OT - Thinking about selling on eBay for the first time?
ajaan
Posts: 17,454 ✭✭✭✭✭
Having some time on my hands, I thought I will give some thoughts (advice) on selling on eBay. These are all my opinion and you may think differently.
Some thoughts for those who are thinking about selling on eBay.
1. Have a decent image, either a photo or scan.
2. Don’t have an opening bid of $1, $10, $25, $50, $200, or $500. Lower your starting
price by 1c and save some money in the listing fee.
3. Closing day and time. I would recommend Sunday through Thursday. I found Sunday to be the best for me, followed by Monday. I close most of my auctions between 8-9 PM New York Time.
4. Don’t have a starting price of 99c and a Buy It Now of $200. Once a bid is placed your BIN is taken off. There are some bidders who will bid the 99c just to see your BIN go away with no intent of winning the item. If you have a BIN, have a relatively high starting bid.
5. RESERVES. I’ve used them from time to time. Mainly when it is a more expensive item that may not reach a broad sector of the collecting public. Remember, if you have a reserve and the item doesn’t sell, you pay the reserve fee. If it sells, you do not.
6. Take all forms of PayPal. Even credit card payments. I figure 95% of all my eBay sales were paid through PayPal. I am convinced PP acceptance increases the number of potential bidders. This is especially important if you are selling items that interest foreign collectors. Remember, the PayPal fee is about 4% of the amount sent. This includes the shipping costs.
7. Have reasonable shipping charges. Give options with shipping. I will not require a buyer to pay for Priority Mail on any of my auctions. I see no reason to have to pay $3.85 shipping for a $5. item. First class shipping is a lot cheaper for light weight items and usually is as fast as Priority Mail. Use Delivery Confirmation if the item isn’t sent insured. This is for your protection and only cost 55c? more.
8. Shipping overseas. This is tricky when sending an item overseas that was paid for by PayPal, which most will be. If the buyer says he never received the item, he can ask PayPal for a refund if the item wasn’t sent Registered Mail and PayPal (eBay) will side with the buyer. Registered Mail usually costs $8.00 or so more. You may want to recommend buyer have the item sent Global Priority for $5.25 if it is available to the country. I usually send regular a Air Mail because most eBay buyers are honest people who aren’t going to say an item didn’t arrive when it didn’t. For more expensive items I require the buyer to pay for Registered Mail but Registered Mail can only be insured for $45. Fully insured items must be sent Parcel Post which is more expensive. Remember, items sent overseas must have a custom form filled out.
Some thoughts for those who are thinking about selling on eBay.
1. Have a decent image, either a photo or scan.
2. Don’t have an opening bid of $1, $10, $25, $50, $200, or $500. Lower your starting
price by 1c and save some money in the listing fee.
3. Closing day and time. I would recommend Sunday through Thursday. I found Sunday to be the best for me, followed by Monday. I close most of my auctions between 8-9 PM New York Time.
4. Don’t have a starting price of 99c and a Buy It Now of $200. Once a bid is placed your BIN is taken off. There are some bidders who will bid the 99c just to see your BIN go away with no intent of winning the item. If you have a BIN, have a relatively high starting bid.
5. RESERVES. I’ve used them from time to time. Mainly when it is a more expensive item that may not reach a broad sector of the collecting public. Remember, if you have a reserve and the item doesn’t sell, you pay the reserve fee. If it sells, you do not.
6. Take all forms of PayPal. Even credit card payments. I figure 95% of all my eBay sales were paid through PayPal. I am convinced PP acceptance increases the number of potential bidders. This is especially important if you are selling items that interest foreign collectors. Remember, the PayPal fee is about 4% of the amount sent. This includes the shipping costs.
7. Have reasonable shipping charges. Give options with shipping. I will not require a buyer to pay for Priority Mail on any of my auctions. I see no reason to have to pay $3.85 shipping for a $5. item. First class shipping is a lot cheaper for light weight items and usually is as fast as Priority Mail. Use Delivery Confirmation if the item isn’t sent insured. This is for your protection and only cost 55c? more.
8. Shipping overseas. This is tricky when sending an item overseas that was paid for by PayPal, which most will be. If the buyer says he never received the item, he can ask PayPal for a refund if the item wasn’t sent Registered Mail and PayPal (eBay) will side with the buyer. Registered Mail usually costs $8.00 or so more. You may want to recommend buyer have the item sent Global Priority for $5.25 if it is available to the country. I usually send regular a Air Mail because most eBay buyers are honest people who aren’t going to say an item didn’t arrive when it didn’t. For more expensive items I require the buyer to pay for Registered Mail but Registered Mail can only be insured for $45. Fully insured items must be sent Parcel Post which is more expensive. Remember, items sent overseas must have a custom form filled out.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
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Comments
09/07/2006
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
<< <i>6. Take all forms of PayPal. Even credit card payments. I figure 95% of all my eBay sales were paid through PayPal. I am convinced PP acceptance increases the number of potential bidders. This is especially important if you are selling items that interest foreign collectors. Remember, the PayPal fee is about 4% of the amount sent. This includes the shipping costs. >>
Technically this is not a choice. If you use PayPal logos in your auctions or say you accept PayPal, you MUST accept all forms of PayPal payments. If you don't feel it's fair for PayPal to charge for their services, then don't use PayPal. For U.S. sellers, PayPal's fee is 30 cents + 2.9%.
