Ebay - is there any point?

[Deleted User]

Hi all - I'd appreciate your help. I have been very encouraged by the results that I see on parts of the site - monthly challenges / earn or save £10/£5 a day etc. Many use Ebay. But when I see the stories of crooked buyers, rising fees, unfair or lying feedback etc., would many really advise that a newbie starts off as an Ebay seller - household goods, the odd collectable and so on?

How much hassle would a newbie be likely to get?

WR

pitkin2020

Ebay is like any other selling platform. If you present your self well (i.e your auction), start your auction at a realistic price (or BIN) and don't over charge for posting you can do very well. A well presented and factual listing with plenty of real pictures rather than stock pictures fair better than just a few lines with a stock picture, state facts and don't waffle on about how your Aunt borrowed it and thought it was fab and that sort of gumf lol.

Take a look at listings of what you are going to sell, check out the completed listings and look at the actual listing to see what you think worked in those that sold well and what didn't in those that didn't sell well.

Some items will fair better at the carboot than on ebay so don't presume everything you list is going to make you a fortune, there are plenty of free listing weekends though that you can try them if you want to just see.

Double check your postage costs, there is nothing worse than selling something at 99p with £2 postage to find the postage is actually £3.

Dip your toe you may just like it, and good luck. Plenty of advice on here from lots of sellers and buyers.

hermum

Don't forget that you only hear when something goes wrong.
There are far far more straightforward transactions every second of the day then there are bad ones each day.
Start off with a few cheap items to start with, you could get the ebay bug.
Great sticky at the top here for new ebayers, well worth having a good read through there & then asking if you have any specific questions.
Good luck

pitkin2020

hermum wrote: »

Don't forget that you only hear when something goes wrong.
There are far far more straightforward transactions every second of the day then there are bad ones each day.
Start off with a few cheap items to start with, you could get the ebay bug.
Great sticky at the top here for new ebayers, well worth having a good read through there & then asking if you have any specific questions.
Good luck

:beer: yep the main problem and solution of forums. The number of problems really is minimal, people generally only post on a forum when they have a problem.

soolin

I agree with the above. Mot of us manage hundreds of transactions without a single problem.

Just make sure you know how to protect yourself from common scams and have your seller preferences set tightly.

tips for new sellers here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1623183