e-bat selling ?

[dustrunner]

im gonna start cleaning out the shop in a few months when i get back on my feet. and will post some things on e-bay.. does anyone have any tips or suggestions as ive never sold on there before ???

[KASEY]

be prepared to give them 10% right off the top.. and 4% to paypal for the buyers who use it,,,,

[kb0nly]

Number one.. PayPal Only, No Shipping til Payment Clears... Thats the biggest one honestly. The reason being is now you got guys on there paying by e-check, and if it doesnt clear their bank 3-5 days later your screwed.

Also watch for free listing days and other promos and when they do that get a large batch up! Sometimes they will do a free listing weekend, you can save a few bucks on listing fees and toss up a bunch of stuff for sale.

Now when it comes to shipping.. Go USPS and get yourself some flat rate boxes, you can get them from the USPS website and they will ship them to you free of charge, the Medium and Large flat rate boxes are the handiest for me, but Small might also be a good size if you have a lot of small parts to sell. The reason i live by the flat rate is that i can then put that in for the shipping cost and method and no arguments, if im putting it in a flat rate box its up to 70lbs as long as it fits in that box, and its a flat rate to anywhere in the US, so you know what the shipping will be. Also print out your shipping labels from ebay, you get free delivery confirmation which saves a good amount of money over time.

That brings up another hint.. No matter how you ship, TRACKING!!! You MUST have it. Be it a delivery confirmation number, UPS tracking, FedEx tracking, you NEED that. Its a buyers ebay now days, the sellers are easily screwed. You need proof that you shipped it, so when they say "i didnt receive an item" you can say "the tracking shows you did", its a simple but sometimes overlooked item.

Get the eBay app if you have a smartphone, makes it nice to keep track of your auctions, answer questions while on the go, etc. You get notifications of anything you chose, such as sold, paid for, etc. Its a good tool if you sell, and just as important if your just a buyer to keep an eye on what your bidding on away from the computer.

If you have any questions about a particular item in the process let me know, or just post here as i know there is a lot of ebay users on here, i think most of us have seen it all done it all. I have been buying and selling on ebay for nearly 12 years now.

[kb0nly]

If they don't use PayPal its worst, i got screwed on some of the other payment methods... And now money orders are forbidden.

[ebaccm26]

kb0nly made note of a lot of things and if you want to have a good eBay experience you should absolutely listen to everything he said. All of it is good advice and will make selling on eBay that much easier.

Tracking numbers will also help you get your money faster, as a new seller your money will be held by eBay/Paypal for a period of time. This period of time can be reduced greatly by using a tracking number as they will release your funds as soon as delivery is confirmed.

If you want to insure you get good feedback(which you do) be as accurate as you possibly can, even if there is a detail that you feel is obvious make sure to note it as it can come back to bite you. Also make sure to ship with care, if something is damaged in transit it will more than likely be on you.

[tri again]

If they don't use PayPal its worst, i got screwed on some of the other payment methods... And now money orders are forbidden.

I just lost a full page of ebay post issues.
Said I wans't signed in.
oh well.

Yeah, even the bank can't tell me if money orders are real.
The post office will usually cash them on the spot if the m.o. is theirs
but it just adds to details and time.

I'll have to ask if the post office will hold shipments right there to be signed for and picked up since most people are not always home.
LOVE the tracking / 'sign for' options. Cheap at any price.

Seems like whenever I get rid of something, I (you all know what's next)
seem to need it.
But I'm also at the point where it's getting easier and faster to buy stuff I need than it is to find what I (think) I have.

Good luck on the purge, spring cleaning.
With any luck, I'll find motivation too.
What's it gonna take to get you 'back on your feet"?

Thanks

[dustrunner]

What's it gonna take to get you 'back on your feet"? well. i have knee surgery in 2 days for a torn acl and latteral miniscus disk.. i always took walking for granted and never will again....crutches suck.....

[atc007]

Good luck ,,I hope you have a awesome recovery,,you have been down way too long. If there is anything I can do, You have my #. I mean that.

[captainweezy]

Best advice ever is do not sell on ebay. If you have trike parts, try selling right here on the classifieds. Instead of paying ebay, donate a few bucks to the site in the form of coa's for the tri-z. I do this from time to time.

[kb0nly]

tri again... Add signature confirmation instead of just regular delivery confirmation to any USPS shipment, then they will leave slip for the recipient to pick it up, they have to go sign the slip and you can get a copy of the confirmation if any troubles arise.