<< <i>7. Have reasonable shipping charges. Give options with shipping. I will not require a buyer to pay for Priority Mail on any of my auctions. I see no reason to have to pay $3.85 shipping for a $5. item. First class shipping is a lot cheaper for light weight items and usually is as fast as Priority Mail. Use Delivery Confirmation if the item isn’t sent insured. This is for your protection and only cost 55c? more.
8. Shipping overseas. This is tricky when sending an item overseas that was paid for by PayPal, which most will be. If the buyer says he never received the item, he can ask PayPal for a refund if the item wasn’t sent Registered Mail and PayPal (eBay) will side with the buyer. Registered Mail usually costs $8.00 or so more. You may want to recommend buyer have the item sent Global Priority for $5.25 if it is available to the country. I usually send regular a Air Mail because most eBay buyers are honest people who aren’t going to say an item didn’t arrive when it didn’t. For more expensive items I require the buyer to pay for Registered Mail but Registered Mail can only be insured for $45. Fully insured items must be sent Parcel Post which is more expensive. Remember, items sent overseas must have a custom form filled out. >>
I'll differ with His Morelness on these last two. Two many shipping options = too much potential for misunderstanding and/or dickering. I use two rates: one for U.S. addresses and one for non-U.S. addresses. No grey areas. No options. No misunderstandings. I include insurance coverage in both rates, and even if the purchase is only for $5, I purchase insurance coverage anyway (to do otherwise would be fraud). Yes, my shipping rates seem a little high by comparison, but this has worked out well thus far and everyone is covered.
Do NOT rely on PayPal's seller protection policy. This is especially true for international shipments. You won't be covered on 75% of the places you ship to anyway. Also, USPS insurance is not available to most countries unless you ship via Air Parcel Post (as opposed to Air Letter Post). Unfortunately Air Parcel Post rates are optimized for heavier packages, so they are incredibly expensive for most coin parcels. This is one of the reasons I use a 3rd-party insurer instead of USPS insurance; I can get coverage to far more countries and can ship via Air Letter Post.
You may get people trying to compare Registered Mail from the USPS with Registered Mail from other countries. It's true that Registered Mail is FAR cheaper in other countries. However, the level of security is closer to that of U.S. Certified Mail, not Registered.
One lesson that people learn the hard way: PayPal does NOT consider Registered Mail to be proof of delivery. This means that Registered Mail does not satisfy PayPal's seller protection policy requirements (Sorry Don, it's true -- shipping via Registered Mail only gets you the $42 indemnity for yourself. You will automatically lose any international PayPal Chargeback initiated for nonreceipt). There is no cost-effective international USPS shipping method that satisfies PayPal's protection policy requirements. I believe that Global Express Mail may have a tracking option, but since it's so unGodly expensive, no one I know uses it.
1/2 Cents
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1/2 Cents
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DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
.1. Have a decent image, either a photo or scan. In fact, have several and work on overall presentation. I've sold items identical to others non-selling items at a higher price and I believe it was in the presentation and information listed. Pay attention to your title keywords as well- I've gone back and changed keywords halfway through a non-responsive auction and seen an uptick in hits.
Course it's easier for coins (with their strict nomenclature) than books...
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
<< <i> Use Delivery Confirmation if the item isn’t sent insured. This is for your protection and only cost 55c? more. >>
I agree with everything Don said .
The only thing I have to add is that you can download a free program from the USPS called Shipping Assistant 2.2 which will allow you to print shipping labels WITH Delivery Confirmation. The cost for items sent First Class mail is 13 Cents, for Priority Mail Deliver Confirmation is FREE. This is especially important since PayPal requires that in order for you to be protected, you are REQUIRED to mail your packages with some type of electronic tracking.
P.S. The above only applies to items shipped within the US
My Website
"Everything I have is for sale except for my wife and my dog....and I'm not sure about one of them."
It's a great program danglen. The savings in time is enormous. Walk into the PO, drop off, walk out. Paying for postage with Paypal is very convenient as well.
