Some ebay selling advice please

hr100

Hi,

I have had an ebay about for the last ten years :eek: and over that time have bought quite a few things and sold a dvd in the past.

I now have in my possesion quite a few things I want to sell on there, they include a couple of handbags (guess and billy) sunglasses and a warehouse dress. They werent mine (my sister is moving and so has had a clearout) so anything I get really is a bonus.

1. Should I just stick them on at 99p and see what happens or should I start quite a bit higher?
2. How do I figure out what postage would be?

Also is there any other advice you would give a newbie seller

Thanks

iTopz

Hmm, I'm no power seller and have sold bits'n'bobs over my time, things similar to your stuff really.
My tactic is to try to mimic successful sellers in the same field (e.g. handbags), just look at how they do it, Copy and paste their descriptions and edit it slightly to fit your sale. Don't mimic a power seller as you're not one, but copy successful sellers in auction formats.
Aswell as that, I'd look at the going rate for your products, if you're selling a RRP dress of £70 with little market/name/designer status to it, then stick a £5 buffer on it to protect your item, I once failed with a suit worn once, worth £100. There where very little items around like it and it ended up selling for £2, I was annoyed.
However, if your product is popular and in demand then stick a 99p starter on it to let it 'naturally' build up as no one will be put of by the buffer.
P+P wise I've always put them higher than the average. Again, look at similar items P+P and raise them a slight bit. This is to not put buyers of, but also mae sure you make money from P+P. As eBay takes a fee from the sale and not P+P, it's wise to milk the P+P, but don't over do it.

That's just my 2 cents. I'm no eBay master mind and that's a very basic way of doing things which has generally worked for me over the years (bar the suit) and as you say, the money is a 'bonus' . I hope it helps

MsCrow

iTopz wrote: »

My tactic is to try to mimic successful sellers in the same field (e.g. handbags), just look at how they do it, Copy and paste their descriptions and edit it slightly to fit your sale.

P+P wise I've always put them higher than the average. Again, look at similar items P+P and raise them a slight bit. This is to not put buyers of, but also mae sure you make money from P+P. As eBay takes a fee from the sale and not P+P, it's wise to milk the P+P, but don't over do it.

:eek:

First of all, copying the wording from someone's auction is stealing their copyright. You can have your listing removed for this. Do your own research rather than borrow someone elses.

Secondly, higher postage puts you down the search results and 'milking the p+p' is likely to make you very unpopular, garner more complaints as buyers already feel fleeced and end up in giving you a neg. Not good.

soolin

I would be very careful about adding more than a few pence onto postage costs as buyers are asked to leave stars based entirely on their perception of the fairness of what they were charged. A new seller with low stars for any of the categories would struggle to sell anything.

hr100

Thanks for all the advice so far

iTopz

MsCrow, of course I'm not saying 'copy another sellers text'. If you read what I said I said to edit it to your sale. Meaning, change what they've put to suit your sale, in short there's is used as a guideline.
I also said to raise P+P only a little, by this I meant £1 at most.
Don't troll me in future it's pointless.

Cordy

iTopz wrote: »

Don't troll me in future it's pointless.

What's 'trolling'? I've seen it used before, but don't actually know what it means!

cyberbob

iTopz wrote: »

Don't troll me in future it's pointless.

She wasn't trolling she was giving good advice if you wish to take offense at that its up to you. But your original post is not that clear and it does imply that you are copying others text. Even if all you do is change it a little that will count as copyright infingement.

If you have that reaction when people question you inaccuracies you have a bit of a problem there

The OP asked for advice she was pointing out how your advice could cause them problems

cyberbob

iTopz wrote: »

Copy and paste their descriptions and edit it slightly to fit your sale.

Thats still copyright infingement

DoWhatULove-LoveWhatUDo

I would never advocate just stealing somebody else's work. You might not do your edit as subtly as you think and annoy one of those spiteful loonies who exist on eBay even more so than in real life. A vindictive eBayer with a better knowledge of the eBay system and a burning vendetta against you is the last thing an inexperienced seller needs to have to deal with! :eek:

But definitely look at identical and similar items to the ones you have available - both in active and completed listings. If one seems to have done much better than the others see if you can work out why and copy whatever they did that made them so successful.

It can just be down to timing but in my limited experience being careful to find out which will be the most successful category to list your item in, a well worded title, taking great pictures and filling in all of the item specifics can make a huge difference.

As for price, my rule of thumb is if they are selling like hotcakes then risk the 99p but otherwise list for the minimum that won't make you cry if you actually sell it for that amount, and keep your fingers crossed!

On the postage front weigh your item when it's all packaged up and charge exactly what the Royal Mail website says it will cost plus whatever the packaging costs you. I don't get my knickers in a twist over postage as long as it's not outrageous, but some people get really upset if you charge them £4 and when the parcel arrives the postage sticker says £1.85.

I have found that finishing an item on a sunday night at the end of the month right after payday often gets me the best results so long as the next day is not a BH.

hieveryone

Sorry to hijack the thread OP, didn't want to start a new one just for a little question - but I thought sellers couldn't leave feedback for buyers anymore? I've just bought something recently and the girl has left me feedback? Not a bad thing, but just thought it couldn't be done?