Things You Never Thought You Could Sell

MissQuirky

I think it would be very useful to hear from people who read this thread and listed some of their rubbish and it didn't sell. What didn't sell, does it mean you made a loss(in listing fees) and has it put you off trying to sell particular items? What DOESN'T ever sell?

I've only ever sold three things on ebay so far. When after reading this thread I was tempted to sell some old magazines etc, I'd always to a research first (look up completed listings) and see quite a few unsold similar items, even dirt cheap...That puts me off trying to sell low value items because it seems not worth my time, so I end up dumping/recycling/taking stuff to the charity shops...

sarymclary

MissQuirky wrote: »

I think it would be very useful to hear from people who read this thread and listed some of their rubbish and it didn't sell. What didn't sell, does it mean you made a loss(in listing fees) and has it put you off trying to sell particular items? What DOESN'T ever sell?

I've only ever sold three things on ebay so far. When after reading this thread I was tempted to sell some old magazines etc, I'd always to a research first (look up completed listings) and see quite a few unsold similar items, even dirt cheap...That puts me off trying to sell low value items because it seems not worth my time, so I end up dumping/recycling/taking stuff to the charity shops...

I've given up listing on Ebay now, mainly due to what you mentioned above. Unless you're giving away virtually perfect, high value items for next to nothing, I found items went unsold, and I lost out on fees. For the amount of effort that goes into maintaining a 7 day listing, responding to questions, packaging, going to post office, etc., it really wasn't worth it.

In previous years I've put baby items on ebay and they sold well, but were in excellent condition. I also sold new exercise equipment, which was on a pallet load of items I bought as a job lot from a warehouse. They all made good money, and I found good courier companies to ship larger items. I also sold very good quality/designer clothes items, although they often fetch nominal amounts. As the years have gone by (I've used ebay for over 5yrs) buyers seem to view ebay as more of an online store like Amazon, than the virtual market stall it was before.

Now I only put high value items on there, like my motorbikes. I've given up getting rid of anything else on there, and am using Freecycle to gift my items (after failed attempts at carbooting, which were like a real-life version of ebay, and disappointing)! I have even tried using recycling charities to gift 2 sofas, and the charity turned them away, despite them having intact fire labels, due to the fact they had marks of 'wear' on them! I'd been spot cleaning them, and one part was still partially damp, so the charity guy refused to take it!

It seems these days you literally cannot give stuff away! :rotfl: I find it very frustrating because they're good quality items, and know that if a family were in need of some furniture, they would be ideal.

koru

MissQuirky wrote: »

I think it would be very useful to hear from people who read this thread and listed some of their rubbish and it didn't sell. What didn't sell, does it mean you made a loss(in listing fees) and has it put you off trying to sell particular items? What DOESN'T ever sell?

I've only ever sold three things on ebay so far. When after reading this thread I was tempted to sell some old magazines etc, I'd always to a research first (look up completed listings) and see quite a few unsold similar items, even dirt cheap...That puts me off trying to sell low value items because it seems not worth my time, so I end up dumping/recycling/taking stuff to the charity shops...

Sometimes, you can work out why ostensibly similar items sell or don't sell. eg, the ones that did not sell were withdrawn by the seller or are poorly described or have no photo or are broken or the seller will not post them.

I did get a bit carried away a few years ago and took a broken vacuum cleaner to pieces to sell the spare parts individually. I got a lot more than if I had just sold a broken cleaner, but I must have spent hours of time on it. Not really justifiable unless you are unemployed or, say, a student during holidays.

mippy

I've found carbooting a lot of hard work for little reward - I did it when unemployed and with clutter to shift, but prefer eBay, and definitely for things like clothing which I think people are more likely to buy online than in a field or car park! However I have pressure from my OH not to sell anything which will go for less than a tenner, as he doesn't see it as worth it. It does take a lot of time to package and post things so I'm being a bit more picky than I was.

