Ebay newbie in need of help.

fantafan1

Hi I'm new to selling on ebay but have been reading the boards. I have sold a number of low value items no problems so far. 100% 4.9 -4.5 on my star ratings.

I currently have listed an new electrical item which I expect to sell for over £40 but under £80. It has been tested and is working and is described acuratly.

It weights around 1.5kg and will go in a box around 30cm in length around 15cm in high.

My questions are what is the best value way to sent the item?
How can I stop myself falling for any scams out there? And what might they be?

I'm really nervous about selling it now I don't want anything to go wrong and I lose the item and my money as i'm selling it for a close family member.

soolin

Assuming you cna keep it below 2kg packed then special delivery at a cost of £8.65 if you want to use RM seems like a good bet.

A couple of points though, if it is likely to go over £39 then you may want to consider setting your seller preferences to exclude overseas bidders as tracking and insurance overseas is sometimes impossible to get. Obviously only send to the address that paypal say is OK to send to.

Lastly, if any of your stars are really 4.5 and I haven;t just misread that then you won't get top end price as that is quite poor and will put some buyers off. It will also mean lowered visibility which matters if this item is in a crowded market, it's less important if it is a unique item.

Basic tips are here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1623183&highlight=tips+new+sellers

fantafan1

Thanks special delivery seems like a good idea I imagine I should be able to keep under 2kg still well packed its already got bids and watches and is currently at £43 I was really surprised at the interest.

I doubled check my stars(16) first 3 are all at 4.9 and p&p is at 4.6 dispite it normally costing more money to send that I charge for postage and I've even lost money on items I've sold.

Going to take your advice and block over seas bidders now.

soolin

You also need to check your expanded seller dashboard, try and work out why your postage stars are so bad, any lower and you risk having virtually no visibility at all.

George666

fantafan1 wrote: »

I'm really nervous about selling it now I don't want anything to go wrong and I lose the item and my money as i'm selling it for a close family member.

I also would advise against selling things for friends and family on your seller account as this can sometimes end badly, and as it is your account you are responsible for anything sold on your account or any problems that arise from the sale.

Peter_Lanky

soolin wrote: »

You also need to check your expanded seller dashboard, try and work out why your postage stars are so bad, any lower and you risk having virtually no visibility at all.

Please can you explain something about this 'visibility'. My understanding is that somebody searches by keywords, and if your item contains them, you appear in the list of items either by price or time ending, depending on the search criteria. Obviously there is something else I am missing.

TurkishDelight

Peter_Lanky wrote: »

Please can you explain something about this 'visibility'. My understanding is that somebody searches by keywords, and if your item contains them, you appear in the list of items either by price or time ending, depending on the search criteria. Obviously there is something else I am missing.

It's only applicable on the best match search setting, but this is ebays default, so a lot of people (especially newbies) don't change it.

Bane of our life is best match- never works properly.

George666

Peter_Lanky wrote: »

Please can you explain something about this 'visibility'. My understanding is that somebody searches by keywords, and if your item contains them, you appear in the list of items either by price or time ending, depending on the search criteria. Obviously there is something else I am missing.

Depending on your DSRs your listings can be moved around in the search results up if they are good or down if they are bad.
This does only apply as Turkish says to the default best match setting but like he also said most people never change this so if you have bad DSRs your listings may never be seen or only seen by a few people this would seriously affect your sales on buy it now listings and mean any auction you ran would get far fewer bids so sell for a lot less.

fantafan1

That explains my lack of unsold items and items selling at just 99p an me losting money:(

I;m gutted tried so hard to make postage cost reasonable mine were always lower than similar items. I refund the two people £1 straight after sending when it cost less than I thought.

Ebay just seems like a lot of hassle to me at the moment. Back to sending stuff to the charity shop I think.

George666

Here is an option for you to consider I never bother in any catagory charging postage it is always set at free post and packing.
This is an example of what I do lets say I am selling a book I want at least £4 for the book and it will cost me £2.50 to post it.
1. £4 for the book
2. £2.50 for postage
3. £1 for fees
Add them together and I start my auction at £7.50 with free post and packing this way the buyer does not know how much of the price they are paying is for postage and packing so they have no reason to complain about it.
If a buyer bids on the book they are happy to pay £7.50 for it and I am happy with the price even if it only gets one bid I am not out of pocket so everyone is a winner.
And as an added benefit my auction will show higher in search results than others with a post and packing charge, because it is free post and packing it gets a free boost in the search results.

TurkishDelight

fantafan1 wrote: »

Ebay just seems like a lot of hassle to me at the moment. Back to sending stuff to the charity shop I think.

On the plus side I've just read that Oxfam are giving a free box of tea per bag of donations.

Sorry.