I am very surprised a slip of paper saying you sent it for free protects you for more

 

[Sarah Pocket]

For anybody who isn't a VIP member, if you become one you will be able to access the members' section. As well as the Ebay thread in there which Fraggle mentioned earlier, there is also a separate section called "Buy, Sell, Swap" in which excess items from TSVs (for example) could be sold to other forum members without paying listing fees to Ebay. Most people just name the price inc p&p, a PM is sent to say you want to buy it and then pay by paypal or cheque.

 

[OscarFelixJake]

A proof of postage isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Paypal don't accept it as proof that you sent it.
And seeing as recorded delivery protects you up to £36, I am very surprised a slip of paper saying you sent it for free protects you for more

Beg to differ - Paypal will refund your customer out of your account, but you can then claim your money back from the post office. Very straight forward and you can do it online.
Recorded delivery is supposed to be good but the signature required isn't always obtained and it just highlights to everyone that there is something worth nicking inside.
The only signature required service worth its salt is the special delivery service - you get what you pay for and the insurance is much higher.
Here is a link to the relevant Royal Mail info
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content2?catId=80300743&mediaId=80300750

 

[alan1302]

I have used proof of postage with PayPal so I know that it does work ok.

If you can be bothered you can do very well on eBay and make quite a bit of spare cash. When we buy something new we often sell something on eBay to pay for it.

Alan

PS Don't pinch my pictures! :1:

 

[Lola Rose]

I'm soooooo glad for this thread!

My question is, how do I work out how much fees to pay to Ebay?

For example, for something costing £5 - how much goes to ebay?

Many thanks