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First time selling on E-bay, any suggestions or warnings

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HEMI426

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
A friend of mine is going to sell some parts for me on E-bay, He has 100% positive feedback but he is not a bike guy. Any suggestions on how to list to get the most exposure, should there be a buy it now, with a reserve. He said sometimes they make offers. What should I watch out for. He has PP. He's only charging me 15% plus I don't know what E-bay fees are. I'm trying 5 items to see what happens. Any helpful suggestions on what to do or not to do. Thanks
 
I've used eBay for one-off sales (like a yard sale if it doesn't sell here). I try to sell here first, well to what little extent I sell anything. A few things jump out about eBay to me.

-You want lots of good, clear pictures. Ebay has a pro-buyer bias usually, so you want as much documentation as you can if there is a dispute.
-I tend to prefer a listing that has both an auction component and a "Buy It Now" price. The Buy it Now would be a good "walkaway price" number for you.
-Let the item run for a week or so. Shorter seems to draw not enough looks, but longer doesn't seem to gain you anything. People tend to all bid at the end.
-Make sure the item is properly titled and categorized when you start making the listing (eBay will try to auto-categorize it - verify you get the right category).
-Description should be concise on the item basics. People seem to read a bullet point list listing but pass on wordy/paragraph listing.
-Disclose and photograph the flaws, eBay has a bias in favor of the buyer in a dispute, so any opening or omission will be used against you as the seller.
-Up to you if you do "Make Offer" as part. Sometimes it helps, but often people try to feel out the least you would take or low ball you.
-If you do the offer thing, include an "auto reject offer" number to reject low balls without you having to review all of them.
-Do not include the "auto accept offer" option. People try to feel out the lowest you will take and "auto accept" could minimize your revenue.
-Have your shipping total in line before you list. Try to get the shipping as close as you can so you don't lose money.
-If you have a really juicy, high-end item, consider paying the extra dollar or two for a featured listing. Otherwise, let your description and good pictures do the work.
 
Ummm why not list it here on the cabe?? You'll not pay final value fees, posting fees, shipping fees, buyer will not have to deal with tax, handing fees, finders fees, fees to pay if you remove the listing early....can be a headache...just saying
 
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I agree with all the comments made so far. I used to sell on eBay a lot, as in $20-30,000 annually. However when they started jacking up their fees and even taking a percentage of shipping costs, I quit selling cold turkey. One thing I always did and recommend is to have the auction end in the evening when people are home from work, and preferably on a weekend. If your auction ends at 10 am on Tuesday you eliminate quite a few bidders. Good luck with your sales.
 
check the ebay fee structure, their cut plus your friend’s 15%…it’ll add up.

for many items auctions are pretty much dead, the days are gone when you could start some thing at a low $ and have it get to where you want it.
Most sellers use fixed price these days. I run auctions only because I get 200/mo with my store, subscription , i start them at the my regular sales price.

There is no “free shipping”, someone has to pay for it.
if you include shipping factor it into the price.
 
I have seen sellers list using the “buy it now” feature, and with prices at the higher-end full-price level, and then wait for prospective buyers to click “watch this item” and then send the special (small or medium) discount offer to the watchers, who would have ~48 hours to decide.

I have seen other sellers start at $1.00 in a truer auction form. With a fairly-low starting price though, the options of “make an offer” and “buy it now” might be sabotaged by a buyer bidding only $1.00.

Recommend estimating shipping costs accurately, (who does the estimate and who works directly with shipping company), and discussing with your friend how underestimated shipping costs might be accounted for, because the buyer should not pay extra; (i.e., you pay or friend?).
 
Research the item you are selling, past and present sale prices, using key words in title description to attract search results. "Vintage" & "Year of Item" are good reference. Most inflate the starting sale price to cover eBay fees, taxes, shipping, packaging material, time, etc.
I was listing for a friend and he felt I was costing too much. I showed him what all was involved, such as eBay account, credit card link, direct deposit, PayPal account, paying fees, taxes, camera, photos, time researching prices and best description of item, listing, storage of item, packaging, labeling, shipping, dealing with buyer questions, feedback ... Then I had to deal with his final amount after all that and then my %, quite the hassle.
Good Luck with eBay Sales !
 
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lots of clear pictures. you can put 24 pics in the ad. I bought a tripod for my phone to help them not be blurry. I use photo editing software and crop everything so the item fills the frame. get the focus right, phones seem to choose where to focus without asking, on my phone I can tap the part on the screen to make it focus there. have good lighting, outside in the sun is best. take your pictures on a piece of cardboard or on a blanket or something, nothing but the item should be in the picture.

search completed items to see what they have sold for. I have noticed most of the low selling items are "auction" .. all I do is buy it now. I like to start high and drop it down after a while.

check what other sellers are doing. read their titles and descriptions and adjust accordingly.

make your lead photo something that attracts peoples attention.

09-21 29.18.jpg





11-03 10.81.jpg

11-13 22.37.jpg

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11-20 19.88.jpg
 
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