ebay seller: is there a magic number?

MajorDanby

I am about to unload some fairly high priced graded items on ebay. But, my feedback is below 100 (although it is a 100% positive). I have sold a few items in the past, but mostly ungraded vintage and lower value modern items.

As an ebay buyer, is there a certain number of positive feedbacks that increase your confidence in the seller? Should i wait to get over 100 given that perhaps a 3 digit 100% positive feedback number somehow creates confidence in the buyer to bid?

thanks

easttexascardsandgames

I really don't think there is a magic number, I sold just as much when I first started as I do now. On feedback prectnetage anyhting over 98 is good for me. If you sell long enough you are going to get negs.

skigropple

If you are talking over $500 an item I would not bid until you have 200+ positive or have already sold some high price items and received feedback on the items from Ebayers that have good feedback. Also. Most people believe The only problem with selling when you have not built up a large amount of feedback is that your prices realized will not be as high as someone selling the same item but with much more pos feedback. If you are a recently signed up member (within 6 months) your prices realized will be lower.

Jim

EagleEyeKid

As a buyer, the feedback number of the seller is somewhat important to me.
If a seller has 20 feedback and I check to read it and see that all his feedback
stems from buying only; that doesn't do me any good. Obviously, it means that
it's his first time selling and I usually just walk away. It's like buying a first year
car off the production line. They usually have problems, so I'll wait for the consensus
of the consumers. I also don't bother buying from 0 feedback.

You should be okay. You don't need 100 to start. Any educated buyer would
definitely view your feedback if you're selling a high $ item that they may
be interested in before placing a bid. Your recent transactions for selling should
be enough..

jrdolan

People will bid on high-value items, just not as high. On cheaper stuff, like modern cards, it doesn't matter as much because everybody is trafficking in that stuff on eBay.

One of the biggest mistakes I made upon rejoining the hobby a year ago was selling a '51B Mantle PSA 8 (oc) before I had enough feedback built up. I only had 100-something at the time, albeit perfect. I'm convinced that if I'd had 500, even with a neg or two, I would have made another grand on that deal.

I'd hold back on the big-ticket items until you have some more good selling FB under your belt.

ydsotter

If you decide to go ahead and sell it anyways, create a nice , clean, professional description. Make sure you are verified through eBay and maybe paypal...

Maybe create an "about me" page where you talk about yourself a little... and direct bidders to read it.
Find a top notch eBay auction... like one from sandygowill, iccancards, lloydsbaseballcards etc...
and see how they do it.

That would increase my confidence.

Your user id... it probably shouldn't be anything like $hotcardsusa$ or "lastminutebiddersuck" or "biteme"
if you are indeed a "major" that could help/// majordanby sounds good and trustworthy...

MajorDanby

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I am selling more raw vintage cards on ebay. So, hopefully that will increase my positive feedbacks as i prepare to sell the higher priced graded items.

I am also torn between being an honest seller and one that is not necessarily shady or deceptive, but not as descriptive. In all my raw vintage i items, i state the card's condition. I state the condition of the card's edges, corners, centering and surface. I do not leave anything out.

When i started on ebay a few months ago, i bought a wille mccovey rookie stated as "Near Mint" for about 55 dollars.

It wasnt near mint. It was probably Ex-Mt or Ex.

I sold the card recently stating the condition of the card as precisely as i could.

Sold it for $25.

I was thinking that the low selling price is due to my low feedback. But, i bet if i simply stated that it was Near Mint and gave a scan...i would have sold for a lot more.

Oh well, live and learn...

habs71

<< <i>I am also torn between being an honest seller and one that is not necessarily shady or deceptive, but not as descriptive.

<< <i>

Post your auction ID so I can avoid your auctions!!




Skip

MajorDanby

that was stated in jest.

besides, if you block sellers like that you would have to block nearly 95% of raw vintage sellers on ebay.

WinPitcher

Many already do Major

Wabittwax

Honestly, depending on how much total dollars in cards you are going to list, I would suggest contacting one of the big time Ebayers like DSL or somebody else to sell them for you. Maybe give them like 3% over total fees or something like that. I am vary vary wary of bidding on bigger items from people with low feedbacks, like even lower than 500. I've heard too many horror stories of people driving up their feedback and then listing a ton of high dollar stuff going for the "kill". If you list a lot of high dollar stuff at once with a 100 feedback, your auctions will take a hit. I think they will take a bigger hit than a small percentage that you could pay a big Ebayer to do it for you. Plus, most of the big Ebay guys have a following of people that check their auctions regularly. People don't mind paying top dollar if they are 100% certain of the legitimacy of the auction, but if there is any question of that, some of the top bidders won't take the chance. On ebay, your only as good as the number after your name.

cspeier1

The only thing I can add is this. I have over 550 positive feedbacks since March '00. I have three negs, all over two years old. I've had REALLY nice low pop cards that wouldn't bring crap. I consigned them to a major, good guy, who sells mostly on Ebay. They all brought more than I expected even after his fees. IMO, it's who you are that buyers pay top dollar. Im not saying you can't sell, just not for as much even with 10,000 feedback.

JonB

See if Legacy will sell them for you... they seem to get way above top dollar for just about everything they sell

MajorDanby

thanks for the replies. I think i will consider selling my higher priced graded cards through a big time ebay seller. legacy, prewarcard, scgaynor, dbvintage...i'll target those guys and see what they ask for. thanks

spacktrack

Majordanby:

If you are confident with what you think they will go for, you could always offer them on these boards first.

You might want to turn on your PM function though.

spacktrack

Brunell

Great Post Major. I am in a similar situation with over 250 vintage hockey cards from 1951-52 that were just passed down from my father to sell. I'm new to the industry and recently joined PSA. I just sent in my 6 cards for "complimentary" grading so we'll see what kind of grade they get. Here I was thinking that I would get top $$ now that I have 4 positive feedbacks on e-bay Now that I've read these posts, I'll certainly look into selling them privately or perhaps getting one of the big time ebayers to sell for me. Of course, I'll offer them here first to see if anyone's interested.

Once again, thanks for the post Major and all the inciteful replies.

Brunell