Advice please on very small sale!

charliegirl_3

Hi can someone advise me what to do here.

I have received an email from someone saying they missed my auction but would like to buy my item. The item was only for 50p as it has been on for a couple of weeks and had little interest, the p&p is £2. I was not going to re-list again and had planned to put it in the charity shop bag where all my cheapish unsold stuff goes after week 2.

So do I relist just so they may/may not bid, or do I offer to sell it to them privately - I don't really know how I would do this and I don't want to get into any trouble from ebay and especially not for this tiny amount, or do I just tell them sorry no - it really isn't worth the bother?

I think they are genuine enough they have bought about 50 things all with positive f/back.

Sorry for all the questions for such a trivial dilemma!

charliegirl_3

Ok I guess no one is gonna answer me!

csnann

If you only stand to get 50p out of it, I don't think its worth the listing fee and a final value fee.
I would just give it to the charity shop.

Biff2

this has happened to me, and I just let them know my details and they posted a cheque, and then I sent the goods - all done outside of ebay. I'm sure they don't like it, but of course they won't know so no problem...

Volcano

I did this once on a book I desperately wanted but missed the deadline and was really grateful the seller relisted, as I had been after the particular book for months.

mickyboy73

Having been an eBay PowerSeller I would honestly not bother with the effort for the value of 50 pence plus if that other person was then to report you to eBay for trading outside of eBay you could stand to lose your account.

Instead, tell the person that you are unable to assist them this time but you will be lsiting other items in the future. Trust me, if that person is really genuine about buying from you, they will add you to their favourite sellers and next time you list a similar item, you can bet they will be first in line to place their bid so as not to miss out again.

Googlies_2

mickyboy73 wrote:

plus if that other person was then to report you to eBay for trading outside of eBay you could stand to lose your account.

Are you saying someone who trades on ebay is not supposed to trade elsewhere?

I think you will find lots of traders sell "outside" of ebay, some have their own websites and some their own high street shops some use other auction sites as well.

ruthyjo

This might not gone down too well with those of you for whom an ebay business is a serious undertaking and how you earn a living but if I had something I knew someone wanted that was worth less than 50p and would only cost me a couple of quid to post I'd put it in the mail foc. Do someone a favour - what goes around comes around.

Kaminari_2

To be honest i would probably do the same as Ruthyjo and for the very same reason. It might cost a little to send but it would be worth it to make someones day. I'm not really in the ebay business to make money though.

mpython

Is it possible your 50p item is worth more? Like is it a first edition Harry Potter or something similar? My friend is really into books and couldn't belive his luck when he bought a first edition jaquline wilson dor 50p from the local libray when they were having a clear out and sold it for hods of dosh later on ebay.

Wasn't it some Roman who first identified, things are only worth what people will pay for them?

charliegirl_3

Thanks guys and gals for all your advice.

I think I will just send it to them for free, that way I don't get into any bother with ebay and they will be happy, may bid on my other stuff sometime. It is not a valuable item at all and one that I got from someone else. I don't know why I never thought of that in the first place! Cheers x x