eBay question

Locked
WishBear2001

eBay question

Post by WishBear2001 »

I want to create an eBay account and sell stuff, but I want to know how everything works.
Shipping: international or US only
What to sell (I have multiple CB/SSC books from collecting them many years)
What user names are like (I want Fetch!09, BlossomVonYumYum, RuffRuffman or NoseMarie)
How to sell
how Stores work
monthly/weekly payments
how to buy

User avatar
Chibi Rachy
Posts: 2533
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:51 am
Location: West Virginia
Contact:

Re: eBay question

Post by Chibi Rachy »

Erm... a lot of that is up to the seller.

Shipping: All depends on if you wanna deal with the hassle of shipping outside the States. As a seller, my family only stays within the US. We just don't want to figure out shipping charges for various countries.

What to sell: Anything you want really. I mean, people have sold fresh air in a jar before... research the section you'll be selling in and see what products are being offered, especially if some of the products are what you have to sell. You can get an idea of what the going price is. Also, ask around/research prices on other sites as well. Sometimes people sell things way higher than what they are worth.

Usernames: They're just as varied as anywhere else. Pretty much as long as it fits the site requirements, you're good to go.

How to sell: There are guides for this on ebay that go into much more detail. Before selling anything, make sure you have a good description, at least one photo, the price you want to sell it for, the shipping cost you'll charge. Also, make sure that if you don't to deal with returns, you make sure to place somewhere "sold as is". You also need to know if you want to set it up for regular bidding or if you want to let them "buy it now". Buy it now costs a little more. Which reminds me, you are charged a fee for listing your item.

Stores: My family doesn't use one of these so I'm not up to date with them. Again, there's probably a few guides on ebay for this.

Monthly/weekly payments: I don't deal with this. I think unless you use bill me later, you're always gonna pay up front for the item whether it's being charged through credit card or taken directly from a bank account.

How to buy: Set up an account and then find the things you want to bid on. Bid on the item with the max amount you want to pay and wait to see what happens. If it's a buy it now auction, you can get it on the spot. A good idea is to watch the item until it's almost ready to end and then bid. Everyone in my family always waits until the last minute to bid. You'll need a parent for most of what you want to do.
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire

WishBear2001

Re: eBay question

Post by WishBear2001 »

You'll need a parent for most of what you want to do.
I will share an account with my dad who wants to buy and sell cars and car parts.

User avatar
Chibi Rachy
Posts: 2533
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:51 am
Location: West Virginia
Contact:

Re: eBay question

Post by Chibi Rachy »

WishBear2001 wrote:
You'll need a parent for most of what you want to do.
I will share an account with my dad who wants to buy and sell cars and car parts.
Well then you should be set. Ebay has plenty of starter guides if you've got trouble doing anything and your dad should be able to help if he's gonna be selling as well
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire

WishBear2001

Re: eBay question

Post by WishBear2001 »

Chibi Rachy wrote:
WishBear2001 wrote:
You'll need a parent for most of what you want to do.
I will share an account with my dad who wants to buy and sell cars and car parts.
Well then you should be set. Ebay has plenty of starter guides if you've got trouble doing anything and your dad should be able to help if he's gonna be selling as well
My dad is bad with computers...

User avatar
Chibi Rachy
Posts: 2533
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:51 am
Location: West Virginia
Contact:

Re: eBay question

Post by Chibi Rachy »

WishBear2001 wrote:My dad is bad with computers...
Well then the only way to learn is to read the appropriate guides on ebay and look at other auctions on ebay to get an idea for how to write descriptions and such. It's pretty easy once you get started, but it's just something you have to read up on and put into practice.
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire

WishBear2001

Re: eBay question

Post by WishBear2001 »

My dad's friend who uses eBay all the time for car parts could help us

User avatar
Star Stealer
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:38 am

Re: eBay question

Post by Star Stealer »

Wish,

The best way to learn is to buy stuff and get to know the ropes.

You'll also be required now to only accept PayPal unless you have your own merchant account.
New rule coming up that Insurance will no longer be an "option" for sellers.
Meaning, you have to make it mandatory or pay for it yourself.
Never ship with out Delivery Confirmation and if you dad is going to sell cars off the ID too, he will want to do local pick up.
With local pick up he should require "cash only".
This is the only area you are allowed to state this payment method due to PayPals inability to verify the buyer received the item.
Many will file a claim if they pay through PP and win due to the seller not being able to provide Online Proof the item was delivered so make sure it's Cash Only apon Local Pick up.

You should really go into the Ebay site and hit up the help section for new sellers.
There are a LOT more rules now making it hard to sell on Ebay or even anything but cost effective.
Check your fees.
Fixed priced Buy It Now listings can be posted for just .35 cents for 30 days BUT, you pay much higher final value fees for that.
Too high.

Regular auction listing:
First five are free. But...
Anything over $25.00 end price you'll also pay MUCH higher fees in the finals.
Under that amount, stays pretty much the same so you want to be careful what you list on those first five freebies.
Anything over $500.00 also keeps the finals down so cars from your dad might be a good deal.
Save those freebies for him.
You can avoid this by using a second party lister such as Turbo Lister (downloaded from Ebay) or Activia (they charge now) and other freebie services you can find through Google.

My best advice other then the first thing I stated is to read Ebays Sellers Policies fully.
Again, a lot has changed and not for the better.
Also you'll need to read PayPal's Seller Protection Policy completely too to reduce the risk of being taken.
A lot has changed with PayPal too and they are not done changing.
Ebay will be taking over the Dispute process soon and that's going to be a problem for many.

Upcoming changes as early as Sept to Oct are coming.

Best of luck

Locked