A couple of questions before I start

Ames

Hi all, I'm in the middle of weighing everything to put on ebay and just have a couple of questions.

If I want to put photos of any damage on the back, do I have to pay for two pictures or can I combine them in some way? Or can I just show the damage and say that I'm happy to email more pics if required? I don't really want to pay for photos because there's going to be little enough profit as there is.

I've been suspended for a couple of years, I was bidding on things when I moved and didn't have internet access for a month, and got a couple of npb strikes. Therefore my feedback, although I have a score of 555, shows three very negative, and nothing recent. Should I put a note in the listing explaining this, or will that put people off?

I'm going to try listing a couple of job lots of books, how do I 'get round' the postage cap, can I choose courier delivery or insist on collection only?

How can I rate books, would it be ok for me to devise my own five star rating and apply that to every book, or is there a standard rating anywhere?

More questions than I realised, sorry.

frivolous_fay

What does your feedback percentage work out at?
Might be worth buying a few items. I don't think I'd try to sell with 3 negs on the top of the feedback.

Ames

It's 0% because I haven't had any transactions in the last 12 months.

I am bidding on a few things.

cyberbob

Ames wrote: »

If I want to put photos of any damage on the back, do I have to pay for two pictures or can I combine them in some way? Or can I just show the damage and say that I'm happy to email more pics if required? I don't really want to pay for photos because there's going to be little enough profit as there is.

Use photobucket you can then put as many pictures up for free. Dont ask people to email for more pictures as most people cant be bothered so your more likely to loose customers

Ames wrote: »

I've been suspended for a couple of years, I was bidding on things when I moved and didn't have internet access for a month, and got a couple of npb strikes. Therefore my feedback, although I have a score of 555, shows three very negative, and nothing recent. Should I put a note in the listing explaining this, or will that put people off?

Dont draw attention to it.

Ames wrote: »

I'm going to try listing a couple of job lots of books, how do I 'get round' the postage cap, can I choose courier delivery or insist on collection only?

Don't try and get around the postage cap. Just add the difference to your start price. If you do try and be clever you will end up with pulled listings and unhappy buyers and probably a neg along the way. If people see yo trying to bend the rules it also makes it difficult for them to trust you as a Seller. So you will loose customers.

You are within your rights to list job lots but your other suggestions will just end up shortening your selling career

Ames wrote: »

How can I rate books, would it be ok for me to devise my own five star rating and apply that to every book, or is there a standard rating anywhe

There are official 2nd hand book rating systems use one of them. Try google

soolin

In your situation I would not be trying to get round the capped postage on books. If you are selling a combined lot though you can put them in wholesale although they might then be overlooked for someone merely browsing books ending soonest or something. I would also look to get them sold ASAP as the capped postage changes to free postage in October.

You can opt for courier delivery but then that would still be capped at £2.75 in the normal book category. If you go to collection only then you limit your buyers a lot as many people won't travel very far to collect books.

Other than that I would do as Fay suggests and buy a few things first to show that your record has improved and that you just had a temporarily bad period.

Ames

Ok, I thought I'd read that it was ok to offer courier sevice instead of Royal mail and it was ok for it to be higher, must have dreamed it! The books'll never sell for what the postage would cost (lots of John Grisham hardbacks) so I'll just charity shop or freecycle them.

Ames

How many things do you think I should buy, would half a dozen be ok? That being, coincidentally, the number of things I've bought/am bidding on...

soolin

Ames wrote: »

Ok, I thought I'd read that it was ok to offer courier sevice instead of Royal mail and it was ok for it to be higher, must have dreamed it! The books'll never sell for what the postage would cost (lots of John Grisham hardbacks) so I'll just charity shop or freecycle them.

John Grishams are not good sellers, I just dumped a load on the local Hospice shop all hardbacks all RRP £17.99.

cyberbob

Ames wrote: »

Ok, I thought I'd read that it was ok to offer courier sevice instead of Royal mail and it was ok for it to be higher, must have dreamed it! The books'll never sell for what the postage would cost (lots of John Grisham hardbacks) so I'll just charity shop or freecycle them.

You can list a courier if you are going to use one if your just avoiding the postage cap and actually listing normal postage but higher in your text thats against ebay rules. The postage cost will be there no matter what you list so I'm confused how you though you would make money on them anyway. No matter how you would have listed them the costs would have still been there.

Ames

I was just thinking I'd make 99p from someone local.

lightisfading

If I want to put photos of any damage on the back, do I have to pay for two pictures or can I combine them in some way? Or can I just show the damage and say that I'm happy to email more pics if required? I don't really want to pay for photos because there's going to be little enough profit as there is.

Use photobucket and put the html to show pics in your listing I've been suspended for a couple of years, I was bidding on things when I moved and didn't have internet access for a month, and got a couple of npb strikes. Therefore my feedback, although I have a score of 555, shows three very negative, and nothing recent. Should I put a note in the listing explaining this, or will that put people off?

Don't draw people's attention to it - no 'explaining' would change my mind about the negative feedback, it was your fault bidding when you didn't have net access! (and anyway, there are internet cafes and libraries everywhere, you could have gone to one to pay your debt).

I'm going to try listing a couple of job lots of books, how do I 'get round' the postage cap, can I choose courier delivery or insist on collection only?

You can choose courier delivery if you are going to post by courier. You can insist on collection only if you want - but that will put off 99.9% of bidders I'd imagine (maybe list boxfuls at a time? not sure if there would be interest though). Or you can increase your listing price to account for it. There isn't a way to 'get round' it. (books just don't make much money on ebay)

How can I rate books, would it be ok for me to devise my own five star rating and apply that to every book, or is there a standard rating anywhere?

I'd probably either devise my own system or look one up on the net, but have the explanation of the different ratings copied and pasted into every auction, along with your rating for that specific book. Or just describe the book in each auction, but that will take longer.