Good luck on the surgery! Spend some time ebaying while your recovering and make a little extra cash.. LOL

[dustrunner]

thanks 007... the parts im gonna sell are old car parts. any atc stuff will be listed on here, but i hate to sell trike parts cause i always need the stuff after i get rid of it...

[Mr. Clean]

If you do sell on ebay be prepared for the following:

1. People ask dumb questions, no matter how well you describe the part you will get asked dumb questions, and not just one from the same user id.
2. Neutral and negative feedback for the dumbest stuff. Ebay is a buyer-centric website.
3. Non paying bidders. Nothing you can do but re-list.
4. Sending ebay a large sum of paypal money every invoice cycle. When you sell a couple grand and hand over $300-$400 it sucks.
5. Calculating shipping costs is easy to make mistakes especially when you add insurance and tracking. Insurance may be more due to the value of a given part. Most good ebay buyers pay right away and you get to eat some money to insure the part. I have used a couple different methods to sell and none properly calculate insurance.
6. People complaining that your shipping is too much. Everyone in the world can magically ship for less than me it seems. Funny though when I actually ship the part I am usually with a dollar or two either way.
7. People always ask "do you have a buy it now" when the Terms and conditions are clearly marked.
8. Do you have a free or cheap source for boxes, packing material/tape etc? If not you have to add that to the cost to ship, reference #6 above.
9. Shipping outside the US, I will ship anything anywhere so long as the buyer is willing to cover the cost.
10. Running your auctions and parts like a real business. It takes that kind of dedication and devotion to the process.

[Mr. Clean]

Oh, and I forgot:

11. Watching your parts go for less than the exact same part from another seller because you have integrity and do not shill bid.

[bkm]

Oh, and I forgot:

11. Watching your parts go for less than the exact same part from another seller because you have integrity and do not shill bid.Thank you. Its amazing what the stuff really sells for when you sell it honest. Problem is only one out of ten do i this way. BTW Mike, I still have the measurements for the '89 TRX decal if you need them.

[Mr. Clean]

BTW Mike, I still have the measurements for the '89 TRX decal if you need them.

Send them over please!!

Thought of a couple more.

12. As a seller you should leave good feedback if you are paid quickly. The buyer did their part and you can not leave negative feedback anyway. So what if it took them forever to pay due to a variety of really great excuses. You do the right thing and leave good feedback only to find out later the person buying leaves you negative feedback. Nothing to do but suck it up buttercup.
13. Products arrive to the buyer in a timely fashion, everything they wanted and more and they NEVER leave you the precious positive feedback.
14. Wait forever for someone to pay with little or no communication. When they finally pay the very next day they will ask "Where is my item?"
15. Ship a 99 cent item to some jack ass who gets invoiced for your shipping quote. The buyer pays the invoice with the quoted shipping. They then leave negative feedback and state they are trying to protect the other buyers cause they think you should have shipped cheaper. (ref #6). Who decides what method you ship (box, flat rate, etc) apparently the way e-bay is now its the buyers not the sellers.

[88 Turbo Coupe]

Don't accept bids from any person with zero feedback.

[dustrunner]

Wow, im scared.. If something does'nt sell do I still pay a fee ?

[250r kid]

Oh, and I forgot:

11. Watching your parts go for less than the exact same part from another seller because you have integrity and do not shill bid.
can someone please explain how they shill bid .im biding on something right now on EBay ,and every time i bid, i'm out bid with in seconds.??

[Mr. Clean]

can someone please explain how they shill bid .im biding on something right now on EBay ,and every time i bid, i'm out bid with in seconds.??

Shill bidding is having someone you know (spouse or friend) who has no intention of buying the item bid up your item on EBAY.

Just because you keep getting outbid does not necessarily mean you are dealing with shill bidding, it could be someone has placed a higher bid and you have not yet outbid them.

[ironchop]

Your funds dont clear until the buyer confirms delivery? Wow....sounds like ebays policy of polishing the buyers balls got even more intense after I stopped selling which was 08 I think. It was a few months.after they stopped letting sellers give negative feedback and when they started yanking funds back out of Ppal accts if the buyer made even baseless complaints.

Im not good at ebay because people just dont know how to act right and I hate stupidity.

What is yourebay handle, Mr. Clean?