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
<< <i>The only thing I have to add is that you can download a free program from the USPS called Shipping Assistant 2.2 which will allow you to print shipping labels WITH Delivery Confirmation. The cost for items sent First Class mail is 13 Cents, for Priority Mail Deliver Confirmation is FREE. This is especially important since PayPal requires that in order for you to be protected, you are REQUIRED to mail your packages with some type of electronic tracking.
P.S. The above only applies to items shipped within the US
Just an FYI, but you can do all of that within PayPal itself. DC is 14 cents on 1st class or Media Mail and free with Priority Mail. The things I like about using PayPal's shipping is that (1) it takes the postage costs right from your PayPal account, and (2) prefills all the label information from the PayPal transaction. Then both the buyer's and seller's original transaction are updated with the tracking number and a "Track Shipment" button, and the buyer receives an email with the tracking number.
The only downside is that it only has Air Parcel Post, Global Priority Mail, and Global Express Mail as international shipping options, no Air Letter Post. So I still do my internationals by hand.
The automation really is a timesaver!
1/2 Cents
U.S. Revenue Stamps
<< <i> Just an FYI, but you can do all of that within PayPal itself. DC is 14 cents on 1st class or Media Mail and free with Priority Mail. The things I like about using PayPal's shipping is that (1) it takes the postage costs right from your PayPal account, and (2) prefills all the label information from the PayPal transaction. Then both the buyer's and seller's original transaction are updated with the tracking number and a "Track Shipment" button, and the buyer receives an email with the tracking number.
The only downside is that it only has Air Parcel Post, Global Priority Mail, and Global Express Mail as international shipping options, no Air Letter Post. So I still do my internationals by hand.
The automation really is a timesaver! >>
It sounds great, but do you have to enter the weight of each package you send? Not that it would be a big deal and I agree that the time savings are significant.
My Website
"Everything I have is for sale except for my wife and my dog....and I'm not sure about one of them."
<< <i>'shroom for DPOTD! >>
I'll second that. Absolutely essential reading for ebay sellers and not necessarilly first timers only.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Reserves and BINs usually don't make a good combination, most people assume that the reserve is at or just below the BIN. I've seen the combination work a few times lately, notably on some of ajaan's SA proof sets, but in general, I believe it's a bad idea. A tip given to me by Lloyd a year or two ago.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
This is without a doubt a DPOTD WINNER... Congrats... I think that is number 2 for you and both are well deserved.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Also, sellers might want to check their emails at least once a day, so the buyers' questions will be answered quick.
Timing is perhaps THE most important factor ,other than the coin itself. As an international buyer and occasional seller, I've often experimented with different hours in order to include as many different time zones as I can. If the listing ends at 10pm local time,GMT+2, this means noon for the West Coast and 3pm for NY. A good time,considering that both US and European bidders are awake, but still, some countries are out such as Australia or China, so it also depends on the country of origin of the coin itself, if I'm selling a Japanese coin, I'll try to have it ending during decent US and Japanese hours which means early am for Europe, it's really impossible to accomodate everybody.
Which is why I love auto-snipers, for instance I'm never awake to watch my bids when JJ's or Greg's auctions are ending, but there's no better way to start my week, than Dan Castellaneta's loud YES!!! , when I login to auctionsniper on Monday morning to see if I won anything.
As for the days, I too agree with Sunday followed by Monday. The latter, mainly for people who don't have PCs at home, but only at work. The percentage of home PCs is not everywhere as high as in the US and Sunday for many is a football day, or a walk in the park with kids day, although we all know that collectors are nuts and they will make sure to be in front of a PC if they have to.
Have a decent image, either a photo or scan.
Have the best possible photos that you can,I would suggest to forget luster-less scans all together, including when selling a slabbed coin. Good photographs combined with clever timing, can more than double the price of the item, I've experimented enough with this too. In fact, as I'm unable to take good photos myself, I'm willing to pay for them and trust me, it's money well spent. I have increased the number of my submissions to PCGS, just because of their TrueView service, an excellent value at $5. I have all my coins TrueViewed, not only the ones intended for immediate resale, because I can enjoy them so much more and the photo will serve as a resale tool someday anyway. If it's not PCGS, then I'll ask members of this forum with excellent skills and gladly pay the price they ask. If I buy a coin that's already been well photographed, I will most certainly ask the seller permission to use his photos at future resale too.
Also, sellers might want to check their emails at least once a day, so the buyers' questions will be answered quick.
Agreed, check your listings at least once a day and answer reasonable questions publicly, by posting them at the listing. I have found it to be very rewarding, and bidders seem to appreciate the honesty.
Just a few things that I wanted to emphasize on an excellent post and a well deserved DPOTD.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Many thx to Ajaan for posting. POTD material for sure.
Chicolini: Mint? No, no, I no like a mint. Uh - what other flavor you got?