is it worth selling a large heavy TV and SOFA on ebay

mystic_bertie

hi

i have sold many a thing on ebay however i have for sale a 32" widescreen tv and a large sofa, i have advertised them on http://www.adtrader.co.uk/ for a few weeks but no joy, now im wondering is it worth selling these items on ebay.

Because of their weight it would need to be a collection only, i live in AYR in Ayrshire, scotland so not likely to get a lot of local interest on ebay.

So what i want to know is it worth giving it a try on ebay with these items, im hoping to get around 275 for the sofa and 350 for the tv. I fear if i put them on ebay i will get hit with listing fees if it does not sell, if i put a reserve on the item this will cost more money, however i dont want to list it without a reserve just in case it only fetches a low amount.

is it worth my while putting these items on ebay and what is the safest and most sensible way of doing this?

any tips or advice greatly appreciated.

cranhill

Hi, The only way to sell these items on eBay is to have the words 'COLLECTION ONLY' in the largest print you can use on the first line of the description. You also of course list the area where you live.

jenniferpa

Have you looked at prices these things go for on ebay? You may get lucky, but if you've tried your local papers I honestly think it's unlikely that you'll get much for either of them on ebay. JMHO

Jennifer

soolin

To sell on ebay you do need to be absolutely ruthless with your pricing. Look at completed listings and see what similar items have sold for, base your opening price on that and not on what you originally paid for the goods.

I recently had to pay someone to take away a 3 year old leather suite as even offering it for collection only in the local papers got me no takers.
(that was a week *Before* I found out about freecycle.)

Like JenniferPa says, ebay might not be the best venue if you want top prices.

Soo

heathen

as said above you will struggle for sure to get the prices you mention especially with your location limiting potential buyers.

mystic_bertie

thanks for the info folks, i did not think ebay would be good idea but thought it might get to a larger audience and i could post pictures too, i might just need to keep trying the classifieds.

the sofa is 1 yr old and out of next with a retail price of 900 and the tv 1 1/2 yr old with a retail price of 1000 when purchased, so my prices are cheap but i know furniture is hard to sell second hand.

jenniferpa

For this sort of thing I would investigate every (local) avenue. Your local grocery store should have a for sale board, local papers etc. As a last resort, most auction houses have a system where they'll pick things up (for a fee) and then sell them (also for a fee). Mind you, if you think ebays fees are bad....

I've just cleared my Mother's house and I couldn't even give away, for example, a 3 month old fridge/freezer so I know how difficult it is. Unfortunately, we live in a society where as soon as you've purchased something it essentially becomes valueless. Honestly, I think you'll be lucky to get more than £50 a piece.

Jennifer

mike230652

A 1 year old NEXT sofa would go for no more than £200...the Tv (depending on the manufacturer ) wouldn't get more than about £200 either.. Technology has moved on alot ....and a 1 1/2 year old TV isn't a desirable commodity unless the price is right..it's got no guarantee....and a big risk to any buyer...

Mike