MissQuirky

and am using Freecycle to gift my items

Me too! Freecycle is quite good for getting rid of stuff, esp. bulky, as long as you say in your post that you cannot reply to each email individually and as long as people turn up when they said they would...most of the time it's stress-free

faye6174

A couple of years ago OH and myself did a bit of extra work at the Reading festival. One of the bands chucked out 'banknotes' with the bands faces on.
Most of them fell into the pit where we were and not into the crowd. i was collecting them and throwing them to the crowd until i was told off so i shoved what i had in my pocket and forgot. I think i made about £50 on ebay. i was going to throw them away!

pebblespop

i tried to sell two next suits (size 12) and they did not sell. had them on for £10 each then £7 each.

i have given up on them now - never did understand why they didn't get one bid. the photos were ok and they were only 1 year old.

sarahs999

I've had problems selling suits too. My husband's liovely suit which he only wore once, and was £200 new, we sold on Ebay - and it went for something like £15. I was gutted. And the worst thing is, we sold it because he lost weight, and now he's put the weight back on again!

Cool_Mint

The trouble with selling clothes on eBay is that there's no chance the buyer can try them for size unless they live in your local area. There are other sites like Trade-It where you can place private ads for free (fixed price not auction) but TBH the pages are very ugly and that's why so many people flock to eBay; it's shinier!

Best bet on selling clothes is to put an ad in Trade-It or Ad Trader and post links to the clothes on your photo album (PhotoBucket, ImageShack). Same goes for low-price items (unless you sell them in lots or bundles) and stuff that you can't be sure will sell first time on eBay; relisting is NOT free, only the insertion fee is refunded so it can get expensive - and then Paypal take their 2.5% cut when an item does sell.



The best time to sell an item on eBay (auction end time) is usually Sunday evening but not always! It depends on the items, some stuff seems to sell better mid-week but it's hard to tell because there is a lot of "shill bidding" on eBay which is when people bid on their own items (and even buy their own items) to bump-up the price and attract attention. Shill-bidding has only really become a nuisance since eBay for reasons known only to themselves gave sellers an option to hide the names of buyers.
..why?! why?! why?!:mad:



I've also noticed that one of the prime times for snapping up bargains is on a Sunday morning when everyone else is still in bed or recovering from a Saturday night booze-up.
:beer:

I'm in two minds about "sniping", I don't want to be outbid by 2p at the last micro-second by an online automatic sniping program but I've used manual sniping myself many times to place a final bid just a few seconds (sometimes just two seconds) before the end of an auction because it's the only way to beat other snipers and foil all those annoying casual bidders who will place a higher bid than me just because they can see that I know what the item is worth.

Here's a typical example of what I buy:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220370849397&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=012#ebayphotohosting


These are old 1980's sci-fi models (there are more of them in the other pictures) that were listed with a vague description and blurry photos but I spotted them while browsing through newly-listed items and I had to wait 7 days to place my killer bid.
I'd hoped to bag them for £20 but of course there are other people like me who know the same tricks!

My winning bid was £36 + £5 postage, way more than most people would think they are worth but once they've been restored I can expect to make an easy £30 profit. If I had put in a bid any earlier it would have alerted a dozen rival buyers.


The bottom line is that automated sniping is kind of dumb because if two automatic snipers bid against each other they'll BOTH go straight to the maximum! But manual sniping works. Official eBay policy is that sniping is against the rules but they have never done anything to restrict or block sniping so unofficially it's fair-game.
I'd be quite happy if they stopped all sniping and gave everyone a level playing field.

Cool_Mint

sarymclary wrote: »

It seems these days you literally cannot give stuff away! :rotfl: I find it very frustrating because they're good quality items, and know that if a family were in need of some furniture, they would be ideal.

Thanks goodness for the "credit crunch (though I'm unclear as to when we were ever out of recession) maybe it will force people to start making good use of second-hand goods again instead of automatically buying everything brand new. Some stuff is best bought new (a second-hand matress isn't a good idea if it turns out to be crawling with bed-bugs) but two-thirds of the stuff own is second-hand and has lasted well and saved me money.