Questions for expert ebayers

aliadam · **Questions for expert ebayers**

I've bought tons of stuff off ebay but never listed anything. I have a doll that has sold twice recently on ebay for $200+ and $300+. I heard they're having a discount listing day tomorrow, so I'm thinking about trying to list the doll, but don't really know what I'm doing. I tried reading the site, but it seems so overwhelming. So my questions are:

I'd like to set a reserve. I don't want the doll to end up selling cheap, when the last two have sold for so much. BUt if I set a reserve do I pay more? I read something about if the item sells you get your reserve back? But I wasn't sure if that was referring to the same thing. Do you think it's worth the extra fee just to guarantee I get at least $200 or so on the doll or do you think I should save the fee and just hope for the best? If it sells do I still have to pay the extra reserve fee if I decide to go that route?

How do I figure shipping? I don't have a scale so don't really know how much it weighs, but I assume it's not much. Should I just arbitrarily pick an amt?? Or should I try to weigh it and actually figure it out?

Do you all take paypal? And if so, do you get the actual cash, or is it just a credit you can use to then buy other things off ebay??

Thanks so much. I'd really like to list this tomorrow, but just feel so confused by it all.

dillonsmama · 03-13-2007, 11:31 PM

aliadam, it's not nearly as hard as it looks! I put off listing items for over a year because I thought it was hard too, but it's not.

You can set a reserve or just set your starting price high. Your listing fee will be very nearly the same either way. (Just my personal opinion, but I hate reserve auctions because you never know how much the reserve is at.) The getting your money back thing is for a re-listing if your item does not sell the first time around. Even with extras your listing should not cost more than $10.00 or so either way.

You should know exactly how much your doll weighs in the box with the packing materials, then you can use the shipping calculator provided by ebay and it's much easier. If you need to guess, weigh yourself with and without the item and add a pound or two to the difference just to make sure.

I take Paypal. I usually only buy items with Paypal also. It is just like a bank account, you can deposit money and withdraw money. If there is no money in the account, it will take it from your bank account for your convenience. Withdrawing your money is free and it will be deposited into your bank account.

Good luck, and you can PM me if you need any play by play help!

aliadam · 03-13-2007, 11:39 PM

Thanks so much for your answer. I hate auctions with reserves too. But I'm just afraid with my luck, this doll that's been selling for over $200 will end up only selling for $19.99 if I list it without the reserve. Would be my luck. I've tried playing with the site some tonight, but think I'll wait until tomorrow to actually list since it's cheaper then...although probably not by much. I'm just so nervous about actually doing it. I keep thinking of all the things that could go wrong. But if it goes well, who knows....maybe I'll start cleaning out all my closets!!

Missystuy · 03-14-2007, 07:02 AM

Dh is driving me NUTS right now because he wants ME to set him up on Ebay. I keep telling him, its not hard, I did all this work myself, you can do it. But he keeps aksing for ME to set him up. UHG!

Doozer · 03-14-2007, 07:09 AM

Aliadam, I used to be a huge ebay user and now I only go there to shop when I need something. Selling things on Ebay has never really been successful for me. YOu have listing fees, then selling fees, and then if you use PayPal you have paypal fees and everybody wants something for nothing and hten you fear if they are the least bit happy with the transaction they will leave you negative feedback. Based on that, the profit margin is way way lower than it used to be. Nevermind the fact you have to make arrangements to ship it in a timely fashion!!

May I instead suggest craigslist? It's free. You can post as many ads as you want, include pictures too. AND the best part: you get 100% of the asking price. You can negotiate the price too and you don't have to meet at your home to do the transaction. If you are worried about your safety and privacy. You can meet up at a walmart/jcpenney/mall etc.

Since moving to OKC, I have made over $600 on craigslist!!!!! I was thinking about selling it on Ebay but tried Craigslist for the first time and obviously was way more successful.

Look into it and if you have any other questions, PM me!

Spoodler · 03-14-2007, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aliadam

I've bought tons of stuff off ebay but never listed anything. I have a doll that has sold twice recently on ebay for $200+ and $300+. I heard they're having a discount listing day tomorrow, so I'm thinking about trying to list the doll, but don't really know what I'm doing. I tried reading the site, but it seems so overwhelming. So my questions are:

I'd like to set a reserve. I don't want the doll to end up selling cheap, when the last two have sold for so much. BUt if I set a reserve do I pay more? I read something about if the item sells you get your reserve back? But I wasn't sure if that was referring to the same thing. Do you think it's worth the extra fee just to guarantee I get at least $200 or so on the doll or do you think I should save the fee and just hope for the best? If it sells do I still have to pay the extra reserve fee if I decide to go that route? Setting a reserve is a few dollars, but you do get the money back if the item sells. If I were you, I would take advantage of the 20 cent listings and just start your bid high. Maybe $100. The listing fees are on a sliding scale based on your starting price, but with the 20 cent listings, you pay 20 cents no matter what amount you start it at. Much cheaper than a reserve.
How do I figure shipping? I don't have a scale so don't really know how much it weighs, but I assume it's not much. Should I just arbitrarily pick an amt?? Or should I try to weigh it and actually figure it out? I would pack it up and take it to the post office to have it weighed if you want an exact shipping cost. Or, you could just estimate the weight and plug that into the shipping calculator when you list.
Do you all take paypal? And if so, do you get the actual cash, or is it just a credit you can use to then buy other things off ebay?? You get cash in your account that you can transfer to your existing bank account for free or they will mail you a check for a $1.50 fee.

Thanks so much. I'd really like to list this tomorrow, but just feel so confused by it all.

Good luck!

Em&Ash'smommy · 04-09-2007, 07:48 AM

My husband has had very good luck on craigslist. He used to buy and sell on ebay all the time, but since he found craigslist he won't go back to ebay. So many fees on ebay, it really eats away at your profit. Also, you can find some really good deals on craigslist if you are looking to buy. We have gotten some terrific deals on there. We never meet at our home, for safety reasons.